---
title: "Business Intelligence Dashboards: Moving Beyond Descriptive Analytics"
description: Learn how business intelligence dashboards can move beyond historical reporting with predictive analytics and data-driven decision making.
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# Business Intelligence Dashboards: Moving Beyond Descriptive Analytics
Jenn Atlas | 1/18/2022
Topics: [Featured Article](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog/tag/featured-article), [Data Analysis](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog/tag/data-analysis), [Business Intelligence](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog/tag/business-intelligence)
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Most business intelligence dashboards tell you what happened. But if you want to understand why it happened—or predict what will happen next—you need more than traditional dashboards. Explore how advanced analytics can transform business intelligence into a true decision-making tool.
## what are bi dashboards?
Business intelligence (BI) [dashboards](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog/from-data-to-decisions-with-minitab-dashboards?hsLang=en) are a visual reporting tool that helps organizations monitor key metrics, identify trends, and support data-driven decision making. They have been around since the 1970s, and you can find them in almost every business.
Well-designed dashboards can be used by everyone, and the interpretations and insights are meant to improve decision making for all data professionals, particularly those in management. A dashboard that is designed well not only educates and informs, but when appropriate, sparks discussions and ideas. While access to technology has improved, sadly the content hasn’t.
## the limits of traditional bi dashboards
Over 99% of BI dashboards are designed to gather and sort *historical data* and provide a view of what has already occurred. While it is important to differentiate fact from opinion or anecdotal evidence, [predictive analytics](https://www.minitab.com/en-us/products/minitab/predictive-analytics-module/#tabs-dcd8ff5ccd-ngy4ch0pav-tab-1) can take businesses so much further in decision-making and process improvement.
Traditional BI dashboards mainly produce *descriptive statistics*, answering the question "What happened," but not "What should we do?" Some examples of descriptive statistics include Revenue by Product, Sales by Region, Sales Volume by Product—all very useful bits of information that tell you where to look for *more insight or* *raise questions* to further investigate your data.
* BI dashboards continue to have a significant impact in today's business. *
## how can bi dashboards be improved?
For years, we’ve been hearing from technology research companies about how predictive and prescriptive analytics are going to fundamentally change the way we make business decisions. Yet here we are in early 2022, and while our business dashboards are giving us stunning views, the majority are still only of the rearview mirror. But there is good news. We can do better - today!
Think about what you could do with the answers to these questions, easily accessible within your business dashboard:
- *What are the key drivers of Customer Satisfaction?*
- *What are the forecasted sales for the next 3 quarters?*
- *What percentage of orders are at risk of missing their delivery deadlines in the next week?*
- *Is the time to process orders stable over time?*
**
* Minitab's latest analytics solution empowers users to take advantage of true analytics dashboards on a single platform. *
## minitab is moving from descriptive to predictive analytics
Minitab is the only company to leverage advanced analytics—including statistics—to power dashboards today.
Meet[ Live Analytics Powered by Minitab®](https://www.minitab.com/en-us/live-analytics/?utm_campaign=Global_Live_Analytics&utm_source=HubSpot&utm_medium=Minitab%20Blog), our latest solution built to empower all data professionals with the ability to easily create and incorporate [statistical analysis](https://www.minitab.com/en-us/solutions/analytics/statistical-analysis-predictive-analytics/) into powerful [visualizations](https://support.minitab.com/en-us/connect/dashboards/asset-library/data-visualizations/).
## key benefits of using minitab live analytics
- Real-Time Analytics: automated, live analytics can help you deliver more advanced analyses quickly and on a convenient and shareable platform
- Interactive Graph Builder: instantly visualize, create, and explore your insights while seamlessly switching from one graph to the next without re-running your analysis
- Heatmaps: visualize the impact of many categories on a numeric value to deal with larger datasets, and identify patterns or detect extreme values quickly
Allow your BI dashboard to move beyond the restrictions of historical data and embrace predictive analytics, instant visualization, and data-backed decisions with Minitab.
### 💻 Ready to Learn More?
Watch our [on-demand webinar](https://info.minitab.com/en/resources/webinars/live-analytics-beyond-ordinary-business-intelligence-dashboards?hsLang=en) to uncover how automated, real-time analytics can help you deliver more advanced analyses on a convenient and shareable platform.
[](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/3447555/a6407f05-040d-451c-994f-93423b003fdf)
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