Modern executives may not be part of the information age from a technical or gadget point of view, but their continual quest for more information to assist in the running of their organisations, as well as for future decision-making, has them playing a leading role in the business intelligence (BI) community`s never-ending focus on data. Unfortunately, most corporations` IT infrastructure still can not keep up with executives` information demands.
"Management today has an enormous appetite for data about business, its performance and external influencing factors, but it is often disappointed by IT`s inability to deliver information tailored to meet exact business requirements," says Aubrey van Aswegen, MD of Knowledge Integration Dynamics (KID). "The reasons for this information disconnect are based on the long-standing methodologies and processes involved in rolling out technology."
Having come through a period in which IT was often described as a bunch of undisciplined cowboys, many IT departments now operate according to strict rules and formalised processes in meeting the technical demands of business. This approach is to be welcomed and is the correct one when installing and maintaining large transaction processing systems, such as ERP systems. The processes involved in these systems are constant and consistently applied across every company that installs the packages.
Additionally, every change applied to these systems, be it an upgrade or installation of a new version, is a critical project requiring careful planning and execution. Failure to plan and execute meticulously can be costly, and seriously impact the long-term viability of a company. The set, formalised approach to handling transactional systems is therefore the correct one.
"Unfortunately, what is considered good practice for an ERP system is not optimal for BI applications," says Van Aswegen. "When the same methodologies are applied to building data warehouses, the result can be a large, inflexible and unwieldy warehouse that delivers data needed a month ago.
The constant of change
The information needs of business change regularly and the burning issue for management this month is likely to be completely different from the issues it had to face the previous month. If the data warehouse is an inflexible behemoth, the data and reports it delivers will always be one step behind what`s actually needed.
In addition, implementing a traditional data warehouse can take anything from 12 to 18 months - enabling it to serve needs that are over a year old. In instances where management needs information now, the lack of relevant intelligence causes frustration and questions relating to what the returns are when millions are spent on data warehouses that cannot deliver the required analysis.
"To solve this problem, executives and IT professionals should start working together and understand that BI applications need to be supported by a flexible data warehouse if they are to deliver relevant information and a quick return on investment (ROI)," says Van Aswegen. "A new approach to data warehouses that delivers the flexibility required is available in data warehouse lifecycle management (DWLM) software."
Using DWLM software to automate many of the traditionally time-consuming procedures in implementing a data warehouse can result in companies deploying the first phase of a data warehouse and extracting relevant data from it in only 30 days. From there the data warehouse evolves and has new data feeds, functionality and reports added over time, delivering substantial and sustainable returns almost immediately.
"DWLM software provides companies with a working data warehouse equipped with specific functionality in record time," explains Van Aswegen. "Once up and running, IT can expand the warehouse by quickly adding new features required to meet business needs - even if they do change on a regular basis.
"And most importantly, the budget required to implement this new flexible data warehouse is far less than the costs traditionally associated with a warehousing project. Companies can therefore more carefully control their BI spend and more accurately determine the ROI gained from every rand invested."
As business changes and demands more information, faster than ever before, IT needs to respond by adapting its inflexible methodologies to meet current business requirements. This will allow technical departments to deliver real benefits to the business, faster than ever before, and demonstrate real ROI in months instead of years.
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Knowledge Integration Dynamics (KID) was formed in 1999 to address a clearly identified need in the South African corporate market for high-performance business intelligence solutions. The company aims to develop customers` business intelligence (BI) capability by providing application solutions, software components and comprehensive services to enable better business decisions. The company`s skills set spans multiple technologies while maintaining a focus on the business issues and deliverables, ensuring that the best technologies are deployed to support specific applications. KID`s skills embrace the full BI sphere, including data warehousing, data mining, business intelligence applications and information management. The company provides expert consulting in information management, including strategy development, capability development and realisation programmes. For further information, visit www.kid.co.za.
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