BI Business Requirements - A Framework For Business Analysts

BI Business Requirements

A Framework for Business Analysts

Nancy Williams, VP
DecisionPath Consulting
nancy.williams@decisionpath.com

Copyright DecisionPath Consulting 2011 — All Rights Reserved

BI- What Are We Trying to Achieve?

Business
Business Business Business
Measurement
Information Decisions Actions
& Analysis

In the Context of Business Processes

Management Customer Operating Processes,
Processes, e.g. Processes, e.g. e.g. Manufacturing,
Planning, Budgeting, Marketing, Sales, Order Fulfillment,
Controlling Customer Service Billing

Business Intelligence and
Equals Business Results $$$
Copyright DecisionPath Consulting 2011 — All Rights Reserved 2

Maturing Information Models

Information Requirements- the new BI Paradigm

Traditional Information
Requirements Approaches
Business Intelligence Requirements
Approach
Report layouts
List of Data Elements
What business information do we need?
Query and reporting
specifications For what business analyses?
Oriented around “what” is In support of which key business decisions?
needed, with little business That impact what core business processes?
context To deliver how much business value?
“Build it and they will come” Via what changes to people, processes, and
approach technology


What Do We Need to Do?
Create a BI Strategy- Define BI Opportunities

Identify Risks
Identify Risks Develop BI
Develop BI Leverage BI
Leverage BI
Create a BI
Create a BI Execute via
Execute via
& Change
& Change Program &
Program & for Profit
for Profit
Strategy
Strategy Best Practices
Best Practices
Imperatives
Imperatives Release Plans
Release Plans Improvement
Improvement

• Aligns BI needs with Business
Drivers, Strategies, and
Processes

• Identifies specific
opportunities for using BI to
improve business performance

• Articulates explicit “business
case” for each opportunity


BI Business Requirements Process

Inputs Requirements Activities Artifacts Inputs to Next
Phases
Analytic
Conduct Requirements Interviews, Facilitated Sessions Needs,
Metrics, KPIs
Define Input to
Metrics Analytical Release
Areas Planning

Analytic Needs
Matrix

Identify Document
Reports
Business Terms and
Questions Definitions

Definition of
Terms

Interview Notes Define/ Refine
Facts & Input to Logical
Qualifiers Modeling

Fact/ Qualifier
Matrix

Map to Data
Sources


BI Requirements Preparation

Understanding the Strategic Context- Business Drivers,
Goals, and Strategies
• Private sector
– SEC filings • Public sector
– Annual Report – Many of the same types of
– Business and IT strategic documents noted for Private
plans Sector
– Industry analyses – Agency strategic plans
– Trade association web sites – Agency mission and vision
statements
– Documents that describe
current architecture and – Current and next year
technical environment budgets
– Existing business – OMB documents
plans/justification documents – Relevant public policy
for enterprise applications documentation
– Research to determine
business processes, business
context and key business
processes
– Balanced Scorecard(s)


BI Requirements Preparation

Develop a “Hypothesis” and Prepare Participants

1. Establish Strategic Context and Understanding of Business Drivers,
Goals, and Strategies

2. Determine current, “as-is” information capabilities

3. Develop a working hypothesis regarding new “to-be” BI capabilities that
align with and support business goals and strategies

4. Notify participants about the purpose of interviews/facilitated sessions
and how they can prepare


Facilitated Sessions and Interviews-
Making Connections- Business Alignment

Define Analytical Areas
Business Questions:
Analytical Areas:
Analytic Needs,
What are my sales by region? Metric, KPIs
Sales and Revenue Analysis:
What are my sales by region?
What is the historical average What is our revenue at the
product level? 3. Define
amount paid by claim type? purpose/story
Claims Analysis: for analytical
What is our revenue at the area explaining
product level? What is the historical average
amount paid by claim type? BI impact
opportunities
How many customer service
calls did I get yesterday? Customer Service Analysis:
How many customer service
1. Define themes or calls did I get yesterday? Analytic Needs
“areas for analysis” Matrix
2. Group questions
into analytical
areas 4. Align analytic
needs areas with
business goals


Sample Artifact- Analytic Needs Glossary

Analytic Needs Glossary
Cross-Selling Analysis: Customer Complaint Analysis:

While a business goal exists to increase revenue through While there is an established corporate goal to improve
better leveraging cross-selling opportunities, information is customer satisfaction ratings, there is currently no
currently not available to improve the management of information to quantify or analyze complaints. Currently
current cross-selling efforts. Current cross-selling the only information available is the number of customer
information is limited to counting cross-selling events. calls. It is unclear how many of these calls relate to
Cross-selling analysis will enable managers to analyze the different types of customer complaints.
effectiveness cross-selling pilot programs across the Customer complaint analysis will enable managers to
organization. It will enable managers to adjust messaging, quantify customer complaints over time and to
and customer targets, based on the effectiveness of pilot understand why customers are complaining.
programs. This type of information is critical to achieving Management can then take steps to resolve the
increased cross-selling revenue targets. underlying problems associated with customer
Questions: dissatisfaction expressed through complaints.
1.What is the actual vs. projected cross-selling events and Questions:
associated revenue by pilot by location, by department, by 1.How many customer complaints were their by
time? complaint type by time?
2.Which pilots aimed at the same customer targets were 2.What products/services are associated with the
the most and least effective based by demographic profile? most/least customer complaints? How has this changed
over time?


Sample Artifact- Analytic Needs Matrix

Analytic Needs Matrix

Analytic Needs
Business Goals Cross-selling Customer Customer Customer
Analysis Segmentation Complaint Satisfaction
Analysis Analysis
1. Increase Revenue through
leveraging cross-selling
opportunities.
2. Improve Customer Satisfaction by
reducing customer complaint
levels.
3. Continue to enroll new members by
establishing new channels,
marketing to new demographic
groups.
continued list of goals


Sample Artifact- Fact/Qualifier Matrix

Fact/Qualifier: From Questions to Data

reservations
Revenue
Member-cnt

trips

New-Existing
Response-type
Number-of-trips

reservation

tickets

Response-rates

costs
Number-of-

Average-number-of-

Average-number-of-

Loyalty-level
Correspondence-
Number-of-legs

Tickets-per-

Award-cnt
Facts
Qualifiers

Date A1 A1 A1 A1 A1 A1

Airport (start, A1, A2, A1, A2 A1, A2 A1, A2 A1, A2 A1, A2 A5 A6
A4
destination, transfer)
Brand A1, A2,A1, A2,A1, A2, A1, A2 A1, A2,A1, A2, A6 A7 A7
A7, A8,A7, A8, A8, A9 A7, A8, A8, A9
A9 A9 A9

Period A2, A4,A2, A7, A2, A8 A2 A2, A7 A2, , A5 A6 A7 A7
A7, A8 A8 A8

Airline-type A3

Loyalty-level A7, A8,A7, A8, A8, A9 A3 A7, A8, A8, A9 A6 A7 A7
A9 A9 A9


Sample Artifact- Definition of Terms

Definition of Terms
Example: Define “customer” for a hotel chain

Possibilities include:
1. A customer is a hotel customer
2. A customer is someone who makes a reservation
3. A customer is someone who has had at least one stay at a hotel
4. A customer may be a business or individual who rents a hotel facility
5. A customer is someone who signs up for the hotel loyalty program
6. A customer may not make the reservation; is the person who made the
reservation the customer, or the person who stayed?

Candidate definition:
“A customer is an individual, group, or business who has received one or more hotel
services, including hotel stays, facility rentals, and/or other additional hotel
services, such as spa services. Hotel services may or may not have been paid for
by the customer. A customer does not have to complete a hotel stay to be
considered a customer.”


BI Requirements Alignment and Traceability

Requirements Artifact Summary
Analytic
What are the measurement Needs,
and analytic (information) Metrics, KPIs
need areas of the business?

What specific questions need to be Analytic Needs
answered for each information Matrix
need area?
Traceability

How do these information
Fact/Qualifier
needs map to the business
Matrix
goals?

What facts and qualifiers are
needed to answer the business Business
questions? Requirements
Database
What are the shared definitions
for business specific terms and
Definition of Terms
acronyms?


Additional BI Business Requirements

Requirements
Requirements
Analytic Need

Sourcing and
Data Quality

BI Success
Business

Business
Business

Question
Group(s)

Process

Metrics
Priority

History
Goal(s)

Issues

Notes
Time
User

Loyalty Keep loyal Manage Promotions Daily 3 Years
Marketing customers on-going Monitoring
promotion & Analysis
Reservations &
Reservations &
Expand loyal Info Loyalty Member
Loyalty Member
customer
base tables; Data
tables; Data
This is a business 1 year prior to start of Quality – OK
Quality – OK
Reservations & Revenue Lift,
question. It needs to be promotion, 2 periods after
High 4 lines and should not
Weekly
the end. Use current values
Loyalty Member; Capacity Filled
Quality – OK Lift, …
be readable. for member addresses …

This is a business 1 year prior to start of
Reservations &
High Weekly Loyalty Member; This is a note
What are the measurable
What are the measurable
4 lines and should not
be readable.
for member addresses …
Quality – OK

statistics (member count,
statistics (member count, This is a business
question. It needs to be
1 year prior to start of
promotion, 2 periods after
High Weekly Loyalty Member; Capacity Filled
trips, revenue, tickets,
trips, revenue, tickets, 4 lines and should not
be readable.

reservations) by airport,
reservations) by airport, This is a business
Reservations &
Medium question. It needs to be
4 lines and should not promotion, 2 periods
Weekly
promotion, 2 periods after
promotion, 2 periods
Loyalty Member;
Quality – OK
Program cost in
dollars
This is a note

This is a business
after the end. Use
after the end. Use
Medium 4 lines and should not
be readable.
Weekly
current values for
current values for
Loyalty Member;
Quality – OK
Capacity Filled
Lift, …

This is a business member addresses …
member addresses …
Low 4 lines and should not
Weekly
Loyalty Member; Capacity Filled


From Requirements to BI Opportunities

Analytic Needs,
nts
ire ess
Metrics, KPIs
Business
me
Re Busin

Value
qu

Analytic Needs
Matrix
BI Program
BI
Plan
Opportunity
(Release
Map (Portfolio)
Strategy)
Data Source
nts
ire al

Analysis
qu nic
me
Re ech

Implementation
T

Risk
Technical
Architecture


Developing the BI Opportunity Portfolio

What specific BI project opportunities exist to deliver business value?

High Revenue Supply Chain
Management Analysis

High Risk /
Plums
Business Impact

Reward
Customer
Service Anal. Category
Inventory
Management Management

Easy Wins Why Do It?

Low

Low Risk High


BI Opportunity Checklist

Opportunity n Opportunity Checklist:
What business goals and strategies are in focus?
As is definition:
What information is currently available to support
these business goals and strategies
What business questions can’t be answered and why
is this a problem?
To be definition:
What type of BI capability (provide name) is needed?
How will this BI capability address the business
problem?
What specific business questions need to be
answered?
What business improvement opportunities can be
realized through using this BI capability?
How does this help achieve business goals and
strategies?
How will performance improvements be measured?

Use Requirements to Implement
Business Information Design &
Requirements Development

From Questions to Data Logical Models
Gather Information
Requirements
Prototype
TRACEABILITY

Definition of Terms
Alignment
Design Inputs Transformation Rules
Analytic Needs,
Metrics, KPIs
Reports Design
Analytic Needs Matrix

Development
Fact:Qualifier Matrix


Prototyping- From Opportunity to Design

User Profiles Usage Scenarios Delivery Methods

Business Process:
Customer Service -
Order Fulfillment
Execs and Senior Manage customer relationships
Management Business Activity This data use… Leads to this information…
Dashboards, Scorecards
Look at order fill rate by One set of customers are lower than the
customer average

Business Scenario Compare to target fill rate and We are not meeting target fill rates for these
explore year to date trends customers and service levels have dropped

Explore the orders by product Identify common traits for lower order fill
and location rates (similar products, shipping location,
Middle Management, etc)

Analysts, Power Users Offer promotions to retain these customers
Business Decisions Correct cause of lower fill rates (underestimated sales Reports
forecast, manufacturing problem, distribution center backlog)

Knowledge Workers, How will they use the
Casual Users information? OLAP, Ad-Hoc Query

Who will use the How should the
information? information be
delivered?


Questions and Discussion


BI Business Requirements - A Framework For Business Analysts

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