Business intelligence is a method of using software programs to analyze huge amounts of electronic data collected by a federal agency or private company. It is increasingly being used to dig through seemingly unrelated data to find relationships that explain events and predict future ones. Executives can then use that information to plan the agency's strategy to meet its mission.
It's impossible for humans to keep track of the numerous terabytes and petabytes of information in many government data warehouses, or to easily identify trends that are lurking behind the numbers. BI, as it's known, uses software programs to sift through the information to find relationships among data sets that otherwise might go unnoticed. The results can help managers determine better ways to operate an organization, improve products or services, identify which strategies are working or not working, or find other opportunities.
Source: CRM Daily, http://www.crm-daily.com