How to Develop a Business Intelligence Strategy: Key Components and Steps

Have you ever noticed how decisions can begin to break down when your teams lack reliable data? Goals get missed, work ends up being repeated, and no one’s sure which numbers to trust. But with a business intelligence (BI) strategy, you gain the structure to turn data into action. 

Having a business intelligence strategy doesn’t mean you’re just collecting more data; instead, it’s about making sure the right people can easily access and understand the information they already have. Whether you're in sales, marketing, operations, or finance, a clear BI strategy helps you spot what’s working, flag what’s not, and decide what to do next. 

Developing an effective business intelligence strategy

What exactly is a business intelligence (BI) strategy?

One way to think of it is as a plan for how your team uses data to make informed decisions. It’s not just a list of tools or a technical diagram—it’s a practical approach to getting the right data to the right people in a way that’s useful and repeatable. A BI strategy connects your team’s goals with the data required to achieve them. 

A BI strategy covers:

• Where your data comes from
• Who has access to it
• How data should be organized
• How it gets used day to day

A good BI strategy also defines roles and responsibilities, so everyone understands who’s doing what, whether that’s building dashboards, validating data, or acting on insights.

Without a strategy, business intelligence becomes fragmented—every department does things differently, and trust in the data breaks down. With one, you can create shared systems and habits that help teams stay aligned and confident in the numbers they use to make decisions.

In this guide, we’ll walk through what a BI strategy is, how to build one that works for your team, and what to watch out for along the way.  

Key components of a business intelligence strategy

A good BI strategy isn’t a tech blueprint—it’s a playbook for how people across your team use data to get things done. It’s not just the software you pick or the reports you build. It’s how you build habits and systems that help teams trust, use, and act on what the data is telling them.

Here are the essential components of a BI intelligence strategy:

1. Defined roles and responsibilities

A strong BI program doesn’t require a team of data scientists to run it, but it does demand clarity about ownership. Who’s validating the numbers? Who’s designing dashboards? Who’s responsible for acting on what the data shows? 

Establishing clear roles prevents confusion and helps teams move more efficiently.

2. A shared purpose

Every BI effort should start with one question: What must we know to make more informed decisions? That answer should guide everything, from which metrics you track to how you design your dashboards. 

Without a clear reason for collecting data, it’s just noise.

3. Repeatable processes

Implementing a BI strategy requires thoughtful planning. Data isn’t helpful if no one knows where to find it or how often it’s updated. Define simple, repeatable processes for pulling, reviewing, and sharing data. Set expectations. What gets updated weekly? What lives in a dashboard? Who gets notified when something changes?

4. Data that’s ready to use

A strong business intelligence strategy relies on a solid data foundation. That means organizing your data sources, making sure the data is accurate, and setting up systems that can scale as your team grows. With the right structure in place, teams can access reliable information when they need it—and trust what they see.

5. Tools that meet your needs

Your BI tools should support how people actually work, not add extra friction. The right platform brings everything into one place, making it easier to explore data, build dashboards, and turn insight into action without hopping between apps or waiting on IT.

Why you should have a business intelligence strategy

Without a clear BI strategy, teams end up guessing. One department builds reports in spreadsheets, another pulls numbers from a dashboard, and no one’s sure which version is right. A BI strategy brings structure to how people access, share, and use data—so decisions don’t stall out or rely on gut feel.

It also creates consistency. When your sales, finance, and ops teams are working from the same numbers, they can spend less time aligning and more time acting. With real-time data in everyone’s hands—not just analysts’—you can spot problems early and respond quicker.

Think of your business intelligence strategy as a shared map. It doesn’t just tell you where the data is—it helps every team use it to move in the same direction.

Step-by-step guide to building a business intelligence strategy

Creating a business intelligence strategy means designing a clear, practical plan for how your team will use data to answer important questions and make more confident decisions. It’s not about building the perfect system right away—it’s about building something people can actually use and improve over time.

Here’s how to get started building a BI intelligence strategy:

1. Define the outcomes your teams are looking for

Don’t start with tools; start with questions. What do your teams need to understand to take action? Are they tracking retention, optimizing budgets, or adjusting sales goals? A strong business intelligence strategy begins with real problems, not hypothetical metrics.

2. Take inventory of your data environment

Look at where your data comes from, where it lives, and how it’s used. Are there duplicate efforts? Siloed reports? Manual workarounds? Mapping your current environment helps you find what's worth keeping and what's getting in the way.

3. Involve cross-functional stakeholders early

People are more likely to adopt what they help shape. Bring in team leads from marketing, sales, operations, and finance. Ask what they want to see, how they want to explore data, and what’s slowing them down today.

4. Choose tools that match how people work

A good BI platform should simplify the process. Domo, for example, lets people explore data, create dashboards, and share findings without depending on IT. A self-service model speeds up access to insights and helps teams stay focused on action.

5. Put visualization at the center

Data is only useful if people can interpret it quickly. Use dashboards that highlight the “so what” behind the numbers. Include comparison tables, trend lines, and set up alerts.  Build tools that help people spot what’s changing and why it matters. Clear visual design builds confidence in the data and encourages deeper use.

6. Define shared metrics and repeatable processes

Agree on definitions for key terms and metrics, then make them visible. Use standard templates and automated refreshes to keep reports consistent. Developing clear definitions makes your BI strategy easier to maintain and reduces confusion when teams compare results.

7. Build adoption into the process

Start with one team, teach them how to use the tools, and collect real feedback. Then expand. 

Rolling out your business intelligence strategy in stages lets you fix what’s not working, surface new requirements, and build momentum, so adoption scales with the strategy, not after it.

8. Keep adapting

A useful BI strategy isn’t static. Review it regularly. Look at what dashboards are used, where data is getting ignored, and how your needs have changed. Iteration keeps your strategy relevant and your decisions grounded in reality.

By integrating these steps, your BI strategy will not only align with your objectives but also empower teams to identify the next best action.

Benefits of a well-built business intelligence strategy

A solid business intelligence strategy changes how teams think, collaborate, and act. Here’s what your team can expect when BI is built with the right foundation.

Improved operational efficiency

When data is easy to find, trust, and use, teams spend less time hunting for answers and more time solving problems. Real-time dashboards, automated reports, and clear metrics reduce manual work and can help teams identify changes as they happen.

Enhanced customer insights

With data from sales, marketing, and support connected in one place, teams can see the full customer picture. A BI strategy helps them personalize communication, improve retention, and uncover patterns for improved customer experience and business outcomes.

Increased competitive edge

Teams with access to timely, accurate data can keep pace and even move ahead of the market. Whether it’s spotting emerging trends, adjusting pricing, or reallocating budget, a strong BI strategy gives you the agility to act before competitors do.

Strengthened data-driven culture

When data becomes part of everyday workflows, decision-making becomes more consistent and less reliant on guesswork or intuition. It builds alignment across departments, encourages accountability, and helps people feel more confident in the choices they make.

BI strategy challenges and best practices

Rolling out a business intelligence strategy can surface some real roadblocks. But most of these challenges are normal and fixable. Whether you’re just getting started or fine-tuning a system that’s already in place, here’s what to watch for and how to keep things on track.

Challenge: Low adoption or unclear value

If teams don’t see how data connects to their day-to-day work, they won’t engage with it. BI becomes just another tool in the stack.

Best practice:

Start small with a department or function that’s already asking data-driven questions. Build dashboards that answer those questions clearly. When people see value right away, they’re more likely to use the platform—and talk about it with others.

Challenge: Siloed or disconnected data

When different teams use different sources, reports can conflict, and no one’s sure which number is right. Disconnected data erodes trust in the system before it has a chance to scale.

Best practice:

Invest early in building a unified data foundation. Use a platform like Domo that connects cloud and on-premise data, aligns definitions, and creates one source of truth accessible to everyone.

Challenge: Poor data quality or trust issues

If the data’s wrong—or just feels wrong—people stop relying on it and fall back on spreadsheets or instinct.

Best practice:

Define who owns each data source and build quality checks into your pipelines. Create space for people to flag inconsistencies. Transparency and accountability build long-term trust.

Challenge: No clear data governance

Without structure, anyone can build anything. Soon, your BI environment becomes cluttered and contradictory.

Best practice:

Assign ownership for key metrics and dashboards. Standardize naming conventions, update cycles, and approval workflows to ensure consistency without bottlenecks.

Challenge: Weak executive support

If leadership doesn’t actively support BI, it’s harder to adopt a strategy and maintain momentum, especially when change gets uncomfortable.

Best practice:

Tie your BI efforts to strategic goals: more timely reporting, cleaner forecasting, or operational efficiency. Ask leaders to share results and use dashboards in meetings. When execs lead by example, teams follow.

Challenge: Limited scalability

What works for 10 people might not work for 100. Spreadsheets break. Workarounds pile up.

Best practice:

Choose tools that scale without complexity. Cloud-native platforms like Domo can support thousands of team members, automated updates, and growing data volumes—without added burden on IT.

Challenge: Low data literacy

Even with the right tools and clean data, people may not feel confident reading charts or interpreting metrics.

Best practice:

Boost data literacy through ongoing training rather than one-time sessions. Pair dashboard rollouts with short, role-specific tutorials. The goal isn’t to turn everyone into an analyst—it’s to make data approachable enough for anyone to use.

Turn your BI strategy into action

A business intelligence strategy only works if it’s put into practice. Start with a clear goal, involve the right people, and build from there. Small steps lead to big shifts when data becomes part of everyday decisions.

Ready to turn your strategy into action? Domo makes it easy to connect your data, your teams, and your goals. Try it today.

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