Table of Contents

P1 Examine, using examples, the terms ‘Business Process’ and ‘Supporting Processes’.............................1
File descriptions.............................................................................................................................................2
Data fields.......................................................................................................................................................2
Example..........................................................................................................................................................3
P3 Determine, with examples, what business intelligence is and the tools and techniques associated with it.. 5
Microsoft Power BI........................................................................................................................................6
SAP Business Intelligence..............................................................................................................................7
datapine..........................................................................................................................................................7
MicroStrategy.................................................................................................................................................9
Descriptive Analysis.....................................................................................................................................10
Predictive Analysis.......................................................................................................................................10
Data Mining: Tracking Patterns...................................................................................................................10
Data Mining: Classification..........................................................................................................................10
Data Mining: Clustering...............................................................................................................................10
Data Visualization........................................................................................................................................12
P4 Design a business intelligence tool, application or interface that can perform a specific task to support
problem-solving or decision-making at an advanced level..........................................................................13
P5 Discuss how business intelligence tools can contribute to effective decision-making...........................19
P6 Explore the legal issues involved in the secure exploitation of business intelligence tools...................23
Security Issues..............................................................................................................................................23
REFERENCES:............................................................................................................................................24

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 P1 Examine, using examples, the terms ‘Business Process’ and ‘Supporting Processes’

Safaricom Plc is a telecommunications company in Kenya that offers mobile and fixed internet services, mobile
money, and digital services. The company's business processes and supporting processes are crucial in ensuring
the delivery of quality services to customers.

Business processes refer to a set of activities that are undertaken to achieve specific business objectives. These
processes are essential to the core operations of the organization and are critical to the success of the business.
At Safaricom Plc, some of the business processes include:

1. Customer Acquisition Process - This process involves attracting new customers to Safaricom's services. For
example, the company may use marketing campaigns, promotions, or referral programs to acquire new
customers.
2. Service Delivery Process - This process involves the delivery of Safaricom's products and services to customers.
For example, when a customer purchases airtime or data, Safaricom ensures that the services are delivered to the
customer in a timely and efficient manner.

Supporting processes, refer to activities that enable the smooth running of the business processes. These processes
are not directly related to the delivery of products and services but are crucial to the success of the business. At
Safaricom Plc, some of the supporting processes include:

1. Human Resource Management Process - This process involves recruiting, training, and managing employees at
Safaricom. For example, the company may undertake training programs to ensure that employees have the
necessary skills and knowledge to provide quality services to customers.
2. IT Infrastructure Management Process - This process involves managing Safaricom's IT infrastructure,
including networks, hardware, and software. For example, the company may undertake routine maintenance
activities to ensure that the IT infrastructure is running smoothly.
3. Safaricom Plc, as a telecommunications company, generates and collects vast amounts of data from various
sources such as call logs, customer profiles, network usage, financial transactions, and social media interactions.
This data can be classified into unstructured and semi-structured data types based on their format and
organization.
4. Unstructured data refers to data that has no predetermined structure or format. It does not fit into a database or
spreadsheet format and is often difficult to organize, search, or analyze. Examples of unstructured data at
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 Safaricom Plc include social media posts, customer feedback surveys, voice recordings, and video recordings.
This type of data is typically stored in data lakes or NoSQL databases, and sophisticated algorithms are used to
mine and analyze it.
5. On the other hand, semi-structured data is a type of data that has some level of structure, but not enough to fit
into a traditional relational database format. Semi-structured data is organized in a way that makes it easier to
search and analyze. Examples of semi-structured data at Safaricom Plc include emails, XML files, JSON files,
and log files. This type of data is typically stored in document-oriented databases or in data warehouses, and it
can be processed using tools like Hadoop and Spark.

Dataset

2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Data Repository by Johns Hopkins University
CSSE Updated on 17th March 2020 (12.00 AM in UTC) [1].

Description

This is the data repository for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Visual Dashboard operated by the
Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (JHU CSSE). Also, Supported
by ESRI Living Atlas Team and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU APL).

File descriptions

The files being used for my analysis are:

1. time_series_19-covid-Confirmed.csv – Cumulative number of confirmed cases

2. time_series_19-covid-Deaths.csv – Cumulative number of deaths

3. time_series_19-covid-Recovered.csv – Cumulative number of recovered cases

Data fields

All files have similar data fields.

 Province/State – Province or state of the observation (Could be empty when missing)

 Country/Region – Country of observation

 Lat – Latitude, a geographic coordinate

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  Long – Longitude, a geographic coordinate

 A series of columns representing cumulative cases on each date of the observation in

MM/DD/YYYY starting from 1/22/2020 (when the outbreak began) to 3/17/2020 (latest
update at the time of writing)

Example

Figure 1. First 10 records of the dataset

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 P2 Compare the types of support available for business decision-making at varying levels within
safaricom

Safaricom Plc provides different types of support for business decision-making at various levels of the
organization. The types of support available vary depending on the level of decision-making, the complexity of
the decision, and the data and analytics needs. Here are some examples of the types of support available for
business decision-making at varying levels within Safaricom Plc:

1. Operational Level Support: At the operational level, the focus is on day-to-day decision-making that affects the
daily operations of the company. The support available includes transaction processing systems, business
process management systems, and dashboards. These systems provide real-time data and information about the
operational aspects of the company, such as customer service levels, network performance, and financial
transactions.
2. Tactical Level Support: At the tactical level, the focus is on medium-term decision-making that affects the
overall strategy of the company. The support available includes business intelligence systems, data analytics
tools, and simulation software. These systems provide a deeper understanding of the company's data, market
trends, and customer behavior, which can inform decisions about pricing, marketing, and product development.
3. Strategic Level Support: At the strategic level, the focus is on long-term decision-making that affects the overall
direction and vision of the company. The support available includes executive information systems, strategic
planning software, and decision support systems. These systems provide high-level insights into the company's
operations, financial performance, and market trends, which can inform decisions about mergers and
acquisitions, investments, and partnerships.

P4 Justify, with specific examples, the key features of business intelligence functionality.

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the process of collecting, analyzing, and presenting data to help business leaders
make informed decisions. The key features of BI functionality include data integration, data analysis, reporting, and
data visualization. Here are some specific examples to justify these features:

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1. Data Integration: BI tools collect data from various sources, including internal data sources such as transactional
systems and external sources such as social media and market research reports. For example, Safaricom Plc
collects data from various sources such as mobile network usage, customer profiles, and social media
interactions. The BI tool integrates these data sources to provide a comprehensive view of the company's
operations.
2. Data Analysis: BI tools use various techniques to analyze data, such as statistical analysis, data mining, and
predictive modeling. For example, Safaricom Plc uses BI tools to analyze data on customer behavior, network
performance, and financial transactions. The analysis helps the company identify trends, patterns, and anomalies
that can inform decision-making.
3. Reporting: BI tools provide customized reports that help users visualize and understand data. For example,
Safaricom Plc uses BI tools to generate reports on network performance, customer feedback, and financial
performance. The reports can be customized to suit the needs of different users, such as executives, managers,
and analysts.
4. Data Visualization: BI tools use various techniques to visualize data, such as charts, graphs, and maps. For
example, Safaricom Plc uses BI tools to create dashboards that display real-time data on network performance,
customer behavior, and financial performance. The visualizations enable users to quickly identify trends and
patterns in the data.

P3 Determine, with examples, what business intelligence is and the tools and
techniques associated with it.
Business Intelligence
Definition
Business Intelligence, abbreviated as BI, is a broad term that covers architecture, analytical tools,
database, data mining, data visualization, and methodologies that can help organizations to make more
data-driven decisions. gather and transform raw data into meaningful and useful information used to
enable more effective strategic, tactical, and operational insights and decision-making [2].

The primary objective of BI is to enable interactive access (preferably in real time) to data, which
allows the manipulation of data and provides the managers with the ability to conduct appropriate
analysis. The process of BI is the process of data transformation that starts from data to insights, then to
decisions, and finally to actions.

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Tools

BI tools are applications designed to collect and process huge amount amounts of unstructured
data from internal and external systems, including books, journals, documents, health records, images,
files, email, video, and other business sources to help decision-makers drive business growth [3].

It should be known that BI software makes up a large diverse category of software. Not all tools in
the category can be implicitly compared to each other. These all vary in robustness, integration
capabilities, ease-of-use (from a technical perspective) and pricing.

Microsoft Power BI

Figure 2. Microsoft Power BI workspace

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 Microsoft Power BI is web-based business analytics tool suite specialized in data visualization
that earned a high reputation in several fields. It enables everyone at every level of organization to make
confident decisions using up-to-the-minute analytics. Power BI integrates with other tools, including
Microsoft Excel, so you can get up to speed quickly and work seamlessly with your existing solutions.

This solution offers one of the more affordable options, with a free (but limited) version in
addition to their basic package.

SAP Business Intelligence

SAP BI is an integrated BI software for open client/server system at enterprise level. It provides
several advanced analytics solutions including real-time BI predictive analytics, machine learning, and
planning & analysis. SAP is a robust software intended for all roles (IT, end uses and management) and
offers tons of functionalities in one platform. SAP is named a market leader for BI and analytics
platforms.

Figure 3. SAP Analytics Cloud

datapine

datapine is a robust all-in-one BI platform that allow non-technical users to manage the complex
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process of data analytics. datapine is the BI software that helps BI professionals keep the pulse of your
company in real-time, without requiring exceptional data scientist skills nor a full week of work to dig
out meaningful information. datapine’s BI software for business intelligence professionals allows users
to share and edit dynamic reports with colleagues or investors, and make better data-driven decisions to
bring the business a step further.

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 Figure 4. datapine’s Sales dashboard example

MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy is a BI application that provide robust dashboarding and data analytics at high
speed which help monitor trend, identify new opportunities, boost productivity and more. MicroStrategy
delivers a complete set of enterprise BI and self-service analytics capabilities.

Figure 5. MicroStrategy’s Financial Dashboard example

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Techniques

Descriptive Analysis

Basically, descriptive analysis is the process of analyzing what happened in the past to produce
insightful information for the business. It gives you an idea of the distribution of your data, helps you
detect outliers and typos, and enable you identify associations among variables, thus making you ready
to conduct further statistical analyses. In short, descriptive analysis is insight into the past [4].

Predictive Analysis

On the contrary, if descriptive analysis, by summarizing raw data of past events, provides
insightful information an aggregate level of what is going on in different aspects of your business,
predictive analysis, as its name implies, helps you to anticipates what is most likely to happen in the
future based on prior patterns. It takes historical data and feeds it into a machine learning model that
considers key trends and patterns. The model is then applied to current data to predict what will happen
next [4].

Data Mining: Tracking Patterns

It is one of the most fundamental techniques used in data mining. It involves identifying the
pattern of data usage and monitoring trends in data to make intelligent inferences about business
outcomes. The recognition of pattern in dataset is usually based on some aberration in your data
happening at regular intervals, or an ebb and flow of a certain variable over time [5].

Data Mining: Classification

In data mining, classification refer to the process of categorizing different sets of data into
different classes. Data classification is a complex technique involving collecting and analysing various
attributes associated with different types of data so that they can be classified into discernible categories
for drawing further conclusions, or serving specific function.

Data Mining: Clustering

Clustering is similar to classification in many ways, but it relies more on visual approaches to
understanding data. This technique involves grouping sets of data together based on their natural
similarities [5].

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 The prior difference between classification and clustering is that classification is used in
supervised learning technique where predefined labels are assigned to instances by properties, on the
contrary, clustering is used in unsupervised learning where similar instances are grouped, based on their
features or properties.

Data Visualization

Another critical element of data mining is data visualization. It is the process which grant users
insightful information in a well-sophisticated presentation. Data visualization help users to understand
their data in a simpler way like graphical representation, charts, images, or animation. Dashboards are a
powerful way to use data visualizations to uncover data mining insights.

P4 Design a business intelligence tool, application or interface that can perform a specific task to
support problem-solving or decision-making at an advanced level.
Instead of any of the above BI tools, I used Python, a programming language, to visualize the
chosen dataset. Below are some graphical charts I created with the support of some Python libraries that
are very useful and common in data science such as numpy, mathplotlib and sklearn [6].

Figure 6. Number of confirmed Covid-19 cases over time

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 Above is a line chart illustrating how dramatically the number of coronavirus cases has increased
over time since 22nd Jan 2020. It almost peaked at a total of 200,000 case on 17th March 2020 (latest
updates).

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 Figure 7. Mortality Rate of Covid-19 over time

Above is another line chart displaying the mortality rate, or death rate, of the new virus over time over
time since 22nd Jan 2020

Below is the total number of confirmed cases in China and outside China.Figure 8. Total number of

confirmed cases

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 Outside Mainland China: 116,088 cases
Mainland China: 81,058 cases
Total: 197,146 cases

Figure 9. Total Deaths by Country

The total of deaths due to the new coronavirus in 10 countries with the most confirmed cases.
Below is a bar chart representing the death rate in those countries.

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 Figure 10. Mortality Rate by Country

Using the SVM (support vector machine) model to analyse the data, I was able to make a prediction of
the number of coronavirus case in the near future. The purple line in the figure below is my prediction
in the next 7 days, which peak approximately at 250,000. It means that I predicted there will be almost
250,000 case on 22nd March 2020.

Figure 11. Coronavirus Cases - SVM Predictions

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P5 Discuss how business intelligence tools can contribute to effective decision-making.
In the new Digital Era, the way decisions are made in businesses has changed drastically at a
revolutionary scale. A vast amount of unstructured data is created every day by every organizational
operation and the effective collecting, managing, analysing and exchanging of this raw data reveals the
way to the “holy grail” of strategic management, the desirable competitive advantage, called Business
Intelligence.

There many BI tools available on the market that are developed to support the effective decision
making. Some of the functions of BI that assist the decision making process are evaluating using
dashboards and reports, separate components that are hardly related, increase the coherency between the
tools, selecting and implementing using ad hoc query, what-if and forecasting, designing and analysing
using interactive analysis and data mining, collecting information using dashboards and reports [3].

Figure 12. Business Intelligence's benefits

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 Decision-making is daily procedure that every business has to deal with, however, when in the
position of making new decisions, the person who is responsible for making decision often need
information to back up the reasoning for their choice. Business intelligence helps in decision making
due to the multiple powerful elements it entails. These include interactivity, data visualization,
database

connection, mobile business intelligence, predictive analytics, application integration, and ad hoc
reporting [7].

Below is some of the ways how BI tools can contribute to the decision-making process.

Predictive analysis – By collecting historical data, BI tools can exploit patterns to identify risks
and opportunity. Models capture relationships among many factors to allow assessment of risk or
potential associated with a particular set of conditions, guiding decision-making for candidate
transactions [citation frank coker]. These analytics helps the company make proactive and more
informed decision-making

Data visualization – BI tools provide the organization with the ability to produce an effective and
concise description of raw data available, which may suggest possible explanations of hidden patterns in
the data and lead to a better understanding the phenomena to which the data refer. Data visualization,
therefore, offer valuable insights resulting in better decision-making process.

In the case of the new coronavirus, BI also can improve patient care and facilitate quality
performance and safety analyses. Through collecting and analyzing evidence for clinical decisions
making, BI help enhance results of patient care and allow doctors to better monitor and forecast patient
diagnoses. With the complete history of the outbreak, predictive analysis (see Figure xxx) enables
healthcare institutions (e.g. WHO) to anticipate potential cases to quickly perform a countermeasure.

For example, using Python I have created of a bar chart displaying the total number of confirmed
cases in 10 countries with the most confirmed cases (see Figure 13 below).

Figure 13. Confirmed cases by Country

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 Instead of completely closing border, which might result in severe damage to the economy of the
nation, using the information interpreted from the chart above, the Government of Vietnam can identify
which countries has the most confirmed cases so that they can enforce an emergency law that
specifically bans people who come from those countries from entering Vietnam.

Moreover, by collecting historical data, BI tools can exploit patterns that help scientists make a
prediction of the total prediction of the number of coronavirus case in the near future (see Figure 11
above). From that information, scientists from all over the world can evaluate how dangerous the new
virus is and then come up with a solution to deal with this circumstance.

For instance, the number of total confirmed cases outside China is predicted to exceed 500,000 on
3/31/2020, based on data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the economy of the
world will have to suffer from serious damage.

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P6 Explore the legal issues involved in the secure exploitation of business intelligence tools.
Security Issues

As well as any digital things, the BI tools that are used for the effective decision making are also a
type of software, which means that they are also threatened by cybersecurity attacks. The analysis
information and Bl data is no longer an unstructured 1 and 0, but very sensitive and easily
understandable information that makes it even more useful for hackers. The fiscal damages induced by
cyber security breaches can cripple or altogether destroy a business [8].

Whenever private data is accessed, security becomes a concern. Data breaches, location-based
services, cloud computing and regulatory changes force organizations to review and revise their current
privacy policies.

Regarding security, it is the following issues that are most pertinent and pressing.

Neglecting Proper Configuration – BI tools are designed with the ability to customize to fit an
organization’s needs. However, firms usually overlook the critical effect that properly configuring
security settings has.

Outdated Security Software – Security software update is a basic technology management practice
and a mandatory step to protect large data. The software is developed to defend against known threats.
This means that no new malicious code that reaches an outdated version of the security software will be
detected [10].

Third-party Entry – As businesses continue to raise their defense system to protect the core values
of their business, cybercriminals start to look for the path of least resistance. Many of these attackers are
finding it in vulnerable supply chains where risks aren’t completely understood.

Insider Threats – Business Intelligence is a powerful tool, and with power comes responsibility, so
if the power falls into the wrong hand it can cause catastrophe. In addition, insider threats are not always
malicious action from employees, they could also be accidents caused by well-intended actions that go
wrong. Better employee education and training is a wise investment to counteract these insider threats
[9].

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REFERENCES:
[1] CSSEGISandData (2020). Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases, provided by JHU CSSE. [online]
GitHub. Available at: https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2023].

[2] Saswade, I. (2015). Business Intelligence - Concept, Tools and Techniques. [online] Linkedin.com.
Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/business-intelligence-concept-tools-techniques-
ishwar-saswade [Accessed 16 Mar. 2023].

[3] Atwah Al-ma’aitah, M. (2013). The Role of Business Intelligence Tools in Decision Making
Process. International Journal of Computer Applications, 73(13), pp.24–32.

[4] BRINKMANN, B. (2019). Comparing Descriptive, Predictive, Prescriptive, and Diagnostic

Analytics. [online] Logi Analytics. Available at: https://www.logianalytics.com/predictive-
analytics/comparing-descriptive-predictive-prescriptive-and-diagnostic-analytics/ [Accessed 26
Feb. 2023].

[5] Guru99.com. (n.d.). Data Mining Tutorial: Process, Techniques, Tools, EXAMPLES. [online]
Available at: https://www.guru99.com/data-mining-tutorial.html#11 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2023].

[6] Bian, X. (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19) Visualization & Prediction. [online] kaggle.com.
Available at: https://www.kaggle.com/therealcyberlord/coronavirus-covid-19-visualization-
prediction [Accessed 1 Mar. 2023].

[7] Coker, F. (2014). Pulse: Understanding the Vital Signs of Your Business. Ambient Light
Publishing, pp.30, 39, 42.

[8] Information Security Buzz. (2016). Cyber Security + Business Intelligence = Cyber Business
Intelligence. [online] Available at: https://www.informationsecuritybuzz.com/articles/cyber-
security-business-intelligence-cyber-business-intelligence/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2023].

[9] bi-kring.nl. (2019). The 4 major cybersecurity threats to business intelligence. [online] Available
at: https://bi-kring.nl/29-business-intelligence/1026-the-4-major-cybersecurity-threats-to-business-
intelligence [Accessed 1 Mar. 2023].

[10] Sowells, J. (2017). Understanding Business Intelligence and Data Security. [online]
Hackercombat.com. Available at: https://hackercombat.com/understanding-business-intelligence-
and-data-security/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2023].

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