A critical first step frequently overlooked by project managers is understanding the data that sits in their hands. Companies today are investing heavily in tools and people in order to improve the quality of their reporting and to deliver more actionable intelligence to their business users, however, they are finding that these projects often do not achieve the correct or anticipated return, says Nicholas Bell, CEO at BusinessIntelligent.
The conventional view of building and deploying technology on time, to plan and within budget, while still critical in the implementation, should not be the core drivers of the success of the project.
Time needs to be invested upfront to ask those crucial questions that will assist in grasping the working environment, mapping out the correct processes, and deploying the correct technology. This will also guarantee that users are able to understand and effectively access and use the data needed.
Insight into the company culture and organisational behaviour of the business will also assist in providing an improved data experience. For example, being aware that people with a technical background will seek and consume information in a very different manner to those with a business background is imperative. Therefore, it is crucial that a collaborative approach is utilised by project managers and their teams to ensure all users are considered when data is sourced, presented and analysed.
The concept of big data and the challenges of high volume, velocity and variety of information will only be truly effective when companies can clearly articulate use cases for this data and find methods to present data that is meaningful to users.
On a local front, customers who are focused on unlocking value from their data with greater attention given to the information rather than just the deployment of technology are able to deliver a higher return and realise a greater success. This shift in mindset is fundamental to deploying a business analytics platform that is more than just a technology implementation.
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