Deploying Business Intelligence

Competitive/Business Intelligence Systems

What is BI?

• Transforming disparate data into information that is accessible, timely, meaningful, & actionable

• BI is synonymous with past applications:– Decision Support Systems (DSS)– Executive Information Systems (EIS)– Multidimensional modeling (E.F. Codd circa 1990s)

BI is an Iterative Process

BusinessIntelligence

ANALYSIS

INSIGHTACTION

MEASUREMENT

What Questions can BI answer?• Where are we?

– What were our sales this month?

• Where are we going?– Are our sales trending up or down?

• Why is this happening?– Why are sales going down?

• What is going to happen in the future?– Forecasting / What If analysis

• How can I plan for the future?– Planning / Goal Setting

Where is BI utilized?

Operations

• ERP Reporting/Analysis• KPI tracking• Maximizing profits• Risk Management• Activity Based Costing• Logistics

Customer Relationships

• Sales forecasting• Segmentation• Cross-selling• CRM analysis• Campaign planning• Customer profitability

Major BI/OLAP Vendors• Oracle OLAP• SAP BW• MS-SQL Server & Analysis Services• Hyperion Essbase/IBM• Microstrategy• Business Objects• IBM-COGNOS

Current State of BI Industry

• Microsoft has entered the market• ERP vendors are offering BI tools• Web deployment is CSF for all BI vendors

However,• Successful BI deployment requires collaboration between IT &

business users• Most BI deployment problems revolve around people & process

issues – not tool selected

BI Design Considerations

• Project Scope (phased approaches typically fare better

than massive scale)

• Buy-in must exist on the part of IT & business

• Design must be focused on needs of business users

• User expectations must be managed

BI Design Considerations (cont.)• Source data

• Does access to data exist?

• How many sources/what platform types of data exist?

• Does BI initiative include DW?

• What data definition issues exist?

• What data cleansing / transformation issues exist?

• Who is responsible for cleansing / transforming data to useable state?

BI Design Considerations (cont.)

Reporting vs. Analysis Needs

– Entirely different functions– Each involves different user audience– Each requires different BI tool– Each requires different source data– Each requires different design approach

BI Design Considerations (cont.)

OLAP / Multidimensional Cubes– How many to build?– What should be included in each? (breadth & depth)– Who will receive?– What security levels should exist?– What are cube update considerations? (when, how frequent, time

length of update)– What are end-user performance issues?– What is process for modifying / augmenting cubes?

BI Design Considerations (cont.)

Other OLAP Considerations– What dimensions? How many?– What time dimensions?– What levels in hierarchies?– What measures? How many?– What pre-built calculations and/or summaries should be created?

The Business Case for BIAbove all else, BI must have a strong business case to succeed.

Business Case must show that:

• BI can deliver high business value to involved stakeholders• Benefit of BI can cross functional boundaries• Benefit of BI can cross organizational boundaries• BI can offer measurable short term ROI, as well as long-term ROI

The End.