Elements of success in
Business Intelligence
and data warehousing
DW – the major challenge
Business Intelligence projects (such as CRM, Performance
Measurement, and Balanced Scorecard) are strategic projects
and the potential rewards are high.
Underlying the Bi initiative is
usually a new data warehouse. Data
warehousing
integrates well-known IT skills with new areas and experience has shown
that this can be a
challenge for both the
employees
and the company.
Data warehouse projects are multi-departmental,
often very large and with many diverse interested parties.
Therefore, it
can
be difficult to focus on the essentials
from
the beginning.
Those who overcome the difficulties of a BI project should
expect significant rewards.
Organisation – a critical factor
The goal of Business Intelligence is to provide a holistic
view
of the company by means of
integrated
analysis of
the company’s information.
Politics or a silo culture can destroy a BI initiative.
The
support and involvement of top management
through a strong sponsor
is necessary.
Clearly defined goals and good people management are
fundamental to success.
Our long-standing experience has shown that
management and employees must
have a common
understanding of the purpose and the supporting
technologies
of the BI initiative.
Project structure – respond to the risk
Many Business Intelligence and data warehouse projects have
failed because they
took the
“big
bang”
approach.
Promising too much and taking too long to deliver is lethal.
Success is more likely using an iterative approach,
delivering functionality in a series of short do-able
projects.
The
first
iteration
is rather lean as it focuses on establishing the
infrastructure. Subsequent iterations deliver more
functionality with greater ease.
The focus beneath the surface
Paradoxically, source systems
and their associated data quality receive little focus. It
is easy to be distracted by the more visible aspects of the
BI initiative. Nevertheless, the
quality of the data warehouse solution is critically dependant
on
the quality of
what lies
beneath the surface.
Extraction, Transformation and Loading of source data
require
70-80 per cent of the development effort.
The key to success
In summary, a successful BI / DW initiative depends on
-
the ability to mobilise the organisation
-
a sensible development strategy
-
good planning and
project management
To
ensure the construction of a common data warehouse platform for the
whole company
-
build a team with
the right business and technical skills
-
ensure several
business areas sponsor the BI infrastructure
-
deliver
functionality to end-users that allows them
easy access to integrated information,
which can be used for strategic purposes
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