The reality of quick-win BI is making it easier for organisations to bypass the mostly inadequate BI solutions that are boxed with their ERP system. An ERP-based data warehouse, according to Caron Mooney, director of Microsoft Gold Certified partner, IS Partners, does not offer the flexibility to address specialised business needs or the ability to fast-track the integration of data from a variety of sources.
"The `out-of-the-box` BI concept can be misleading. Implementing the `BI` component that is packaged with your ERP system can be complex and costly. The implementation of a third-party BI solution, however, can prevent the inevitable disappointment of an ERP-provided solution when it fails to meet the organisation`s specific requirements," she says.
Companies` alternatives include pre-configured solutions that offer flexibility, and those that don`t. "A pre-configured data warehouse can have the same limitations as a solution built into the ERP system, by not offering the tools that make it easy for users to define their own requirements," Mooney adds. She advises companies to look for a BI solution that can be easily modified or customised around users` needs.
While most ERP vendors include a data warehouse with the application, no company uses ERP on its own. "Analysis has to extend beyond debtors, creditors, the general ledger and financial reporting. Companies have many non-financial data sources that have to be taken into account for analysis purposes," she adds.
These data sources can include telephony systems as well as benchmark and market figures, for example. In a retail environment, an organisation might want to probe information relating to feet-through-the-door or their staff monitoring systems, says Mooney.
"What you have out of the box also requires fine-tuning to make up for limited functionality. This is possibly the most expensive way of going about implementing a data warehouse to analyse your information, investigate operational performance or put scorecards into practice," she adds.
A further drawback, she says, is that silos of information are created when data from operational and other sources is brought into the ERP-based warehouse. "Data has to be duplicated from various other systems, which can lead to information being inaccurate and not always up to date."
Mooney adds that third-party solutions, provided with the right tools, go much further than the built-in option by ensuring easy data integration, information consistency across systems and the flexibility to address specialised requirements.
"The ability to accelerate your BI implementation through available tools that automate coding, for example, further meets the business` immediate need for access to information. This allows you to get a quick-start on BI in an environment that is not dedicated to your ERP-based data," says Mooney.
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