Top Features To Look For in a Business Analytics & Reporting Solution
AN EXCLUSIVE GUIDE FOR MID-MARKET MANUFACTURERS
For mid-market manufacturers, the need for clear, timely business insights is as critical as it is for Fortune 500 companies. Yet limited budgets, leaner teams, and shorter implementation windows often make choosing the right analytics and reporting platform more challenging.
This article serves as a practical guide to help you evaluate your options. We’ll walk through the key features every modern solution should include—capabilities that ensure your business can access accurate data, uncover meaningful insights, and make informed decisions without straining resources.
The Business Analytics Market
According to some analysts, the global business analytics market is projected to reach $43 billion by 2028, compared to $24 billion in 2021. However, the adoption rate of analytics in small and mid-market organizations remains low at just 26%, in contrast to 80% in companies with over 5,000 employees. These findings clearly highlight the significant gap in business analytics usage between larger corporations and small- to mid-market concerns.
Mid-market businesses have traditionally been slow to adopt analytics and reporting strategies — often expressing frustration over limited access to data and insights compared to larger competitors.
There are a number of reasons why many manufacturers have not fully embraced analytics-focused solutions. For one, many lack a scalable technology infrastructure or skilled workforce. The quality and availability of data may be low because information is stored in various systems and formats. Plus, the cost of implementing robust business analytics and reporting apps may be perceived to be too high compared to its benefits.
Closing the Gap Between Big and Mid-Market Businesses
So, how does one close the gap? While mindset can be a difficult obstacle to overcome, technology and budget constraints are much more manageable these days. Many business functions now rely on SaaS solutions that run in the cloud. This levels the playing field for mid-market manufacturers and enables them to automate core business processes like processing orders, managing inventory, and tracking product shipments without having to make additional resource investments.
On the flipside, though, the data generated by these SaaS-supported processes can be overwhelming, complex, and expensive to collect. This is where modern analytics and reporting platforms come into play. Mid-sized manufacturers that have undergone digital transformation are already generating data related to their business operations. With the right analytics platform, they can extract valuable insights that align with their business objectives – and do so without having to invest in additional resources to support their analysis and reporting efforts. This provides the opportunity for them to be in a better position to identify growth opportunities, enhance operational resilience, stay competitive, and foster innovation – all while closing the gap on data analytics adoption with their larger competitors.
5 Must-Have Components of a Modern Business Analytics Solution
Choosing the right analytics and reporting solution isn’t just about flashy dashboards — it’s about the foundation beneath them. A true modern system should deliver more than data access; it should provide the essential components that ensure accuracy, consistency, and usability across your organization. Here are five features that should be non-negotiable in any solution you consider:
- A Unified Data Hub
Centralizes and harmonizes data for “one-number” reporting and consistent insights. - Packaged Analytics, KPIs & Reports
Ready-to-use reports, metrics, and dashboards that accelerate time-to-insight. - Flexible Delivery Options
Interactive dashboards, scheduled reports, alerts, mobile access, and more. - Compatibility with Other Tools
Seamless integration with Power BI, Excel, and other analytics platforms for far-reaching data manipulation. - An Experienced Software Partner
Perhaps most importantly, a software solution partner with deep domain expertise and implementation support is key to setting up analysts and other users for success with the business analytics solution.
The Data Hub: Your Analytics & Reporting Power Core
A modern business analytics and reporting system is only as good as its foundation—and that foundation is the enterprise data hub. Think of it as the central nervous system of your analytics ecosystem. It consolidates disparate data sources into a single, reliable version of the truth.
Why does that matter?
Because without a data hub, you risk making decisions on conflicting, incomplete, or outdated data. Here’s what a strong data hub like Silvon’s Stratum™ offers:
- Drastically reduces time spent on data prep
Shift from wasting 80% of your time collecting and cleaning data to spending that time analyzing and acting on it. - Unifies internal and external data
Connect data from your ERP, CRM, budget plans, supplier feeds, customer portals, and more. - Supports enrichment and augmentation
Add missing product attributes, merge third-party data, and enhance insights with additional context. - Eliminates data silos
Stop getting different answers to the same question. With one central source, everyone is aligned. - Standardizes definitions and dimensions
Ensure consistent terminology, hierarchies, and business logic across the enterprise. - Enables high-performance deep dives
Drill into granular details without straining your operational systems or waiting for batch reports.
Setting the Stage for AI and Predictive Insights
One of the most exciting advantages of a modern BI system is its ability to fuel AI and advanced analytics. With the right data infrastructure in place, you can go beyond descriptive reports to enable:
- Predictive insights based on historical patterns
- Prescriptive recommendations to optimize future decisions
- Real-time monitoring of key operations and market indicators
The bottom line? Your data hub becomes the launchpad for intelligent, forward-looking decisions.
Pre-Built Analytics That Deliver Fast Time-to-Value
One of the biggest advantages of modern analysis and reporting platforms is their ability to deliver immediate value—out of the box.
Today’s most effective business analytics solutions come equipped with pre-built analytics, reports, and KPIs designed to address the core operational and strategic needs of most businesses. Instead of spending weeks—or months—developing dashboards from scratch, analysts and others can start analyzing meaningful data almost immediately.
These pre-packaged analytics typically span across all major functional areas:
- Sales & Customer Insights
Track sales performance by region, product, rep, or customer. Identify top-performing accounts, uncover churn risks, and measure sales against goals with visual scorecards and ranking reports. - Inventory & Supply Chain Performance
Monitor inventory turns, stockouts, backorders, demand variability, and supplier delivery performance. These insights help manufacturers optimize stock levels, improve forecasting accuracy, and reduce carrying costs. - Financials & Cost Management
Get visibility into gross margins, profitability by product or customer, budget variances, and expense trends. Finance leaders can stay on top of cost controls while helping the business drive better bottom-line outcomes. - Purchasing, Production & Operations
Analyze supplier performance, purchase order trends, and production efficiency metrics. Pre-built views can highlight inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and opportunities for process improvement. - Custom Views Aligned to Your Business Model
Many platforms also offer role-based or department-specific dashboards for executives, planners, and front-line managers—allowing everyone to focus on the KPIs that matter most to them.
Because these analytics are built using proven best practices and industry benchmarks, they accelerate adoption, reduce the learning curve, and promote consistency across your organization. Users aren’t starting from zero—they’re building on a strong analytical foundation that evolves with your business.
The result? Faster implementation, quicker ROI, and fewer roadblocks to turning data into action.
Flexible Access for Every User
Whether businesses have casual users who use dashboards to monitor the business or power users who build complex queries, modern business analytics and reporting platforms offer delivery options for every level:
- Interactive dashboards
Visual, user-friendly, and drillable for all levels of the organization. - Scheduled reports
Automatically delivered to inboxes — ensuring consistency across teams. - Self-service analytics
Lets business users explore data without waiting on IT. - Smart alerting and notifications
Automatically notifies users when thresholds are crossed or anomalies occur—so you can act fast. - Mobile & browser access
Provides anywhere, anytime insight for on-the-go decisions.
Seamless Compatibility with the Tools You Already Use
Modern data analysis platforms don’t operate in a vacuum — they’re built to play well with the tools your teams already rely on, like Power BI and Excel. This kind of interoperability gives users the flexibility to dig deeper, customize visualizations, and analyze data in familiar environments.
It also means manufacturers can surface critical insights — like customer performance or product trends — right where your users need them. Whether it’s a link embedded in an ERP system or a drill-through from a CRM dashboard, modern business analytics and reporting solutions make it easy to connect the dots between operational systems and rich analytics. The result? Faster insights and smoother workflows across the board.
Your Vendor Should Be a Strategic Partner—Not Just a Software Provider
When evaluating solutions, don’t just focus on the features — look closely at who’s behind the platform. The right vendor brings more than just technology; they bring deep industry knowledge, proven implementation experience, and a commitment to helping your team succeed.
A vendor with domain expertise in your sector understands the nuances of your operations and KPIs. They’ll speak your language and know how to tailor the solution to fit your goals. Better yet, working directly with a seasoned analytics and reporting vendor often proves more efficient — and more cost-effective — than relying on third-party consultants who may lack the same level of familiarity or focus.
Bottom line? A great business analytics partner helps you get up and running faster, and ensures you’re getting full value from your investment.
Final Thought: From Data Chaos to Confident Decisions
Modern BI isn’t just about reporting — it’s about reshaping the way your manufacturing organization thinks, plans, and responds. The combination of a solid data hub, rich analytics, flexible delivery, and AI-readiness gives you the agility to stay ahead in today’s dynamic environment.
If your current business analytics and reporting tools feel like they’re falling short, it may be time to consider a modern alternative.
Discover how a modern analytics and reporting application like Silvon Stratum is uniquely positioned to deliver enterprise-grade insights without enterprise-level overhead.
View the Stratum Explainer Video
Contact Silvon at:
info@silvon.com
(800) 874-5866