The business intelligence (BI) landscape is shifting as more and more companies are looking for a rapid implementation of a BI solution, according to Ryan Naud'e, data solutions manager at Entelect Software.
"While the request to see a return on investment in a solution as quickly as possible is not unfounded, organisations are starting to forget what goes into the foundation of a robust BI solution," he comments.
"The typical BI solution consolidates multiple data sources, cleans the data to ensure accuracy and quality and then disseminates the information into a time-variant data store. The 'traditional' approach has several pros and cons."
When implemented correctly and time variance works well, Naud'e observes that it can compensate for integration shortfalls within source systems, allowing an organisation to gather huge insights into its customer base by storing history and gathering trends.
"The converse side is that all too often, BI solutions become a 'white elephant' in organisations. This is largely due to the fact that there is a longer time to market and companies cannot keep up with the ever-changing businesses. When not implemented correctly, BI solutions can become a hindrance to use and difficult to extract information from."
It is becoming increasingly challenging to keep track of all the BI tools that connect and report directly off an organisation's source systems, according to Naud'e.
"These tools are attractive and usually quick to implement," he says. "Within a matter of weeks, a CFO can have a dashboard that tells him or her everything there is to know about the organisation's finances, an operations manager can quickly see the performance of the department, a call centre manager can understand which agents are performing well and a sales department will have a decent representation of how good its sales actually are."
To successfully implement a BI solution, Naud'e states that management needs to understand the disparate systems in their organisation.
"Instead of trying to go for the quick win, he adds, they need to keep their long-term strategy in mind. No one in an organisation should have 'consolidating data not available in the BI solution' as part of his or her job description."
An effective BI solution, according to Naud'e, should be able to drive innovation in your organisation and simplify people's lives, noting that the purpose of a BI solution is far more than a presentation layer on top of your data.
"While your organisation is busy trying to impress each other with pie charts, someone else, a more innovative and forward-thinking organisation, is focusing on transforming data into information and letting that information drive innovation," he concludes.
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