ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the characteristics, benefits and underlying capabilities of Business intelligence (BI) and analytics provision. BI and analytics with the potential to transform an higher education institutions (HEIs) needs to be for everyone involved in leadership and decision making – not for everyone else. Operational reporting (OR) draws on real-time data taken directly from core functional systems to enable smooth and effective operation and management of routine but essential functions, for example admissions, graduation, income attribution or staff costs. BI is the purposeful exploitation for strategic purposes of Management information (MI), especially about competitor characteristics and provision in the HEI's broader context. Advanced business analytics builds on the types of reporting above, and may include data mining, predictive analytics, machine learning, and quantitative modelling and forecasting to support scenario evaluation. The significance of governance and data quality for enabling a BI and analytics capability can also be evidenced by the experience of leading practitioners in higher education.
