Finally, the use of CI should generate measurable business results
. "Measurable" and "results" are key words here: you need to be able to measure the effect of your CI efforts against a variety of quantitative goals (increasing profitability, retention, number of products or services, length-of-time customer, and so on), and there need to be results to measure! CI is more than just analysis it must be actionable, and it must be acted upon to create real results for the business.
In my next post, I'll go over some example of CI and how it can be used in your business.