Business intelligence (BI) that does not result in action of some kind is useless.
This was one of the key themes advanced by speakers at the 2005 SAS Forum held in Johannesburg this week.
"At the end of the day it is action you are looking for because if you gather, organise, arrange and shape data, but no one does anything with it, then it is useless," said Paul Kent, platform research and development VP at SAS headquarters at Cary in North Carolina.
Sean Gidlow, MD of Business Intelligence Alliance, supported this statement, saying: "Unless BI initiates change and results in some kind of action, it is a waste of time."
Gidlow cautioned, however, that change is often difficult because it touches people's lives and therefore had to be carefully managed to prevent BI projects from being wasted because of resistance to change.
"Organisations that are willing to implement changes recommended by BI reports tend to derive the most benefit and success from BI projects," said Gidlow, pointing out that project failures are often due to a lack of high-level commitment.
According to Kent and Gidlow, action to effect change is essential to successful BI projects. "There can be no evolution or progress within organisations without change," emphasised Kent.
Exploring the theme of deriving business value from information, Kent drew an analogy between BI and workers' skills. "Skills and knowledge have little intrinsic value, it is only when they are applied that value is created."
Similarly, Kent said it was only by using analytical models to shape future action that BI could provide real value and competitive advantage.
"When predictions and forecasts cause people to do something, or change something, then you finally have value. The best opportunity for making a difference is by providing decision-makers with the benefit of prediction at the moment they are making a choice," he said.
Related story:
Data volumes challenge enterprise IT
Share
