Knowledge Advantage and the Leap of Faith by Dave Underwood, July 2006

1
Knowledge Advantage and the
Leap of Faith by Dave Underwood, July 2006

• A University of Adelaide joint initiative from
  the
• Office of Planning and Quality and
• Information Technology Services

2
On the importance of good decision-making

• Virtually everything in business today is an
  undifferentiated commodity except how a company
  manages its information. How you manage
  information determines whether you win or lose.
  -- Bill Gates

3
About the Knowledge Advantage

• LIFE IMPACT is about providing an environment
  that encourages participants to excel
• KNOWLEDGE ADVANTAGE is about using the right
  information to make decisions that build future
  success providing the right ingredients to
  encourage excellence

Decision-makers should not have to seek out
information and then manipulate it. Information
should be delivered to them in a form that
reflects their needs and the needs of the
business.
4
Demystifying the jargon

• DATA WAREHOUSE is an integrated decision support
  database environment that delivers business
  knowledge to support organisation strategy.
• Or, in English, a single source of the truth.
• BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE is the processes,
  technology and services used to deliver better
  decision-making.

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The underlying truth
?

• Data Business Rules Information

QUALITY (Data Business Rules) Information
POP QUIZ The dedicated commitment to data
quality in my organisation is currently ??? FTEs
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Products and Services

• Consulting to support strategic planning, quality
  assurance and evaluation activities in the
  University
• Delivery of crucial corporate business knowledge
  and decision-support through quality information
  management services
• Provision of reliable, cost effective and
  relevant technology to support the delivery of
  agreed services

7
Drivers

• University of Adelaide Operational Plan,
  specifically Information Management and
  Information Technology strategies
• Information Planning and Policy Framework (IPPF)
  recommendations
• Institutional
• Learning and Teaching
• Planning and Budgeting
• Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA)
  action plan
• Government requirements, including the emerging
  Research Quality Framework (RQF)

8
Supporting References

• Data Management vision
• Collaborative effort
• Dedicated technology profile
• Quality environment
• Proactive culture
• Knowledge register
• Data Management Workplan, 2006-2007
• Data Quality and the Data Asset A roadmap to
  success
• Solving Data Quality Issues for the Data Warehouse

9
On the importance of good methodology

• Knowledge organised in a discipline does a good
  deal for the merely competent it endows them
  with effectiveness. It does infinitely more for
  the truly able it endows them with excellence.
  -- Peter Drucker
• Most companies use the Sinatra Methodology,
  where everyone does it their way.
  (observation)

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Governance and Leadership

• Joint sponsorship
• Executive Director, Student and Staff Services
• Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost
• Data Management Project Steering Committee
  provides strategic guidance and management
  representation across the institution
• Office of Planning and Quality (OPQ) and
  Information Technology Services (ITS) are
  business partners providing leadership and
  project-based management

11
On the importance of appropriate technology

• It is not what it is but what it does that the
  customer buys.
• Some grasp technology as a drunk grasps a
  lamppost for support and not illumination.
  -- Howard Exton-Smith

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Technology

• Web-based delivery of knowledge, products and
  services through a centralised Enterprise
  Information Centre
• Secure, high performance architecture promoting
  flexibility
• Commoditised, portal-style environment that
  encourages analytical excellence through a
  focused set of business-driven services

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On the importance of user involvement

• 75 of implementation delays are due to
  misunderstanding of requirements resulting from
  inadequate user involvement. (U.S. survey
  statistic)
• Without good, constant input from the business,
  data warehousing is an excellent way to deliver
  fast access to poor quality decision-making.

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Contributing Roles

• Office of Planning and Quality make sure the
  right information is provided in the corporate
  best interests
• Information Technology Services provide
  effective product and service delivery
• Data custodians and stewards make sure
  (corporate) information is accurate, reliable and
  relevant
• Faculty managers and decision makers recommend
  the right information for decision making
• Stakeholders and sponsors set priorities,
  provide resources, manage the culture

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The Story So Far

• January 2002 Central strategic Office of
  Planning and Quality established.
• March 2003 Data Warehouse Project Charter
  published and rarely referred to again.
• September 2003 Proof of Concept scrapped
  production pilot commenced.
• December 2003 First Data Warehouse product
  delivered.
• 2003 Web-driven centralised information and
  resource centre established.
• April 2004 Data Quality governance structure
  approved.
• 2004 Enterprise-wide three-tier management
  organisation structure approved institution
  indicators endorsed additional census products
  delivered.
• April 2005 Student Profiling data warehouse
  product delivered.
• 2005 Trained warehouse users top 180 Monthly
  investigations peak at 1,200 User group
  established Value-added decision-support
  services introduced additional resources
  approved.
• February 2006 Staff Profiling warehouse project
  shelved after first stage.
• 2006 More census-driven products delivered,
  including survey intelligence.
• June 2006 Change management and incident logs
  reach critical levels users top 200 monthly
  investigations top 1,500 infrastructure upgraded
  (to ORACLE 10g)

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The Plan

• Two-phase plan underpinned by a collaborative
  effort by OPQ and ITS to deliver strategically
  aligned planning, quality and decision-making
  services
• PHASE 1 includes
• Introduction of a centralised enterprise
  information and planning portal
• Performance measure-driven reporting and analysis
  services
• PHASE 2 includes the evolution of integrated
  decision support services to embrace other major
  business areas of the university

FOR MORE INFO...
Don Longo Director, Office of Planning and
Quality Clive Martis General Manager, ITS
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Confronting the Leap of Faith

• FACT Almost all data warehousing failures are
  attributable to two causes failure to organise
  properly and an inability to deal with cultural
  issues.

• CONCLUSION Decision-making ability can be a
  differentiating asset for todays business, but
  it requires
• Strong, active sponsorship
• Establishment as a corporate business function
  and
• A symbiotic commitment to quality

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Overture, dim the lights

• A live demonstration of the University of
  Adelaides (embryonic) Business Intelligence
  environment