Business intelligence
(BI) allows your organisation to track, understand, and manage
vital business information. According to Gartner, Business
Intelligence is the top priority for IT Managers for
2008. Increasingly, business intelligence is assuming
a strategic role as more organisations look for ways
to tap into the valuable data stored in their operational
systems.
Despite the clear benefits of BI solutions, there
are many crucial areas to consider when implementing
a BI solution.
It is critical that all stakeholders are aligned and
support a BI initiative. The owner must champion the
BI initiative throughout the organisation, where the
organisation may be a department, a division, or the
entire enterprise. The champion, in conjunction with
a chosen supplier, needs to interview all relevant
stakeholders to ascertain and document true information
requirements. An implementation can only be successful
if it delivers the information that the organisation
needs to make decisions.
In order for users to have confidence in insights
derived from a Business Intelligence solution, they
must trust the data on which those insights are based.
It is essential that the data used to make intelligent
business decisions is accurate. Most organisations
have a variety of databases and/or data marts storing
their information. Before utilising data for BI, an
organisation must ensure data quality through processes
that control data entry, validation, and auditing.
Once best practices are defined and the appropriate
people are in place, the organisation must choose a
BI vendor and application. Questions to ask include:
- Does the vendor offer a complete BI platform?
Excellent benefits can be realised by standardisation
on a particular
platform. Organisations can attain deeper business
insight and a 360 degree customer view by eliminating
information silos and integrating data across
business functions. In addition, cost reduction can
be realised
across administration, training, implementation
and support by utilising a single platform.
-
Does the BI platform support all the requirements of
the BI initiative – now and in future
development?
- Are the tools intuitive and easy to use,
both for IT and end users?
- Can the tools easily connect to disparate
data sources, and extend across multiple applications?
- Can the solution scale quickly without
affecting performance?
- What are the cost implications in terms
of implementation, support, training etc.
When using a BI implementation partner to assist with
implementation it is also vital to check the supplier
credibility.
- Does the supplier have both a technical
and business understanding of your requirements?
- What customer references does the supplier
have for your industry?
- Can the supplier provide a full range of
services, from risk management and identification
to
implementation, training and ongoing support?
Business intelligence is increasingly demonstrating
real value to organisations that have already invested
in enterprise applications and are required to demonstrate
good corporate governance. Real competitive benefits
can be obtained by not delaying the decision to invest
in a BI solution now. Business intelligence allows
business users to obtain a 3600 degree of customers,
suppliers, competitors and internal processes, allowing
decision makers to drive efficiency and show improvements
where it matters the most…the bottom line.
Contact ASYST Intelligence today to discover how you
can leverage your information assets. |