Business intelligence projects are designed to allow organizations to make better long term strategic decisions. In theory, BI allows organizations to collect organize and use data in a manner that increases their market share. However, reality is often different from theory, and this is certainly true in the case of most business intelligence projects.
The Seven Most Important (Non Technical) SharePoint Success FactorsRichard Harbridge
The document discusses seven non-technical factors for successful SharePoint implementations: understanding requirements and limitations, estimating effort accurately, achieving buy-in, determining return on investment, implementing governance, adopting an iterative approach, and improving user adoption. It provides details on each factor, emphasizing the importance of clear expectations, effective communication, governance, and an iterative rollout process to achieve SharePoint success.
Share point fest dallas 7 sharepoint success factorsRichard Harbridge
This document discusses seven non-technical factors for successful SharePoint implementations: 1) Understanding requirements and limitations to avoid failures, 2) Achieving buy-in from IT and decision-makers by explaining costs and value, 3) Determining and communicating return on investment using various analyses, 4) Implementing governance through cross-functional teams and deliverables, 5) Approaching implementations iteratively with communication and support planning, 6) Providing diverse and digestible support resources, and 7) Improving user adoption by demonstrating value through examples. The key is to avoid too broad of scope, carefully manage expectations, and maintain focus on business objectives over time.
Intranet designs guaranteed to engage and inspireInteract
How to create a beautiful intranet design your users will love in five simple steps: brought to life by outstanding intranet design examples from companies including Sony, Travelex, the NHS, Mattress Firm, Piedmont, the NSPCC, and many more.
What to decide before going in for an intranetSridutt YS
A paper on the decisions that you need to make while planning to implement an intranet. There maybe more factors to bear in mind, however, this paper covers the most basic questions that you need to answer.
An ISVs Guide to Building Creative, Next-Gen Apps (October 15, 2014)Salesforce Partners
This document discusses building creative, next-generation apps and provides examples of user-centric design patterns. It outlines modern user expectations and how the Salesforce1 platform enables user-centric design for mobile-first, feed-based apps. Specific patterns covered include adding contextual collaboration, turning interactions into actions, making apps personal, building communities, integrating information seamlessly, and providing insights rather than just data. The presentation concludes with a partner demo and Q&A.
This document discusses project portfolio management (PPM) and addresses five key questions that are important for successful PPM implementation:
1. Are we investing in the right things? - PPM requires prioritizing projects to ensure investments are made in strategic initiatives.
2. Are we optimizing our capacity? - Resources must be optimized across all projects.
3. How well are we executing? - Monitoring project execution and progress is important.
4. Can we absorb all the changes? - Changes in strategic objectives or the business environment may impact the portfolio.
5. Are we realizing the promised benefits? - Expected benefits from projects must be tracked and realized.
The business case is
This document discusses outsourcing and project tracking. It begins with an introduction to outsourcing, noting that outsourcing involves moving work to another source to save costs and resources. It then discusses determining what types of work are best suited for outsourcing, such as IT functions, business processes, and finance. The document also covers deciding what work to outsource, tracking outsourced projects for on-time completion, and building strong relationships with outsourcing partners. Overall, the document provides guidance on evaluating what work to outsource and how to manage outsourced projects successfully.
The Seven Most Important (Non Technical) SharePoint Success FactorsRichard Harbridge
The document discusses seven non-technical factors for successful SharePoint implementations: understanding requirements and limitations, estimating effort accurately, achieving buy-in, determining return on investment, implementing governance, adopting an iterative approach, and improving user adoption. It provides details on each factor, emphasizing the importance of clear expectations, effective communication, governance, and an iterative rollout process to achieve SharePoint success.
Share point fest dallas 7 sharepoint success factorsRichard Harbridge
This document discusses seven non-technical factors for successful SharePoint implementations: 1) Understanding requirements and limitations to avoid failures, 2) Achieving buy-in from IT and decision-makers by explaining costs and value, 3) Determining and communicating return on investment using various analyses, 4) Implementing governance through cross-functional teams and deliverables, 5) Approaching implementations iteratively with communication and support planning, 6) Providing diverse and digestible support resources, and 7) Improving user adoption by demonstrating value through examples. The key is to avoid too broad of scope, carefully manage expectations, and maintain focus on business objectives over time.
Intranet designs guaranteed to engage and inspireInteract
How to create a beautiful intranet design your users will love in five simple steps: brought to life by outstanding intranet design examples from companies including Sony, Travelex, the NHS, Mattress Firm, Piedmont, the NSPCC, and many more.
What to decide before going in for an intranetSridutt YS
A paper on the decisions that you need to make while planning to implement an intranet. There maybe more factors to bear in mind, however, this paper covers the most basic questions that you need to answer.
An ISVs Guide to Building Creative, Next-Gen Apps (October 15, 2014)Salesforce Partners
This document discusses building creative, next-generation apps and provides examples of user-centric design patterns. It outlines modern user expectations and how the Salesforce1 platform enables user-centric design for mobile-first, feed-based apps. Specific patterns covered include adding contextual collaboration, turning interactions into actions, making apps personal, building communities, integrating information seamlessly, and providing insights rather than just data. The presentation concludes with a partner demo and Q&A.
This document discusses project portfolio management (PPM) and addresses five key questions that are important for successful PPM implementation:
1. Are we investing in the right things? - PPM requires prioritizing projects to ensure investments are made in strategic initiatives.
2. Are we optimizing our capacity? - Resources must be optimized across all projects.
3. How well are we executing? - Monitoring project execution and progress is important.
4. Can we absorb all the changes? - Changes in strategic objectives or the business environment may impact the portfolio.
5. Are we realizing the promised benefits? - Expected benefits from projects must be tracked and realized.
The business case is
This document discusses outsourcing and project tracking. It begins with an introduction to outsourcing, noting that outsourcing involves moving work to another source to save costs and resources. It then discusses determining what types of work are best suited for outsourcing, such as IT functions, business processes, and finance. The document also covers deciding what work to outsource, tracking outsourced projects for on-time completion, and building strong relationships with outsourcing partners. Overall, the document provides guidance on evaluating what work to outsource and how to manage outsourced projects successfully.
When it comes to software or technology in general, we’re used to change. We expect – and even demand – regular updates, fresh and exciting features, new releases. In order to remain relevant, it’s vital to stay ahead of the game: and our corporate intranet must do the same. Here are the top demands for your intranet: and the features that deliver on them.
Sophy Chilingarova provides consulting services to help organizations improve business processes, communication, project management, and efficiency. She has experience managing complex projects involving multiple stakeholders and disciplines. Some of her services include analyzing processes, implementing changes, and training staff on topics such as agile planning, communication, and conflict resolution. She has worked with companies in industries like software, urban development, and economic and social issues.
The document provides information about using an iPad for work purposes. It discusses several applications that can be used with an iPad to help with tasks management, currency conversion, translation, and taking notes. These applications allow users to streamline daily business tasks and improve work efficiency by reducing paper-based processes. The iPad functions as a useful tool for both business and personal use.
The document provides guidance on driving adoption of SharePoint within an organization. It recommends defining a clear vision aligned with business goals, starting with simple use cases, and empowering people. The key steps are: engage leadership support; identify relevant use cases to solve business problems; create excitement by explaining benefits; facilitate change by involving users for feedback; empower champions to help others; and measure success to expand use over time. The overall approach is to make SharePoint useful for employees and have them adopt it organically as the way to work together better.
BP305 Show me the money! The value in social businessSasja Beerendonk
Presentation at IBM Connect 2014.
Going through better ways to emasure ROI on social business.
Topics involved are: Measurement principles, Better measures such as: 1-9-90 rule of engagement, Return on Contribution (RoC), Return on productivity, Value of engagement, and Business patterns/use cases
The document discusses the issues that arise from a lack of capacity planning and the benefits of implementing a capacity planning system. Some of the typical pain points without capacity planning are overstretched resources, projects not being completed on time, difficulty prioritizing tasks, and internal conflicts over assigning resources to projects. A capacity planning system provides total visibility of projects, resources, and priorities so that better decisions can be made. It leads to improved forecasting, more efficient workflow, fewer lost opportunities, and reduced staff turnover.
The document provides an overview and guide for selecting mind mapping software. It discusses the benefits of mind mapping software for productivity, creativity and effectiveness. The guide outlines a 4-step process for identifying the right software that includes understanding the business case for mind mapping software, determining feature needs, identifying programs that meet requirements, and selecting software. It aims to help readers understand how mind mapping software can help them be more productive, creative and effective at work.
7 factors responsible for the failure of it projects converted (1)RutujaJagtap19
The document discusses 7 factors that are responsible for the failure of IT projects. These factors include: lack of alignment across the organization, not truly embracing agile frameworks, implementing systems in silos rather than focusing on outcomes, inability to scale as business needs change, lack of IT skills and leadership, not investing in automation, and taking on projects that are too large in scope. Addressing these factors can help organizations avoid IT project failures and better deliver anticipated business value.
How to create and use a project RACI matrixPM Majik
Learn what a project RACI matrix is and how it can help you to define clear ownership for project activities.
Includes a section on how to create a project RACI matrix template and a version that you can download.
The document discusses several key trends in HR technology in 2014.
1. The relationship between clients and vendors is becoming more important as cloud-based solutions require more frequent updates and support. Close collaboration allows clients to better utilize their software investments.
2. Devices are diversifying but the specific device does not matter as much as the ability to access information anywhere at any time. HR systems need to be accessible across all devices and screen sizes through mobile optimization and cloud access.
3. Effective management of relationships with technology vendors and outsourcing partners is important for HR to fully leverage new technologies and get maximum value from investments. Regular communication and clear expectations are essential.
The document discusses the benefits of using business analyst tools and hiring an IT business analyst. It outlines 5 benefits of using such tools: 1) improved accountability, 2) reduced need for manual labor, 3) better communication, 4) streamlined business processes, and 5) faster project completion. It then discusses the role of an IT business analyst in breaking down work, enhancing communication, and providing support to increase business returns. Finally, it provides tips for hiring the best IT business analyst.
This document provides a summary of a presentation on driving employee engagement through enterprise social computing projects. It discusses common reasons why such projects miss their goals, including failing to define why the project is important and what value it provides employees. The document presents a framework for success that begins with understanding why the project is being done, then communicating what employees will gain from it, and finally how to design an intuitive user experience and effective deployment approach. It also shares experiences from social computing projects at New Balance.
In this presentation Jive's Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Morace, discussed how Jive customers are driving real top-line revenue growth and bottom-line cost savings via Jive's collaboration platform.
We are helping our customers:
- Increase workforce productivity by 15%
- Reduce turnover by 24% and improve employee satisfaction
- Increase revenues 2-4%
Learn more about Jive Software: www.jivesoftware.com
The document discusses the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). It outlines three key ways a CIO can add value: 1) Managing costs to free up funds for new investments; 2) Ensuring continued returns on prior IT investments through improvements; 3) Driving organizational change by advocating for new value-adding opportunities. The CIO must balance cost management with maintaining existing systems. Technical skills are important but a background in business processes is most valuable for relating to business needs and finding innovative solutions.
This webinar discussed trends in SharePoint implementations after the initial phase. It found that SharePoint is improving collaboration for most organizations by centralizing information. However, search customizations and usage monitoring are not major focuses in early phases. Common challenges include ensuring central administration, user utilization, participation incentives, and measuring payback. Successful initiatives link SharePoint to business needs, look for other uses as a platform, and focus on change management and user experience.
Analytics is more than "slap on the google analytics tag and we're done". Any good Digital project starts out with a good set of Goals & Objectives...but when was the last time that you measured the result of those goals & objectives? Lean Analytics is about integrating the analytics in the whole process...from the start. In a LEAN way
Workers rely on communication tools to do their jobs effectively. Unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solutions make workers more efficient by enabling instant messaging, presence, conferencing, and other tools. The biggest return on investment from UCC comes from integrating these capabilities into existing business applications like CRM and email systems. Embedding UCC features into the applications employees use everyday improves business processes and enhances productivity.
The 7-step process outlined in the document provides a method for organizations to implement business architecture. The steps include:
1. Creating buy-in and understanding business objectives and culture.
2. Capturing existing business information and using a framework to classify and store it centrally.
3. Connecting different business units and functions by linking related information to improve alignment.
4. Enabling collaboration by making information accessible and usable for employees.
5. Coordinating processes, people and technology to better serve customers.
6. Leveraging the centralized information for governance, risk and compliance activities to reduce costs.
7. Using the business architecture to enable smarter decision making and compete
Deliverable 2 - Using Visuals to Enhance Viewer PerceptionCompet.docxtheodorelove43763
Deliverable 2 - Using Visuals to Enhance Viewer Perception
Competency
Analyze and interpret perceptual elements of visual media communication to identify effective visual messages.
Scenario
You have been hired by a large law enforcement agency to analyze the images used on advertising billboards in both urban and suburban regions. The billboards visually display a new campaign message to improve neighborhood safety.
During your analysis, you find that the images used on billboards in the urban areas are exactly the same as the images used in the suburban areas. Both images show parents happily talking with law enforcement officers while children run over green lawns having a fun balloon fight. You decide that these images are not sending proper perceptual messages. You decide to create a visual analysis video for the law enforcement agency to share with the administration
For the video visual analysis, you realize you will need to find two new images that are quite different from one another. One image will be used on the urban billboard, and the other image will be used on the suburban billboard. In your video presentation, you will compare and contrast how each image utilizes the following:
1. Compare and contrast the visual elements of cultural familiarity. Explain why it is important to use culturally familiar visuals that are quite different in the urban and suburban billboard images. Include specific visuals in your visual analysis.
2. Identify specific visual examples of the following cognitive elements: memories, experiences, and expectation. Compare and contrast how urban and suburban viewers may be affected differently by those specific cognitive visual elements.
3. Explain the difference between urban and suburban viewers' emotionally engagement with each of the billboard images.
4. Identify visual semiotic codes in both images: metonymic, analogical, displaced, and condensed. Discuss the importance of using these codes. Include specific visuals in each part of your visual analysis.
As you outline your ideas for the video, you decide to record your verbal analysis while analyzing the two visuals in less than seven minutes for added clarity.
/
FEATURE
8 common project management mistakes — and how to avoid them
IT executives and certified project management professionals reveal the most common reasons projects get derailed and
what project managers can do to keep them on track.
By Jennifer Lonoff Schiff
CIO |
JUN 28, 2017 3:00 AM PDT
So many projects, so much mismanagement. That's the refrain of many IT executives. Indeed, even with project
management software, IT projects often wind up taking longer (much longer) than planned and costing more than
budgeted.
While no two projects are exactly the same, the issues that can affect — and potentially jeopardize — them are
often quite similar. And even good project managers can make mistakes when wrangling a big, complex project —
or when being bombarded with change requests..
When it comes to software or technology in general, we’re used to change. We expect – and even demand – regular updates, fresh and exciting features, new releases. In order to remain relevant, it’s vital to stay ahead of the game: and our corporate intranet must do the same. Here are the top demands for your intranet: and the features that deliver on them.
Sophy Chilingarova provides consulting services to help organizations improve business processes, communication, project management, and efficiency. She has experience managing complex projects involving multiple stakeholders and disciplines. Some of her services include analyzing processes, implementing changes, and training staff on topics such as agile planning, communication, and conflict resolution. She has worked with companies in industries like software, urban development, and economic and social issues.
The document provides information about using an iPad for work purposes. It discusses several applications that can be used with an iPad to help with tasks management, currency conversion, translation, and taking notes. These applications allow users to streamline daily business tasks and improve work efficiency by reducing paper-based processes. The iPad functions as a useful tool for both business and personal use.
The document provides guidance on driving adoption of SharePoint within an organization. It recommends defining a clear vision aligned with business goals, starting with simple use cases, and empowering people. The key steps are: engage leadership support; identify relevant use cases to solve business problems; create excitement by explaining benefits; facilitate change by involving users for feedback; empower champions to help others; and measure success to expand use over time. The overall approach is to make SharePoint useful for employees and have them adopt it organically as the way to work together better.
BP305 Show me the money! The value in social businessSasja Beerendonk
Presentation at IBM Connect 2014.
Going through better ways to emasure ROI on social business.
Topics involved are: Measurement principles, Better measures such as: 1-9-90 rule of engagement, Return on Contribution (RoC), Return on productivity, Value of engagement, and Business patterns/use cases
The document discusses the issues that arise from a lack of capacity planning and the benefits of implementing a capacity planning system. Some of the typical pain points without capacity planning are overstretched resources, projects not being completed on time, difficulty prioritizing tasks, and internal conflicts over assigning resources to projects. A capacity planning system provides total visibility of projects, resources, and priorities so that better decisions can be made. It leads to improved forecasting, more efficient workflow, fewer lost opportunities, and reduced staff turnover.
The document provides an overview and guide for selecting mind mapping software. It discusses the benefits of mind mapping software for productivity, creativity and effectiveness. The guide outlines a 4-step process for identifying the right software that includes understanding the business case for mind mapping software, determining feature needs, identifying programs that meet requirements, and selecting software. It aims to help readers understand how mind mapping software can help them be more productive, creative and effective at work.
7 factors responsible for the failure of it projects converted (1)RutujaJagtap19
The document discusses 7 factors that are responsible for the failure of IT projects. These factors include: lack of alignment across the organization, not truly embracing agile frameworks, implementing systems in silos rather than focusing on outcomes, inability to scale as business needs change, lack of IT skills and leadership, not investing in automation, and taking on projects that are too large in scope. Addressing these factors can help organizations avoid IT project failures and better deliver anticipated business value.
How to create and use a project RACI matrixPM Majik
Learn what a project RACI matrix is and how it can help you to define clear ownership for project activities.
Includes a section on how to create a project RACI matrix template and a version that you can download.
The document discusses several key trends in HR technology in 2014.
1. The relationship between clients and vendors is becoming more important as cloud-based solutions require more frequent updates and support. Close collaboration allows clients to better utilize their software investments.
2. Devices are diversifying but the specific device does not matter as much as the ability to access information anywhere at any time. HR systems need to be accessible across all devices and screen sizes through mobile optimization and cloud access.
3. Effective management of relationships with technology vendors and outsourcing partners is important for HR to fully leverage new technologies and get maximum value from investments. Regular communication and clear expectations are essential.
The document discusses the benefits of using business analyst tools and hiring an IT business analyst. It outlines 5 benefits of using such tools: 1) improved accountability, 2) reduced need for manual labor, 3) better communication, 4) streamlined business processes, and 5) faster project completion. It then discusses the role of an IT business analyst in breaking down work, enhancing communication, and providing support to increase business returns. Finally, it provides tips for hiring the best IT business analyst.
This document provides a summary of a presentation on driving employee engagement through enterprise social computing projects. It discusses common reasons why such projects miss their goals, including failing to define why the project is important and what value it provides employees. The document presents a framework for success that begins with understanding why the project is being done, then communicating what employees will gain from it, and finally how to design an intuitive user experience and effective deployment approach. It also shares experiences from social computing projects at New Balance.
In this presentation Jive's Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Morace, discussed how Jive customers are driving real top-line revenue growth and bottom-line cost savings via Jive's collaboration platform.
We are helping our customers:
- Increase workforce productivity by 15%
- Reduce turnover by 24% and improve employee satisfaction
- Increase revenues 2-4%
Learn more about Jive Software: www.jivesoftware.com
The document discusses the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). It outlines three key ways a CIO can add value: 1) Managing costs to free up funds for new investments; 2) Ensuring continued returns on prior IT investments through improvements; 3) Driving organizational change by advocating for new value-adding opportunities. The CIO must balance cost management with maintaining existing systems. Technical skills are important but a background in business processes is most valuable for relating to business needs and finding innovative solutions.
This webinar discussed trends in SharePoint implementations after the initial phase. It found that SharePoint is improving collaboration for most organizations by centralizing information. However, search customizations and usage monitoring are not major focuses in early phases. Common challenges include ensuring central administration, user utilization, participation incentives, and measuring payback. Successful initiatives link SharePoint to business needs, look for other uses as a platform, and focus on change management and user experience.
Analytics is more than "slap on the google analytics tag and we're done". Any good Digital project starts out with a good set of Goals & Objectives...but when was the last time that you measured the result of those goals & objectives? Lean Analytics is about integrating the analytics in the whole process...from the start. In a LEAN way
Workers rely on communication tools to do their jobs effectively. Unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solutions make workers more efficient by enabling instant messaging, presence, conferencing, and other tools. The biggest return on investment from UCC comes from integrating these capabilities into existing business applications like CRM and email systems. Embedding UCC features into the applications employees use everyday improves business processes and enhances productivity.
The 7-step process outlined in the document provides a method for organizations to implement business architecture. The steps include:
1. Creating buy-in and understanding business objectives and culture.
2. Capturing existing business information and using a framework to classify and store it centrally.
3. Connecting different business units and functions by linking related information to improve alignment.
4. Enabling collaboration by making information accessible and usable for employees.
5. Coordinating processes, people and technology to better serve customers.
6. Leveraging the centralized information for governance, risk and compliance activities to reduce costs.
7. Using the business architecture to enable smarter decision making and compete
Deliverable 2 - Using Visuals to Enhance Viewer PerceptionCompet.docxtheodorelove43763
Deliverable 2 - Using Visuals to Enhance Viewer Perception
Competency
Analyze and interpret perceptual elements of visual media communication to identify effective visual messages.
Scenario
You have been hired by a large law enforcement agency to analyze the images used on advertising billboards in both urban and suburban regions. The billboards visually display a new campaign message to improve neighborhood safety.
During your analysis, you find that the images used on billboards in the urban areas are exactly the same as the images used in the suburban areas. Both images show parents happily talking with law enforcement officers while children run over green lawns having a fun balloon fight. You decide that these images are not sending proper perceptual messages. You decide to create a visual analysis video for the law enforcement agency to share with the administration
For the video visual analysis, you realize you will need to find two new images that are quite different from one another. One image will be used on the urban billboard, and the other image will be used on the suburban billboard. In your video presentation, you will compare and contrast how each image utilizes the following:
1. Compare and contrast the visual elements of cultural familiarity. Explain why it is important to use culturally familiar visuals that are quite different in the urban and suburban billboard images. Include specific visuals in your visual analysis.
2. Identify specific visual examples of the following cognitive elements: memories, experiences, and expectation. Compare and contrast how urban and suburban viewers may be affected differently by those specific cognitive visual elements.
3. Explain the difference between urban and suburban viewers' emotionally engagement with each of the billboard images.
4. Identify visual semiotic codes in both images: metonymic, analogical, displaced, and condensed. Discuss the importance of using these codes. Include specific visuals in each part of your visual analysis.
As you outline your ideas for the video, you decide to record your verbal analysis while analyzing the two visuals in less than seven minutes for added clarity.
/
FEATURE
8 common project management mistakes — and how to avoid them
IT executives and certified project management professionals reveal the most common reasons projects get derailed and
what project managers can do to keep them on track.
By Jennifer Lonoff Schiff
CIO |
JUN 28, 2017 3:00 AM PDT
So many projects, so much mismanagement. That's the refrain of many IT executives. Indeed, even with project
management software, IT projects often wind up taking longer (much longer) than planned and costing more than
budgeted.
While no two projects are exactly the same, the issues that can affect — and potentially jeopardize — them are
often quite similar. And even good project managers can make mistakes when wrangling a big, complex project —
or when being bombarded with change requests..
Deliverable 2 - Using Visuals to Enhance Viewer PerceptionCompet.docxcargillfilberto
The document discusses common mistakes made by project managers and how to avoid them. It identifies the top 8 mistakes as: 1) Not meeting with the whole team upfront, 2) Not breaking large projects into smaller pieces, 3) Not prioritizing projects/tasks, 4) Forgetting that project management involves people management, 5) Not regularly communicating with the team, 6) Letting changes get out of hand through scope creep, 7) Not using project management tools, and 8) Failure to adjust when things go wrong. It provides tips and advice from experts on how to effectively manage projects and avoid these common pitfalls.
This document summarizes the seven most important SharePoint success factors according to Richard Harbridge. It discusses understanding non-technical factors like requirements, limitations, and effort estimation. It emphasizes achieving buy-in by mapping needs to technology and managing expectations. It addresses determining and supporting ROI through prioritization and improving return. It covers implementing successful governance through teams, deliverables, and frameworks. It recommends an iterative implementation approach with communication and support planning. Finally, it discusses improving user adoption by demonstrating value, training, and support.
The document discusses 10 reasons why businesses should create and use "Business Blueprints". It argues that Business Blueprints can help address common business problems like poor performance, disagreements on strategy, difficulty prioritizing projects, and ineffective strategic planning by making the business design visible. It also claims that Business Blueprints can help with technology selection, mergers and acquisitions, measuring departmental value, onboarding new executives, and ensuring growth doesn't compromise the business design.
Challenges of IT Outsourcing for CEOs of Small.pdfMindfire LLC
The pandemic has altered every facet of the business, and many companies outsource to adapt to the new normal. Many businesses now want to boost their operations and profits using contemporary technology.
Outsourcing has emerged as the new business paradigm, and major companies are scrambling to take advantage of its cost-saving and growth-promoting potential. It takes time and energy to settle into the adaptation phase when a business begins outsourcing for the first time.
How to successfully implement Business Intelligence into your organisation.
A completely agnostic and independent view from a market leader in delivering technology transformation.
Details on how to build a strategy to successfully execute on and more importantly how to get the business to adopt Business Intelligence into their day to day role.
Essential tool kit for any organisation looking to invest in Business Intelligence.
The document discusses critical challenges for business intelligence (BI) project success. It states that over half of BI projects fail or do not deliver promised benefits. The top reasons for failure are treating BI as just another IT project rather than a constantly evolving strategy, and not addressing 10 critical challenges. These challenges include lack of cross-organizational collaboration, unengaged business sponsors, unavailable business representatives, lack of skilled staff, no iterative development methodology, and overreliance on tools without understanding their proper use.
Here are the key points I gathered from your introduction:
- You have experience initiating and participating in process improvement projects at your company.
- You see project management as a broad term that can apply to any effort to implement change or improvement.
- One of the largest projects you managed was a Greenbelt (PMP) project to streamline communication between engineering and manufacturing regarding change orders.
- As the bill of materials specialist with 8+ years experience, you were the first point of contact for change orders, making you well-suited to participate in this project.
- The goal of the project was to eliminate email correspondence and create a more efficient form of communication for change orders.
- As someone
1. Companies could use the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to.docxjackiewalcutt
1. Companies could use the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to get projects likes these started. The SDLC has four phases that a project will follow to be organized, developed, and executed. The phases are:
· Phase 1- System Planning and Selection
· Phase 2- Systems Analysis
· Phase 2- System Design
· Phase 3- Systems Implementation and Operation
The SDLC is a tool that helps improve organization and techniques. The SDLC also helps your company strive to success. Information system projects get started in many ways though it really would depend on the organization needs and or goals. The goals set within the organization will drive the selection process of implementing a new information system in multiple ways; this include modifying an existing Information Systems to improve its performance, it could be that the organization want to take advantage of some opportunities. The main purpose of Information Systems is to Collects data, processes it into information then converts information into knowledge for a specific purpose.
2. An organizational information system relates to a companies strategy because the SDLC is made to fit the company not the company fit to the SDLC. What I mean by this is you can have two companies using the SDLC, this does not mean both plans will be the same. The plan chosen will be the one that will suit the company and employees best. Strategy affects the information systems a company develops and uses because that will be the plan that fit the company’s goals and needs for success. An efficient organizational information system and must align with the company strategy in order for it to work efficiently and correctly, the more related it is the better it is, if these are not related the success would be a lot less and hence we need the success of the company if not there would be no purpose of having am information system established and set in place as it should be set up to help the company be more efficient and successful.
4. Jim’s next step is to benchmarking the company this would help him determine how the company is fairing comparing to its competitors. After that Jim will have to implement a new information system that you would attract new traffic/customer to the organizations. Then Jim could create the SDLC chart, decide who he wants to be a part of his team, have a JAD session with his team and execute his plan. Set weekly or monthly goals to meet. Create a survey for customers to provide feedback from customers. Make sure his project is known by the community when it is ready to be launched.
1. There are many reasons that cause the difference between information system plans and the reality. To begin with, lack of understanding the user needs leads to failure of the whole project. Success of any project is usually governed by the scope of the project and the main objective underlying formulation of the project. When the management fails to understand the scope then the project is always doomed t ...
This document is a project report submitted as part of an undergraduate computing degree program. The project investigated the suitability of cloud-based business intelligence tools for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The report included a literature review on business intelligence and decision support systems. It described the research methodology used, which involved quantitative data collection through questionnaires and qualitative data through interviews. The results section analyzed and compared three cloud-based BI tools on various criteria. It concluded with recommendations for SMEs on using cloud-based BI applications.
This paper discusses strategies for a successful business intelligence (BI) project. It emphasizes that the design and development phase is critical, as the implementation team must understand the business users' goals, objectives, and key performance indicators. The paper outlines four parts: 1) Design and development, emphasizing involving users and making the system easy to use. 2) Key strategies, such as aligning BI with business strategy and using key performance indicators. 3) Risks to BI projects. 4) Return on investment from BI. The paper stresses the importance of business users' involvement in design to ensure their needs are met.
The document discusses how to better integrate business and information technology. It argues that IT needs to be integrated into the core business strategy and operations, not treated as an afterthought. The author provides examples from their experience of embedding senior IT leaders directly into business units so they understand the business goals and can help identify technology solutions. The document then outlines four steps to achieve better integration: 1) Open communication between IT and operational groups, 2) Understanding business needs, 3) Validating IT plans with senior management, and 4) Conducting periodic surveys for feedback. The overall message is that IT must think, act and function like business executives to truly support business objectives.
6 STEPS TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE STRATEGYGeorge Beaton
The document outlines a 6-step process for creating a successful business intelligence (BI) strategy:
1. Start with a mandate from senior leadership to provide authority and resources.
2. Understand the existing ("as-is") BI capabilities by interviewing those involved in reporting and documenting current processes, technologies, data sources, and users.
3. Understand the business's goals for BI to define the desired future state ("to-be") and ensure the strategy is aligned with overall business objectives.
4. Prepare for change by communicating the need for the BI strategy and gaining stakeholder buy-in.
5. Evaluate options for technologies, tools, and solutions to meet the defined goals.
6
This document outlines a process for aligning business and IT strategies through capability mapping, governance, and agile delivery. It involves mapping business capabilities needed to achieve strategic goals, defining supporting technical architectures, developing solutions, creating business cases, and governing projects. Approved projects are then delivered using agile methodologies to rapidly achieve business value through minimum viable products and iterative development. Regular measurement of value allows demonstrating returns to the governance body. The process aims to ensure IT strategies and investments support overarching business strategies.
A strong communication capability between the business and IT ensures the alignment of business requirements with delivered IT functionality and value. Use this storyboard to understand common barriers to effective requirements management, tactical solutions to overcome these barriers, and how to achieve a high level of project success.
This storyboard will help you:
•Understand the common barriers to effective requirements management
•Learn how organizations have solved these challenges
•Implement your own tactical solutions to enable effective communication of business requirements for IT projects in your organization
•Achieve a high level of project success
Whether an organization develops its own applications or implements packaged solutions, the success of the project depends on the clear communication of business requirements in terms IT can understand and deliver.
1) In the 1980s, the rise of personal computers and distributed systems disrupted traditional software development processes. Business needs grew more sophisticated and numerous, straining IT departments.
2) As business started driving technology more, people from different business functions took on the role of business analyst to more directly address automation needs.
3) Today's business analyst role involves requirements gathering, process modeling, and acting as an "agent of change" to influence organizations through major transitions that support business goals. The role continues evolving to meet changing business needs.
This document discusses how business intelligence (BI) tools have traditionally been too complex, costly and difficult for small to midsize companies to implement effectively. It introduces SAP Crystal solutions as an affordable and scalable alternative that provides modular reporting and analytics tools to improve real-time decision making for growing businesses. Key benefits of SAP Crystal solutions include simplified licensing, ease of use, flexibility to add data sources and scale with business growth, and a path to transition to more advanced enterprise solutions. The document provides examples of how small companies have successfully used SAP Crystal solutions to generate customized reports, dashboards and analytics.
Taking AI to the Next Level in Manufacturing.pdfssuserfac0301
Read Taking AI to the Next Level in Manufacturing to gain insights on AI adoption in the manufacturing industry, such as:
1. How quickly AI is being implemented in manufacturing.
2. Which barriers stand in the way of AI adoption.
3. How data quality and governance form the backbone of AI.
4. Organizational processes and structures that may inhibit effective AI adoption.
6. Ideas and approaches to help build your organization's AI strategy.
Threats to mobile devices are more prevalent and increasing in scope and complexity. Users of mobile devices desire to take full advantage of the features
available on those devices, but many of the features provide convenience and capability but sacrifice security. This best practices guide outlines steps the users can take to better protect personal devices and information.
Salesforce Integration for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions A...Jeffrey Haguewood
Sidekick Solutions uses Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apricot) and automation solutions to integrate data for business workflows.
We believe integration and automation are essential to user experience and the promise of efficient work through technology. Automation is the critical ingredient to realizing that full vision. We develop integration products and services for Bonterra Case Management software to support the deployment of automations for a variety of use cases.
This video focuses on integration of Salesforce with Bonterra Impact Management.
Interested in deploying an integration with Salesforce for Bonterra Impact Management? Contact us at sales@sidekicksolutionsllc.com to discuss next steps.
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/building-and-scaling-ai-applications-with-the-nx-ai-manager-a-presentation-from-network-optix/
Robin van Emden, Senior Director of Data Science at Network Optix, presents the “Building and Scaling AI Applications with the Nx AI Manager,” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
In this presentation, van Emden covers the basics of scaling edge AI solutions using the Nx tool kit. He emphasizes the process of developing AI models and deploying them globally. He also showcases the conversion of AI models and the creation of effective edge AI pipelines, with a focus on pre-processing, model conversion, selecting the appropriate inference engine for the target hardware and post-processing.
van Emden shows how Nx can simplify the developer’s life and facilitate a rapid transition from concept to production-ready applications.He provides valuable insights into developing scalable and efficient edge AI solutions, with a strong focus on practical implementation.
HCL Notes and Domino License Cost Reduction in the World of DLAUpanagenda
Webinar Recording: https://www.panagenda.com/webinars/hcl-notes-and-domino-license-cost-reduction-in-the-world-of-dlau/
The introduction of DLAU and the CCB & CCX licensing model caused quite a stir in the HCL community. As a Notes and Domino customer, you may have faced challenges with unexpected user counts and license costs. You probably have questions on how this new licensing approach works and how to benefit from it. Most importantly, you likely have budget constraints and want to save money where possible. Don’t worry, we can help with all of this!
We’ll show you how to fix common misconfigurations that cause higher-than-expected user counts, and how to identify accounts which you can deactivate to save money. There are also frequent patterns that can cause unnecessary cost, like using a person document instead of a mail-in for shared mailboxes. We’ll provide examples and solutions for those as well. And naturally we’ll explain the new licensing model.
Join HCL Ambassador Marc Thomas in this webinar with a special guest appearance from Franz Walder. It will give you the tools and know-how to stay on top of what is going on with Domino licensing. You will be able lower your cost through an optimized configuration and keep it low going forward.
These topics will be covered
- Reducing license cost by finding and fixing misconfigurations and superfluous accounts
- How do CCB and CCX licenses really work?
- Understanding the DLAU tool and how to best utilize it
- Tips for common problem areas, like team mailboxes, functional/test users, etc
- Practical examples and best practices to implement right away
In the rapidly evolving landscape of technologies, XML continues to play a vital role in structuring, storing, and transporting data across diverse systems. The recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) present new methodologies for enhancing XML development workflows, introducing efficiency, automation, and intelligent capabilities. This presentation will outline the scope and perspective of utilizing AI in XML development. The potential benefits and the possible pitfalls will be highlighted, providing a balanced view of the subject.
We will explore the capabilities of AI in understanding XML markup languages and autonomously creating structured XML content. Additionally, we will examine the capacity of AI to enrich plain text with appropriate XML markup. Practical examples and methodological guidelines will be provided to elucidate how AI can be effectively prompted to interpret and generate accurate XML markup.
Further emphasis will be placed on the role of AI in developing XSLT, or schemas such as XSD and Schematron. We will address the techniques and strategies adopted to create prompts for generating code, explaining code, or refactoring the code, and the results achieved.
The discussion will extend to how AI can be used to transform XML content. In particular, the focus will be on the use of AI XPath extension functions in XSLT, Schematron, Schematron Quick Fixes, or for XML content refactoring.
The presentation aims to deliver a comprehensive overview of AI usage in XML development, providing attendees with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions. Whether you’re at the early stages of adopting AI or considering integrating it in advanced XML development, this presentation will cover all levels of expertise.
By highlighting the potential advantages and challenges of integrating AI with XML development tools and languages, the presentation seeks to inspire thoughtful conversation around the future of XML development. We’ll not only delve into the technical aspects of AI-powered XML development but also discuss practical implications and possible future directions.
Introduction of Cybersecurity with OSS at Code Europe 2024Hiroshi SHIBATA
I develop the Ruby programming language, RubyGems, and Bundler, which are package managers for Ruby. Today, I will introduce how to enhance the security of your application using open-source software (OSS) examples from Ruby and RubyGems.
The first topic is CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). I have published CVEs many times. But what exactly is a CVE? I'll provide a basic understanding of CVEs and explain how to detect and handle vulnerabilities in OSS.
Next, let's discuss package managers. Package managers play a critical role in the OSS ecosystem. I'll explain how to manage library dependencies in your application.
I'll share insights into how the Ruby and RubyGems core team works to keep our ecosystem safe. By the end of this talk, you'll have a better understanding of how to safeguard your code.
OpenID AuthZEN Interop Read Out - AuthorizationDavid Brossard
During Identiverse 2024 and EIC 2024, members of the OpenID AuthZEN WG got together and demoed their authorization endpoints conforming to the AuthZEN API
Project Management Semester Long Project - Acuityjpupo2018
Acuity is an innovative learning app designed to transform the way you engage with knowledge. Powered by AI technology, Acuity takes complex topics and distills them into concise, interactive summaries that are easy to read & understand. Whether you're exploring the depths of quantum mechanics or seeking insight into historical events, Acuity provides the key information you need without the burden of lengthy texts.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 6DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 6. In this session, we will cover Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI webinar offers an in-depth exploration of leveraging cutting-edge technologies for test automation within the UiPath platform. Attendees will delve into the integration of generative AI, a test automation solution, with Open AI advanced natural language processing capabilities.
Throughout the session, participants will discover how this synergy empowers testers to automate repetitive tasks, enhance testing accuracy, and expedite the software testing life cycle. Topics covered include the seamless integration process, practical use cases, and the benefits of harnessing AI-driven automation for UiPath testing initiatives. By attending this webinar, testers, and automation professionals can gain valuable insights into harnessing the power of AI to optimize their test automation workflows within the UiPath ecosystem, ultimately driving efficiency and quality in software development processes.
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into integrating generative AI.
2. Understanding how this integration enhances test automation within the UiPath platform
3. Practical demonstrations
4. Exploration of real-world use cases illustrating the benefits of AI-driven test automation for UiPath
Topics covered:
What is generative AI
Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath integration with generative AI
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Building Production Ready Search Pipelines with Spark and MilvusZilliz
Spark is the widely used ETL tool for processing, indexing and ingesting data to serving stack for search. Milvus is the production-ready open-source vector database. In this talk we will show how to use Spark to process unstructured data to extract vector representations, and push the vectors to Milvus vector database for search serving.
Driving Business Innovation: Latest Generative AI Advancements & Success StorySafe Software
Are you ready to revolutionize how you handle data? Join us for a webinar where we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest advancements in Generative AI technology and discover how leveraging FME with tools from giants like Google Gemini, Amazon, and Microsoft OpenAI can supercharge your workflow efficiency.
During the hour, we’ll take you through:
Guest Speaker Segment with Hannah Barrington: Dive into the world of dynamic real estate marketing with Hannah, the Marketing Manager at Workspace Group. Hear firsthand how their team generates engaging descriptions for thousands of office units by integrating diverse data sources—from PDF floorplans to web pages—using FME transformers, like OpenAIVisionConnector and AnthropicVisionConnector. This use case will show you how GenAI can streamline content creation for marketing across the board.
Ollama Use Case: Learn how Scenario Specialist Dmitri Bagh has utilized Ollama within FME to input data, create custom models, and enhance security protocols. This segment will include demos to illustrate the full capabilities of FME in AI-driven processes.
Custom AI Models: Discover how to leverage FME to build personalized AI models using your data. Whether it’s populating a model with local data for added security or integrating public AI tools, find out how FME facilitates a versatile and secure approach to AI.
We’ll wrap up with a live Q&A session where you can engage with our experts on your specific use cases, and learn more about optimizing your data workflows with AI.
This webinar is ideal for professionals seeking to harness the power of AI within their data management systems while ensuring high levels of customization and security. Whether you're a novice or an expert, gain actionable insights and strategies to elevate your data processes. Join us to see how FME and AI can revolutionize how you work with data!
GraphRAG for Life Science to increase LLM accuracyTomaz Bratanic
GraphRAG for life science domain, where you retriever information from biomedical knowledge graphs using LLMs to increase the accuracy and performance of generated answers
5th LF Energy Power Grid Model Meet-up SlidesDanBrown980551
5th Power Grid Model Meet-up
It is with great pleasure that we extend to you an invitation to the 5th Power Grid Model Meet-up, scheduled for 6th June 2024. This event will adopt a hybrid format, allowing participants to join us either through an online Mircosoft Teams session or in person at TU/e located at Den Dolech 2, Eindhoven, Netherlands. The meet-up will be hosted by Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), a research university specializing in engineering science & technology.
Power Grid Model
The global energy transition is placing new and unprecedented demands on Distribution System Operators (DSOs). Alongside upgrades to grid capacity, processes such as digitization, capacity optimization, and congestion management are becoming vital for delivering reliable services.
Power Grid Model is an open source project from Linux Foundation Energy and provides a calculation engine that is increasingly essential for DSOs. It offers a standards-based foundation enabling real-time power systems analysis, simulations of electrical power grids, and sophisticated what-if analysis. In addition, it enables in-depth studies and analysis of the electrical power grid’s behavior and performance. This comprehensive model incorporates essential factors such as power generation capacity, electrical losses, voltage levels, power flows, and system stability.
Power Grid Model is currently being applied in a wide variety of use cases, including grid planning, expansion, reliability, and congestion studies. It can also help in analyzing the impact of renewable energy integration, assessing the effects of disturbances or faults, and developing strategies for grid control and optimization.
What to expect
For the upcoming meetup we are organizing, we have an exciting lineup of activities planned:
-Insightful presentations covering two practical applications of the Power Grid Model.
-An update on the latest advancements in Power Grid -Model technology during the first and second quarters of 2024.
-An interactive brainstorming session to discuss and propose new feature requests.
-An opportunity to connect with fellow Power Grid Model enthusiasts and users.
Programming Foundation Models with DSPy - Meetup SlidesZilliz
Prompting language models is hard, while programming language models is easy. In this talk, I will discuss the state-of-the-art framework DSPy for programming foundation models with its powerful optimizers and runtime constraint system.
Programming Foundation Models with DSPy - Meetup Slides
Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail ?
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Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail
Chandra VennapoosaExforsys.com
Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail
Author:Chandra Vennapoosa Published on: 24th May 2013
Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail ...................................................................................................1
Just Implement, Don't care of Planning ...........................................................................................2
Just Implement, Don't care of Business............................................................................................3
Just Implement, Don't care of TCO..................................................................................................4
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Issues....................................................................................5
Just Implement, Don't care of Data Quality.....................................................................................6
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Changes ...............................................................................8
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Needs....................................................................................9
Just Implement, Don't care of Shopping ........................................................................................10
Just Implement, Don't care of Dash Boards...................................................................................11
Just Implement, Don't care of Work Quality.................................................................................13
Just Implement, Don't care of Performance...................................................................................14
Business intelligence projects are designed to allow organizations to make better long term
strategic decisions. In theory, BI allows organizations to collect organize and use data in a
manner that increases their market share. However, reality is often different from theory, and this
is certainly true in the case of most business intelligence projects.
Previous studies have shown that about 80 percent of all BI projects fail, while only 20 percent
are a success. When you factor in the high costs necessary to implement such projects, it is easy
to see why many organizations have lost faith in BI. However, it would be simplistic as well as
inaccurate to say that the problem lies with BI itself. Many prominent corporations have
successfully implemented business intelligence projects to great effect. This is an indication that
the failure of most BI projects lies elsewhere.
Just Implement, Don't care of Planning
Just Implement, Don't care of Business
Just Implement, Don't care of TCO
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Issues
Just Implement, Don't care of Data Quality
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Changes
2. 2
Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail
Chandra VennapoosaExforsys.com
Just Implement, Don't care of Future needs
Just Implement, Don't care of Shopping
Just Implement, Don't care of Dash Boards
Just Implement, Don't care of Work Quality
Just Implement, Don't care of Performance
Just Implement, Don't care of Planning
It is important for stakeholders to understand that BI implementation is a long term process and
develop a clear cut plan which is compatible with the BI tools they intend to use. Implementation
of BI project should not be done haphazardly since adequate planning as well as time duration is
essential for BI applications to function properly.
BI planning should take place "before" the company begins searching for a BI vendor. Many
stakeholders and upper managers believe that if they simply purchase the application, and begin
using it, they will be successful. However, this is like buying a car in Philadelphia with the goal
of driving it to New York, without having any clue how you will get there. It isn't enough to just
buy the car; you need a map, knowledge of how to drive the car and a detailed plan on how you
will drive it from Philadelphia to New York. Otherwise, you will get lost.
This is precisely what happens to most organizations that attempt BI implementation. They
purchase BI application, but they have no plan as to how they will use it. As a result, they get
lost when trying to implement it, and this leads to frustration which eventually causes them to
give up. Because they give up, the BI project becomes little more than a very expensive paper
weight.
In order for a BI project to be a success, an organization must do more than just purchase an
application with the expectation of it being a magic bullet. Such expectations will lead to
disappointment. Any company that wishes to master BI must develop a plan in advance, and this
planning must involve the transformation of the entire firm in such a way which is compatible
with the application they intend to use.
First and foremost, the implementation of a BI project must have the endorsement of upper
management. Without this endorsement, the project will be doomed from the start. When
deciding to implement a BI project, upper management should also plan the creation of a training
tool which is designed to teach employees the usage of the app. It isn't enough for a handful of
employees or managers to understand a BI project; everyone in the organization must understand
it and how it will make the firm more profitable. It is also important for organizations to
understand "why" they need a business intelligence project in the first place. It isn't enough to
just say that the project is needed because competitors are using it; this is unacceptable. A more
detailed "why" should be given, as this will lead to the proper planning which is necessary for
successfully implementing the project?
An expression I will use to describe this phenomenon is called "why leads to how." What I mean
by this is that a company must first decide why they need a BI project. Once they have a why,
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Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail
Chandra VennapoosaExforsys.com
they next need a how. The why and how are closely correlated, and one naturally follows the
other. It is the "how" that will lead to the decision of which vendor to use, because once you have
a why and a how, you will have a plan, and this plan will allow you to purchase an app from a
vendor who meets your needs.
Just Implement, Don't care of Business
Because large organizations are often compartmentalized, conflicts can occur between
departments, especially when one department makes a decision that negatively impacts another.
For instance, while the IT department may see a clear need for a BI project, other departments
may see no such need, and may refuse to adapt to the project. As a result, a scenario is created in
which IT embraces a BI application, while other departments or upper management are less
enthusiastic about it.
Without the full support of the other departments, the BI project is not utilized across the
organization, and its implementation is ultimately a failure. The necessity of an organization
fully supporting a BI project is directly correlated to the proper planning of the project. When the
project isn't fully supported, the planning for its implementation will likely be insufficient, and
this lack of efficient planning will make it difficult for the project to succeed.
BI project failures can often be attributed to a lack of synergy among the different departments
that comprise a firm. It simply isn't enough for the IT department to embrace it; the project must
be embraced by the entire organization in order to succeed, and this embrace starts with the
leadership.
There are a number of reasons as to why an organization may need a BI project. Many of these
reasons are often technical in nature, and may only be fully understood by the IT department. For
example, there could be a situation where there are multiple reporting systems, and each of these
systems needs the support of IT. Because such systems are becoming outdated, there may be a
need for updates. There could also be a need to replace reporting tools which are fat client with
newer ones that are web based. Such a replacement will require the removal of numerous
servers, which would save a lot of time as well as money for the people that need to manage
them.
However, these technical issues will often be poorly understood by the other departments and
upper management. When an IT department desires a BI project, they should focus less on the
technical reasons for its implementation, and emphasize more on business reasons. The other
departments will be concerned with their own affairs, and upper management will be concerned
with the bottom line. Unless a ROI (return on investment) or cost benefit analysis can be clearly
demonstrated, it is unlikely that the other departments or upper management will fully embrace a
BI Project. This relates to the "why leads to how" expression that I stated previously.
Companies will often find themselves in situations where one department will see a clear need
for better information, while another department may see no such need. For this reason, the goal
of IT or any other department that wishes to initiate a BI project should be the education of the
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Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail
Chandra VennapoosaExforsys.com
other departments and stakeholders. They should be able to fully articulate the benefits and needs
of the project, and how it will better the entire organization, as opposed to just their department.
Many departments that decide to implement a BI project operate with the assumption that once
they implement it, the people will come. This is a faulty assumption that should be discarded.
Instead, these departments will want to communicate with senior management, explaining to
them how BI technology can be utilized in a manner that increases the organization's bottom
line. The technical details of the project are best left at the door, as it may confuse senior
managers who are primarily concerned with results, and not how those results are achieved.
There is always the possibility that upper management will not see the need for such a project,
and if they don't, you can be sure that other departments won't either. Therefore, if the IT
department chooses to press forward with the implementation anyway, they should be held
accountable for its failure (which is likely). A business intelligence project simply cannot
succeed when it doesn't have the full support of senior management and other departments.
Just Implement, Don't care of TCO
Regarding business intelligence, there seems to be a perception that the BI component doesn't
have a cost, since it is already included within the database. Additionally, many stakeholders
factor in the costs for the infrastructure and the need to service it, without considering the TCO
(total cost of ownership). This is yet another reason why many BI projects fail.
In order for a BI project to be a success, the TCO must always be considered. There have been
cases where companies used their BI applications to acquire data from Excel, and then managers
spent hours each day working with it, trying to decide which products they needed to promote
more often, and in which stores they needed to promote them. Because more than two dozen
managers spent a quarter of their business day doing this, it was estimated that the company
actually spent over half a million dollars each year. In three years, that would grow to $1.5
million. Over 10 years, that would grow to a staggering $5 million.
However, what if this organization had a BI tool that allowed its managers to get their
information in seconds, rather than hours? In that case, the company would save $500,000 a
year. When a company is considering the implementation of a BI project, they must look beyond
the license fees. Equally (and some would argue more important), is the need to look at TCO.
Factoring in TCO will better allow the organization to get a ROI which is more accurate.
One common mistake which increases the costs of a BI project is a failure to properly handle
data integration, especially when multiple applications are involved. This one issue will often
single handedly determine the success or failure for a BI project. Many companies simply don't
understand the challenges of managing data with BI until the project is initiated. Even in cases
where IT has the ability to deal with these challenges, the cost for the company can be very high.
This is true regardless of whether a company relies on their internal IT department, or an outside
source.
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Why Business Intelligence Projects Fail
Chandra VennapoosaExforsys.com
Some of the other challenges that organizations will face in successfully implementing BI is the
delivery of the tool to multiple end users, enhancing ease of use for users that are nontechnical,
and developing capabilities for BI which are customized. Unless the organization is able to
achieve all of these things successfully, a scenario can occur in which users fail to adopt the BI
app, a problem which is consistently seen. Even in cases where end users are willing to adopt the
application, any issues with the three aspects mentioned above will make the problem worse.
Companies that succeed with BI often do so because they start small. Once the BI
implementation reaches an enterprise level, any problems that do occur can be serious ones.
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Issues
Many organizations initiate BI projects without first running a RACT test. RACT is acronym
which stands for Relevant, Accurate, Consistent, and Timely. Unless a business intelligence
project can pass this test, then it should be considered a failure, and the creators of the project
should go back to the planning phase.
The R (relevant) of RACT answers the question of who needs the deliverables. Additionally, it
asks one of the most important questions of all, which is what problem is meant to be solved by
the project implementation? Once an organization has an answer to these two questions, this will
better allow it to figure out the cost. When factoring in costs, the organization will want to
emphasize TCO rather than other fees which are more obvious.
The A (accurate) of RACT indicates the accuracy of the reporting, as well as the dashboards. If
this information is inaccurate, then the organization should go back to the beginning. The reason
for this is because inaccurate reporting is a sign that the project is already unsuccessful, and
pushing forward anyway will make things worse(and more expensive).
The C (consistent) of RACT indicates that all the information and reporting must be consistent.
The T (timely) of RACT means that the information must be available when needed. It isn't
enough to just have access to information; that information must be made available in a timely
manner.
Unless a BI project can pass this stringent test, then an organization has no business going
forward with it, as doing so will only ensure the project's failure.
The RACT test is important because it will better allow organizations to differentiate "corporate
data" from "strategic data." Corporate data is the data that is usually raw, data which is often
readily available. Strategic data, on the other hand, is data which will give organizations business
wisdom, wisdom which will allow them to grow their profits consistently. Put another way,
corporate data is transactional in nature; strategic data deals with long term strategy and
planning.
While corporate data is crucial for dealing with the logistical aspects of a business, such as the
supply chain or accounts receivable, it is insufficient to carry out the marketing process, as well
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as the management of sales. As a result, corporate data alone will not allow an organization to
grow its market share, nor will it allow for an increase in revenue and thus profit.
The reason for this is because the corporate data is merely a byproduct for the ERP (order entry
system), which is created mainly for the purpose of shipping orders within a timely manner. The
ERP is not designed to use strategic data in a manner that makes it useful for marketing.
The problem with most BI projects is that they combine complex software with raw ERP data.
This is insufficient since the data from the ERP will generally not contain information which is
related to marketing intelligence. This is why many BI projects do not readily offer the strategic
direction which is needed to expand the business, which would essentially leave the marketing
team in a situation where they're struggling to get the data they need in order to increase
revenues. This is also why many marketing and sales teams frequently abandon BI projects.
The RACT test is best thought of as a screening tool which allows one to determine whether or
not a BI project should even be initiated. Without such a test, an organization or department will
be unable to spot the problems that will eventually lead to a costly failure. It is important to see
BI as being more than just a piece of software. It is better thought of as a process, one which will
allow a firm to transform corporate data into strategic data that will be accurate and relevant.
When considering BI, the goal of an organization should be the integration of corporate and
strategic data. This will comprise things such as the customer segmentation, sales projection and
competitive analysis. This process is best completed by running a RACT test first. In a nutshell,
this test will allow an organization to determine whether or not it is ready for BI. While there is
no question that business intelligence is effective in allowing organizations to increase their
bottom line, they can only accomplish this if they are prepared for BI. Business intelligence
projects are often long and complex, and this requires preparation and changes on the part of the
firm.
Just Implement, Don't care of Data Quality
When it comes to a BI project, the quality of the data is critically important. When the data is
wrong, then the decisions made based on that data will also be wrong. These wrong decisions
will eventually cause the department or organization to lose faith in the project. In cases where a
data warehouse is being utilized, it will be necessary to filter out data which is incorrect. This
should be done during the ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) stage.
The proper management of the data is closely correlated to a data warehouse which has good
data. The best way to deal with problems in data quality is to mitigate the problem at its source.
In this case, the source would be the source systems, as this is where information is placed.
A number of studies indicate that companies lose almost $10 million each year as a result of poor
data. Other studies have also shown that bad data leads to an increase in customer dissatisfaction,
which will consequently lead to a loss in customers, increasing the losses further. When
organizations attempt to implement BI, some of the problems that they face are an inability to
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find the information necessary to perform their tasks, as well as mistakenly using the wrong
information.
As you can see, the quality of the data is not something that should be taken lightly. An
additional cause for concern is an increase in the corporate data that companies must digest;
studies indicate that this corporate data is growing at a rate of over 40 percent per year. The
fundamental challenge of business intelligence software is that such software is much more
advanced than the structure and quality of the data. Many firms find that after spending millions
on such software, the only thing they have to show for it is an ocean of data, much of which they
can't make much use of.
It isn't uncommon for a BI app to be completely inept when it comes to providing strategic data
or analysis. It will often be necessary for a large team of analysts to download the corporate data,
place it within spreadsheets like Excel, and then manipulate and clean the data in such a way that
it can be useful. This process can take hours or days, and it costs companies huge amounts of
money.
Even when it is known that transactional (corporate) data has errors, oftentimes these errors are
not fixed, and they are then placed within the BI systems, making a bad problem worse.
It doesn't help that many departments within organizations fail to communicate with each other.
The marketing or sales departments will often assume that the problem lies with IT, and they will
expect IT to resolve the issue, while the IT department will assume that it is a business issue, one
which should be corrected by the sales or marketing team. As a result, neither side takes action,
nor the data is rarely corrected. This will eventually cause employees to give up on the BI
implementation, and they continue to place incorrect data within the BI system, compounding
the problem until it becomes too difficult or expensive to solve.
When an analyst uses the typical BI system to answer a question regarding profits or market
share, they will often have to wait days in order to get a response. The reason for this is because
they will need to process the queries, send them to the spreadsheet, and then cleanse the errors
(often manually), while using look ups from external sources of data. Last, they will need to
construct pivot tables that will assist in finding the needed answers. Each time the analyst wants
an update, they will need to start the entire process over again.
Not only is this method highly inefficient, it also creates a scenario where the correction of the
data is based on the assumptions of the analyst, which itself can lead to problems. Many
departments have team meetings where much of the time is spent bickering about whose version
of the data is right, rather than dealing with the issues that are more important. The numbers that
are presented by finance often won't match those offered by marketing. What everyone needs is
one version of the facts, but because different sides are running distinct queries, with different
assumptions, this is easier said than done.
Though the IT department may control the physical storage and security of the data, it is the
marketing and sales departments that must control the strategic meaning of this data, and they
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must be able to audit and manage its quality. Analysts who spend a lot of time cleaning the data
should focus instead on being data stewards who clean and structure corporate data through the
usage of market intelligence which is external. This should be done prior to placing this data in
the data warehouse of the BI system. This should be done on a weekly basis.
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Changes
Many of the requirements which are necessary for a BI project this year will be outdated by next
year. It is crucial to understand that BI systems evolve, as with all complex systems. Therefore,
users will need to adopt the application in a manner which will allow them to handle the new
requirements which will come.
It is necessary for stakeholders to ensure that their organization is not only prepared for this
change, but also capable of displaying the flexibility which is needed to properly harness it.
However, having an organization which is prepared is not enough. It is also important to be
selective in the BI application that will be utilized. The application which is chosen should match
the flexibility of the users, as well as the inevitable changes which will occur in the market. The
budget for the BI implementation should also allow for this.
One common mistake that enterprises make is the manner in which they approach BI
implementation. It is best to see business intelligence as being cyclical. Each cycle of the project
must provide greater insight; a new angle for the firm which will raise more questions that must
be answered. In other words, there is no such thing as "finishing" a BI project. Like night and
day, one naturally gives way to the other, in a cycle which is endless.
Many firms fail to receive a return on their investment, because they choose BI tools which are
inflexible. Even if an organization has the preparation and flexibility which is necessary to
successfully use a BI app, they will still fail if they choose an inferior application. A good
analogy to describe this is an expert electrician who chooses inferior tools for his job. Regardless
of his skill and preparation, the quality of his work will still decline.
The new generation BI tools are user friendly, and they can assist companies in exploiting the
jewels of information which can be found in their respective markets. Many of these "jewels"
will be hidden within sands of data. Good BI tools will allow casual users to become power
users. One feature which is commonly seen in high end BI applications is advanced data
visualization.
This emphasis on visualization is due to the fact that much of human sensory perception is based
on vision, while only a smaller portion is based on the other senses. In fact, the human brain is
better at detecting trends within shapes and patterns as opposed to gaining such data using
spreadsheets.
Some firms have chosen to embrace these applications without consulting with their IT
departments first. However, it would be a mistake to think that these applications are IT free, or
that the IT department is no longer useful. Building and maintaining a strong relationship
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between the marketing, sales and IT department is always important. The reason for this is
because it is necessary to be sure that the quality of the data is high. Furthermore, it is necessary
as it ensures that there is a single version of the facts. The self-serving function seen in some BI
applications allows for the user to carry out exploration for the data, without the need to ask the
IT department for data marts or reports which are predefined. The reason for this is because it
would slow down the analysis.
Just Implement, Don't care of Future Needs
The compartmentalization of large organizations often gives rise to scenarios where the needs of
one department will conflict with those of another. When this happens during a BI project
implementation, it can cause that project to fail. When speaking of business intelligence, we
often hear the expression "one version of the truth." What this implies is that successfully
implementing BI involves more than just high end software; there is also a need to deal with the
politics and conflict that will inevitably occur between departments.
The effort that is required to properly model data is formidable. This task becomes more arduous
when you consider the fact that the truth is rarely in plain view. Business information which is
highly valuable will often need to be mined, and it will need to be taken from data which is
disparate. The data from which the needed info will be taken will also exist in multiple databases
and programs, much of which are incompatible. Because of this, it is important to realize that it
could take months (and extreme attention to detail) in order to combine and prep the data in a
way that will allow you to get the valuable info you need.
One large pharmaceutical company found it necessary to take data from fourteen different
systems, and each of these systems handled a portion of its business which was distinct. The goal
was to gain a solid financial picture of the multibillion dollar firm. The IT department for this
company started the process by designing numerous software interfaces, which would be
responsible for connecting the fourteen distinct systems to the data warehouse, which was used
as a single place for information.
The challenge that this company faced was that the terms for the business and the financial
aspects of the organization were designated differently in each of the systems which contributed
the data. In other words, though the pharmaceutical company was able to bring all the data
together, it ultimately failed. The reason it failed is because data standards were not properly
utilized.
Acquiring data from a single location is only one part of successfully implementing BI.
Companies must learn to place a greater importance on information content, as opposed to how
this content is delivered. In the case of the pharmaceutical company mentioned above, they
needed to spend months creating a new collection of standards which would allow them to cut
the data into the proper context. While the reporting tools are a necessary component of BI
implementation, they are useless if they aren't combined with the correct data structure and
information.
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When it comes to establishing standards for business and finance, it is important to realize that
this process doesn't end. To reach a single version of the truth, it will be necessary to ask
questions. And this process of asking questions is something that should be seen as an ongoing
process. When a firm implements a BI project, even with established reports and definitions,
situations may still arise in which people will want different definitions.
For instance, one department may need depreciation factored into their calculations, while
another department may not need it at all. Sometimes, upper management may want to have
costs taken from the portion of business where they are reported, and recorded in a standalone
mode. Most companies handle these requests by designing a lot of reports which are ad hoc to
deal with each request. This will eventually lead to problems, problems which could eventually
cause the BI implementation to stagnate.
It is better to design a way in which the requests for change can be channeled through a
committee, which would be responsible for reviewing them, and then accepting or denying them
after review. That way, changes can be done within a central database, which will allow for the
newer reports to be created.
In situations where the numbers may be divided into different departments, they will still be
placed into one number for the whole company, a number which will represent the bottom line. It
does require more work, but it is much better to spend more time altering things within the
database. The truth should always be seen as a phenomenon which constantly moves, and
because it is in constant movement, you must be able to do the necessary work for altering the
database, as opposed to allowing each user to make adjustments within their reports.
Just Implement, Don't care of Shopping
It is a mistake to believe that there is a standard for BI implementation, and organizations which
hold this belief are liable for making mistakes when shopping for an application. Many
companies think that the best way to approach a BI implementation is via a purchase through
their current vendor. They believe that the ERP, CRM or analytics tools offered by these vendors
are sufficient for their needs.
The chosen vendors will often have an advantage over their competitors since they will be able
to offer various cost incentives, not to mention the ability to leverage their current relationship
with the firm. Many of these vendors will also take advantage of the fears and uncertainty that
stakeholders will generally hold with regard to implementing BI. However, after using the
products offered by these vendors, many organizations will find out later on that integrating their
entire organization within the BI tools offered by these vendors is very expensive, more
expensive than if they had carried out a proper analysis of the available tools, comparing them to
their needed requirements.
Even for a small business, the usage of BI can increase its growth and profits, but only when it is
properly deployed. In order for this to occur, the business can't just use the products offered by
any vendor, even if that vendor already has a solid relationship with the company. Unfortunately,
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many companies simply don't shop wisely when it comes to choosing a vendor for their BI
implementation, and this mistake will often cause the project to fail later on.
Prior to searching for a vendor, it will first be necessary for a company to have a deep
understanding of the regions, customers or products which are profitable to their business.
Having this information will better allow them to choose a vendor who will help them expand.
Additionally, it will also be important for the company to have knowledge of the customers or
segments which are causing the company to lose cash.
If the business has more than a few dozen customers, then the Pareto Principle (80/20 principle)
will be revealed. In such cases, a few of these clients will bring in about 50 percent of the profits,
while the rest will generate much less. It is difficult for many companies to figure out which
clients belong in each category. By strategically using business intelligence applications, they
will be able to answer these questions, and more.
However, businesses will need to look for vendors that can provide them with complete
solutions. This includes client support which involves training from the vendor, as well as vendor
representatives who are locally available. Regarding the product itself, businesses should only
choose those applications which have the flexibility to sustain multiple types of data. The
processing speed and ability to perform several operations simultaneously should also be a
factor.
Is the application stable? Will it remain reliable in the years ahead? Basic security should be
included, such as usernames and password systems. The application should also be functional,
with the ability to drill through what if scenarios or queries which are ad hoc. As simple as it
may sound, many companies have difficulty implementing BI because they choose apps with
interfaces that are too difficult to use. Not only should the interface be easy to use, but the
learning curve should be simple as well. The last thing that should be factored in is the cost.
Unfortunately, for many businesses this is the first item on the list. They look at cost first, and all
the other features second. However, high quality BI applications will be worth the price, and
attempting to choose an application purely based on price can lead to major problems later on
which are much more costly.
The best method for choosing a BI application is to do so by quantifying the needed criteria.
Businesses should build a matrix which transforms the answers received into a percentage based
answer which can be quantified.
Just Implement, Don't care of Dash Boards
The dashboard is best thought of as the "eye" which allows organizations to peer into their data,
and it is the wisdom they gain from this data which will allow them to make progress. However,
most of the dashboards offered by BI vendors today are little more than bar charts which have
been placed on a page. Additionally, many of these dashboards are less intelligent than they
should be. While the graphics have certainly improved, and users are better able to interact with
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the charts, the simple presentation which is shown on the screen has not been vastly improved,
and the charts are less useful than they should be.
The dashboard is the most basic tool for providing business intelligence. The first dashboards
appeared during the 1980s, and while some say they have improved since then, others argue that
they've largely remained the same. It can be problematic to place pie and bar charts on a screen,
and expect that the viewers will be able to understand their meaning and what is important. It is
risky to assume that the viewer has the ability to interpret these charts, and draw the proper
conclusion. Many BI vendors believe that pretty or interactive dashboards are the key to success;
that they will assist viewers in making better decisions.
However, the failure to adopt BI tools, as well as the billions which have been spent (and lost) on
these applications indicate that there is a need for change. It is inaccurate to say that the
technology has failed; it is better to look at the reasons that more firms aren't successfully using
the technology. One good place to start is looking at the dashboards which are used to display the
information.
Another problem with most contemporary dashboards is their inability to prioritize information.
It is one thing to show charts which are geared towards a certain context. It is another thing to
prioritize information in a manner which makes it similar to the news, with stories or headlines
that people can watch in order to decide if they want to take a certain action. One reason why
newspapers have stood the test of time, whether in an electronic or print form, is because they
are shown in a format which the human mind can understand. How many BI dashboards are able
to communicate the tale of its charts the way newspapers do?
The third problem that many organizations will encounter with BI dashboards is their inability to
assist people in taking actions based on the info received. Most dashboards which are action
enabled place an emphasis on the discovery of data, and they also analyze by looking at root
causes. However, these features cannot compete with the traditional process where people
collaborate via dialogue, discussing certain issues or opportunities.
Regardless of the visual appeal of a dashboard, it will need a great deal of planning. A dashboard
which shows info that is inconsistent, or which doesn't properly flow with other organizational
data, may eventually cause a loss of confidence in the application, which will eventually cause
departments to stop using it. The data comprised by the dashboard must be verified and analyzed
for accuracy, because if it isn't, it will be little more than a nice looking picture with no value.
The implementation of the dashboard must play an important role in the project.
The development of service oriented architecture and other web based services is another way to
improve dashboards. Organizations are now gaining the ability to construct their own
dashboards, which will allow them to get the data they need to make decisions, and show the
data in a manner that is appealing and easy to understand. Mobile apps can also be offered which
will give easy to use data for mobile platforms. The solution to the problem of BI dashboards
may be the adoption of BI tools which are self-service.
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Just Implement, Don't care of Work Quality
The success of a BI implementation will be heavily dependent on knowledge of how the
organization functions. Those who work to implement business intelligence apps will need to
know the location of the data, and how this data is used. Working with analysts who have this
information can save the company millions of dollars over the long term. At the same time, many
companies choose to outsource their BI projects to others.
The danger of outsourcing a BI project is that few outside sources will understand the policies,
history, or customer demographics of a given firm. While these vendors may be capable of
making up for a shortage of skills, they won't be able to replace the knowledge of employees
who have worked with the firm for years. When a company chooses to outsource its entire BI
project, it will often find itself in a scenario where it will be necessary terminate the project,
working in-house instead. This transition can be both time consuming as well as expensive.
Often, consultants will not be able to understand a business within a span of few weeks,
especially if the business is large and established. Consultants are best utilized for providing
resources that a company doesn't have, with the goal of transferring this knowledge to in-house
employees. Not only will this allow companies to reduce their dependence on consultants, it will
also allow them to increase employee morale, as they gain the knowledge that will allow them to
adopt the new processes.
In many companies, you will find few employees who actually understand the inner workings of
their firm. Fewer understand the data and culture which is necessary for proper BI
implementation. As a result, many companies find that they must depend on an outside source
for this process, a consultant that will work with them during the project's implementation.
However, it can be extremely difficult to find a consultant who is truly interested in the business,
and not just lining their own pocket. Even harder is finding a consultant who sees your business
as being their business.
In this context, consultants are similar to mercenaries. While they may be highly trained, their
loyalty to the organization which employs them is always in question. The reason it is in
question is because they are outsiders, merely hired to complete a task. Their primary incentive
for completing this task is money, and because of this, the quality and outcome of their work
may be lower than it should be. At the end of the day, the consultant is there to do a job, and that
consultant makes his or her money by working with multiple clients. As a result, their
concentration will often be divided.
The problems mentioned in the above paragraphs are compounded when companies choose
consultants based on cost, rather than quality. When planning a BI project, many companies
focus too much on the consultant's hourly rate. A greater emphasis should be placed on the
deliverable. It is important to remember that price is what you pay, and value is what you get.
Paying a lower price doesn't guarantee that you will get greater value (and the same can be said
for paying a higher price as well).
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Many companies choose to emphasize price over value, and as a result, they often lose far more
money over the long term than they would have if they had focused on value. For example, let us
say that a firm decides to a hire a consultant for their business intelligence project. The firm
chooses this consultant primarily because he is "cheaper" than the others. Little attention was
paid to the value of his work.
After the BI project is completed and the consultant is on his way, the company then begins
having problems. Not only did the consultant do a poor job during the implementation, he is no
longer available and fails to respond to emails and phone calls. The problems with BI continue to
grow, and the company spends huge sums trying to fix them (unsuccessfully). The problems
begin to affect the customers, and as a result, they begin using rival companies. Eventually, the
company abandons the BI app, and the amount of money they lost in customers and trying to
repair the problem are ten times higher than the rate they paid the consultant.
This is what happens to companies that emphasize price over value. A price is a price. It may be
high and it may be low. But it shouldn't been seen as an indicator of anything, unless it is
compared to the value that is being offered. When choosing a consultant, it is important to look
at value and deliverables first, rather than price.
The first step towards successfully implementing BI is to insource rather than outsource. It is
much better to use an internal source for implementation as opposed to an outsider who has very
little stake in the project. The loyalty and quality of a consultant will always be questionable, and
they will never have the insight that long term employees will have. An in-house team will have
a much greater stake in the project, as they are a part of the company and its outcome will help or
hinder them.
If an in-house team doesn't currently exist, then the company should create one. Employees
should be recruited or trained who have the ability to implement the BI project. If a consultant
must be used, he should always be regarded with caution, and the firm should seek to extract as
much knowledge from them as possible so they are no longer needed. The goal should be to
transfer this knowledge to the in-house team, where it can be used for the creation of a BI project
which is home grown. Creating an in-house team for BI may be time consuming up front, but the
strategic wisdom that the company will gain over the long term will be well worth it.
Just Implement, Don't care of Performance
When showcasing their products, vendors will typically show their applications processing data
which is no more than a hundred thousand records. The problem with such demonstrations is that
they're often insufficient for the needs of a large company, and this isn't discovered until the
production implementation is started. Most large enterprises need applications which are capable
of handling hundreds of millions of records, and there are a few enterprises which need
applications capable of handling billions of records. Clearly, an application that can only handle
a few hundred thousand records isn't useful to these organizations.
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Despite this, many organizations choose to use such applications anyway, and the end result is
inevitably disaster. Even if an application is capable of handling the data a company currently
has, what about a year from now? Two years? BI applications must be scalable, because the
inflow of data will be. While some companies wisely choose products which can support larger
volumes of data, they fail to factor in both the volume of users as well as the concurrency.
It is important to understand that business intelligence involves a great deal of data, raw data that
will have to be integrated within multiple systems. Only then can this data be turned into
information. Performance management is an important consideration because it allows an
organization to leverage this information. In many respects, the information is far more valuable
than the actual data, since the process of data transformation and integration will result in info
that can be used to make strategic decisions.
While numerous executives have acknowledged that BI can provided data in the form of reports,
dashboards, and querying, they still felt that most of these mainstream products were inefficient.
The reason for this lack of content is because simply reporting information will not lead to
improved results. Actions must be taken based on the information which will allow the company
to grow. While having access to BI is crucial, it often comes at the expense of departments
requesting enhancements that IT simply can't provide.
The ability to extend BI throughout the company is critical, and will determine the company's
profitability. However, management and improvement are not identical. It is possible for a
person to manage and break even. Improvement, by contrast, is the way in which you win.
Performance involves the ability to deploy BI. Without performance considerations, business
intelligence has no direction.
Business intelligence is the platform that will allow for queries and reports. It should be
considered the foundation. However, performance management is the mechanism by which
strategy will arise, and it will give businesses the ability to leverage the systems and processes
that can ultimately enhance their performance. A failure to consider performance management is
one of the key reasons why BI implementations fail. BI only works when data is attached to
decisions, and performance management in conjunction with BI is the way in which this
happens.
Performance management and business intelligence should never be implemented in isolation.
When they are integrated, the success of the project will grow. While software can enable you to
do many things, it is the thinking that will ultimately decide the outcome. It is necessary to be
able to visualize the possibilities to take full advantage of PM and BI.
The first step in successfully managing performance is to choose a vendor/app that is capable of
handling the data a company already possesses. Additionally, the chosen product must also be
scalable. Once a vendor/app has passed this test, the company must also ensure that the product
will be capable of supporting both user and data volumes. Because runaway queries are a
problem for many departments, the chosen product should include safety mechanisms which are
capable of arresting them.
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This is crucial as not every company has the resources to use DBA monitoring which is
dedicated. Though this type of monitoring can find and destroy negative query threads, doing so
can be very costly. Success with a BI project will ultimately be determined by making the proper
choices, as well as choosing the proper technology and processes. However, the importance of
people should never be underestimated it. It is the people who will ultimately make or break the
project.
While business intelligence is one of the key components in obtaining performance management,
this is only possible when the business intelligence is available across the enterprise. Companies
today are tasked with making business decisions which are effective; however, these decisions
must also be made within a timely manner, and they must be made throughout the key areas of
the business.
In the past, it was possible to handle company challenges within departments; today, both
managers as well as executives must be able to handle changing conditions within the level of
the enterprise. The ability to properly utilize information throughout the enterprise will allow one
version of the truth to emerge; one which is actionable.
I hope you enjoyed this white paper. Please add any additional things that can impact BI Project
Implementation. You can reach me @Linkedin or Google+.
Reference - Thanks to RaedAlhadhoud for sharing the base for this white paper