Abstract: Business Intelligence (BI) is unanimous considered the art of gaining business advantage from data; therefore BI systems and infrastructures must integrate disparate data sources into a single coherent framework for real-time reporting and detailed analysis within the extended enterprise. Also the solution to a business problem is a process that includes business intelligence, BI, by itself, is rarely the complete solution to the problem. Therefore, BI tools must understand the process and how to be part of it.
In Romania, the growth potential for the BI market is very high, with lot of opportunities and interest determined by the crisis itself, even if IT budgets had many corrections suffered. The greatest restriction that limits the adoption of a BI solution is not the technology, but the existence of a limited organizational culture. Subordinated to performance management, Business Intelligence approaches help firms to optimize business performance. Looking inside the business and at the environment in which they operate, managers are able to fundament the most productive and profitable decisions.
Some practice examples will be subject of the debate. Based on the company’s information assets, the Business Intelligence value chain represents a „From DATA To PROFIT“ approach and is recommended to ground any performance management program.

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Currently, professor Mihaela I. Muntean is the chair of the Business Information Systems Department at the West University of Timisoara and an IT independent consultant. With a background in Computer Science and a Ph.D. obtained both in Technical Science and in Economic Science (Economic Informatics), professor Mihaela I. Muntean focused her research activity on topics like information technology, knowledge management, business intelligence, business information system. Over 70 papers in indexed reviews and conference proceedings and the involvement with success in 8 multi-annual national research grants/projects are sustaining her contributions in the research fields mentioned above.