My experience in Business Intelligence:
I am experienced in all facets of the deployment of Enterprise Reporting and Analysis product suites into small and large business environments. I have been a lead consultant though all phases of the pre-sales, implementation and deployment processes. I have worked in these industries: Banking, Insurance, Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Energy, Consumer Packaged Goods, Healthcare, Government, Pharmaceutical, Retail, Publishing and Education.
A simple definition of BI:
BI is the information an organization uses to monitor, report and improve its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This information drives business decisions which dictate how the corporate ship is steered. Some examples of some these indicators are sales, employee expenses, advertising campaign effectiveness, customer service ratings, and the cost of goods sold. Of course all of these indicators go into arriving at the bottom line; profitability. Non-profit organizations and government agencies have adopted similar techniques to boost their effectiveness also.
Types of functions BI tools (software) commonly support:
Reporting, analytics, data mining, business performance management (BPM), online analytical processing (OLAP), text mining and real time alert. Predictive analysis tools can also fall into this group.
Prerequisites for BI:
You need to know what your organization’s KPIs are for the present and have some reasonable estimation for the future (if at all possible). Proper requirements gathering is key, don’t skimp on this area.
Make the software vendors conduct a proof-of-concept (POC) with your data…before you buy!
If you are hiring consultants to do the work make sure you understand exactly what needs to be accomplished and how it will be accomplished. A lot of BI software is easy to implement so look around your own organization for those that may be able to implement your BI program. You may have to have them trained on software specifics and don’t forget to off load some of their present duties so they can work on the BI project. Consider hiring someone like me that has been in every facet of a BI project to lead your organic team…this is a great money saver.
A data warehouse needs to be in place. Of course this data will be massaged to fit the tools and requirements of the BI initiative so even though you may have an outstanding data warehouse expect some changes and/or additions. The data has to have a proper staging area.
Make sure your users receive training in the toolset that is used to deliver BI (Make it mandatory!). I know this is a simple concept but if users are not trained the tools quickly become “shelf-ware” and the project is a waste of money.
There has to be political support from those who “write the checks”. The bottom line is with out political support, the BI initiative will not be successful.
A good consultant will leave the client independent, not dependent.
Contact Information:
Email: steve@stevewilletts.com
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevewilletts