The desire to analyze data that will drive insights and competitive differentiation is older than computing itself. Digitization just speeded things up. Richard Miller Devens used the term “business intelligence” as far back as 1865. The LEO computer was calculating optimal inventory deliveries based on shop performance and generating management reports for the Lyons’ tea rooms chain from 1951. And the very first edition of CIO magazine, published in 1987, included an editorial on “an increasing cadre of increasingly demanding customers seeking faster access to information”.
