Charting the Path to Real Business Intelligence

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Charting the Path to Real Business Intelligence

• How to Achieve Information Impact

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Watch your step
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What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

• Leveraging information assets within key business
  processes to achieve improved business
  performance
• For the private sector, efforts are generally
  focused on increasing Profit and realizing a
  positive Return on Investment (ROI)

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Examples of real BI

• U.S. airline company near bankruptcy in the 1990s
• 30 million investment in BI to
• Improve business processes
• Improve customer service
• In six years reaped 500 million return on
  investment
• ROI of over 1,000 percent!

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Examples of real BI (cont.)

• Manufacturer of computer hard disk drives
• Annual sales of over 3 billion
• Uses BI to better manage
• Inventory
• Supply Chains
• Product Lifecycles
• Customer Relationships.
• Reduced operating costs by 50 percent

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Examples of real BI (cont.)

• Major retailer of computer equipment and software
• Uses BI to analyze its sales trends
• ROI of over 6 million in the first phase of the
  project

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So Why Do Some Have a Head Start?
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The Problem

• The definition of BI is not understood
• Even if the organization gets it
• the definition
• It doesnt know how to get it
• leverage information to realize improved business
  performance
• Organizations resist the change needed to achieve
  the business reward

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BI Maturity - Changing Information Usage
Stage 3 Changed Information Usage Paradigms
Across Enterprise to Leverage BI
Information Fully Integrated into Business
Stage 2 Changed Information Usage Paradigms in
One or More Functions to Leverage BI
Building and Using Information Assets
Stage 1 No Change to Information Usage Paradigms
Improved / Focused / Custom Reporting
Stage 0 No DW / BI Experience
Status Quo
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BI Maturity and ROI
Stage 3 Highest ROI Optimize information usage
at enterprise level
Enterprise Gains
Stage 2 High ROI Potential Optimize information
usage at business level
Departmental Gains
Stage 1 Limited ROI Improve user access to same
information
Individual Gains
Stage 0 Status Quo Inadequate information access
No Gain
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Following the Evolution
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Stage 0 - Status QuoInadequate Information
Access

• Characteristics
• Usually IT-driven initiative
• Little, if any, common understanding of business
  purpose
• Emphasis is on faster/better data access
• Focus is on What data will be delivered

Is your organization stuck here?
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Stage 1 Limited ROIImproved User Access to
Same Information

• The Definition of BI is not Understood

Projects oriented around improving access to
information without understanding linkages to
improved business results

• Reports
• Ad Hoc Queries
• Data
• Scorecards
• Dashboards
• KPIS
• Integrated Customer Data

• ? BI

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Stage 1 - No Change to Information Usage Paradigms
Common Risks

• Architecture and Performance problems
• Scope creep
• projects that never get done
• Becomes increasingly hard to justify funding
• ROI?
• Business users dissatisfied
• Low usage of BI applications

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Stage 1 - No Change to Information Usage Paradigms
Common Obstacles Getting to Stage 2

• Lacking Business Leadership
• Organizational Expectations are not Aligned
• Dont know how to Get BI Requirements
• Organizational Bandwidth issues
• Organizational Resistance to Change

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Evolving From Stage 1 to Stage 2Improving your
BI Maturity
Stage 2 Changed Information Usage Paradigms in
One or More Functions to Leverage BI

• Use Business-focused requirements approach to
  develop BI opportunities
• Educate and Inspire
• Find business champion to market BI potential
• Find business pain point that can be addressed
  with new information/process
• Find competitor information on how BI is being
  used
• Prototype the possibilities

Stage 1 No Change to Information Usage Paradigms
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Stage 2- High ROI potentialNew ways to use
information introduced

• Characteristics
• Usually led by business champion
• Departmental project orientation
• New opportunities to use information are
  identified to meet business goals
• Focus on What and Why
• Beginnings of Who, When, Where
• changes in business processes

Or, is your organization here?
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Stage 2- High ROI PotentialNew ways to use
information introduced
Common Risks

• BI success associated with key individual(s)
  rather than organization
• Leadership void if key individual leaves
• Still project level- limited program view
• Stove-piping across organization
• Success in one area not repeatable in other
  business areas

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Stage 2- High ROI potentialNew ways to use
information introduced

• Common Obstacles Getting to Stage 3

• Lacking Business Leadership to Broaden
  Organizational BI efforts
• Personalities and Politics
• Organizational Expectations are not Aligned
• Organizational Bandwidth issues
• Organizational Resistance to Change
• Enterprise Level Financial Investment

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Evolving From Stage 2 to Stage 3Build Upon
Success

• Market potential expanded BI opportunities to
  executives
• Demonstrate current BI capabilities
• Measure and communicate ROI
• Enterprise BI Steering Committee identifies
  high-impact BI opportunities
• Look for / promote / build inter-department
  capabilities
• Use business pain resulting from the lack of
  information integration

Stage 3 Changed Information Usage Paradigms
Across Enterprise to Leverage BI
Stage 2 Changed Information Usage Paradigms in
One or More Functions to Leverage BI
Improving your BI Maturity
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Stage 3- Achieving Enterprise BI

• Characteristics
• Led by Executive Management
• Business Program Orientation
• Enterprise focus on opportunities to improve
  business performance by leveraging information
  assets
• Strategic alignment between BI initiatives and
  business priorities
• Focus on What, Why, Who, When, Where
• Demonstrated ROI associated with BI investments
• Continuous improvement culture- active business
  process change

Or, is your organization here?
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Are We There Yet?
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Concluding Thoughts -BI is About Changing Your
Business to Leverage New Information Capabilities
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Concluding Thoughts - Leveraging BI - How Much Is
Your Organization Willing To Change?
Stage 3 More Pain but - Optimal Gain
Stage 2 Pain with Gain
Stage 1 Some Pain with Some Gain
Stage 0 No Pain No Gain
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Thank You!
Nancy Williams, CBIP, is a vice president and
principal consultant with DecisionPath Consulting
and brings more than 20 years of business and
technical experience to the firm. Nancy
co-authored The BI Pathway Approach, a full
lifecycle BI implementation methodology, has
written numerous articles for leading BI and DW
publications, and presents regularly at TDWI
conferences. Her consulting experience includes
requirements facilitation, business case
development, program planning and logical data
modeling for a wide range of clients in the
commercial and government sectors.
Look for Nancy Steve Williams newly
published book The Profit Impact of Business
Intelligence
Nancy.Williams_at_DecisionPath.com