Business, IT often disagree on BI

Two analysts from researcher Gartner playacted out the issues that often serve as stumbling blocks to the successful adoption of an effective business intelligence (BI) strategy within many organisations worldwide.

Adopting the roles of IT manager and business executive, Gartner directors Howard Dresner and Frank Buytendijk acted out the power struggle that often exists when business intelligence is discussed within organisations. This was part of the keynote address kicking off the annual Information Builders user conference held in Baltimore, US recently.

"What we`re trying to illustrate is the key obstacle to achieving enterprise business intelligence," Dresner said. "Business users are looking for ROI and demand this in the shortest timeframe possible. The BI paradox concept is based on the idea that investment is often misaligned with the benefits of business intelligence."

Their BI paradox theory is designed to help organisations identify and hopefully overcome issues that may prevent them from achieving their objectives. It`s certainly something consistent with what South African IT executives have to battle with, according to Twanette Funck, ICL`s Business Intelligence & Integration Solutions Manager. Funck, who represented ICL (South Africa) at the event, added: "We have often seen that IT and business speak in a significantly different language with regards to BI objectives and measureables."

The paradox theory is based on three concepts:

* Business users demand rapid return on investment (ROI), while IT managers tend to concentrate on longer term infrastructure investments.

* Business leaders see BI as a solution for a specific business area or problem, while IT staff are trying to leverage data and applications across their organisation.

* Business executives strive to achieve a competitive advantage via strategy and by selecting one-stop applications while IT seeks best-of-breed technologies The bottom line to this discussion is essentially the vision of IT versus the cost justification and time scales needed to implement the BI solution.

"Business and IT won`t ever speak exactly the same language," said Gartner`s Buytendijk. "But gaining a better understanding of where the other side is coming from will go a long way toward success."

According to the analysts, a common reason for the failure of BI projects is when users driving the strategy focus on certain product features and functionality. Also, when IT managers try to make their BI decisions without consulting business leaders, the results could well be the same - a dismal failure. "We have recently been to a number of organisations and have been asked to pick up the pieces for exactly these reasons," said Funck.

Gartner recommends taking a tactical approach that involves both IT and business working to identify and address clearly defined objectives before investing in this form of technology. It also suggests developing a detailed architectural plan considering the existing environment and flexibility for future issues of change built-in from the start.