Self Service Business Intelligence – Decoding the Model

Being a business enterprise in today’s world means working with cutting edge technology and new age business

philosophies. Everything from budgeting to planning to

business information processing and making critical

decisions can now have the assistance of technology to

make it all work. Terms like self servicing business

intelligence aren’t new at all. Your IT department will

surely have made a pitch about these new age software

that can help you get the exact information you need to

take the right decisions. For those who do not fully

understand these systems, this article will explain

everything about them.

The self service business intelligence model is based

upon some simple principles. The idea is using the

available tools and methods to extract, manage and

process business information to fulfil your requirements that will usher you towards making the right choices. Your

IT department will provide you with the tools necessary to manage the information. In some cases, there will be an

involvement of the technical team as well to run the software.

Self service Business Intelligence models require that you first scrutinize your information requirements. You will

have to critically examine every business function and process to determine which information is crucial to decision

making and which doesn’t possess any immediate utility to the user. You can get the right start to the successful

implementation of this BI model if you fully understand your information requirements.

Next comes the task of understanding the user base of the BI model. You need to appreciate the fact that not all

users of these tools will possess the same skill set, data experience and technical maturity for their data analysis,

reporting and usage. Plus there is the aspect of information clearance that you will need to look into. Most self

service BI models come with the capabilities of addressing diverse user types and information requirements. You will

therefore need to spell out the specifics of this aspect of your business information needs and work with your IT

department so that your BI model incorporates these factors.

A similar situation is faced when the potential BI users are stationed across multiple geographical locations. The

migration, integration, transformation and storage requirements of data will differ with changes in location, not to

mention the effects of cultural differences and language discrepancies. These factors too can affect your BI model

and you will need to factor them in when you have it designed for your organisation. Issues like information safety,

integrity and storage backups will also have to be considered.

Business Intelligence is a complex part of enterprise management. It makes you understand and appreciate the

importance of information governance. And to top it all, it helps you acquire all the right titbits of data that you will

need to figure out any situation facing your organisation. Decisions based on a complete understanding of the

environment and all the factors involved tend to be effective and THAT is what self service business intelligence is

all about.

Need more information about BI, be sure to visit BeyondIntelligence.org.