Worst Practices in Business Intelligence: Why BI Applications Succeed Where BI Tools Fail

2007 from Information Builders – “Business intelligence (BI) software emerged in response to the need for accurate and timely information to support informed business decisions. With origins in COBOL-based, green-line reports in the 70s and 80s, BI has evolved into a complex market comprised of tools and platforms. Tools exist for report design, ad hoc query, and online analytical processing (OLAP), while BI platforms combine these tools with databases, integration technology, and portals to deliver sophisticated BI applications. Whereas COBOL required IT involvement and months to generate a single report, today’s solutions are targeted toward business users and boast real-time reports. Why is it then that the majority of organizations still feel that their information access and reporting needs are unfulfilled?

BI software – tools, platforms, and applications alike – holds great potential for helping organizations readily access the enterprise information needed to make informed business decisions and, ultimately, achieve their business objectives. But, as with any technology, the implementation, roll out, and usage practices play a critical role in the success of BI.

In tracking mediocre results, and even failure1, in the implementation of BI software over the years, many common threads, or “worst practices,” can be found. The top-four worst practices for BI include:

• Assuming the average business user has the know-how or the time to use BI tools
• Allowing Excel to become the default BI “platform”
• Assuming a data warehouse will solve all information access and delivery requirements
• Selecting a BI tool without a specific business need

These worst practices set companies on the auspicious path of BI failure. They have been repeated by some of the best run and smartest companies in the world. Typically, these worst practices are the result of wanting to ride the latest technology wave without balancing the hype with practical knowledge and experience…

Excerpt from Worst Practice #1: Assuming the Average Business User Has the Know-How or the Time to Use BI Tools:

Unfortunately, the end-user market is flooded with misguided hype from the vendor community, indicating that, “BI tools are for everyone.” Today’s BI tools are typically targeted at business users because they no longer require specific programming or database knowledge and primarily use graphical, drag-and-drop interfaces to allow businesspeople to compose questions and retrieve formatted results from databases. Even with these advances, however, they are still too complex for the average end user to adopt as a part of their day-to-day routine.

Furthermore, few business users are involved in the decision process when it comes to BI. Because of this, their need for simplicity is neglected and BI tools are forced on them from the IT developers and business unit power users – a sure recipe for failure…

180 View - The whitepaper is self-serving but also provides useful information .