Security and Integration in Business Intelligence Tools: A Comprehensive Study
Abstract
This thesis examines business intelligence (BI) tools, which are essential for processing and analyzing business data to support informed decision-making and enhance operational efficiency in modern organizations. Our research includes a comprehensive survey focusing on small to medium enterprises to assess BI tools’ adoption, usage, and satisfaction levels. Unlike previous studies, our survey uniquely begins by identifying the evaluation criteria users consider important for BI tools rather than assuming predefined criteria. This user-centered approach led to a two-part survey: Section A collects insights on the general criteria relevant to BI tool evaluation. In contrast, Section B assesses specific BI tools based on the criteria established in Section A. Our research was motivated by a collaboration with Instacart, a leading online grocery plat- form. We identified significant security concerns related to using BI tools to manage sensitive centralized data. In particular, we observed that user management and access control pose substantial challenges in environments where BI tools are shared among multiple users with varying access levels, such as managers and data analysts generating reports from sensitive client data. These challenges are exacerbated by frequent changes in data and users accessing it, which necessitates constant updates to access controls. Through our survey and collaboration with Industry Collabration, we highlight the critical role of security in evaluating and selecting BI tools. We also propose a prototype for a central system designed to address the identified security challenges, ensuring that BI tools remain secure and effective in dynamic environments. This thesis offers practical implications for companies in selecting BI tools, emphasizing security concerns. By providing a user-centered evaluation framework and addressing com- mon security issues, this research aims to enhance BI tools’ overall effectiveness and security, reinforcing their value as indispensable assets for organizations.