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SiSense – Business Intelligence For Data Wizards

The field of Business Intelligence is all about making data driven decisions. But how do you tell the difference between big data and a big pile of data?

In this episode of Startup Camel we are joined by Guy Boyangu, Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Sisense, “The Robin hood” of business intelligence.

“Every company can collect data, save it on their database, but that’s just a big pile of data. ‘Big Data’ is actually making sense of that data, locating correlations between different dimentions, finding trends and being able to use that data to make informed decisions that improve your business.“

Today, Sisense offers an end to end business intelligence and analytics solution. Delivering data from the database to the analytical application through the distribution of the dashboard in the organisation right down to the individual business user. Their product, the result of years spent in pre funding ‘garage mode’ through several investment rounds and company growth, gives an unprecedented immediacy to the business user. Making valuble information available when its needed most.

Founded straight out of college by Boyango and fellow graduates, the company entered a market that was very different then the one it dominates now. Back then, the BI world worked differently, Guy Boyango explains.

“There used to be a guy responsible for the data flow and a guy responsible for building the dashboards much like applications that he had to deliver to the business user and then the business users added feedback and revisions of the dashboard, eventually projects got stuck because the business user didn’t get the answers they needed . So we asked ourselves, why not give the business user the power? Why cant they add another widget, another KPI another analytical tool? Why do they have to ping pong with their IT guy? Why cant they build their own dashboards?”

In those simple questions lay the premise and the vision of Sisense. To emancipate data and put it where its most useful, in the hands of the business user. A vision as grand as any, but how do you approach it? How do you take a grand vision and shape it into a tangible reality?

If you want to know, here’s a few thoughts by Guy Boyangu and a link to our full interview, filled with Guy’s insights and lessons learned that took him from fresh graduate with an idea to Co-Founder and Chief Architect in one of the biggest BI companies out there.

Lev Kerzhner, for Startup Camel.