When you think of business intelligence (BI), it may be data visualizations, dashboards and KPIs that initially come to mind. BI, used in those scenarios, is powerful and valid; but it's not the whole story. Integrating BI into real-world business processes, workflows and applications also delivers real value, even if it's not what we first consider.

BI can integrate with fraud detection in order fulfillment systems. It can enhance and enable churn prevention in CRM systems. While BI may aggregate transactional data, it can also integrate into transactional systems and processes. After all, if an enterprise is busy curating its proverbial "one version of the truth," what better way to put it to work than in the operation of the business? In short, why not integrate BI with applications on the output side, as well as the input side?