Business intelligence and SMEs: Bridging the gap

Abstract

According to research findings, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing problems such as an excessively large volume of data, lack of information and lack of knowledge. Therefore, in order to make decisions on time, the managers of SMEs use mainly their experience, which implies a high risk of failure. Business intelligence (BI) is a useful and helpful tool, which brings many advantages and benefits to businesses. However, like any technology, it is accompanied by some limitations that must be overcome in order to help businesses to develop. This paper summarizes current research findings addressing the issue of the development and application of business intelligence systems for SMEs. The issues addressed are models for the estimation of the readiness of a SME to establish BI tools, alternative BI solutions for SMEs, benefits and challenges of BI in SMEs, implementation methods for BI systems in SMEs and finally, BI systems in cloud computing platforms. Research papers dealing with these issues are analyzed and the results are presented. This paper contributes to the understanding of problems and potentials regarding the development and application of BI systems in SMEs.