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Information audit essential for effective business intelligence


Johannesburg, 12 Aug 2004

While businesses around the world are rapidly switching on to the power of business intelligence, few are paying sufficient attention to the basis of that intelligence - the availability of information throughout the organisation.

So says Rian Durandt, head of Informatics at 3fifteen - the Microsoft applications solutions division in the Dimension Data group - who points out that it`s not just an issue of whether the information is available but also who is using it, who needs to use it and for what purpose.

"At present, the focus of business intelligence is to take data from a variety of sources - such as operational datamarts (for example, manufacturing data) and functional databases (from HR or sales), and put it into one super-data warehouse from which information can be easily extracted.

"However, if businesses took some time to actually examine this information, they could find that by incorporating a single additional attribute, the same data could deliver significantly more intelligence than anticipated," he says.

For example, sales data is generally used only to track and manage sales. But if that data was made available to the HR department, it could be used to highlight which sales personnel require training in specific areas; the production department could use that information for planning; while the warehouse could use it to better plan the layout of the facility, thereby boosting productivity and efficiency.

According to Durandt, this evaluation of available data - what 3fifteen terms an information `audit` - must take place before the implementation of the business intelligence solution.

"That`s because once the system is in place, it could be too difficult or expensive to effect changes. In addition, unexpected duplications of data such as two departments having information on the same customer, albeit in different formats, could unnecessarily complicate the development of the solution.

"The information audit determines the who, when, what, where, why and how of every data source in an organisation," he says.

Durandt explains that business intelligence doesn`t depend only on knowing what data is available and where it is located in the organisation, but who needs it, when it is needed, why it is needed, and how it is gathered and delivered to the desktop.

"In addition, the audit should identify who `owns` the information - who is responsible for it, who updates it and who ensures it is accurate. All too often, the IT department is regarded as the custodian of the organisation`s information when in reality, the IT department is not responsible for its accuracy at all.

"Finally, the information audit must determine the timeousness of the information and who requires it, when. For example, it might not matter too much if the HR department only receives the sales figures for individual sales personnel once a quarter, but the sales director will require that information considerably more frequently in order to make strategic decisions," he says.

"If the information is required on a daily basis, the audit needs to establish when and how that information is updated: daily or even hourly and then it must determine when and how it is delivered to the desktop of the person who actually needs it.

"Without this kind of information, a business intelligence system - regardless of how sophisticated it is - will not deliver on its full potential," Durandt concludes.

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3fifteen

3fifteen is a Microsoft applications solutions development company in which Dimension Data - through Protocol - has taken a 45% strategic investment. The company - headquartered at The Campus - represents the Microsoft applications solutions offering in the Dimension Data SA stable.

Editorial contacts

Mambrie May
Citigate PR
(011) 804 4900
Rian Durandt
(011) 575 3165