Business Intelligence Competency Center: Best Practices to Deliver REAL Business Value

Claudia Imhoff Intelligent Solutions, Inc. October 18, 2011

Sponsor

Speakers

Claudia Imhoff
President and Founder, Intelligent Solutions, Inc.

Christopher Carney
Practice Principal, Enterprise Information Solutions, HP

Agenda
BICC Introduction Organization of the BICC Getting Started

Traditional Approach to BI Projects

Assemble a team of developers Build a data warehouse or data mart for specific project, department, or function Buy reporting or multidimensional tool to use Disassemble the team upon projects completion Whats wrong with this?

Traditional Approach to BI Projects

Each project re-invents the wheel
Duplicate ETL and data quality processing Duplicate requirements gathering Duplicate data storage Redundant access and development tools

Lessons learned in one project are not shared

Intricacies of integration and data quality lost Tool expertise not shared Leads to short cuts, inconsistencies, incompatibility Causes silod and incompatible BI systems throughout Wasted efforts to reconcile differences High development costs for BI environment

Strategic Approach is Needed

Convert to a program not project mentality Create dedicated groups
BICC for getting data in and getting information out Manage BI projects, people, technologies in coordinated fashion

Centers become repositories of BI-related:

Skills Best practices Application standards Processes

Promotes sharing of BI resources in enterprise Maximize your investments!

What are Competency Centers?

A permanent, cross-functional team that
Enables enterprise to coordinate & complement all BI projects Ensures BI environment is optimally constructed, performing, and used throughout the enterprise

No matter what you call them, all have the goals of:
Creating an integrated, enterprise-wide BI environment To deliver analytics and analytic results to business communities

Agenda
BICC Introduction Organization of the BICC Getting Started

BI Architecture
Governance Infrastructure Management Tactical BI BI Delivery Workbench Center of Excellence

Operational BI

Operational Data Store Internal Data

Data Warehouse

Data Integration and Aggregation

Metadata

External Data Operational Data Data Marts

Strategic BI Quality Management Application Management Metadata Management

Courtesy of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. and BI Research

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BICC Consists of Two Halves

Integration Availability Quality

Getting Information Out Getting Data In

Capability Usability Security

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BICC: Getting Data In

Integration Availability Quality

Getting Information Out Getting Data In

Capability Usability Security

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BICC: Getting Data In

Tactical BI

Operational BI

Operational Data Store Internal Data

Data Warehouse

Data Integration and Aggregation

Metadata

External Data Operational Data

Strategic BI

Courtesy of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. and BI Research

13

BICC: GDI Primary Role

Focuses on technical issues of data integration and data quality
Develops standard BI and data management systems Ensures that high quality detailed data is available Validates quality expectations and data with business users

Proliferates specialized skills, processes and technology for complete data integration
Permits quick ramp up Is more cost efficient Maintains data integration and data quality expertise

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BICC: GDI Key Technological Features

High Performance
Data must be loaded efficiently and in a timely manner Data must then be further processed for data delivery process Particularly important for right time BI

High Reliability
Integration processes must not fail

High Flexibility
Changes always occur and GDI technology must accommodate an evershifting environment

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BICC: GDI Key Technological Features

High Scalability
Increasing data volumes may become a barrier to BI otherwise

Low Maintenance
Easy to use integration tools Easy to learn Good technical metadata

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BICC: GDI Best Practices

Create one centrally located GDI team
Generally located within IT department Ensures operational systems expertise and sharing of knowledge

Establish culture of reuse

Reuse data mappings to operational systems Reuse ETL code Reuse enterprise data model for each subject area

Develop data quality expertise

Consistent quality processes and responses Reuse of data quality technology

17

BICC: GDI Best Practices

Determine standard set of data integration and data quality technologies
Middleware (e.g., file transfer, broker, gateway) Data integration (e.g., ETL, EII) Data quality (profiling, cleansing, standardization) Best of breed or full service vendor

Establish technical meta data repository

Ensure its accuracy Ensure its availability to GIO Center and business users

Develop mechanisms to handle emergency situations

Develop process to handle accelerated requirements Develop process to handle an end run from GIO team

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BICC: Getting Information Out Half

Integration Availability Quality

Getting Information Out Getting Data In Capability

Usability Security
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BICC: Getting Information Out

Tactical BI BI Delivery Workbench

Operational BI

Operational Data Store

Data Warehouse

Data Integration and Aggregation

Metadata

Data Marts

Strategic BI

Courtesy of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. and BI Research

20

BICC: GIO Primary Role

Act as a bridge between business community using BI and IT developers creating the GIO environment
Focus on understanding business needs & collaboration Translate them into specifications for reports, dashboards, other data delivery mechanisms (portals)

Ensure that new data requirements are communicated back to the GDI team Communicate any data quality problems to GDI team and business community Develop experts within business units for gathering and delivering BI needs and requirements

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BICC: GIO Key Technological Features

Flexibility
Presentation of analytic results must accommodate multiple skill sets, locations, technologies Easily incorporates new data, reports, applications, etc.

Seamless interface
Be able to integrate with BI, operational data, and external data BI architecture fades into the background

Easy to use
Can easily move from activity to activity Results from one activity feed into next step in process

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BICC: GIO Best Practices

Establish expertise in business access to BI environment
Mobile workers? Virtual Workers? High level execs or hands on, detailed analysts?

Maintain expertise about business communitys usage patterns and procedures

Ensure data security / privacy

Determine standard set of data access technologies

Reporting and querying OLAP Mining Exploration

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BICC: GIO Best Practices

Can have more than one GIO team
Set up LOB GIO teams to be assigned to and respond to specific functional or departmental needs Coordinate these teams via program management

Establish culture of reuse

Reuse standard reports and report formats Reuse data mart data views and dimensions

Establish business meta data repository (may be in same repository as GDI teams)
Ensure its accuracy Ensure its availability to GDI team & business users

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BICC: GIO Best Practices

Communicate what is needed (requirements-wise) to GDI team
Establish formalized, efficient ways to share information Establish issues resolution mechanisms Determine right time data needs precisely

Determine action if data is not immediately available

No end runs back to operational systems, please! Determine mitigating processes handling exceptions

Create mechanisms to handle data quality and reconciliation issues

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Agenda
BICC Introduction Organization of the BICC Getting Started

26

Getting Started
Educating need for BICC
What is its purpose? What are its roles and responsibilities? How will it change the organization and BI processes?

Communicate the challenges, benefits, ROI

Need for executive sponsorship Need for collaboration between business units, between IT and business, between executives and lower level employees Need to reduce costs, and show tangible and intangible benefits

Get funding for the program

Funding for program management function Funding for first BICC project

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BICC Benefits
Increase likelihood of successful projects or reduce risk of failure Not only preserve but exploit technological investments Better understand and support business communitys BI needs Hang on to BI expertise concepts, technological, business and share it throughout the enterprise Reduce cost of overall environment Improve utilization of BI throughout enterprise

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BICC Organization: If You Have Strong Centralization

BICC responsible for all BI-related activities
Program and project management Technology selection Data integration and quality processing Business requirements gathering BI applications Maintenance and future enhancements

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BICC Organization: If You Have Strong Decentralization

BICC responsible for limited activities
Project plan templates Standards for:
Nomenclature Data models (entities and attributes) ETL programming

May supply:
Resources for specialized skills Program coordination Data stewardship coordination

Note: You may have a combination of both types

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Authority
Suggest Dictate

As the authority level increases,

Greater executive support is needed Greater resistance should be anticipated Communications becomes more critical Conformity is more likely to occur

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Role
Consult Perform

As the participation role increases,

BICC staffing level becomes more critical BICC work may become critical path

As consulting role increases,

Expertise requirements increase Training skills become more critical

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10 Mistakes
Mistake 1: Failing to Establish Authority and Governance
Renders BICC rudderless and ineffective Need a cross-functional body with executive-level membership

Mistake 2: Failing To Define a Clear BICC Charter

Given BICC variations, need clear charter & mission explicitly describing what BICC will (& will not) do Without these, you get turf wars or under-laps

Mistake 3: Lack of Business Alignment

Technical issues are frequently visible so BICC must be careful to avoid focusing on these solely Business strategies, drivers, & goals provide context for BI, and BICC must support business priorities

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10 Mistakes
Mistake 4: Ignoring the Enterprises Culture
Consider existing levels of cooperation between business units, relationships between IT and business, historic technology funding / cost allocation methods, and strength of governance committee

Mistake 5: Unclear Roles and Responsibilities

Creates potential for redundant roles, gaps in activities, and frustrated personnel Worse it may be perceived that BICC is inefficient, chaotic, and not living up to its billing

Mistake 6: Inappropriate Staffing Skills & Resources

If BICC is understaffed or staffed with inexperienced resources, business becomes frustrated with lack of progress BICC will be viewed as obstacle to be avoided

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10 Mistakes
Mistake 7: Inadequate Communications
Without these interactions, BICC team members are not aware of satisfaction levels, strengths and weaknesses of existing environment, and benefits being received

Mistake 8: Failing to Publicize and Promote Best Practices and Procedures

More people involved, more potential for differing standards, lack of documentation, conflicting definitions, and over-lapping (or worse, underlapping) processes

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10 Mistakes
Mistake 9: Lack of Technology Control
Lack of tool standards limits portability of applications & people, requires additional training courses, limits collaboration, increases software licensing costs, and may requires redundant data marts

Mistake 10: No Emergency or Appeal

Will be situations when business must have data, report, analytic, or application created unexpectedly If BICC refuses to consider request or deal with emergency, then business will find another way like an end-run around BICC

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Thank you!
Claudia Imhoff Intelligent Solutions
Copyright 2011, Intelligent Solutions, Inc., All Rights Reserved

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HP ENTERPRISE INFORMATION SOLUTIONS

CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City

Approach
Develop enterprise information roadmap Establish a Center of Excellence:

Customer problem

IT and business in one organization

Governance and data stewardship

Respond to growing competitive pressure from national rivals Reduce medical and administrative costs Implement an integrated enterprise data warehouse

Build integrated EDW

Results
Enable critical health management program
Major improvements in patient care ROI of 332%; Payback in 20 months Cost savings:

$1.4M medical $980K outsourcing $90K gross margin

38 2011 HP Confidential

Laureate for the 2011 Computerworld Honors Program

HP ENTERPRISE INFORMATION SOLUTIONS

CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS
National Retailer

Approach
BI strategic roadmap for supplying specific business value

Customer problem

BICC for growing analytical capabilities of business users

Speed development of BI scorecards and dashboards inventory, backroom, salesfloor and frontend Improve ability to monitor and manage thousands of stores

Build rich interactive dashboards and provide ad-hoc reporting capability Create summary reports and detail store level report

Results
Reduced scorecard and dashboard development and implementation time from 11 months to 3 months Improved efficiency gains across the BI portfolio and better coordination between IT and Business Organization wide intelligence Unified analysis platform Lower IT support costs

Eliminate non-compliancy by providing detailed coverage information and actual-to-plan scheduling performance

39 2011 HP Confidential

Questions??

Contacting Speakers
If you have further questions or comments: Claudia Imhoff isiclaudia@aol.com Christopher Carney christopher.carney@hp.com