A "General" History (Part One)

BI as it exists today grew out of the automated data processing revolution of the late 20th century. “Data” are simply facts about anything that interests us. We “process” the data in different ways and for different reasons, as we’ll discuss later. Before automated tools like computers were common, we were limited in how and how much data we could process.

In the Old West of United States history, the most common type of retail outlet, especially in small towns and outlying areas, was the “general store.” The general store was a one-stop shop for the staple items of the day. The salesperson that worked behind the counter may very well have owned the store. When you bought something, say a pound of coffee, the salesperson/owner would write the details of the business transaction down in a ledger. These might include who you are, what you bought and how much, as well as what you paid or (if you were fortunate enough to have a line of credit) what you owed. It was all done by hand with a pencil, but it was still data processing, and in the slower days of old it was more than sufficient.

Jones, B., one lb. Coffee @ $ .01 – Paid in Full

Our general store owner had all the business intelligence he needed. He likely knew all of his customers by name, except for the occasional drifter with a fancy six-gun rig (but that’s another topic, not to mention another genre). He knew exactly what his financial position was by checking his cash box. If he wasn’t sure about his inventory status he just checked the storeroom out back.

Next time: The modern age of BI.