Search + BI = Unified Information Access

Search and business intelligence (BI) really are two sides of the same coin. Enterprise search enables people to access unstructured content like documents, blog and wiki entries, and emails stored in repositories across their organizations. BI surfaces structured data in reports and dashboards. As both technologies mature, the boundary between them is beginning to blur. Search platforms are beginning to perform BI functions like data visualization and reporting, and BI vendors have begun to incorporate simple to use search experiences into their products. Information and knowledge management professionals should take advantage of this convergence, which will have the same effect from both sides: to give businesspeople better context and information for the decisions they make every day.