www. impact research 1 enabling decision making through business intelligence: preview of report

www.infotech.com Impact Research 1

Enabling Decision Making Through Business Intelligence:

Preview of Report


Introduction to the Summary Report

Table of Contents for “Enabling Decision Making Through Business Intelligence”:1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology3. What is Business Intelligence?4. BI Adoption Drivers5. Benefits of BI6. BI Success7. Plan8. Implement9. Operate10. Key Conclusions11. Case Studies 12. Glossary of BI Functionalities

This summary report contains sample slides from the full Impact Research Report, “Enabling Decision Making Through Business Intelligence.” The actual report contains 75 slides and provides full analysis and best practices for BI, as illustrated in the table of contents below.


Business Intelligence represents a significant opportunity for the entire organization Business Intelligence (BI) is a set of processes and technologies which provides

consistent, accurate data and analytical tools to meet strategic and operational objectives. The value of BI lies in its ability to manipulate data for the purpose of answering business

questions in a timely fashion. Although larger organizations are the biggest consumers of BI products, demand is

growing in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to secure a competitive edge. Organizations that have already implemented BI have realized both substantial and

immediate strategic and efficiency benefits.

This report on Business Intelligence will:

1. Explain the concept of Business Intelligence.2. Describe its key business and technology drivers and the adoption rates of key functionalities.3. Detail the specific benefits and challenges realized in actual implementations. 4. Provide guidance on how to progress with planning and implementation.5. Offer recommendations as to how to mitigate challenges and realize operational success.

BI improves business decision making by facilitating all aspects of enterprise data and information. Enterprises should explore how BI can help expand strategic planning and operating

capabilities.

Executive Summary


Research Method


Research Method

► The Impact report study is based on the information collected from 201 different organizations.

► 161 IT respondents completed a comprehensive survey and 40 engaged in a detailed interview process.

► All company sizes, major industry segments, revenue brackets, and BI statuses were represented.

Research Method

Organizations by Size

251-500(16%)

501-1000(18%)

1001-5000(28%)

5001+(13%)

1-100(11%)

101-250(14%)

BI StatusNo plans

(16%)

Evaluated. Did not deploy(1%)

Planning(14%)

Piloting(6%)

Implementing(11%)

Upgrading(14%)

Deployed(38%)

Organizations by Industry

Education(3%)

Primary Industry(5%)

Wholesale/Retail(7%)

Government(11%)

Financial Services(10%)

Trans/Utilities/ Comms(13%)

Healthcare(14%)

BusinessServices(16%)

Manufacturing(21%)


What is Business Intelligence?


Business Intelligence (BI) is a set of processes and technologies BI as a process is the consolidation, analysis, and application of business data to assist

business decision making and yield genuine business value (e.g. by providing strategic insight).

BI as a software application consists of a variety of tools that facilitate BI processes by providing better data, more efficiently, to business decision makers (e.g. automated analysis and reporting; real-time snapshots of business performance; analytics).

What is Business Intelligence?

BI Process

BI ApplicationFunctionality

Business Decision Making

Data Collection

· Data Warehousing· Data Consolidation

),...,( 21 nxxxfy

Analysis

· Business Activity Monitoring

· Business Performance Management

· Analytical Processing· Forecasting/Prediction· Data Mining· What-If Analysis

Reporting

· Ad Hoc Query/Reporting

· Scheduled Reporting· Information

Visualization· Dashboarding

$

For definitions of functionalities, see the glossary of terms at the end of this document.


BI Adoption Drivers


Resolve data issues to maximize the chance for success with BI

BI Adoption Drivers

BI Implementation Drivers - Business and Technology

16%

24%

38%

25%

47%

40%

32%

41%

47%

65%

44%

53%

55%

39%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Regulatory compliance

Increased competitive advantage

Better executive decision making

Faster process/reporting cycle time

Data consistency

Data integration and/or centralization

Better insight into operations

Signif icant Influence Influence

Data is utilized in every aspect of the business. It plays an integral role in each of the other business objectives.

Only with quality data can BI offer organizations better operational insight and strategic planning advantages over the competition.

Helpful Hint: Avoid the garbage-in, garbage-out data predicament by employing dedicated data quality staff throughout the BI project.


Benefits of BI


BI projects deliver strategic and efficiency benefits

BI Benefits

Strategic Benefits: Improved decision making. Deeper insight into data. Improved customer service. Improved accuracy of predictions. Revenue generation. Fraud detection and prevention.

Efficiency Benefits: Ease of access to information.

Increased employee productivity.

Faster process cycle time.

Streamlined daily workflows and processes.

“Business Intelligence offers accurate information, in the format users want it in, quickly enough to use for making business decisions before the information is obsolete.”

IT Director, Manufacturing

With employees free from onerous manual intelligence gathering, they are able to focus wholly on strategic business initiatives. The benefits of BI are evident across the enterprise.


Plan

Implement

Operate

1. Project Planning

2. Obtaining Buy-in

3. Scope Definition

4. Resourcing

5. Vendor Selection

6. Cleanse,

Pilot, Deploy

7. Gain User

Adoption

8. Operations

9. Governance

Plan, Implement & Operate

Best practices for the planning, implementation and operational steps of BI are covered in the full report.


Sample Case Study


Sales and marketing success achieved through a successful BI deploymentBusiness Intelligence Status

Total Employees 1,500 IT Staff 17

Industry Wholesale/Retail BI Project Cost $200,000

Important Functionalities

Daily tracking of sales data (Dashboards) End-user reporting

Main Drivers Increased efficiency and time savings for IT Better and faster data for the marketing department

Vendor IBM Cognos

OUTCOME OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Top Benefits

IT time savings (1/2 FTE) Marketing team has improved

decision making and is able to do more with less money

The organization has seen an overhaul of its marketing strategy because of the improved data available through the BI solution and is now able to target market its most valuable customer groups. Cognos was chosen as the vendor due to its easy-to-use interface, while full support from the CFO and COO was integral in combating initial user resistance. IT led the BI initiative; however, if they were able to do it all again, they would fully engage the business during the requirements planning process to save from making changes post-deployment.

Top Challenges

Data cleansing was time consuming

Users are not tech-savvy and initially resisted adoption

“There’s a clear benefit that we have now. The (new) marketing plan

has been more successful with the

same number of advertising dollars. That reinforces that:

hey, this data has helped us make better

decisions.”

Case Studies

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