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BI: A single version of the truth


Johannesburg, 03 Oct 2016
Operational reporting is only a small part of the complete definition of BI, says Antonei Badenhorst, head of the Microsoft Business Intelligence division at EOH.
Operational reporting is only a small part of the complete definition of BI, says Antonei Badenhorst, head of the Microsoft Business Intelligence division at EOH.

How can businesses gain a competitive advantage out of the data that originates from both inside and outside their organisations?

Many individuals would simplify the concept business intelligence (BI) as operational reporting. Although, strictly speaking, there is some BI associated with operational reporting, Antonei Badenhorst, head of the Microsoft Business Intelligence division at EOH, says this is only a small part of the complete definition of BI.

"Business intelligence, when viewed holistically, encompasses far more. Today's reality in a digital economy is the explosion of data, but data means nothing without data processing. You need to understand what you do with your data, the quality of your data, and the data management services that are employed. People make decisions, but decision windows shrink and business professionals need to be able to make data-driven decisions instantly."

The key here is to have an overall picture of your business, taken from every conceivable angle, and every line of business. "When making decisions, it is vital to have the correct and relevant information from all quarters. You could be basing strategic decisions on pure financial data and have missed critical feedback from production or even customer facing data. The ideal solution is to pull all data from everywhere into a central location to gain a sense of the bigger picture and have one version of the truth."

You now have your data layer which is a goldmine; once visualised and analysed, it can produce comprehensive unified data reports, be it production, or operational. "You can now start interrogating your data and see what further information can be gleaned from the data at hand that is not available through the normal reporting channels. This is principally the interpretation of the data."

Badenhorst says that although this process may have historically been the exclusive domain of the IT department, it is the biggest mistake a company can make. "Whoever is responsible for the various company strategies should be the main driver and custodian of the BI solution. Yes, we use IT to support the strategy, but, in the end, it is not an IT function - it is a business support function."

"You need to understand where the business is going, and the people responsible for short, medium, and long-term strategy have to have input into the design and functioning of the BI solution. We can help clients to define the right questions to be answered, the parameters of the reporting, the information they require, and the complexity of that information so that they are able to make faster, more accurate decisions that give them the strategic advantage over their competitors."

When faced with a difficult decision, the more information you have, the easier that decision becomes, unless you have the wrong information or it is badly presented. "It is critical to have the right information and, similarly, to ask the right business questions. I have, on many occasions, seen business professionals who have all the data they need but the way it was presented gives them absolutely no insight into what is actually happening."

"This is why the majority of the effort must go into the first phase of your implementation. You need to analyse the business and understand what questions need to be answered. Once you change the conversation with company leaders to 'what questions do you want answered?' then you can identify the right information and present it in a way that addresses everyone's needs."

An overflow of information can be just as dangerous as a paucity, says Badenhorst; irrelevant data can confuse and slow the process down considerably. "By creating various reporting systems on top of your single data layer, you are able to customise the reporting dashboard to whomever you are engaging with. Take the scenario of the marketing department in a meeting with finance: we understand that they both need to have access to the same sets of figures, but, in their own capacity, they will require vastly different information. The way each department looks at, and interrogates the information to get business answers is different - they get what is relevant to them."

Using business intelligence to its full potential breaks down the silos that form naturally in any large business, she says. This allows departments to understand and react to internal and external situations far quicker, with more success, and almost certainly strengthens your competitive advantage in the marketplace. "Companies no longer have six months or a year to make changes. By the time you realise the market has moved on, you have already missed the boat, and will never catch up. BI allows you to see trends immediately and react accordingly - business must be flexible in the 21st century."

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