BK Shortcut Guide Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies PDF

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The Shortcut Guide To
Achieving
Business Intelligence
in Midsize Companies
Don Jones
The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies
Don Jones
IntroductiontoRealtimePublishers
by Don Jones, Series Editor
Forseveralyearsnow,Realtimehasproduceddozensanddozensofhighqualitybooks
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Untilthen,enjoy.
DonJones
Don Jones
IntroductiontoRealtimePublishers.................................................................................................................i
Chapter1:WhatIsBusinessIntelligence,Anyway?..................................................................................1
BusinessGoalsforBI..........................................................................................................................................3
BI:NotJustforBigCompanies.......................................................................................................................3
BITerminology.....................................................................................................................................................4
DataWarehousesandDataMarts...........................................................................................................4
DataMining.......................................................................................................................................................6
Reporting,Dashboards,andScorecards...............................................................................................6
PredictiveAnalytics.......................................................................................................................................9
BusinessPerformanceManagement......................................................................................................9
ABriefTechnicalOverviewofBI...............................................................................................................10
DataMartsandDataWarehouses........................................................................................................10
OLTPvs.OLAP..........................................................................................................................................10
Normalizedvs.DimensionalData....................................................................................................11
DataModeling..........................................................................................................................................12
DataTransformationandLoading.......................................................................................................13
InMemoryAnalytics..................................................................................................................................13
Reporting,Analysis,andVisualization...............................................................................................13
BI:Analysis+Planning...................................................................................................................................16
AnalyzingandReportingonInformation.........................................................................................16
MakingDecisions.........................................................................................................................................17
Implementing................................................................................................................................................17
OneSizeDoesNotFitAll...............................................................................................................................17
BIinLargeEnterprises..............................................................................................................................18
BIinMidsizeCompanies...........................................................................................................................18
ComingUpNext.............................................................................................................................................19
Chapter2:HowBusinessIntelligenceHappens......................................................................................20
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Don Jones
AssemblingYourBusinessData.................................................................................................................20
DirectDataMapping...................................................................................................................................21
DataLoading..................................................................................................................................................22
DataMartsandDataWarehouses........................................................................................................23
CreatinganInformationDrivenBusinessCulture............................................................................25
Reporting.........................................................................................................................................................26
Dashboards.....................................................................................................................................................28
Scorecards.......................................................................................................................................................28
AnalyzingBusinessInformation................................................................................................................30
AnalysisandVisualization.......................................................................................................................31
UncoveringRootCausesBehindData.................................................................................................35
TheImportanceofModelingtheBusiness.......................................................................................36
MakingDecisionsandTakingActionThePlanningConnection..............................................36
Planning:AligningResourcestoOpportunities.............................................................................37
ComingUpNext.............................................................................................................................................40
Chapter3:DebunkingtheTopThreeMythsofBusinessIntelligenceforMidsizeCompanies
.......................................................................................................................................................................................41
Myth1:BICanBeDisruptive.......................................................................................................................41
SpecializedToolsandTrainingRequired.........................................................................................42
LongImplementationTimes...................................................................................................................44
ImpactonOtherBusinessProcesses..................................................................................................44
Myth2:BIRequiresSpecializedExpertise............................................................................................45
ComplicatedDeploymentandImplementation.............................................................................46
SpecializedTechnologyManagementSkills.....................................................................................46
LargeCompanySkillsDontScaleDown...........................................................................................47
SpecializedEndUserSkills.....................................................................................................................48
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Don Jones
Myth3:BIIsExpensive..................................................................................................................................51
ExpensiveAcquisitionCosts...................................................................................................................51
ExpensiveConsultingServices...............................................................................................................52
DontLikeNegotiatingwithVendors?................................................................................................52
UniqueAdvantagesofMidsizeBusinessBI...........................................................................................53
Consistency.....................................................................................................................................................54
WhatsGoodforBigBusinessIsKindofGoodforYouToo...........................................................54
BusinessModelFlexibility.......................................................................................................................55
AdvancedReporting...................................................................................................................................55
DataEverywhereAccessibility..............................................................................................................55
ComingUpNext.............................................................................................................................................57
Chapter4:SuccessfullyAddingBusinessIntelligencetoaMidsizeCompany............................58
ReviewingtheProblemswithBI................................................................................................................58
TooComplex..................................................................................................................................................58
TooExpensive...............................................................................................................................................59
TooDisruptive..............................................................................................................................................60
AddingBIWithoutBreakingtheBank....................................................................................................61
NotJustReporting!......................................................................................................................................61
ThinkBig,StartSmall.................................................................................................................................62
StartwiththeBiggestPain......................................................................................................................63
AddCapabilitiesasNeeded.....................................................................................................................64
EnsurethatYouHaveaGrowthPath..................................................................................................66
SeekOutFixedPriceSolutions..............................................................................................................66
AddingBIwithYourCurrentITTeam....................................................................................................67
SoftwareAppliances...................................................................................................................................67
ModularAppliances....................................................................................................................................68
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Don Jones
EnsurethatYouHaveaGrowthPath..................................................................................................68
MidsizeManageability...............................................................................................................................69
AddingBIwithoutDisruptingBusiness.................................................................................................70
LowStartupCost..........................................................................................................................................70
MinimalSpecializedExpertise...............................................................................................................71
SelfServiceviaWebConsoles................................................................................................................71
IntuitiveUserInterfaces...........................................................................................................................72
KeepYourExistingTools.........................................................................................................................74
WhatsGoodforBigBusinessIsntNecessarilyGoodforYou...................................................74
Don Jones
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Don Jones
Chapter1:WhatIsBusinessIntelligence,
Anyway?
Forafewyearsnow,businessintelligencehavebeenbuzzwordsoftheITindustry.Unlikea
lotofITbuzzwordslikeWeb2.0businessintelligenceactuallycarriessomeweight,
hasadefinitemeaning,andbringsrealvaluetobusinesses.BusinessintelligenceorBI,as
insidersliketocallitreferstothepracticeofhelpingabusinessacquireabetter
understandingofitself.Morebroadly,BIalsoreferstotheskills,technologies,applications,
andpracticesinvolvedinbringingthatunderstandingtolight.
Thetermbusinessintelligencewasfirstusedina1958articlebyIBMresearcherHansPeter
Luhn,whodefineditastheabilitytoapprehendtheinterrelationshipsofpresentedfactsin
suchawayastoguideactiontowardsadesiredgoal.Inotherwords,BIisntjustabout
technologycentricconceptssuchasdatawarehousingorbusinessanalytics;BIisreally
aboutunderstandingtherelationshipsbetweendifferentaspectsofyourcompanysothat
youcanguidethecompanytowardspecificgoals,likeincreasingmarketshareand
improvingcustomersatisfaction.
TheITindustrybeingtechnologycentric,ofcourseusesthetermBIasasortof
umbrellaphrasethatcoversallthetechnologiesandcapabilitiesusedtogatherfactsabout
thebusiness,presentthosefactsinawaythatmakesrelationshipsclearer,andallow
manipulationofthosefactstoprojectwhatifscenariosallintendedtohelpguidebetter
decisionmaking.
LetsconsiderasimpleexampleofhowBIcanhelpabusiness.
Don Jones
ImprovingCustomerSatisfaction
Widgets,Inc.hasbeenstrugglingtoimprovetheircustomerservicelevels.
Thecompanygenerallygetsgoodcustomersatisfactionscoresonthe
surveysitconducts,butitgoesthroughperiodswheresatisfactiondropsby
morethan30%.Thecompanysexecutivesalreadyknowthatthedropscome
duringperiodswhenthecompanyisextremelybusy,fieldingfarmoreorders
thanusual.Thecompanyhasalreadyspenttensofthousandsofdollars
improvingtheirdistributioncenteroperationstoreducethetimeittakesto
shipcustomerorders,butithasntseemedtomakeanydifference.
ThecompanyinvestsinaBIsystem.Thesystemgathersinformationfroma
numberofinternalsources,includingthemainorderprocessingdatabase.
Thesystemalsocollectsdatafromsomeexternalsources,includingbilling
datafromthecompanysshippingvendors,thecompanyspayrollsystem,
andotherplaces.
AfterusingtheBIsystemforafewmonths,companymanagersnotice
somethingunexpected.Duringperiodsofdecreasedcustomersatisfaction,
theirdistributioncenterisactuallylessbusytheycanseetheincreasein
customerorderscorrelatewithadecreaseinpayrollforthedistribution
center.Diggingabitfurther,theyrealizethattheincreasedcustomerorders
aremainlyforproductsthatarebeingdropshippeddirectlyfromacoupleof
specificvendorstocustomers.Managementrealizesthatitsthosevendors
thatareslowtofulfillorders,causingthedropincustomersatisfaction.They
nowknowtofocustheireffortsonimprovingthosevendorsperformance,
findingnewvendorsforthoseproducts,orstockingthoseproductsintheir
owndistributioncenter,wheretheyllhavebettercontrolovershipping
times.
ThedrivingforcebehindBIisthatcompaniesaredrowninginunrelatedfactsthatcome
fromsilos:payrolldata,financialdata,customerdata,vendordata,andsoon.BIpullsall
thatdatatogetherandcorrelatesit.Thedatamayseemunrelated,butinfacteverythingin
thebusinessisrelatedsomehowifsomedataistrulyunrelated,thenwhyisitinthe
businessinthefirstplace?BIdoesntgeneratenewdataitsimplymakesiteasierto
exploreoverlookedrelationshipsbetweendata.
Don Jones
BusinessGoalsforBI
Mostcompaniesevenmidsizeoneshaveanincredibleamountofdatalivingin
transactionbased,distributedsystemsanddatabases.Thepayrollsystemhasone
database,theorderprocessingsystemhasanother,andsoon.Thesedatabasesare
typicallyfinetunedforindividualtransactions,suchasretrievingasinglecustomerorder,
orforspecificbatchoperations,suchasprocessingpayrollattheendofeachmonth.What
thesedatabasesarenotdesignedtodoiscommunicatewithoneanother,toallowusersto
exploredatainunusualways,ortoprovidehighlevelsummariesofthedatainaninstant.
ThemaingoalforBI,then,istoprovideexactlythosethings:
Theabilitytoviewdatafrommultiplesourcesinasingleview,suchasseeingsales
informationcorrelatedwithshippingexpensesandfacilityutilitybills
Theabilitytoquicklyseesummariesofdatafromdifferentplacessuchasthetotal
payrollspent,alongwiththetotalsales,foragiventimeperiod
Theabilitytoseedataovertime,comparingdatafromyesterday,lastmonth,the
pastthreequartersofthepast5years,toseehowthingshavechangedovertime
Theabilitytoaskwhatifquestionsandhaveanswersgeneratedbasedon
historicaldata;forexample,youmightwanttoknowifraisingsalesby10%fora
sustainedperiodoftimewillnecessitatearaiseinutilitycostsorpayrollexpenses
Ideally,theanswerstothesequestionscanfeeddirectlyintothecompanysplanning
systems,helpingdefinebudgets,salesgoals,andotherplanningelements.Doingsoallows
historicaltrendstodrivebusinessdecisions,andthosedecisionsautomaticallydrive
businessplanning.
OneofthereasonsBIhasbecomesopopularaterminthepastfewyearsisthatitisan
incrementalITinvestment.Youdonthavetotearapartyourexistingsystemsinanyway
infact,thosesystemswontknowthattheyreparticipatinginaBIsolution.ThefactthatBI
doesntimpactyourproductionsystemsmeansimplementingBIisrelativelylowrisk
yourenotlikelytodisruptdailyoperationswhileimplementingaBIsolution.Bestyet,a
properlydesignedandimplementedBIsolutioncanquicklydeliverahighreturnon
investment(ROI),somethingexecutivesreallyappreciate.
BI:NotJustforBigCompanies
TheresaperceptionthatBIisjustformajorenterprises,anditscertainlytruethatmajor
enterpriseshavealottogainfromimplementingBIandthatthosebigcompanieshavethe
extracashneededtoimplementaBIsolution.Implementationinmajorenterprisescan
takemonths,anditsrarelyaninexpensiveundertaking.
Don Jones
ButthatdoesntmeanmidsizecompaniescantbenefitfromBI,anditdoesntmeanmidsize
companieshavetospendasmuchtimeormoneyashugecompaniesdo.Afterall,midsize
companiesoftenuselessexpensive,easiertoimplementsolutionsforthingslikepayroll,
corporatebookkeeping,andcustomerrelationshipmanagement;BIdoesntneedtobeany
different.
Buttheresanimportantcorollarytothatstatement:Justasmidsizebusinessesdontuse
thesamebookkeepingsoftwarethatamajorenterprisedoes,amidsizebusinesswontuse
thesameBIsolutionthatagiganticcompanyuses.BringingalargescaleBIsolutionintoa
midsizecompanyisntanysmarterthanbringingagiganticfacilitiesmanagementpackage
intoamidsizecompany.WhatmidsizecompaniesneedisamidsizeBIpackage.Huge
companiesaregenerallyaccustomedtolengthyimplementationtimesforanynewsolution
packagewhetheritsEnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP),CustomerRelationship
Management(CRM),payroll,orwhatever.Midsizecompaniestypicallytakeadvantageof
moreprepackagedsolutionsthatarelessexpensiveandmucheasiertoimplement.The
sameapproachcanworkforBI.
Infact,youcanmakeanargumentthatmidsizecompaniescanseeaquicker,betterreturn
onaBIinvestmentthanlargecompanies.Afterall,largecompaniescanbeslowtochange,
evenwhentheyvegotgoodintelligence,smartdecisions,andagoodplan.Evenwitha
fullyimplementedBIsystem,largecompaniesoftentakelongertoimplementthedecisions
thattheirBIleadsthemto.Midsizecompanies,incontrast,areknownforbeingsomewhat
simplerinstructureandcanoftenreactmorequicklytochange.WiththerightBIsolution,
amidsizecompanycouldeasilydevelopsolidBI,makesmartdecisionsaboutthe
companysfuture,andactonthosedecisionsmorerapidlymeaningafasterROIfromthat
BIsolution.
BITerminology
LetsbrieflystepbackfromthebusinessaspectsofBIandlookatsomeofthemajor
elementsthatgointoaBIsolution.Wellstartwiththenextfivesections,whereIlloutline
themajoraspectsofaBIsolutionatahighlevel.
DataWarehousesandDataMarts
CentraltomostBIeffortsisadatamartoradatawarehouse.Theyrebothbasicallythe
samethingunderthehood:aspecializedkindofdatabasethatsdesignedtosupport
businessanalyticsandtocontaindatafromoneormanydifferentsources.Thedifference
betweenamartandawarehouseistheirscope:Adatamartonlyseekstoservetheneeds
ofaportionofthecompany,suchasthemarketingdepartmentorfinancedepartment.A
datawarehouseseekstoservetheentirecompany.
Don Jones
Therearetwodesignapproachesthatcomeintoplaywhenyouretalkingaboutmartsand
warehouses.Thetopdownapproachdirectsustobuildthedatawarehousefirst,
consideringtheneedsoftheentirecompanywhendesigningit.Thatsobviouslyacomplex
task,asyoureallyneedtolookathowtheentirecompanyworksandhowitsvarious
piecesfittogether.Withthewarehouseinplace,youcancreatedatamartsthatextracta
portionofthewarehousetomeettheneedsofspecificaudiences,suchasfinanceor
marketing.
Thebottomupapproachdirectstheopposite,havingusbuilddatamartsforeachaudience
withinthecompany,thencombiningthosetoformacompanywidedatawarehouse.Thisis
ofteneasiertoimplement,simplybecauseitseasiertowrapyourbrainaroundtheneeds
ofaspecificdepartmentsuchasmarketingthantograspthecompanywideviewof
things.However,thisapproachisnotwithoutitsdetractors.Ina2000article,DataMart
DoesNotEqualDataWarehouse,authorWilliamInmonofferedthisanalogy:Youcan
catchalltheminnowsintheoceanandstackthemtogetherandtheystilldonotmakea
whale.Whathessayingisthatthesilospecificdatamartswillhavegapsbetweenthem,
andtheyllnever,insum,providetherealcompanywideviewyouneed.
ThesesortsofdesignissuesarewhatmakeBIimplementationinlargecompaniesso
complex.Inmidsizecompanies,however,theresanadvantage:Prepackagedsolutionscan
takemuchofthiscontroversyoutofyourhandsbyprovidingapremadedatawarehouse.
RalphKimball,anothernoteddatawarehousedesignexpert,favorswhatmanydescribeas
abottomupapproach.Hesuggeststhat,firstandforemost,youneedtofocusonyour
business.Buildingsmallerdatamartsthateachfocusonaparticularsubjectwithinyour
businesshelpsconstrainthetasktosomethingmoremanageable,andhelpsyoukeepthe
businessnottheultimatedatawarehousemorefirmlyinmind.Herecommends
buildingdatamartsnotaroundbusinessunitsbutaroundbusinessprocesses,suchas
orders,shipments,payments,andsoforth.Kimballrefutestheuseofthebottomuplabel
forhisapproach,pointingoutthathisapproachdoesntfollowthetraditionalbottomup
approachofdesigningaroundorganizationalunitswithinthebusinessbutinsteadaround
howthebusinessworksandwhatitdoes.
Resource
AfulldiscussionofRalphKimballsapproachisbeyondthescopeofthis
book,butyoucanlearnmoreathttp://www.ralphkimball.com/.Especially
informativeishisFablesandFactspageat
http://www.ralphkimball.com/html/controversies.html.
Sowhatisadatawarehouse?Illgetintothetechnicaldetailsabitlaterinthischapter,but
fornow,thinkofadatawarehouseasaplacewhereallyourcompanysdataiscopiedto
andthenrearrangedsothatrelationshipsareeasiertoperceiveandsummariesareeasier
togenerate.
Don Jones
DataMining
DataminingissimplytheprocessofextractingpatternsfromdatainBIterms,froma
datawarehouse.Wanttofindoutwhythedistributioncenterprocessesordersmore
slowlyatcertaintimesofthemonth?Mineyourdatawarehouselookingforpatterns
perhapsyoullfindthatthingsslowdownasthesupplyofcardboardboxesdwindles
becausetheboxvendorisntfulfillingtheirordersquicklyenough.
Itsimportanttorealize,however,thatdataminingcantrevealpatternsindatathatarent
presentinthedatabeingmined.Thatsoundsobvious,butitcanbedeceptivebecausedata
miningcanoftenseemtorevealpatternsthatarentreallythere.Whatyoucanfindyourself
lookingatisapatterncomprisedofsymptomsratherthancauses,whenthecausaldataisnt
presentinthedatawarehouse.Thisisnttosaythatdataminingisntusefulitsatthe
heartofBI,infact.Rather,youjustneedtobeawareofwhatsinthedata,andwhatisnt,
andtakecommonsenseapproachestoverifyingandvalidatingtheconclusionstowhich
yourdataminingleadsyou.
Reporting,Dashboards,andScorecards
Withallthedatathatadatawarehousecancontain,mostuserswillneedsimplifiedmeans
oflookingatcommonlyexaminedinformation.Reportsareoneobviousproductofadata
warehouse,andtheycanrangefromhighlevelsummariestoextremelydetailedanalyses.
Anotheroptionisadashboard,whichprovidesasummaryofcommonmetricspossibly
frommultiplesources,andoftencontainsplanningandactualcomparisons,often
visualizedinaslick,simplifieduserinterface(UI)suchastheexampleFigure1.1shows.
Figure1.1:Anexampledashboard.
Don Jones
Dashboardsdontoftendrivedirectdecisions;rather,theyletindividualusersgetafeelfor
generalperformance,suchassales,inventoryturn,customercomplaints,andsoforth.
Dashboardsletyouknowifeverythingisallrightoriffurtherinvestigationiswarranted.
Dashboardsmayalsoincludetrendssuchasdaybydaysalesfigurescomparedwith
goalsorplans.Again,thedashboardisntgoingtoletyouknowwhysalesarewherethey
arebutiftheyresignificantlyoffplan,youllbeabletotellataglanceandinitiatefurther
investigation.
Dashboardsareusefulbecausetheycanhelpnewandlessexperiencedusersquicklystart
takingadvantageofthedatainadatawarehouseoreventhedatainatransactional
processingsystem,suchasanorderentryapplication.Thelearningcurveforadashboard
isusuallyprettyshortandshallow,somoreusersarelikelytousethemmoreeffectively.
Anotherusefulvisualizationisascorecard.ThiscustomUIlinksinternalandexternaldata
totheorganizationsgoals.Basically,ittellsyouhowfaralongyouareintermsofachieving
yourgoals.Figure1.2offersanexample,showinghowfarvariousdepartmentsarein
achievingaspecificcompanygoal.
Figure1.2:Anexamplescorecard.
Don Jones
Scorecardsareusefulpreciselybecausetheyshowyouwhereyouareinrelationtoyour
goals.Inthisexample,theSalesdepartmentisdoingwell;theHumanResources
departmentmayneedsomeinvestigationandassistance.Scorecardshelpyoufocusyour
efforts,spotproblemareas,andmanagetoyourgoalsonadailybasis.
Dashboardsandscorecardsserveasimilarpurpose,andsomeBIsolutionspresentthemin
suchawaythattheresnopracticaldifference.Ifyouneedtomakeadistinctionbetween
them,adashboardusuallyjustshowsyouwhereyouareinabsoluteterms;ascorecard
showsyouwhereyouarerelativetoyourgoals.Bothareuseful,andbothmaybe
presentedinadashboardstyleUI.
EmptyBeds?!?!
Considerthisexampleofhowdashboardscanhelpmanagementfocusonthe
rightareasfortheirattention.NiceHotels,Inc.traditionallymanageditself
likemosthotelsdotheirprimarymetricwasroomoccupancy.100%
occupancywasalwaysthegoal,althoughmostoftheirpropertiesrarely
achievedthatonaconsistentbasis.
AfterimplementingaBIsystem,managersweregivenanewdashboardthat
showedthemtotaloccupancyaswellasoccupancyonaperbedbasis.The
dashboardalsoshowedthenumberofgueststurnedawayinanovacancy
situation.Theyfoundthattheirfrontdeskagentswereassigningsingle
gueststoroomswithdoublebeds;laterintheevening,theywouldturnaway
familiessimplybecausetheonlyroomsleftatthatpointcontainedsingle
beds.
Managersstartedmanagingtoperbedoccupancyinsteadofperroom
occupancy.Theyscheduledroomcleaningssothatanequalnumberof
doublesandsingleswouldbecleanedatroughlythesametime,ensuringthat
thefrontdeskwouldhavethebestchanceofhavingtherightsizeroomfor
whateverguestwascheckingin.Theytrainedthefrontdesktonotuse
doubleroomsforsingleguests.
Overtime,somepropertieswerestillseeinghigherthandesiredquantities
ofemptybedseachnight,sotheybeganplanningtoconvertsomedouble
roomstosinglesduringrefurbishments.Singleroomsrequirelesstimeto
clean,arelessexpensivebecausetheycontainlessfurnitureandsoftgoods
suchassheets,andthosepropertiesclearlyhadasurplusofdoublerooms.
Bybeingabletoseeperbedoccupancyataglance,managersbeganto
managemoreaggressivelyandintelligently,customizingeachpropertytoits
historicalclienteleandrealizingadditionalrevenueandsavingsovertime.
Don Jones
PredictiveAnalytics
Predictiveanalyticsisexactlywhatitsoundslike:miningdata,lookingforpatterns,and
makingpredictionsaboutfutureeventsbasedonhistoricalfacts.Creditscoringisoneof
themostwellknownformsofpredictiveanalysis,andcreditreportingcompaniesmake
useofsomeoftheworldslargestdatawarehouses.Thereportingcompaniesproprietary
scoringalgorithmsconsiderfactorssuchascredithistory,paymenthistory,loan
applications,andothercustomerdatatoassignnumericscoresthatareapredictionofthe
customersabilitytoproperlymanageandservicetheirdebt.
Crosssellsuchastheyoumightalsolikeproductsuggestionsfrometailerslike
Amazon.comisanotherexample.Byanalyzingthetotalpurchasesmadebyallofits
customers,acompanycanpredict,withsomedegreeofaccuracy,whatproductsyouare
likelytopurchasebaseduponthoseyouhavepurchasedorthoseyouareconsidering.By
offeringyouthoseitemsratherthanmakingyougohuntforthem,thecompanycantake
advantageofimpulsebuying,helpingtoincreaseoverallrevenue.
Internally,manycompaniesusepredictiveanalyticswithouteventhinkingaboutit.For
example,manyretailersknowthattheirholidaysaleswillbesomemultipleoftheirpre
holidaysales;theyalsoknowthatacertainnumberofadditionalemployeeswillbeneeded
tohandletheadditionalholidaysalesvolume.Bylookingathistoricaldataandplottinga
trendintothefuture,thosecompaniescanmakeaninformedguessabouteachyears
holidayhiringneeds.Mostcompaniesfacenumerousadhocdecisionseveryday;
predictiveanalyticscantmakethosedecisions,butitcanhelpinformthemwithmore
accuracythanagutdecision.
BusinessPerformanceManagement
BusinessPerformanceManagement(BPM),orCorporatePerformanceManagement(CPM),
rollsupreporting,predictiveanalytics,andotherBIpracticestogetherwithplanning,
budgeting,andforecasting.Itsdesignedtoprovideaframeworkthatorganizes
information,deliversnewinsight,takesaction,andoptimizesperformance.
InTheNextGenerationofBusinessIntelligence:OperationalBI,authorColinWhite
describedthelinkbetweenBIandbusinessperformancemanagement:
ThebiggestgrowthareainoperationalBIanalysisisintheareaofbusiness
performancemanagement(BPM).OperationalBPMapplicationsnotonly
analyzetheperformance...butalsocomparethemeasuredperformance
againstbusinessgoalsandalertbusinessuserswhenactualperformanceis
outoflinewithbusinessgoals.
Aswithscorecards,goalistheoperativekeywordforBPM.BIisgreat;comparingthe
informationfromBItoyourgoalsallowsyoutomanage.
Don Jones
Althoughthefancynameisnew,BPMasaconceptisntallthatnew.Mostsalesmanagers,
forexample,areinthehabitoflookingatthepriordayssaleswhentheysitdownforwork
inthemorning.Theymightdrillintoeachsalespersonsindividualsalesaswell.They
compareallthatdatawiththeirsalesgoals,andtypicallyknowhowmuchtheystillhave
lefttosellinthemonthbeforetheymeettheirgoal.BPMandBIsimplytakethattoahigher
level,automatingthecollectionofthedata,automaticallycomparingitwithgoals,andnot
onlydisplayingtheresultinadashboardbutalsoalertingmanagementwhenperformance
isoutoflinewithgoals.
BPMmightevendriveautomateddecisions.Forexample,ifsalesaremarkedlyhigherthan
planned,aBPMsystemmightacceleratethevelocityofproductsordersplacedwith
vendorstoensuresufficientstockisonhandtomeetthegrowingdemandtrend.
BPMisacontinualloop,meaningaBPMsystemupdatesitself.Asthecompanyrespondsto
currentevents,theBPMsystemcontinuouslycollectsitsdataandchangesitsanalyses,
helpingthecompanyimmediatelyseetheneartermandpredictedlongtermeffectsofits
efforts.
ABriefTechnicalOverviewofBI
Now,letsspendsometimelookingatthetechnologythatlivesunderthehoodofaBI
solution.Manyofthesetechnologiesarereallyjustcleverextensionsofproven,decades
oldtechnologiesusedinnewwaystohelpachievegreaterresults.
DataMartsandDataWarehouses
Adatawarehouseoradatamartsubsetisreallyjustanormaldatabase.Typically,they
liveinthesamerelationaldatabasemanagementsystemssuchasOracle,SQLServer,
DB2,orwhateverthatnormaldatabaseslivein.However,datawarehousesanddata
martsarestructuredquiteabitdifferently.
OLTPvs.OLAP
AnOnlineTransactionProcessing(OLTP)ortransactionaldatabasehasseveralkey
features:
Itcontainsdetailedinformation.Forexample,itcontainsnotonlysummary
informationsuchasthetotalamountofanorderbutalsodetailedinformationsuch
ashowmucheachitemcosts.
Itisdesignedtoprocesstransactionsmeaningitstypicallydealingwithonepiece
ofdataatatime:oneorder,oneproduct,onecustomer.Itmaybeusedtogenerate
basicreportsfromthisdata,butitsstructureisoptimizedtosupportrapidaccess
tosmallchunksofdata,thereforecontainingmanytables.
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Theschemaisrigidandunchanging.
Itcontainsuptodateinformationandisupdatedinrealtime.Itmaypurgedata
onceitisnolongerneededorrelevant,thereforecontainingonlycurrentdata.
Thequalityofinputdataisoftenveryhigh,meaningapplicationsandother
elementsensurethatcorrectdatagoesintothedatabase.
AdatawarehouseisanOnlineAnalyticalProcessing(OLAP)database,andoftenincludes
thesefeatures:
Somedatamaybesummarized,meaningdetailisnotavailable.Youmaybeableto
tellthetotalamountofagivenorderbutnotthecostofeachproductcontainedin
theorder.
Itspurposeistodriveanalysisanddecisions.Accessisoptimizedforexamining
largequantitiesofdatainordertoseetrends.
Theinformationishistoricalandisonlyasuptodateastheloadingschedule.The
emphasisisonpastdataandtrends,moresothanimmediate,realtimedata.Historic
datafrommonthsoryearsagowilloftenbestoredwithinthedatabase.
Dataisoftencleansed,meaningerrantoredgedatamayberemovedtomake
trendsclearer.Datawarehousestendtofocusonsetsofdataratherthanon
individualelements.
Companieswithadatawarehousewillalwayshaveoneormorenormaldatabasesthat
feedthedatawarehouse.
Normalizedvs.DimensionalData
OLTPsystemsrelyonnormalizeddata,meaningtheyseektoreducedataduplicationand
relyondependenciesbetweensetsofdata.Customersplaceorders,forexample,andsoan
OLTPdatabasemighthaveonetableforcustomerdataandanotherfororderdataand
woulduserelationshipstoconnectcustomerstotheirorders.OLTPdatabasesworkwell
becauseinmanysituationsonlysmallpiecesofdataarebeingmanipulatedenteringa
newcustomerorretrievingoneorder,forexample.OLTPdatabasesaretunedtosupport
thisbehavior.
However,whenitcomestoBI,youdontalwaysneedthefinedetailslikewhich
customersorderedwhatproducts.Instead,yourelookingatbiggertrendslikehowmany
ofaparticularproductweresoldintheprecedingquarter.OLTPdatabasescanprovide
thatinformation,buttheyreabitsloweratitbecausetheirdatabasestructureisntfine
tunedtosummarizeandaggregatedatainthatfashion.Infact,askinganOLTPdatabaseto
providethatinformationcanimpactperformanceofnormaldatabaseoperations
meaningyourquestforBIwillactuallyslowdownbusiness.
Adatawarehouseusesadifferentdatabasestructureentirely.Figure1.3showsasimple
exampleofastarschema,oneofthesimplestdatawarehousingstructures.
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Figure1.3:Anexamplestarschema.
Here,allthepossibledatesarepulledintoonetablecalledadimensiontable.Allpossible
productsareinaseconddimensiontable,andallthecompanysstoresareinathird
dimension.Acentralfacttablelinksthethreedimensionssothatyoucandiscoverwhich
productsweresoldinwhichstoreonwhatdate.Thisstructureisnotoptimizedtoreduce
dataredundancyinfact,therewilllikelybealotofduplicateddata.Thatsokay;data
warehousestradesizeforspeed,meaningtheyoftencontainagreatdealofredundant
data,butthatredundancyhelpsthemproduceresultslikereportsmuchmorerapidly.
Usingaschemalikethis,forexample,makesitmucheasiertoseethedaysonwhich
televisionssoldmorequicklyorwhetherthereareanystoresthatselllaptopcomputers
especiallywell.
DataModeling
Thetricktoaneffectivedatawarehouseisintheschemahowyoumodelthedata.You
needtoknowinadvance,toadegree,whatquestionsyouwantansweredbythedata
warehouse.Forexample,theexampleinFigure1.3wonthelpyoufigureoutwhethermore
customersuseVisaorAmericanExpresstopurchaserefrigeratorsbecauseyoudidnt
includepaymentinformationintheschema.Ifthatsthetypeofthingyouwanttoknow,it
needstobeincludedinthedatamodel.
Datamodelingiswherelargecompaniesspendalotoftimewhentheyreimplementinga
datawarehouse.Fortunately,midsizecompaniesoftensharealotofcommondatasources
andbusinessneeds.Justasanofftheshelfbookkeepingpackagetendstoworkwellwith
justaboutanykindofmidsizebusiness,anofftheshelfBIsolutioncanalsoworkwell
withoutallthetimeconsumingupfrontdatamodeling.
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DataTransformationandLoading
Withyourdatawarehouseschemaready,thenexttaskistogetdataintoit.Onereasona
datawarehouseworkswellisthatitcopiesdatafromproductionsystemsintothe
warehouse;thatmeansyoucanpullreportsfromthewarehousealldaylongwithout
impactingyourproductionsystems.Italsomeansthatyourwarehousesdatawillalways
beslightlyoutofdateexactlyhowmuchdependsonhowoftenyoucopynewdataintoit.
However,mostBIworksfromlongtermtrends,sonothavinguptothemomentdataisnt
usuallyanissue.ThereissuchathingasrealtimeBI,butitisbeyondthescopeofthisbook.
Theactualprocessofcopyingdataisusuallyreferredtoasanextract,transform,andload
process(ETL).Theextractstepconnectstothesourcedatabaseandpullstherequireddata
fromit.AgoodBIsolutionwillhavethecapabilitytoconnecttomostcommondatabases;
longstandingconnectivitystandards,adoptedbymostdatabasevendors,makesthis
easier.Thetransformsteprearrangesthedataintotheschemausedbythedata
warehouse.Thismayinvolvesummarizingcertainpiecesofdata,ifthedatawarehouse
wontcontainlineitemdetails,anditusuallyinvolvesspreadingthedataoutintothe
differenttablestructureusedbythedatawarehouse.Finally,theloadstepactuallyplaces
thetransformeddataintothedatawarehouse.Thismaybeaseparatedatabaserunningon
arelationaldatabasemanagementserveroraproprietarydatabasecontainedwithintheBI
solutionitself.
ETLisntanallornothingprocess.Youmayloaddatafromcertainsourcesonceanhour,
oreverynight;othersourcessuchasaccountingsystemsmaybecomeinvolvedona
monthlyorquarterlybasis.
InMemoryAnalytics
ArelativelynewdevelopmentinthefieldofBIisinmemoryanalytics.Ratherthancopying
allyourdatatoadifferentlocationlikeadatawarehouseandperforminganalysis
there,dataissimplyreadintoaserversmemoryandanalyzedrightthenandthere.
Actually,theideaofinmemoryanalyticsisntnew,butitsonlyrecentlywiththe
availabilityofmorepowerfulcomputingresourcesatlowerpricesthatitsbecome
practical.Illdiscussitinmoredetailinthenextchapter.
Reporting,Analysis,andVisualization
Thelaststep,ofcourse,istousethedatainthewarehouse.ThisiswhereBIsystemsreally
comeintoplay:Simplyhavingalotofdatasittinginadatabaseisntterriblyuseful;theBI
systemcontainsthesmartstoturnthatdataintousefulreports,dashboards,scorecards,
andotherformsofinformation.
GoodBIsystemswillallowuserstoworkwiththetoolsthattheyrealreadycomfortable
with.Ivedescribedhowdashboardsandscorecardsprovideintuitivesummariesofdata;
someusersmaypreferstraightforwardreports,whileothersmightprefertoworkwith
pivottablesinaspreadsheetapplicationsuchasMicrosoftExcel.Figure1.4showsan
exampleofthese,andhowasingleBIsolutioncanprovidealltheseformsofoutput.
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Don Jones
Figure1.4:Commonexamplesofdatawarehouseoutput.
PivottablesthePivotTablefeatureinMicrosoftExcel,forexamplecanbeuseful
analysistoolsforusersalreadycomfortableworkingwithspreadsheets.Welldiscussthem
moreinlaterchapters,butfornow,keepinmindthatpivottablesallowuserstoconstruct
customoutput,summarizekeydataondemand,andrearrangedatatoseedifferent
relationships.
BIsystemscanalsoprovidemorepowerfulvisualizationsfordata.Forexample,Figure1.5
showsarelationshipchart,whichhelpsvisualizepatternsindata.Inthisexample,the
yellownodesrepresentindividualsinacommunitywhosmokecigarettes.Researchers
usedthischarttostudytheeffectsofthesmokersrelationshipsontheirsmoking,and
foundthatafteralmost30years,moststoppedsmoking.Theoneswhocontinuedsmoking
hadfewcloserelationships.Thissuggestedapatternofquittingifyourfriendsquit,you
willtoo.Itsatypeofrelationshipthatonlyadatawarehouse,andthisspecifickindof
visualization,canunveil.
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Figure1.5:Anexamplerelationshipchart.
Reporting,analysis,andvisualizationcanallseemlikethesamethingandtheycertainly
allservesimilargoals.Sowhataretherealdifferences?
Reportscanaddressavarietyofbusinessneeds,canbepersonalizedandtargeted,
andcanbeeasilydistributedviamanymeans.Theycanbeadaptedtorunfrom
differentdatasourcesaswell,makingthemveryflexible.
Dashboardstranslatecomplexinformationintohighimpact,ataglancedisplays.
Theyremoreintuitivethanreports,andhelpkeepdecisionmakersalignedwith
organizationalgoals.Dashboardshelpyouspotproblemsmorequickly,making
themgooddailyusetools.
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Don Jones
Scorecardsalsodeliverataglanceinformationbutshowhowwellyouredoing
comparedwithspecifictargets.Theyregoodforcommunicatingstrategyand
progress,andcanhelpincreaseaccountability.
Analysisletsyouexploreinformationfromacrossthebusiness,andhelpsyoudig
deepertodiscoverthewhybehindwhatyoureseeingonareport,dashboard,or
scorecard.Youcanmovethroughsummaryinformationtodeeperlevelinformation,
andmodelwhatifscenariostohelpfindtherightactionforimprovement.
BI:Analysis+Planning
Allthebusinessintelligenceintheworldisuselessifyoudontuseittochangesomething
aboutyourbusinessoratleasttovalidatethatwhatyourecurrentlydoingisthebest
path.GoodBIsolutionsfacilitatethisgoalbynotonlyprovidingintelligencebutalsoby
helpingyouanalyzethatintelligence,makedecisions,andactuallyimplementthose
decisions.
AnalyzingandReportingonInformation
Analyzinginformationcanhappeninmanyways.Youmightusereportsor,more
specifically,youmightuseaninteractivedrilldownordrillupreport.Thesereportsletyou
clickanitemofdatatoseethedetailbehindthatitem,makingiteasiertodigtothesource
ofsomethingthatisproblematic.Oryoumightlookatinformationbasedonadhoc
queries,whichcanbepresentedinavarietyofformats.Youmightalsousedashboardsor
othervisualizations,likethebreakdownshowninFigure1.6.
Figure1.6:Anexamplesalessummaryreport.
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Don Jones
IfyourecomfortableinExcel,youmightcreateaPivotTable,oruseoneofthemanyBI
addinsforExcel.Thesecanhelpyouanalyzewhatifscenarios,likeseeingtheeffectofa
changeinproductsalesforagivenmonth.Allthisanalysiswillhelpyoudrawconclusions
aboutwhythingsarethewaytheyarewithinyourcompany;youcanthenmakeinformed
decisionsaboutwhichthingsneedtochangeinordertomeetyourgoals.
MakingDecisions
Makingdecisionscanbethetoughpart.Thetrickistomakesureyourelookingatallthe
data.BIsolutionscanhelpbycorrelatingdatafrommanysources,makingiteasiertosee
previouslysiloedinformationinasingle,cohesiveview.Seeproductsalesnextto
manufacturingcostsalongsidepayrollandfacilitiesoverhead.Drilldownreportshelpyou
seethenittygrittydetailseasilyandthendrilluptosummaryviewsthatshowyouthe
bigpictureresultsofproposedchanges.
WhatifiswhereBIreallycomesinhandy.Asyoulookatprojectionsandtrends,BI
solutionsmakeiteasytoplugindifferentnumbers:Whatifweincreasedpayrollandhired
newshippingclerks?Whatifweuseanadditionalvendortosourcecriticalcomponents?
Whatifunitsalesgodown10%?Whatifweofferbiggerdiscountsforbulkorders?By
punchinginproposals,youcanseealmostinstantlyhowthenumbersfallout,to
determinewhetheryourproposalsmakeapositiveornegativeimpact.
Implementing
Implementingiswheretherubbermeetstheroad:Itswhereyoutakeyourbestproposals
andputthemintoaction.Doingsomayrequireupdatingcorporatebudgets,financial
outlooks,andotherplanningandsupportsystems;agoodBIsolutionwillprovidewrite
backcapabilitiessothatyourwhatifproposalscanbeacceptedandlinkedbackto
businessoptimizationandplanningtools.Inotherwords,justasaBIsolutioncanreaddata
fromplanningsystems,itcanalsowritedatabackintothosesystemstoadjustassumptions
andplans.ItsagreatwaytoclosetheloopinBI,makingyourwhatifproposalsa
reality,sooner.
OneSizeDoesNotFitAll
BIlikemostbusinesstechnologiesisnotaonesizefitsallaffair.Iactuallygetalittle
surprisedwhenIseemidsizebusinessesattemptingtoimplementorevenconsidering
thesameBIsolutionsusedbyagiantcompanylikeFordMotorCompany,Aetna,orHome
Depot.MostmidsizecompanieswouldneverevenlookattheERP,CRM,andother
applicationssuitableforagiantcompany;mostsolutionvendorshavespecificproducts
gearedtowardmidsizebusinesses.WhyshouldBIbeanydifferent?
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Don Jones
BIinLargeEnterprises
Notwolargeenterprisesareexactlyalikeindeed,fewofthemareevenvaguelysimilar,
evenwhentheyreinthesameindustry.Theymayhaveallstartedassmallcompanies,but
theygrewupinverydifferentways.Theyhandlepayrolldifferently,structuretheir
accountingdifferently,havedifferentmanufacturingmodelsandphilosophies,andsoon.
Largeenterprisesareoftenorganizedintobusinessunitsanddivisionswhichthemselves
operatealmostasindependententities.InsomelargeenterprisesGEisagoodexample
therearedivisionsthathaveabsolutelynothingtodowithotherdivisions,suchasGEs
medicalequipmentdivisionandtheirtelevisionbroadcastingdivision(althoughGEs
medicalequipmentdoesgetsuspiciouslygoodplacementintheirnetworkstelevision
shows).
AllofthismeansthatBIinalargeenterpriseiscomplicated.Youredealingwiththousands
ofdatasourcesintheETLprocessandmayhavehundredsofdifferentaudiencesthatneed
differentreports,dashboards,andscorecards.EveryBIdeploymentinoneofthese
enterprisesisacustomaffair,fromdesigningthedatawarehouseschematowritingthe
ETLroutinestodevelopingthefinaloutput.ManyBIvendorswhoworkatthisleveldont
sellproducts;theyselltoolkits,alongwithdeploymentandimplementationservices
expertswhousethosetoolstobuildacustomBIsolutionforeachnewcustomer.
Soundexpensive?Surebutdontforgetthatbigenterpriseshavealotofmoneyonthe
line.IftheyspendacoupleofmilliondollarsimplementingaBIsolution,theymaybe
lookingtosavetensofmillionsfromthatsolution.Butitdoesntscaledown.Followthat
sameimplementationprocess,usingthesamevendorsandtoolkits,andyoullspendalot
ofmoneyandmidsizecompaniesarentlookingtosaveasmuch,sotheBIinvestment
doesntseemworthit.
BIinMidsizeCompanies
Midsizecompaniesareatotallydifferentanimal.Theyremorelikely,forexample,touse
offtheshelforlightlycustomizedsolutionsforkeytaskssuchasbookkeeping,payroll,
CRM,andsoforth.Midsizecompaniestendtofocusonsimilarbroadbusinessquestions:
Wherearesales?Howsinventory?Whatdoespayrollandotheroverheadlooklike?
Midsizecompaniestendtohavealotofbroadsimilaritieswithoneanother,inother
words.
Thus,BIvendorscanofferprepackagedBIsolutionsdesignedformidsizebusinesses.
Thesesolutionsmayrequirelittleornooutsideexpertservicestoimplement,andtheyre
designedinmuchthesamewaythatmidsizebookkeepingsoftwareisdesignedtomeeta
commonsetofneeds,withenoughroomforcustomizationtoensureagoodfitonmost
businesses.TheBIvendorisabletospreadthecostofdesigningthedatawarehouse,
output,andETLroutinesacrossallofitscustomers,resultinginalowercost,offtheshelf
product.ItwouldntbeatallsuitableforaFortune500companybutitcanworkgreatfor
midsizebusinesses.
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Don Jones
PrepackagedBIsolutionsoftenofferthemostcompellingfeaturesfromthefullsizedBI
toolkits,suchasWebbaseddashboards,supportforpivottablesinspreadsheets,
scorecards,andsoon.WellexploresomeofthesefeaturesandhelpbuildaBIsolution
shoppinglistinanupcomingchapter.
ComingUpNext
SoexactlywhatisinvolvedinmakingBIhappeninsideyourorganization?Howdoyou
introduceaBIsolution,andwhatsortofoutputswillyouneed?Howwillyouanalyzethat
output,andwhatsortsofdecisionscanyouexpecttomake?Inthenextchapter,Illattempt
toanswerallofthesequestionsbyexplainingthebasicprocessbywhichBIisintroduced
intoanenvironment.Welldigalittledeeper,technically,thaninthischapter,butIllalso
focusonlayingoutthestepsyoullbetaking.IlllookatwhyBIistraditionallycomplicated
andexpensive,andoutlinesomewaysinwhichmidsizecompaniescanleveragecertain
economiesofscaleandsimilaritytosavebothtimeandmoney.
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Don Jones
Chapter2:HowBusinessIntelligence
Happens
How,exactly,doyougetabusinessintelligence(BI)systemintoyourorganization?BI
hasnttraditionallybeensomethingyoujustinstallontoaserverorclientcomputer,soits
importanttounderstandtheprocess,tools,andtechniquesthatareinvolvedin
implementingandcreatingit.Someofthesemay,infact,bemajorreasonswhyyour
midsizecompanyhasavoidedBIinthepastmakingitevenmoreimportantto
understandnotonlythetechnologies,tools,andtechniquesbutalsohowtheyveevolvedin
recentyearstomeettheneedsofcompaniesotherthangiantenterprises.
Inthischapter,IllexplainthebasicprocessesbywhichBIisintroducedintoan
environment.IllalsolookatsomeofthereasonsBIistraditionallyatimeconsumingand
expensivepropositionformostcompanies,andsetupsomeofthewaysinwhichyoucan
implementBImoreeasilyandforlessmoney.ThinkofthischapterastheBIlifecyclea
lookintowhatBIactuallylookslikeinsideanorganizationlikeyours.
AssemblingYourBusinessData
BIis,firstandforemost,allaboutdata.TheultimatepurposeofBIistobringtogetherdata
frommanydifferentsourcessothatyoucanstartmakingconnections,findingpatterns,
andspottingtrendsthatwouldntbeapparentotherwise.Thatmeansthefirststepin
implementingBIisdecidingwhatbusinessdatayoullneedtoassemble,andfiguringout
howtogetitallintooneplace.Theactualtechnologiesfordoingsoarelessimportantright
now;wereconcernedwiththedifferentkindsofdatathatdriveyourbusinessandthe
waysinwhichthatdataiscurrentlystoredandused.Thatinformationwillhelpusdecide
whichtechniquesyoushouldusetopullthatdataintoaBIplatform.
Note
Imdeliberatelyavoidingthetermdatawarehouseforacoupleofpages;
althoughitslikelythatyourBIeffortwillinvolvesomekindofdata
warehouseordatamart,thatsnotimportantatthemoment.Rightnow,
weretakingastepbackfromthedeeperlevelsofBItechnologyandthinking
aboutwhatyourdatacurrentlylookslike,andwhatyouneedyourdatato
looklikeinordertouseitwithinaBIimplementation.
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Don Jones
Rightnow,themajorityofthedatainyourorganizationprobablylivesinsidetransactional
databases.Thatis,yourdatalivesinthesystemsthathandleyourbusinessdaytoday
operationscustomerorderingsystems,invoicingsystems,financialsystems,andsoon.
ThatinformationmightphysicallyliveinsomethinglikeMicrosoftSQLServer,orOracle,or
IBMDB2,orsomeotherrelationaldatabasemanagementsystem.Youmaywellhavedata
livinginsmallerdatabasessuchasMicrosoftAccessorevenMicrosoftExcelspreadsheets.
Someofyourdatamaybeinproprietarydatabases,likeaQuickBooksfile,orinadatabase
usedbymidsizebusinesssoftwarelikeMicrosoftDynamicsERP.Thesearecalledsource
systemsorsystemsofrecord.
BIdoesntchangethat.Yourdaytodaydatawillcontinuetolivewhereveritlivesnow,
drivingbusinessapplications,lineofbusinesssoftware,andtheothersystemsthatmake
yourbusinesswork.WhatBIwantstodoislookatthatdata,possiblycopythatdatato
differentlocationsandindifferentforms,andtoanalyzethatdata.
DirectDataMapping
DirectdatamappingallowsaBIsystemtoconnecttoyourbusinessdatainitscurrent
location.Thatis,ratherthancopyingyourdatasomewhereelse(likeintoadata
warehouse),theBIsystemsimplyconnectstothedatawheneveritneedstouseit.The
advantageofdoingsoisthatyourminutetominutechangescanbeimmediatelyviewed
andusedwithintheBIsystem;adisadvantageisthatdependinguponhowyourBI
systemisbuiltandusedyoucanplaceasignificantperformanceburdenonyourlive
productionsystems,somethingthatyoulltypicallywanttoavoid.
ThemappingpartofthisreferstothefactthatBIsystemsasdiscussedintheprevious
chaptertypicallyorganizedatadifferentlythanatransactionalsystemdoes.BIsystems
usedatastructuresthatareoptimizedforfastqueryingofdata,whereastransactional
systemsoftentrytostrikeabalancebetweenqueryingdataandaddingnewdata.In
addition,transactionalsystemsrarelyexecutethekindofcomplex,interrelatedqueries
thataBIsystemuses.
Interestingly,datamappingalmostalwayscomesintoplaywithaBIsystemevenifyou
dontwanttoallowyourBIsystemtoquerydatadirectlyondemandfromtransactional
systems.Sometimes,youmightprefertocopyrelevantdatafromyourtransactional
systemsintoadedicatedBIdatastore;whenyoudoso,youllstillneedadatamapthat
helpstheBIsystemproperlyqueryandreorganizethedataforusewithintheBIsolution.
Simplified
Datamappingistheprocessofdesignatingthedatathatwillbeutilizedin
theBIsystem,whetherthatdataisaccesseddirectlywhereitsitsorcopied
intoadifferentdatastoreforBIpurposes.Datamappingdesignatesnotonly
thatdatathatwillbeusedbutalsotoadegreehowthedatawillbere
structuredintotheformusedbytheBIsystem.
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DataLoading
DataloadingisusedwhenyoudontwantaBIsystemtodirectlyaccessproductiondata
whileusersaretryingtoenterorders,findinventory,andbalanceaccounts.Utilizingadata
mapthatiseithermanuallycreatedor,insomecases,generatedautomaticallybysoftware
tools,dataloadingutilitiescopydataoutofyourtransactionalsystems,transformor
rearrangethedataintothestructurerequiredbytheBIsystem,andaddthedatatotheBI
system.
IntheBIworld,dataloadingisoftenreferredtoasExtract,Transform,andLoad,orETL,
whichnicelydescribesexactlywhathappens:Dataisextractedfromonedatabase,
transformedintoadifferentstructure,andloadedintotheBIsystem.SomeBIsystemsmay
bepreprogrammedwithdatamapsforcommonlyusedbusinesssoftware,including
EnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)solutionsorotherfinancialsoftware;mostBIsystems
alsoallowcustomdataloadingfromwhateverdatabasesyouhappentohaveinyour
environment.
ThetransformaspectofETLiswhathelpsmakeBIsouseful.Becausedifferentdatabases
allusedifferentstructuresandconventions,connectingdatafromdifferentplacescanbe
verydifficult.Transformingthedatahelpsstandardizeit.Forexample,atransformprocess
might:
Translateabbreviations,likethenamesofstates,intotheirfullnames
SelectonlycertainpiecesofdatathatwillberelevanttotheBIsystem
Cleansedata,suchasrunningcustomeraddressesthroughanaddressverification
systemorformattingallproductIDnumberstoastandardizedformat
Aggregatedata,suchascalculatingthetotalforcustomerorders,eventhoughyour
transactionalsystemonlystoreslineitemamounts
Filterdata,eliminatingredundanciesorunwanteddata
Joiningdatafrommultiplesources,suchaslookingupproductnamesratherthan
storinglesshumanfriendlyproductIDnumbers
Validatingdata,ensuringthatthedatausedforBIpurposesiscorrect,valid,orupto
date
Correlatingdatafromdifferentsystemsmatchingthedatafromyourorderentry
systemtothedatainyourinventorysystemtothedatainyourshippingsystemto
thedatainyourcustomerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)system
Dataloadingisoftenaccomplishedduringoffhours,whenanyburdenitplacesonyour
productionsystemswillbelessnoticeabletoyourusers.ThismeansthatyourBIsystem
wonthaveuptotheminutedatabutinmostsituations,thatsokay;BIsystemsareall
aboutworkingwithlongertermtrendsandpatterns,andlessaboutworkingwithupto
theseconddata.However,ifyoursituationrequiresthatyourBIsystemworkwithsome
kindsofrealtimedata,directdatamappingcanbeusedinconjunctionwithdataloadingto
provideahybridmodelthatgetsyouwhatyouneed,whenyouneedit.
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DataMartsandDataWarehouses
Asdiscussedinthepreviouschapter,datawarehousesaretypicallywhereaBIsystem
storesitsdataafterloadingthatdatafromyourproduction,transactionalsystems.To
quicklyreview,adatamartcommonlyholdsdatarelatedtoaportionofyourbusiness,such
asdepartmentaldata.Adatamartcanthelpmakebroaddecisionsthataffecttheentire
company,butitcanbeusedtohelpmakedecisionswithintheportionofthecompanythat
itserves.Adatawarehousecontainsstandardized,consistent,cleanseddatafromtheentire
company(orfrommostofit,atleast),andisusedtoanalyzepatternsandtrendsfrom
acrossthecompany.
Forexample,adatamartmighthelpyourCFOunderstandtherelationshipbetweensalary
costsandproductsales,andmakewhatifdecisionstohelppredictfuturesalaryexpenses
invarioussalesscenarios.Alargerdatawarehouse,incontrast,mighthelptiein
informationonyourmarketingandadvertisingefforts,helpingtheCFOpredictchangesin
salarycostsbasedondifferentadvertisingeffortsormarketingcampaignsasthosethings
presumablyaffectproductsales.
Somedatawarehousesarebuiltfromacollectionofdatamarts(calledabottomup
approach);otherexpertsprefertobuildthelargerdatawarehousefirst,thenbreakitdown
intodepartmentaldatamartsasneeded(thetopdownapproach).Therearestrong
opinionsheldbydifferentexpertsforbothtechniques,andwhichapproachtotakeisoften
oneofthefirsttoughdecisionsthatlargecompaniesfacewhencontemplatingaBI
implementation.
TopDown,BottomUpHelp!
Pickupagoodbookondatawarehousedesignandyoumayquicklycometo
thedecisionthatBIisntrightforyourmidsizecompany.Designphilosophies
arejustthebeginningofthedifficultdecisionsitseemsyoullhaveto
somehowmake.
Butthatsituationisactuallytrueformostbusinessdecisions.Willyour
companyoperateoncashbasisoraccrual?Howwillyoustructureyour
financialledgersandaccounts?Howwillyoubuildandmonitorasales
pipeline?
Giantcompaniesareoftenforcedtoconfrontthesedecisions,spendtime
educatingthemselves,andmakeadecision.Thetechnologysolutionssoldto
largecompaniesmustoftenbecustomizedtofitthecompanysdecisions,
whichcanbeexpensiveandtimeconsuming.
Midsizebusinesses,however,oftentakeacommonlyacceptedapproach.
Theypurchaseanofftheshelfaccounting,ERP,orCRMsystem,thenuseit
howeveritwasdesignedtobeused.Inaway,theyletthetechnologymake
thedecisionforthem,because,inmostcases,thetechnologywaswrittento
modelthemostcommon,bestpractices,andgenerallyacceptedwayof
doingthings.Inthisway,midsizebusinessessavethemselvestimeand
money.
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Don Jones
BIshouldbenodifferent.Althoughgiantcompanieswillstillneedtospenda
greatdealoftimeondesigndecisionsandotherupfrontquestions,midsize
businessescanoftenselectaBIsolutionthatwasdesignedformidsize
companies,lettingthesolutionsdesignersselectthemostcommon,
generallyacceptedwayofdoingthings,thensimplyworkingwithinthat
frameworkratherthanhavingtomakeeverysingledesigndecision
themselves.
InMemoryAnalytics
OneofthehotnewtrendsforBIinthepastfewyearshasbeeninmemoryanalytics.The
ideahereisthatratherthanloadingallyourdataintoadatawarehouse(whichisreally
justanotherkindofdatabasethatstoresdataondisk),youloadyourdataintoa
computersmemoryandworkwithitthereinteractingwithdiskbasedstorageverylittle
ifatall.Inmemoryanalyticsisntactuallyanewconceptbuttherecent(andmassive)drop
inpriceofcomputerprocessorsandmemoryhasfinallystartedtomakeinmemory
analyticsmorepractical.
Inmemoryanalyticscanhelpreduceoreliminatetheneedtotransformandloaddatainto
adatawarehousesomethingthatisoftentimeconsumingbeforeanalyzingthedata.
Instead,datacanbequeriedfromproductionsources,transformedinmemory,and
analyzeddirectly.Thisisespeciallyusefulforobtainingmoreuptotheminuteanalyses
andforanalyzingdatainanewwaythatisntprovidedforinatraditionaldatamartordata
warehouse.
Theinmemorytechniqueisimportantforafewreasons:
Buildingadatawarehouserequirestechnicalexpertise,whichisalsorequiredto
helptunetheperformanceofthedatawarehouse.Becauseinmemoryanalysisis
adhoc,lesstechnicalexpertiseisneeded,allowingbusinessanalystsandlineof
businessmanagerstobuildtheirownreportsanddashboards.
Inmemoryanalysisisfasterthananalysisthatrequiresdiskaccesssimplybecause
disksaremuchslowerthancomputermemory.
Inmemoryanalyticscanallowmoreflexibleanalysisofthedata.Datacanberapidly
restructuredinmemorytoanswerdifferentquestionswithouthavingateamre
designthedatastoreandrebuildthedatabasetablestosupportit.
Inmemoryanalysisisntaperfectsolution,though,becausecomputermemorystillisnt
unlimitedorfree.Someestimatessuggestthatcomputersbeingusedforinmemory
analysisneedtohavemultiplefastprocessorsandmustbeabletodedicatealargeportion
ofmemorytotheanalysisenoughmemorytoholdasmuchas100%oftheamountof
databeinganalyzed,dependingontheexactcircumstances.Inmemorycompressionand
otherdatahandlingtechniquescanreducethatmemoryrequirementinsomecases;some
vendorscitea1to10datavolumeratio,meaningyoudonlyneedenoughmemorytohold
about10%ofthedatayouplantoanalyze.Midsizebusinesseswhichoftendealwithless
sheervolumeofdatathanhugeenterprisesmayfindthatinmemoryanalyticsisan
affordableandpracticaltechniquefortheirBIneeds.
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Don Jones
InMemoryAdvantages
Businessusershatewaitingforanswers.Tellamanagerthathisreportswill
onlycomeonceaweekorthathellhavetowaitafewhourstogetresponses
toanalysisqueries,andthatmanagerwillprobablygiveuponBI.Infact,
manyorganizationsstillrelegateBIsystemusetoafewtrained,patient
businessanalysts.Butthepowerandflexibilitygainedfromgivingfrontline
managersaccesstofastBItoolscantbeignored.
Withinmemoryanalytics,querytimemightdropfrom30minutestoafew
secondsprovidedyoucanemploythehardwareneededtomakeithappen.
Onceusersbecomeaccustomedtosuchrapidperformance,theystartasking
theBIsystemmorequestions,gettingmoreanswers,andrunningthe
businessbasedonfactsandtrendsratherthanongutinstinct.
Inmemoryanalysiscanworkwithoutadatawarehouse,meaningyouwont
needasmuchonstafftechnicalexpertisetogetupandrunningwithBI.That
makesinmemoryanalysisespeciallyattractivetomidsizecompanieswhose
ITstaffmightnothaveBIexpertiseorwhosimplymightnothavethe
bandwidthforamorecomplexBIproject.
Inmemoryanalysishasstartedbecomingpopularnotbecauseofitsadvantagesafterall,
whowouldntwantfasteranswers?butbecauseofitsfeasibility.Justafewyearsago,
1GBofcomputermemorycostover$150;todayitcostslessthan$35orso.Apowerful
analyticsserverwith64GBofmemorymighthavecost$64,000,andtodaycostsonly
$13,000muchmoreaffordable.Theincreasedpowerandlowercostof64bit,multi
corecomputerprocessorshashelpedtoo,asthoseprocessorscanphysicallyconnecttothe
largeamountsofmemoryneededtomakeinmemoryanalyticspossible.
Resource
Ifyoudliketoreadmoreaboutinmemoryanalysis,visit
http://www.tagonline.org/articles.php?id=298.Youllfindagreat,clear
articleonthesubject.
CreatinganInformationDrivenBusinessCulture
Everytimeweraisethepriceoftheproduct,wesellmorecopies.Thatswhatone
businessexecutivetoldme,andthatsimplecorrelationdrovemanyofthecompanys
businessdecisions.Ofcourse,correlationisnotcausation;thecompanywasalsoadding
significantnewfeaturestotheproduct,exhibitingatmoretradeshows,andspendingmore
onmarketingandadvertising.Butthatonesimplefactorproductpriceiswhatdrove
thatexecutivesgutdecisions.
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Don Jones
Managingbyinstinctisespeciallycommoninmidsizecompanies,particularlybecause
manyexecutivesandmanagershavebeenwiththecompanyforalongtimeandstillfeel
theyhaveacompleteviewintoallofthecompanysdata.Butastinycompaniesgrowtobe
midsizeones,itbecomesmoreandmoredifficultforasinglehumanbeingtokeeptheir
fingersoneveryoneofthecompanyspulses;managersstopmanagingbasedon
informationsimplybecausetheydontactuallyhavealltheavailableinformation.
Eventually,theysimplystartmanagingoninstinctsomethingthatisunreliable,not
repeatable,andgenerallydoesntservemidsizecompanieswellinthelongrun.
AfteryougetyourdataintoaBIsystem,youhavetostartteachingyourselfandyour
colleaguestousethatinformationandtotrustit.Createaninformationdrivenculture
ratherthananinstinctdrivencultureinyourmidsizecompany.BIsystemsoffera
numberofefficientand,frankly,sometimescoolwaysofdoingso.
SkillInstinct
Notmanagingbyinstinctisnotthesamethingasnotneedingmanagerial
skills.Goodmanagerscanstillrelyontheirexperienceandtheirintimate
knowledgeofhowthecompanyworksthatexperienceandknowledgecan
simplybemoreinformed.Providingfactsandinformation,filteredand
temperedbyexperienceandskill,isthewayBIcanmakemanagers
decisionsbetter.
Ofcourse,Ihavetoacknowledgethatcreatinganinformationdrivenculturedoesnot
meanthatexperienceandhandsonmanagementarentuseful.Iveknownandinsome
casesworkedfortoomanymanagersthatspentalldaystaringatspreadsheetsandnever
temperedallthatinformationwithahandsonrealitycheck.Theywerent,toputitkindly,
allthateffectiveatmanaging.Informationshouldcontributetothemanagementprocess,
notdominateit.
Reporting
Goodmanagerslovereports.Reportsofferinformationdatapointsthatcanhelpdirect
managementdecisions.ABIsystemsimplyproducesbroader,moreinsightfulreportsthan
thoseofferedbyasingletransactionalsystem.Anorderentrysystem,forexample,might
tellamanagertheaveragevalueofalltheordersenteredforatypicalbusinessday.ABI
system,however,canalsotellthatmanagertheaveragecosttoenterthoseordersbecause
theBIsystemcandrawfrommanyothersourcesofdataincludingsourcesthatoffer
salaryamounts,utilitybills,andmuchmore.ABIsystemcanalsohelpthatmanagersee
trendsinordervolumebasedonadvertising;askilledmanagerbackedbyagoodBIsystem
willknowexactlyhowmanyadditionalstaffwillbeneededtohandletheonslaughtof
customerordersthatwillaccompanythenewestupcomingtelevisionad.
ReportsfromaBIsystemcanbehighlyflexible,andevendynamic,allowingmanagersto
useareporttoaskwhatifquestions,andmakedecisionsbasedontheresults.Figure2.1
showsatypicalBIreport,displayingaggregatesales,salesbyproductcategory,andtop
sellingproducts.Thiskindofsummarylevelreporthelpsmanagersfocustheirefforts,
makeproductstockingdecisions,andsoon.Adynamicversionofthisreportmightbe
clickable,lettingmanagersdrilldownintomoredetailedinformationasneeded.
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Don Jones
Figure2.1:AcommonBIreport.
SomemanagersareskilledinusingMicrosoftExcel,whichoffersbuiltinpivottable
functionalityandcanuseaddinstoprovideevenmoreBIanalyticalfunctionality.By
connectingExceltoadatawarehouseoraninmemoryanalyticsserver,asFigure2.2
shows,managerscanpivotdata,buildcustomanalyses,drillthroughdata,andpropose
whatifscenariostoseetheresults.Thishelpsmanagersseethepotentialoutcomeof
decisions,helpingdrivethedecisionthatmostbenefitsthecompany.Figure2.2actually
showsanExceladdin,whichissomethingthatmanyBIsolutionsincludeoroffer.
Figure2.2:ConnectingExceltoadatawarehouseorinmemoryanalyticsserver.
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Don Jones
ThebiggestchallengewithaBIimplementationisgettingmanagerstousethesepowerful
tools.Onceexposedtothemandshownhowtoutilizethem,mostexperiencedmanagers
willneverturnback.
Dashboards
ThereportinFigure2.1mightbemoreaccuratelycalledadashboard,whichisacommon
featureofmostBIsystems.Dashboardsarespecializedkindsofreportsthatutilize
graphicaldisplaystosummarizekeyinformationforataglanceconsumption.
Dashboardslikethedashboardinyourcarhelpmanagerkeeptrackofcritical,high
levelmetrics.Figure2.3isanotherdashboardexample.
Figure2.3:BIdashboard.
Thisdashboardmightbeidealforexecutivesortoplevelmanagers,asithelpsthemsee
thecompanyscurrentbalancesheet,theprojectedbalancesheetinoneyear,earningsat
riskbylineofbusinessandbyrisktype,andotherhighlevelmetrics.Dashboardsarent
designedtodriveimmediatedecisions;likeyourcarscheckenginelight,adashboard
indicatorisintendedtodrivefurtherinvestigationifsomethinglooksamiss.
Scorecards
Scorecards,likedashboards,areintendedtogiveahighleveloverviewofkeymetrics.The
bigdifferencewithascorecardisthatliketheonesyouremembersofondlyfrom
schoolascorecardappliesanabsolutegradebasedonrelativethresholds.Inother
words,foreachmetric,thescorecardtellsyouifthecompanyisdoinggood,okay,or
bad.Figure2.4showsanexample,wherecolorcodedmetricshelpdrawmanagers
attentiontoproblematicareaslikesalesgrowth,Websitevisitors,andimprovement
suggestions,whichareallredinthisgraphic.
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Don Jones
Figure2.4:Examplescorecard.
Theideaofascorecardissimple:IfeverythingisanAorB,thenyourebasicallydoing
well.ItemswithaCorDdeserveadditionalattentionandmanagerialeffort;itemswith
anFareinneedofimmediateandsignificantattention.Aswithadashboard,theideais
nottodriveimmediatedecisionsbutrathertohelpfocuseffortandfurtherinvestigation
wheretheyareneededmosturgently.
Graphics=Engaging
Humansarevisualcreatures.Fewmanagersrelishthethoughtofstaringat
rowsandcolumnsofnumbers,tryingtopickoutareasthattheyneedto
focuson.Informationalgraphicslikethoseindashboardsandscorecards
engageourvisualsensesandhelpusquicklysortoutpriorities.
Atypicalcorporateprofitandloss(P&L)statementisanexampleofhow
rowsandcolumnsofnumbersarentalwaysgoodatdrivingmanagerial
attention.Expensesareat10%?Okayisthatgoodorbad?Wespent
$23,000onshipping?Greatornot?
Adashboard,however,canshowachartcomparingcurrentperformance
withlastyears;anybarinthechartthatissignificantlyoutofwhackisan
immediatecallforattention.Ascorecardcanbedesignedtocolorcode
anythingthatismorethan10%outofline,helpingdrawattentionwhereits
neededmost.
Althoughtraditionaltextualreportswillalwayshavetheirplace,oneofthe
biggestandmostimmediatevaluesaBIsystemcandeliverisdashboardsand
scorecardsthathelpmanagersfocustheirtimewhereitisreallyneeded.
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Don Jones
AnalyzingBusinessInformation
LetsbrieflypauseandexaminewhereweareintheBIlifecycle.Figure2.5illustrateswhat
wevealreadyaccomplished.
Figure2.5:Ourprogresssofar.
Wevemappeddatafromlivedatasourcesthroughouttheorganization.Insomecases,our
BIsystemwillusethatdatadirectly,whileinothers,itwillextract,transform,andloadthat
dataintotheBIsystemeitherintoadatawarehouseorperhapsintoaninmemory
analyticalstructure.Fromthere,theBIsystemwillproducethereports,dashboards,and
scorecardsthatwellbeusingtocheckonourorganizationshealthandprogress,askwhat
ifquestions,andsoforth.
Thenextstepistogetthisinformationintothebrainsofmanagers,analysts,andothers
whowillusethatinformationtohelpdrivebusinessdecisions.ShouldIdrawanarrow
leadingfromtheinformationtoaperson?Probablynot:Onethingwehavetoacknowledge
isthatyoucantpushinformationtopeople;peoplehavetovoluntarilypullthat
information,activelyexaminingitandusingittohelpinformtheirdecisions.Thats
ultimatelywhatmakesaBIimplementationsucceedorfail:Isitusedbytheright
individualstoinformtherightdecisions?Ofcourse,youcanhelpspeedBIadoptionby
ensuringthatyourBIsystemprovidesaccurate,timelyinformationtotherightpeople
withinyourorganizationandensuringthatitdoessoquickly.
OncethatBIinformationisintherighthands,orratherheads,andtheyrepreparedtouse
it,theactofanalysisanddecisiondrivingtrulybegins.
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Don Jones
AnalysisandVisualization
OneofthemostdifficultaspectsofaBIsystemisteachingitsusershowtoanalyzedata.
Simplystaringatareportordashboardisntsufficient;BIusersneedtoknowhowtoslice
anddicedatatofindtheanswerstospecificbusinessquestions,seepatterns,spottrends,
anddrivedecisions.Thishelpstouncoveropportunitiesfornewmarketsorefficiencies,or
toexplainwhyaparticularareaofbusinessperformanceisgoodorbad(andyesyou
definitelywanttofocusongoodperformanceaswellasbad,becausethecausesofgood
performancecanoftenbeutilizedelsewheretoimprovetheoverallbusiness).
Mostmanagersareactuallyfamiliarwithacertaintypeofbusinessmodelingandanalysis:
spreadsheets.Theseareatwodimensionalformofbusinessmodeling,oftendisplaying
metricsovertime,breakingdownperformancebybusinesscategories,orsomethingelse.
Thatstwodimensions:metricsandtime,performanceandcategory,andsoforth.Figure
2.6showsacommonspreadsheet,displayingactualbusinessmetricsagainstplanned
metrics.Again,thatstwodimensions:actualandplanned.
Figure2.6:Analysisviaspreadsheet.
Theproblemwithtwodimensionalanalysisisthatitsfartoolimited.Twodimensions
arentnearlysufficienttorepresentthecomplexitiesofevenaverysmallbusiness,let
aloneatypicalmidsizebusiness.Althoughspreadsheetslikethisareusefulforquick
overviews,theydontprovideaneasywaytodrilldownintothedatatouncoverhidden
detailsandrootcauses.
Bycontrast,BIisbuiltaroundtheconceptofmultidimensionalanalysis.Itcanbetrickyto
explainandillustrate,simplybecausecomputersareinherentlytwodimensionalwhenit
comestodisplayinginformation.
Todisplaymultidimensionalinformationrequiresdisplaytricksandconventionstomimic
multipledimensions;aspreadsheetpivottableisonesuchconvention.Figure2.7showsan
examplepivottable.
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Don Jones
Figure2.7:Anexamplepivottable.
Note
MicrosoftsbrandnameforpivottablefunctionalitywithinMicrosoftExcelis
PivotTable;themoregenericpivottabledescribesthisfunctionalityin
anyproductthatoffersit.
Pivottablestypicallyconsistofmultiplefacts,whichareaddedbytheuser.Here,thefacts
areUnits,Price,andCostnumericdimensions.Thecolumnsandrowscanbeanykindof
dimension:Rowdimensionscreatearowforeveryuniquevalue,whileColumnscreatea
columnforeverycombinationofcolumnfieldsandfacts.Asimplepivottableliketheone
inFigure2.7canhelpspotcriticalbusinessproblems,suchaspoorunitsalesinagiven
regionorhigherunitcostsinagivencategoryinagivenregion.Itsthosemultiple
dimensionsregions,categories,andstylesthathelpbringmoreinformationintoplay.
Butpivottablescanrevealmuchmore.InFigure2.8,Iveaddedatotalrowshowninlight
yellowtohelprevealaggregateinformation.
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Don Jones
Figure2.8:Addingaggregatestopivottables.
Theabilitytodynamicallyaddtotalsandotheraggregateshelpsusersrollupinformation
toseetheresultsfromagivendimensionorsetofdimensions.Here,bothboysandgirls
categoriesaresubtotaled,andeachregionistotaledaswell.Pivottablesaredesignedto
workdynamically,allowingtheusertoexploreandvisualizedatainwhateverwaythey
want.Forexample,IcanremovetheCategorydimension,andthepivottablere
calculates,asshowninFigure2.9.
Figure2.9:Rollingupdatainpivottables.
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Don Jones
Ivesimplifiedmyviewofthedatatoseeonlystyles,regardlessofcategory.Imayhave
decidedthatcategorieswerentafactorinwhateverIwasanalyzing,andbyeliminatingit,I
canviewmydataandaggregationsbasedonotherfactorssimplystyleandregion,inthis
case.ThisviewrevealsthattheEastregionsellssignificantlyfewerunitsthantheNorth
region,afactthatwasavailabletomebeforebutmayhavebeenlessobviousbecauseit
wasburiedinwithsomanyothernumbers.
Butherestheproblem:Althoughpivottablescanbeusefulforuserswhoarealready
comfortableinExcel,youshouldntlimitthistypeofBItojustthoseusers.Also,diggingin
anddiscoveringfactsandinformationsolelyusingspreadsheetscanbecomepretty
overwhelming.ThatswhyanygoodmidsizeBIsolutionmaysupportpivottable
functionality,butitwilldefinitelysupportmorepowerfulinmemoryanalytics,andoffer
muchfriendlierandmoreintuitiveuserinterfaces.TheseUIsareoftenpresentedinaWeb
browserapplication,forexample.Figure2.10showshowaWebinterface,poweredbya
backendanalyticsengine,canpresentdatainsimplerforms,likeabarchart.
Figure2.10:Displayingdatainchartform.
Thischartwouldbebasedonliveorrecentlycollecteddatathatwasanalyzedinmemory,
meaningitsuptodate.Butthepowerfulpartaboutthiskindofbusinessintelligenceisthat
thischartisntstatic.Wonderingwhygolfequipmentsmarginsarethewaytheyare?Just
clickonthatportionofthechart.Theanalyticsenginegoestowork,pullingtogetherthe
supportingdatathatresultedinthefirstchartanddisplayingaseconddrilldownchart,
showninFigure2.11,thatshowsmoredetail.
Figure2.11:Drilldownchart.
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Don Jones
Nowwecanseethatputters,asacategory,isdraggingdownmarginsongolfequipmenta
bit.Furtherclickswoulddrilldownevendeeper,revealingindividualproducts,
manufacturers,andsoon,lettingusquicklyfindtheanswerwewerelookingfor.
Butaninmemoryanalyticsenginecandomuchmore.Supposethefirstchart,which
breaksdownsalesbyproductcategory,isntansweringyourquestions.Instead,youwant
toseeproductsalesgroupedbystorelocation,orbyproductvendor,orsomeother
grouping.Noproblem:Becausetheanalyticsarebeingperformedinmemory,youcan
rearrangeandregrouphoweveryoulike,lettingyoulookatyourdatainwaysthatmake
sensetoyou,andhelpingyoudiscoverimportantnewrelationshipsandfacts.
Asyoubecomemoreaggressiveaboutanalyzingyourbusinessdata,youllfindthatthe
bestsuiteoftoolsincludesfeatureslikepivottablesinaspreadsheet,analyticaladdinsto
applicationslikeExcel,andWebbasedfrontendstopowerfulinmemoryanalytics
engines.Withthiscombinationoftools,moreusersandmanagerswillhaveaccesstobetter
datamorequickly.Theyllbeabletodynamicallychangewhattheyrelookingattoanswer
exactlytherightquestions.
UncoveringRootCausesBehindData
Youglanceatadashboarddisplayandseethatsalesarentwheretheyshouldbewhatdo
youdo?AsIvedescribedearlier,adashboardandotherBIsummarydisplaysshould
driveinvestigation,notimmediatedecision;yourresponsetosomethingalarmingor,for
thatmatter,gratifyinginadashboarddisplayshouldbetodigintotherootcause,looking
eitherforaproblemthatneedstobesolvedorsomethingbeneficialthatmayneedtobe
examinedandexploited.
BecauseBIsystemscombinedatafromallovertheorganization,theyexcelatprovidingthe
detailsbehindthedashboardforuserswhoknowwhattoaskandhowtoaskit.IntheBI
world,askingaquestionofthesystemiscalledaquery,andtheresultsaretypicallya
report,graph,orotherdatavisualization.ThebenefitofaBIsystemisthat,unlikemore
traditionalreportingsystemsbuiltatoptransactionaldatabases,BIsystemscanrespond
quicklywithanswersgivingusersmoreopportunitytorefine,revise,andresubmittheir
querytofindtherealanswerstotheirquestions.
BIsystemstypicallyofferusersavarietyofwaystosubmitqueriesandreceiveresults.
Queryoptionsmayinclude:
Naturallanguagequeries.ThesesystemsallowuserstoaskplainEnglishquestions
like,HowdosalesintheEastandNorthregionscompareforlastquarter?The
systemparsesthequestionandmatcheskeywordstodatafacts,andproducesthe
appropriatereport.
Graphicalquerybuilders.Thesesystemsuseadraganddropinterfacetopresent
userswithavailabledatafacts,allowinguserstoselectthefactsthatinterestthem,
indicatefiltercriteria,andsoforth.
Querylanguages.Thesesystemsacceptquerieswritteninaspecificquerylanguage,
whichisoftenavariantoftheindustrystandardSQLlanguage.Althoughthisoption
requiresamoretechnicallyproficientuser,itdoesofferahighlevelofflexibility.
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Don Jones
BIsystemscommonlyallowuserstosavetheirqueries;thismakesthemavailablenotonly
foreasierqueryinginthefuturebutalsotoother,lessskilledusers.
AndbecauseagoodBIsystemwillalsomakedataavailablethroughintuitiveWeb
interfaces,yourusersmightnotneedanyparticularqueryingskillsinordertodrilldown,
rearrange,andregroupdata,andfindtheanswerstheyneed.
TheImportanceofModelingtheBusiness
Ofcourse,aBIsystemcanreallyonlyworkeffectivelyifitaccuratelymodelsyourbusiness.
Forexample,ifyourbusinesssuccessfocusesondeliveringservicesinaspecificperiodof
time,butyourBIsystemsmodelsarefocusedonfactssuchasrevenueandcosts,yourBI
systemwontbeaseffectiveinhelpingyouuncoverrootcausesandfindnewefficiencies
andopportunities.ModelingoneofthefirststepsinaBIimplementation,andclosely
relatedtodatamappingensuresthatyourBIsystemunderstandswhatyourbusiness
lookslike,howitworks,andhowyourvariouspiecesofdatafittogether.
MakingDecisionsandTakingActionThePlanningConnection
LetssayyouvegotagreatBIsystem.Itcontainsdatafromalloveryourorganization,and
youvebecomeskilledinsubmittingquestionsandreviewingtheresults.Yourdecisions
arebeingdrivenmoreandmorebytheinformationyouuncoverthroughyourBIsystem.
Whatnext?
ThelastconnectioninaBIsystemismakingthosedecisionsareality.TakealookatFigure
2.12,whichillustratesthetruepurposeofaBIsystem.
Figure2.12:ThepurposeofBI.
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Don Jones
ThegoalofBIistodrawdatafromyourbusinessanduseittoinformmanagers.Those
managersdecisionstheninfluencethebusiness,hopefullychangingitforthebetterin
somefashion.Thatchangeaffectsthedatacomingoutofthebusiness,whichgoesintothe
BIsystemtoinfluencethenextroundofdecisions.
Sothemissingpiecehereisthis:Howdomanagersdecisionsgetintothebusiness?Inmost
midsizecompanies,itsnotassimpleasmanagersdecidingtorunanewadcampaignto
boostsales;decisionshaveconsequencessuchascostsandmanpowerthathavetobe
accountedfor.Thatmeansmanagersdecisionscantalwaysbeimplementedinstantly;
instead,theyhavetoimpactthecompanysplanningprocess.
Planning:AligningResourcestoOpportunities
Mostcompanieshavesomekindofplanningsystemandprocessinplace.Inmanymidsize
companies,itssimplyacollectionofspreadsheetssalesforecasts,budgets,capital
planning,andsoforth.Businessmanagersareconstantlylookingforbetterdata:What
drivesthebusiness?Whereisthebusinesstrending?Inmanysituations,thosemanagers
turntospreadsheetsoftenhundredsofthem,oftenindividuallymanagedbydifferent
peoplethroughoutthecompany.
Theproblemwithgettinginformationthatwayisthatittakesatremendousmanualeffort
tokeepitallupdated.Inaddition,learninganythingthatrequiresaggregatingseparate
spreadsheetsisreallydifficult.Whatsniceaboutthosespreadsheets,however,isthatyou
canchangethem:plugdifferentvaluesintodifferentcells,thenseewhathappens.Whatif
weassumeahighersalesvolumewillweneedmorestaffingbudget?
Todaysbusinessesarealsobecomingmoredynamic,andthatdemandsamore
interconnected,dynamicplanningandforecastingsystem.ThatswhereyourBIsystemcan
stepin.Figure2.13illustrateshowthemanyportionsofyourcompanyareconnected;
shouldntyourplanningdatabejustasinterconnected?
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Don Jones
ENTERPRISE PLANNING
Sales
Marketing
Customer
Service
Finance
Product Operations
Developme
nt
IT/Systems
Human
Resources
UnitVolume
FinancialStatements
CapacityPlanning
InitiativePlanning
Incentive
Revenue
ProductionPlanning
ServiceLevel&
Capacity Planning
Expenses
InventoryPlanning
PipelineCoverage
CapitalExpenditures
CampaignPlanning
Staffing
InvestmentFunnel
WorkforcePlanning
NewProduct
Introduction
Compensation
InitiativePlanning
Figure2.13:Enterpriseplanningunderstandstheinterconnectednessofyour
companyspieces.
AsimpleBIsystemconsistingofadatawarehousecanprovidefacts,butitsessentially
readonly.Sure,youcanpullsomeofthatdataintoaspreadsheetperhapsusingapivot
tableoranaddinofsomekindbutthenyourerightbacktodealingwithindividual
spreadsheets.Bymostdefinitions,adatawarehouseisalwaysreadonly:Itsaspecial
purposecopyofyourdata.
MorepowerfulBIsystemsoffertrueOnlineAnalyticalProcessing,orOLAP,includingwrite
backcapabilities.Withwriteback,youreactuallyabletoplugnewnumbersandfactsinto
theanalysisengine.Yourenotmodifyinganyofyourhistoricaldata,butyouaremodifying
thewaythenumbersconnecttooneanother.Youremodifyingassumptions,andasking
whatif,withthepoweroftheentireanalyticsenginebehindyou.
Thinkabouthowthisworks.ABIsystemcanconnectallofthedatainyourcompany.You
candynamicallyregroupandrearrangeinformationtoanswerdifferentquestions,allon
thefly.Thatsgreatforansweringquestionsaboutthepastwhathasalreadyhappened.
Bybeingabletoreachintotheanalyticssystemandmakechanges,youcanstartfiguring
outwhatmighthappeninthefuture.Youcanseesalestrendschange,seehowbudgets
mightbeaffected,seehowyoumightchangeyourhiringpatterns,andsoon.Youtakethe
latestbeliefs,forecasts,andcommitmentsfrombusinessmanagers,andseehowtheyll
affectthingslikeinventoryacquisitionorcustomerservicevolumeorproductioncapacity.
Thatletsyoumakeplanningchanges.Suddenlyyourenolongerreactingtoyour
businessyouredrivingit.
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Don Jones
WhatifyouwritenumbersintotheOLAPsystemthatpredictadownwarddriftin
revenuesomethingmanycompanieshavebeenfacinginrecentyears?Ratherthanbeing
caughtoffguardandhavingtomerelyreacttochangingmarkets,youcanbeinfrontofthe
problem,recalibratingexpensesandotherexpendituressothatyourcompanycanremain
agileandprofitableevenduringadownwardswing.Itsallbasedonthecapabilityofyour
BIanalysisenginetotakenewassumptions,crunchthemintoyourcompanywidedata,and
showyouwhattheresultlookslike.
OneoftheworsttimesatmostanycompanyisBudgetTime,withQuarterlyForecastTime
cominginaclosesecondworst.Sometimesitfeelslikeeveryoneisjustpullingnumbers
outofthinair,stickingtheminspreadsheets,andthenhopingforthebest.Partofthe
problemisthateveryonestryingtopulldatafromadozendifferentplaces.Theyretrying
torollupthatdatatoaprofitandloss(P&L)statementlevel,tocreateprojectionson
thingslikecashflowandexpenses.Becauseofthedifficultyindoingthismanually,alotof
companiesdontdoitveryoftenmeaningtheyrerunningwithoutforecasts,withoutreal
plans.WithawritebackOLAPsystem,however,allthatchanges.Yourenolongerworking
withdecoupledhighlevelgoalsandlowlevelcapabilities.Wanttoseewhatitwouldtake
todoubleyourrevenue?Plugthenumberin,andlettheOLAPsystemshowyouwhatit
wouldtaketoreachthatnumber.Wanttoseewhateffectadownsizingwouldhaveonthe
bottomline?Plugthenumberin,andlookatthegraphs,charts,andreports.
AsFigure2.14shows,thisiswhereBIreallyclosestheloopforacompany.BIismorethan
justadatawarehousethatquicklyservesupfactsaboutwhathashappened;agood
analysissystemcanalsotellyouwhatwillhappen,whenyoupluginestimates,forecasts,
andwhatifscenarios.
Figure2.14:ClosingtheBIloop.
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Don Jones
Note
WritebackisntacapabilitysupportedbyallBIsystems;ifyoufeelthisisan
importantfeatureforyourbusiness,besureyoutakeitintoaccountwhen
evaluatingdifferentBIsolutions.
ClosingtheloopinthisfashionhelpscreateamoreautomatedlinkbetweenBI,
management,andthecompanysdaytodayoperations.
ComingUpNext
TheresarealproblemwithBI,especiallyasitrelatestomidsizecompanies.Thatproblem
ismisinformation.Thereareatremendousnumberofmythsouttherethattellyouwhat
youcanandcantdowithBIinamidsizecompany,andmostofthosemythsareatbest
basedonoutdatedinformation.Inthenextchapter,Illoutlinethethreebiggestmythsthat
drivemidsizebusinessesawayfromBI,orleadthemdownanimplementationpaththatis
unnecessarilyexpensiveandtimeconsuming.Welldebunkthosemythsandsettherecord
straight.
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Don Jones
Chapter3:DebunkingtheTopThreeMyths
ofBusinessIntelligenceforMidsize
Companies
Thereisdefinitelyapervasivebeliefthatmidsizecompaniessimplycantafford,cant
handle,orcantappreciatebusinessintelligence(BI).Ievenrunintoexecutivesatmidsize
companieswhoabsolutelybelievethatcompaniesthesizeoftheirsdontneedBIandcant
benefitfromit.Itsimplyisnttrue,andinthischapter,ImgoingtoplayMythbustersand
addressthemostcommonmisinformationregardingBIasitrelatestothesecompanies.
BeforeIdoso,however,Iwanttogetoneofthemostharmfulpiecesofmisinformationout
oftheway,whichisthis:MidsizecompaniescantbenefitfromBI.Thatspatentlyfalse;its
likesayingthatmidsizecompaniescantbenefitfromcustomerrelationshipmanagement
(CRM),accountingsoftware,payrollsoftware,oranyothercommonbusinesstool.
Althoughitstruethatmanyofthesetechnologysolutionsbeganinextremelylarge
companies,thefactisthatanycompanycanrunitselfmoreeffectivelyandefficientlywhen
thesetoolsareavailable.ItsalsotruethattheCRMsolutions(totakeonetoolasan
example)usedbygiantenterprisesarebuiltdifferentlythanthoseusedbymidsize
companies,butthatdoesntmeanmidsizecompaniesdontbenefitfromtheirparticular
versions.
Infact,thatsoneofthecommonthemesyoullfindinthischapter:Midsizecompaniescan
anddobenefitfromthesamebusinesstoolsandcapabilitiesasgiantenterprises;those
toolsaresimplybuiltspecificallyforthemidsizemarket,andareofteneasier,less
expensive,andfastertoadoptandusethantheonesdesignedforgiantenterprises.Onto
themyths.
Myth1:BICanBeDisruptive
IfindthattheresdefinitelyabeliefthatBIcanbedisruptivetothebusiness,oratleastthat
theprocessofimplementingBIcanbedisruptive.Ivecertainlyworkedwithcustomers
whohavehaddedicatedprojectteamsworkformany,manymonthsatbringingaBI
projecttolight,andtheentireprocesscertainlywasdisruptivetothebusinessinmany
ways.Butthoseweregiganticcompanies,andmanyoftheproblemstheydealtwithwere
onesyoudonlyrunintoinsideareallylargeenterprise.Letsfocusonsomeofthemajor
aspectsofthedisruptivemyth.
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SpecializedToolsandTrainingRequired
OneobjectionIhearfrommidsizecompaniesisthattheyfeartheyllneedtopurchase
expensivetools,andundergoextensivetraining,inordertobeginplanninganddeployinga
BIsolution.ItseasytoseewherethismythcomesfrombecauseIcanconfirmthatit
reallydoeshappeninsidehugeenterprises.
ButthisishardlytrueonlywithBIprojects.Lookatnearlyanymajor,enterprisewide
projectinamassivecompanyandyoulltypicallyseetheneedforspecializedtools,
extensivetraining,andsoon.Howmanymajorcompanieshaventbeenthroughan
exhaustingimplementationforaccountingsoftware?Irememberwhenonepast
employera22,000employeetelecommunicationsdivisionimplementednewfinancial
softwareandspecializedtoolsandtrainingwasanunderstatement.Horrorstories
aboundforCRMandEnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)solutions,aswell,andIveseen
thoseprojects(inonecaseIgotropedintoone).Therewasatonofspecializedtoolsand
trainingfloatingaround.Butagain,thatwasinaverylargecompany.
Hereswhy:Largecompaniestendtobeextremelydiversified.Theyhavealotofthings
goingon,andtheyhavedepartmentsanddivisionsthatoperatealmostasautonomous
businesses.SimplyfiguringoutwhatanaccountingsystemneedstolooklikeorhowaCRM
solutionneedstoworkrequiressomeveryspecializedexperience.BIisprobablyan
extremeexampleofthis:AtrulyenterprisewideBIsystemwantstotoucheverypieceof
datathecompanyhassothatallthatdatacanplayaroleindashboards,reporting,analysis,
whatifscenarios,andsoon.Figuringoutwhereallthatdatalives,whoownsit,howit
works,andhowitwillbeloadedintoadatamartordatawarehousearecomplicatedtasks.
Thetoolsusedtodesigntheresultingdatawarehousearecomplicatedandcanbe
expensive;thetoolsusedtogatherinformationandrequirementsareequallyspecialized.
Butthatsinaverylargecompany.
Soifspecializedtoolsandtrainingareatruthforlargeenterprises,whyarethingsany
differentforamidsizecompany?Idontwanttocomeacrossassuggestingthatmidsize
companiesaresomehowmoregenericthanlargerenterprises,becausethatisnttrue.But
thefactisthatmostmidsizecompaniesdooperatebyamorecommonsetofrulesand
practicesthanlargecompaniesdo.Thatisntadownsideofbeingamidsizecompany;itsa
benefitthatmostlargeenterprisesoftenwishtheystillhad.Bearwithmeforamoment
whileIexplain.
Startbyconsideringpayroll.Mostmidsizecompanieshavefairlybasicandcommonpayroll
needs:Youpayemployees,youkeeptrackofpaidtimeoff,youaccountfortax
withholdings,andyoulikelyextractsomemoneyforbenefits.Nomatterwhatlineof
businessyourein,payrolltendstolookthesamesomuchsothatmidsizecompanies
oftenoutsourcetheirpayrollentirelyoruseofftheshelfsoftwarepackagesthatallwork
thesameway.MidsizecompaniesdontoftenhaveamassivecadreofHRfolks,andso
thosecompaniestendtokeeptheirpayrollwithintherealmthatcanbehandledby
outsourcedcompaniesorbyofftheshelfpayrollpackages.Whenyougettobeahuge
company,however,andyoubuildupahugeHRdepartment,itstartstobeeasiertodo
differentthingswithpayroll,andsopayrollbecomesalmostasidebusinesswithinthe
enterprisespecializedtotheenterprisesneeds.
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Whataboutaccounting?MidsizecompaniestendtofollowGenerallyAcceptable
AccountingPractices(GAAP),andtherearenumerousofftheshelfsoftwarepackagesthat
provideperfectlyacceptableaccountingcapabilities.Midsizecompaniesdoaccounting
becausetheyhaveto,notbecausetheyespeciallyenjoyit;therefore,theytendtokeeptheir
accountingpracticeswithinthedomainthatanofftheshelf(orlightlycustomized)
accountingpackagecanhandle.Sure,midsizecompaniescouldstartdoingcomplicated
thingswithaccounting,andtheydsavesomemoneybuttheywouldntsaveenoughto
makeitworththeextracomplication.Largecompanies,however,canseebiggersavings
frommorecomplicatedanddetailedaccountingpractices,andsothoselargecompanies
investinspecializedsoftware,specializedprocesses,andsoon.
Thissametrendcontinuesthroughjustabouteverybusinesstool:Midsizecompaniescould
havethesamelevelofcomplexityasagiantbusiness,buttheresnotahugereturnindoing
so.Therefore,midsizecompaniestendtohavebackendsystemsthatalllookandworkina
verysimilarway.Thosesystems,toadegree,drive(oratleastinfluence)thecompanys
businessprocessesandworkflows,meaningthatmostmidsizecompanieslookfroma
backendperspectiveifnotidentical,thenatleastverysimilar.Theresanimportant
truthherethatIwanttoemphasize:Midsizecompaniesoftensteerclearofverycustomized
toolsandprocessesbecausethosecustomizationsaddcomplexitythatisnotjustifiedtoa
midsizecompanyintermsofitsaddedvalue.
SohowdoesthisaffectBIimplementationsinamidsizecompany?Thereasonamassive
enterpriseneedsspecializedBItools,skills,andtrainingisbecauseeverysinglemassive
enterpriselooksentirelydifferentfromtheothers.Theyvealladoptedtheirown
customizedaccounting,payroll,ERP,CRM,andotherpractices.DesigningaBI
infrastructurethatutilizesallthosedatasourceswill,obviously,beacustomized
undertakingandwillrequirespecializedskills,tools,andtraining.
ABIsolutiondesignedspecificallyformidsizecompaniesstillrequiresspecializedtoolsand
training,butbecausemidsizecompanieslooksosimilaronthebackend,thosespecialized
toolsandtrainingcomeintoplayonce,whentheBIsolutionisinitiallycreatedbyits
vendor.Afterthat,thesamepremadeBIsolutionwillwithperhapssomelight
customizationbesuitableformostmidsizecompaniessimplybecausemostmidsize
companiesareusingthebusinesspracticesandpatternsthatweretakenasassumptions
whentheBIsolutionwascreatedinthefirstplace.Inotherwords,amidsizecompanycan
dowithoutthespecializedtoolsandtrainingsimplybecauseamidsizecompanywilltendto
steerclearofthecustomizationsthatmakethetoolsandtrainingnecessaryforan
individualBIdeployment.
ThisisanimportantconceptfordebunkingmanyoftheBImythsinthischapter,soI
appreciateyoubearingwithmethroughthisexplanation.Letmetryandwrapitupwitha
nonbusinessanalogy,justtomakesureIvemadethisimportantpoint.
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ConsideraNASCARcar.Thatcarrequiressomeexpensive,specializedtools,anditsdriver
requiresextensive,specializedtraining.Why?Thosetoolsandtrainingcanbringthe
hundredthsofasecondadvantagethatmeansawin.Mostnormaldriverslikeyouand
medontneedahundredthsofasecondadvantage,sowemakedowithcarsthatdont
needhighlyspecializedtools.Thatmeanswecanveryfeasiblypurchaseandownacar
withouthavinganyspecializedtoolsortraining.Thecarswebuyaredesignedtoworkina
standardizedfashion,eventhoughthecarsavailabletousvarywidelyinspecificfeatures
andcapabilities.
ThatsbasicallywhymidsizecompaniesdontneedspecializedtoolsandtrainingtodoaBI
implementation:Prepackagedsolutionsthataredesignedforthewaymostmidsize
companiesalreadyworkhavethespecializedtoolsandtrainingbuiltrightin.
LongImplementationTimes
IwasonaBIprojectina40,000employeecompanythattook2yearstocomplete.No
kidding.Wespentthefirst9monthsonrequirementsgathering,somethinglike3months
designingreportsanddatawarehousesandsuch,andayearontheactualproduction
implementationandtheinevitable,oh,canitalsodothis?requestsfromthesystems
users.Whysolong?Well,itwasahugecompany.Datawaseverywhere,andwehadto
reverseengineerhowthecompanyworkedinordertobuildaneffectivedatawarehouse.
Thatskindofaworstcaseexample,butitservestoillustratethepointthatBIcantakea
verylongtime.Inbigcompanies.
IwontbelaborthepointImadeintheprevioussectionanyfurther,excepttosaythat
becausemostmidsizecompaniesusesimilarbackendtoolsandprocesses,itdoesnthave
totakenearlyaslongtoimplementausable,effectiveBIsolutioninthosecompanies.Sure,
thisstillisntacasewhereyoudoubleclickSetupandaredonebutitsclosertothatthan
theimplementationthatgiantcompaniesundertake.
Inmanycases,prepackagedmidsizeBIsolutionsareallinonepackages.Youinstalla
singlepieceofsoftwareandyougetaplaceforadatawarehouse,Webserver,dataloading
components,inmemoryanalytics,reporting,dashboarding,andeverythingelseaBI
systemneeds.Youjustpointitatyourexistingbusinessdataandletitgotowork.Iveseen
implementationtimesofafewweeksorso,usingtheexistingITstaff.Somecompanies
mightbeabletogetaBIsolutionupandrunninginevenlesstime,especiallyifthesolution
isinitiallyonlyaddressingasingledivisionordepartmentwithinthecompany,simply
becausethatmeansfewerdataconnectionsthathavetobemade.
ImpactonOtherBusinessProcesses
Ithinkthefirsttwopiecesofthismythprettymuchhandlethisthirdone.Ifmidsize
companiescanimplementaprepackagedBIsolutioninafewweeks,usingtheirexistingIT
staff,andwithouthavingtoofferextensivetrainingtohalfthecompanyemployees,well,
thentheBIimplementationisntgoingtobeverydisruptive.
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MostofthedisruptioninalargescaleBIdeploymentcomesfromthediscoveryand
requirementsgatheringphases,whereBIprojectteammembersinvadeeverycornerof
thecompanytryingtofigureoutwhatdataliveswhere,howeverythingfitstogether,and
soon.TheITstaffgetsdistractedwithnewhardware,complicatednewsoftware,complex
dataconnections,andsoforth.WithaprepackagedBIsolution,theressimplyno
opportunityforanyofthattooccur:Youdonthaveamonthslongdiscoveryand
requirementsgatheringphase,andtheITstaffisusuallydealingwithasingle,simpler
pieceofintegratedsoftwarethatsmuchmorewithinthescopeofwhattheyreusedto
dealingwith.
Myth2:BIRequiresSpecializedExpertise
WhenItalktoexecutivesinmidsizecompanies,IthinkthefirstandloudestobjectiontoBI
isthebeliefthatthecompanyisgoingtohavetohireacadreofspecialized(andexpensive)
consultantstomakeBIhappen.
ThatscertainlybeentrueinmanylargecompaniesIveworkedwith,mainlybecausetheir
ITstafflackedthespecializedskillsittakestoplanandimplementadatawarehouseand
otherBIelements.Evenafterthemainimplementationisover,consultantsandtrainers
usuallystayaroundforseveralmonthsteachingthecompanysexecutives,managers,and
otherusershowtooperatetheBIsolutionandinsomecases,Iveseensomeconsultants
turnintofulltimeemployees,specializinginBIandinhelpingthecompanysuserstake
advantageofthesystem.Butmidsizecompaniesdontneedtodealwiththat.
Heresanotheranalogy:Considertwocompaniesthatbuildhomesforaliving.One
companyonlybuildscustomhomesthatcostmillionsofdollars;theotherbuildshomesin
masterplannedcommunitiesandchargesafewhundredthousanddollars.Bothcompanies
buildgreatlookinghomes,andtheyusemanyofthesamerawmaterials.Theyrealsoheld
tothesamebuildingcodesandotherpractices,andtheybothbelieveincreatingahigh
qualityproduct.
Whenthefirstcompanybeginsarchitectinganewhome,alotofspecializedtoolsare
required.Architectshavetodraweveryaspectofthenewhome,andengineershaveto
figureouttheroofstructure,loadbearingcapacities,andsoon.Becausetheircustomers
arepayinghugesumsofmoney,everyjobiscompletelycustomized,andsothearchitects
andengineersgetinvolvedeverytime.Thecompanyscustomersallleadwildlydifferent
lifestyles:Somewantinhomerecordingstudios,otherswantmassivemulticargarages,
andsoon,soallthatcustomizationisreallyabigpartofthebusiness.
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Thesecondcompanyscustomersdontwanttospendmillionsonahome,though.Sothe
secondcompanyoffersafewpredesignedfloorplans,allofwhichhavebeenarchitected
andengineeredinadvance.Thesearentcookiecutterhomes;thebuilderunderstands
whichwallsareloadbearing,forexample,andcandominorcustomizationsthatdont
affectthepreengineeredstructuralintegrity.Thiscompanyscustomersdontdemanda
highlevelofcustomizationforexample,theysimplywanttopickouttheircabinetsand
countertops.Becausethesecustomersdontwantorneeddesignedfromscratchhomes,
theysavethemselvestheexpenseofanarchitectandengineer.Itsnotthatthose
specializedskillswereneverneeded;theyweresimplyonlyneededonce,andtheresultsof
theirworkwillbeusedmanytimes,bymanydifferentcustomers.
Thisonetimeengagementofspecializedexpertiseiswhatdebunksthismythformidsize
businesses.Letslookatsomespecifics.
ComplicatedDeploymentandImplementation
AlthoughapreengineeredmidsizebusinessBIsolutionisntexactlyassimpleasdouble
clickSetup,itis,asIvealreadymentioned,notalotmorecomplicatedthanthat.Atleast,
itscertainlynotascomplicatedasdesigningawholenewBIsolutionentirelyfromscratch.
DeploymentandimplementationdoesstartwithdoubleclickingSetup,ofteninstallinga
completelyintegrated,onepiece(orfewpiece)solutionthatcontainsprebuiltBI
componentssuchasadatawarehouse,reports,andsoon.Deploymentandimplementation
isaboutthesamecomplexitylevelasdeployingandimplementinganyotherserver
software,suchasadatabaseserverormessagingserver.
ThemostcomplexpartoftheimplementationisoftenthepartwhereyouconnecttheBI
systemtoyourotherbusinesssystems.Typically,prepackagedBIsolutionsofferwizards
andothertoolstohelpmakethisprocesseasier.Prepackagedsolutionsmayevencome
withbuiltinconnectorsforcommonmidsizebusinessbackendsystems,suchas
accountingsoftware,ERPsystems,CRMsystems,andsoforth.Soalthoughthisisntano
brainerpartoftheBIsolutiondeployment,itscertainlysomethingthattheaverageIT
staffcanhandlewithouthighlyspecializedskills.
SpecializedTechnologyManagementSkills
Theresalsoaconcernthatmidsizecompaniesdonthavethenecessaryskillsintheir
existingITstafftomanageaBIsolutiononanongoingbasis.Fortunately,thatsnot
generallyaconcern.Infact,evensomeextremelylargeenterprisesgetawaywithverylittle
inthewayofspecializedtechnologymanagementskills.
TherearetwoaspectsofmanagingadeployedBIsolution.Thefirstisthesimple,basic,
daytodayoperationalstuff:keepingdatabasestunedforperformance,backingupservers,
keepingserversproperlypatchedandupdated,andsoforth.Thiskindofmaintenanceis
somethinganynormalITstaffershouldbeabletohandle;themostcomplicated
maintenancetaskdatabasetuningisfranklysomethingthatcanbemoreorlesssetup
onceandthenscheduledtorunautomatically;prepackagedBIsolutionstypicallyhavethis
builtinandareadvertisedasselfmaintaining.
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TheotheraspectofBIsolutionmanagementisongoingcustomization.Bigcompanies
changetheirpatternsandpracticesovertime,evolvingtheirbusiness.Somelarge
enterprisesmakesweepingchangesfairlyoftenandfeeltheoperationalpainwhenall
theirsystems,includingaccounting,ERP,CRM,andsoon,needtobeupdatedtoreflectthe
changesinthebusinessmodel.Forthosecompanies,havingspecializedITskillsonstaffis
acostofdoingbusiness.Plentyofhugecompanies,though,makerelativelyfewchangesto
theirbasicpatternsandpractices.Theydontwanttorearchitecttheiraccountingrecords,
redesigntheirCRMsolutions,orredesigntheirBIsolution.Sothosecompanies,even
thoughtheyrequitelarge,oftendowithoutspecializedBIskillsonstaff.Midsize
companiesalsotendtoavoidthekindofcomplexchangesthatrequiresweepingchanges
totheirbackendsystems.Remember,midsizecompaniesoftensteerclearofvery
customizedtoolsandprocessesbecausethosecustomizationsaddcomplexitythatisnot
justifiedtoamidsizecompanyintermsofitsaddedvalue.
LargeCompanySkillsDontScaleDown
SomemidsizecompaniesarefortunateenoughtohaveBIexperienceonstaff.Typically,its
intheformofanITstafferwhoperhapsworkedonaBIprojectinapreviousjoboften
withalargecompany.OritmightbeanexecutiveormanagerwhousedBIsolutionsinpast
jobs.Thefear,however,isthatthoselargecompanyskillswontscaledowntothemidsize
business,meaningthoseexistingskillsareatbestuseless,andareatworstdangerous,as
theywilldrivebigcompanydecisionsthatarentappropriateforamidsizebusiness.
Inmyexperience,nothingcouldbefurtherfromthetruth.Ivespentalotoftimewriting
aboutprepackagedBIsolutionsformidsizecompanies;itwouldbeveryeasytoassume
thatprepackagedsomehowmeansdifferentorlesscapable.Notso.PrepackagedBI
solutionsareBIsolutions;theyworkinmuchthesamewaythatbigcompaniesBI
solutionswork,andpastexperiencewithanyBIsystemwillmakesomeonemore
comfortablewithanyotherBIsystem.Prepackagedsimplymeansassembledforyou
ratherthanbuildityourself;custombuiltBIsolutionsarecustom,notnecessarilybetter.
Solargecompanyskillsdontneedtoscaledowntomidsizebusinesses;thoseskillsare
valuableexactlyastheyare.
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SpecializedEndUserSkills
DoBIsystemsrequirespecializedenduserskills?Wellyesandno.Thisisntacasewhere
Imgoingtotellyouagainthatmidsizecompaniessimplydontneedthesameskillsas
bigcompanies.AsIoutlinedintheprevioussection,bigcompanyBIskillsworkwellina
midsizeenvironment;thatsuggeststhatanyBIimplementationwillneedthesameskills,
sosomeonewhodoesnthavethoseskillswillneedtraining.Right?
Again,yesandno.Letmefallbacktotheexampleofaccountingsystems.Inthevery
earliestdaysofcomputerizedaccountingsystems,computerizedaccountingwasonlydone
bybigbusinesses.Alotofspecializedskillswereinvolved;midsizebusinessesstuckwith
pencilandpaperledgers.Asmoreandmorebigbusinessesusedthoseaccountingsystems,
however,thefolkswhocreatedthosesystemsfoundwaystomakethemeasiertouse.
Eventually,thatresultedinprepackagedaccountingsystemsliketodaysQuickBooksfor
smallbusinesses,orMicrosoftDynamicsformidsizebusinessesthatwereeasiertouse
andreallydidntrequirealotofskillsspecifictothesoftware.Anycompetentaccountant,
accompaniedbyagoodinstructionalbook,couldfigureoutthesoftwareanduseit
effectively.
Inotherwords,theinvestmentbybigcompaniesmadethingsmoreaccessibletosmaller
companies.WeseethatagainandagainintheITindustry:Bigcompanieswerethefirstto
investinlarge,mainframecomputersinthesixties;today,everycompanyhasseveralPCs.
ThesamehasheldtrueforBI:Theinvestmentbybigcompaniesintrainingtheirend
users,inimplementingBI,andsoonhasmadethingsmuchmoreaccessibletoendusers.
ThefirstBIimplementationsreliedoncomplexreports,proprietaryanalysisinterfaces,
andsoon;today,Webbaseddashboardsandscorecardsareaccessibletomoreusers.Add
instofamiliarapplicationssuchasMicrosoftExcelputBIanalysisinthehandsofmore
people,withlesstraining.Bigcompaniesstartedwithsimple,informationdensecharts,
liketheoneshowninFigure3.1.
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Figure3.1:DetailedBIchart.
Althoughthistypeofchartisstillusefultoday,ittookthefirstBIusersagooddealoftime
andeffortusingspecializedskillstopullthisinformationtogetherintothisdisplay.
Today,BIsolutionsforbothenterprisesandmidsizecompaniescanautomaticallyproduce
richerdisplays,likethesalesdashboardshowninFigure3.2andthescorecardshownin
Figure3.3.
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Figure3.2:SalesdashboardfromaBIsystem.
Figure3.3:ExamplescorecardfromaBIsystem.
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Again,theanswertothismythisntthesamemidsizecompaniesarentthesameasbig
companiesanswerIveprovideduptothispoint;inthiscase,specializedenduserskills
arelessneededbyanyBIsystemlargeorsmallsimplybecauseBIsolutiondevelopers
havemadeconsiderableefforttomakethingsmoreintuitive,automatic,andapproachable.
Weresimplyseeingtheculminationofmorethanadecadeofcontinuedprogressand
evolution.
Now,thatsnottosaythatbigcompaniesdonthaveenduserswhohavespecializedskills.
IfyouretryingtoanswerentirelynewquestionsusingaBIsystem,thenthingswill
certainlygofasterifyoureexperiencedusingyourtoolset.Butinlargepart,Ithinkthe
operativewordthereisexperience.Anyintelligentbusinesspersoncangainspecialized
skillssimplybyusingtheirBItoolsetforevermorecomplextasks.Andtrainingfor
theseendusersisalsomorewidelyavailable:TypeBIdataanalysisintoanonline
bookstoressearchengine,andyoullfindhundredsofresults.
Myth3:BIIsExpensive
WhenIveworkedwithbigcompanies,therewasnoquestionthatBIwasapricey
proposition.Butisnteverythinginabigcompanyexpensive?Thatspartofthedealof
beingbig.ButyoucantusebigcompanypricingtodrawaccurateconclusionsaboutBI
costsformidsizecompanies.Yourmidsizecompanydidntspendasmuchon,say,aCRM
solutionasagiganticenterprisewhywouldBIbeanydifferent?
ExpensiveAcquisitionCosts
TherearetwomaincostsassociatedwithaBIimplementation,andoneofthemis
obviouslythecostoftheBIsoftware.Thatiswhatitis,butamidsizecompanyshouldnt
expecttopayanythinglikewhatahugeenterprisewouldinvest.Thevendorsthatproduce
thesesolutionsarentstupid;theyknowperfectlywellthattheyneedtoofferdifferent
pricepointsfordifferentsizedbusinesses.
Manyofthesevendorsdosobyofferingdifferentpackagesoreditionsoftheirsolutions
andtoolsets.JustasMicrosoftoffersanUltimateeditionoftheirOfficeproductivitysuite,
theyassumeonlypoweruserswouldpurchasethatedition.OthereditionsHome&
Student,Professional,andsoforthallprovidedifferentpricepoints,andfunctionality
packages,foruserswithdifferentneeds.Today,BIsolutionsarentreallythatdifferent:
Yourmidsizecompanycangetthefunctionalityyouneedinaneditionthatsmuchless
expensivethanwhatabigenterprisewouldneedandbewillingtopayfor.
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ExpensiveConsultingServices
TheothermaincostassociatedwithaBIimplementationisthehordesofconsultantswho
willspendmonthsandmonthsresearching,planning,implementing,andtrainingbefore
yourBIsolutionisofficiallyonlineinabigcompany,atleast;asIvealreadydiscussed.
Midsizecompaniescanbenefitfromprepackagedsolutionsthatrequirelittleorno
consultingservices.Sure,youllprobablyspendsometimespeakingwithasalespersonand
atechnicalexpert,selectingtherightfeaturesetforyourneeds,andmakingsurethatthe
solutionyoueventuallypurchasewilldowhatyouexpectitto.Butinmanycases,these
prepackagedsolutionsareprepackagedineverysenseoftheword:Youdontneedtohave
abunchofoutsiderscomeinandinstallitforyou.
NoticeIsaidneed.YoucertainlycanhaveconsultantshandleyourBIimplementation,and
therearesomevalidbusinessreasonsfordoingso,suchasanITstaffthatsimplydoesnt
havetimefortheprojectregardlessofwhethertheyhavetherightskills.ButwithBI
solutionstargetedspecificallyatthemidsizemarket,youllfindthateventheconsulting
expensesshouldyouchoosetouseconsultantsforyourimplementationaremuch
lowerthanwhatabigcompanywouldexpecttopay.Yourelookingatweeksof
implementation,notmonths;youredealingwithaBIsolutionthatsintendedtobe
installedusingfewerspecializedskills(meaninglessexpensiveconsultants),inlesstime,
andwithlesseffort.
DontLikeNegotiatingwithVendors?
TheresanotherthingIfindaboutmidsizecompanieswhoareexploringBIoptions:They
hatedickeringwithsalespeople.Theresthisfeeling,nowadays,thateverybusiness
softwarepurchaseisgoingtobelikebuyingacar.Youhavetohaggleoverthebasiclicense
pricing,thenhaggleoverthemaintenancefees.Thesalespersonistryingtofigureout
exactlyhowmuchhecansqueezebeforeyoukickhimoutoftheconferenceroom,while
youretryingtofigureouthowlowyoucandrivethepricebeforethesalespersongivesup
andwalksaway.
Somebusinesspeoplelovenegotiating,andtherewillalwaysbesalespeoplewillingtodo
so.ButsomeBIvendorsespeciallythosetargetingthemidsizemarketrealizethatalot
ofmidsizebusinesspeopledonthavethetimeorinclinationforprotractednegotiations.
Theyrebuyingaprepackagedsolution,afterall;whycanttheypayaprepackagedprice?
YoullfindthatmanyBIvendorsagain,especiallythosetargetingthemidsizemarket
providesimple,fixedpricingontheirmidsizebusinessBIsolutions.Yourejustbuyinga
pieceofsoftware,notapieceofrealestate,sotheytrytomakethingseasyaswellas
affordable.
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LookforaTrialVersion
SomeBIvendorsmaketheirmidsizebusinesssolutionsavailableasafree
trialdownload.Tome,thatsaysanawfullotaboutthemythsweveexplored
inthischapter.
Afreedownloadmeansthevendorisprettysureyoullbeabletosetthe
softwareupanduseitquickly(beforethetrialexpires),andthatyouwont
needspecializedconsultingservicesorskillsinordertohaveatleastbasic
successwiththesoftware.
Afreedownloadmeansyourenotexpectedtohaveanyspecializedplanning
ordesigntools,either.Afreedownloadisalsoasignofsoftwarethatis,oris
onitswaytobecoming,somewhatcommoditized.Thatsnottosaythat
differentvendorsdonthavecompetitiveadvantages,butrathertosaythat
theyvereallygottenthesoftwareprepackaged,andthatobtainingitand
usingitshouldntbeanymorecomplicatedthatobtainingandusingany
otherpieceofserversoftware.
Plus,afreetrialmeansyoucanofteninstallandexplorethesoftwareentirely
onyourown,atyourownpace,andunderyourownconditionsyoudont
havetoengageinalengthysalesrelationshipjusttoseewhatthesoftware
lookslike,whatitdoes,andhowitworks.Ifindthatmidsizecompanies
especiallytheirITdepartmentsreallylovebeingabletotestsomethingon
theirown,thenengagethevendorssalesorganizationwhentheyrereadyto
proceed.
UniqueAdvantagesofMidsizeBusinessBI
ThereareafewthingsthatmidsizecompaniescantypicallydowithBIthatisactuallya
distinctadvantage,givingmidsizecompaniesarealbenefitthatismoredifficultforlarger
companiestoachieve.
InMemoryAnalytics
Oneexampleisinmemoryanalysis.AsIdescribedinthepreviouschapter,itsagrowing
trendtouseinmemoryanalyticsbecausetheyrefast,canoftenaccessmoreuptodate(or
evenrealtime)datamorereadily,andultimatelybecausetheyprovidefasteranswersto
questions.Theyallowmorerapidexplorationofwhatifscenariosbecauseyoudonthave
towaitforreportsorotheroutputtobegenerated.
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Bigcompaniescancertainlyuseinmemoryanalytics,butitcanoftenbeexpensivefor
them(remember,everythingabigcompanydoesseemstobeexpensive).Becausetheir
businessmodelsdealwithsomuchdata,theyneedalotofcomputingpowerespecially
memorytomakeinmemoryanalyticspossible.Somebigcompanieschoosetolive
withoutit,whileothersmaketheinvestment.Midsizecompaniesoftendealwithasmaller
volumeofdata,meaninginmemoryanalyticsismoreimmediatelyapproachable.
Computerhardwarecoststhesamenomatterhowbigyourcompanyis,andamidsize
companywilloftenneedmuchlessofittoenableinmemoryanalyticsadistinct
advantagegiventhebenefitinmemoryanalyticscanhaveonbusinessdecisions.
Consistency
Bigcompaniesarewell,theyrebig.Theyhavelotsofdivisionswithdifferentneeds,and
thatcanmakeBIdifficult.Peoplewinduplookingatdifferent,customizedreports,and
drawingdifferentconclusionsfromwhattheysee.Anotheradvantageofmidsize
companiesisthateveryonetendstobealittleclosertotheactuallineofbusiness,so
everyonetendstobealittlemoreconsistentintheirneeds.PrepackagedBIsolutions
capitalizeonthisbymakingconsistentBIoutputavailableacrossthebusiness,intheform
ofreports,dashboards,andsoforth.Bygettingeveryoneliterallyonthesamepage
somethingamidsizecompanycanhaveaneasiertimedoingyoucanmakemore
consistentbusinessdecisionsandgeteveryonemovinginthesamedirectionmoreeasily.
WhatsGoodforBigBusinessIsKindofGoodforYouToo
Hopefully,IveconvincedyouthatBIisntjustforbigbusinesses,andthatmanyofthe
commonperceptionsaboutBIareinfactmisperceptions.BIdoesnthavetobeexpensive,
doesnthavetoinvolveanarmyofconsultants,anddoesntrequireyourbusinesstoslam
onthebrakesanddisruptitself.
Butinusingtermslikeprepackaged,Imayhavegivenyoutheimpressionthatmidsize
businessBIofferingsaresomehowlesscapableorflexible,andIneedtoaddressthat.
AlthoughBIsolutionstargetedatmidsizecompaniesoftendoincludeasubsetofthe
featuresfoundinabigcompanyBIsolution,thatstypicallybecausemanyofthebig
companyBIfeaturesarespecifictoamajorenterpriseenvironmentandthosefeatures
oftendorequirethespecializedskillsandtrainingmidsizebusinessesarelesslikelyto
haveorwanttoacquire.
Thatdoesnotmeanthatprepackaged,midsizebusinessBIsolutionsareinflexible,one
sizefitsallprogramsthatwillforceyoutochangethewayyoudobusinessinordertofit
thesolutionspreconceivedmodel.Modernsoftwareis,fortunately,muchmoreflexible
thanthat.
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BusinessModelFlexibility
EveryBIvendorknowsthattheycantforceyoutoremodelyourbusinesstofitthe
vendorsnotionsofhowyourbusinessworks.Iftheytried,youdsimplyneverbytheir
product,andtheydfail.ThevalueofBIcanonlyberealizedwhentheBIsolutionmaps
itselftoyourbusinessmodel,nottheotherwayaround;thatswhylargebusinesses
typicallyhavecustomizedBIsolutionsbuiltforthem.
ItsthesimilarityofmidsizebusinessesthatmakeprepackagedBIsolutionsfeasible;
nobodyexpectsmidsizebusinessestobeidentical.BIsolutionstargetedatthemidsize
marketcanbeincrediblyflexible,andexploringasolutionsabilitytomaptoyourbusiness
modelisoneofthefirstthingsyoushoulddowhenevaluatingsolutionsforyourbusiness.
AdvancedReporting
Midsizedoesntmeandumbeddown.MidsizebusinessBIsolutionstypicallyinclude
powerful,customizablereportingcapabilities.Adifference,however,isthatthese
capabilitiesaretypicallyexposedinamuchfriendlier,moreintuitiveway.BIdataisoften
storedusingacommonmetadatamodelthatusesstandardbusinessterminologyrather
thantechgeekspeak,makingtheBIsystemmoreunderstandabletobusinessusers.
MidsizeBIsolutionstypicallyincludelotsofbuiltinreportsforthemostcommonbusiness
needs,andthesereportscanserveasthebasisforadditional,customizedreportsthatare
sharedthroughacentralrepositoryacrosstheentirebusiness.Asusersgain
experience,theycanusuallybeginwritingtheirowncustomreports,againsharingthese
throughtheBIsolutionwiththeotherusersinthecompany.
DataEverywhereAccessibility
Bigbusinesseswereamongthefirsttoinvestheavilyinmobileworkforcetechnologies,
andthatinvestmentlikealltheothersbigbusinesseshavemadeinIToverthedecades
paysoffformidsizecompanies.Havingcreateddataeverywherecapabilitiesfortheirbig
companyBIsolutions,BIvendorsmovedquicklytobringthefunctionalitytotheirmidsize
businessofferingsaswell.
Andanybusinesscancertainlybenefitfromdataeverywhere.Thepopularityofmobile
devicessuchasBlackberriesandiPhonesprovesthatbusinesspeoplelovetobeconnected
totheirbusinessesallthetimeandbeingconnectedtoyourBIsolutionisnodifferent.
MidsizebusinessBIsolutionscanproviderobustmobilesupport,includingtheabilityto
accessreports,dashboards,andscorecardsfrommobileWebbrowsers,dedicatedmobile
applications,andeventhroughmobileemail(seeFigure3.4).
Note
ThecontinuingimprovementtomobiledeviceWebbrowserscanmakeeven
moreBIdataavailableremotely,becauseasIlldiscussnextmanyBI
systemsarerelyingmoreandmoreonWebbasedinterfaces.
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Figure3.4:BIsolutionbeingusedfromamobiledevice.
MobiledevicesarenttheonlypartofdataeverywherethatyoushouldlookforinaBI
solution.Simplybeingabletoaccessreports,dashboards,andanalysistoolsfromahome
office,fromahotelroomwhiletraveling,orintheconferenceroomofabusinesspartner
areallvaluableusagescenarios.MostmidsizebusinessITsolutionsaccommodatethese
scenariosbystandardizingonpowerful,modernWebbasedinterfacesformuchoftheir
reportingandanalysisfunctionality.Figure3.5showsanexampleofaWebbased
analysis/reportinginterfacesomethingthatuserscouldaccessusinganyWebbrowser
fromanycomputerintheworld.
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Figure3.5:Webbasedinterfacesareaccessiblefromanywhere.
ComingUpNext
ThenextandfinalchapterinthisbookwilloutlinearoadmapforsuccessfullyaddingBIto
amidsizecompany.NowthatyouvelearnedwhatBIis,howitworks,andwhatisnttrue
aboutit,yourereadytoseehowtobringitintoyourcompany.Illstartbyreviewingsome
ofthemainchallengespresentedbyBI,andsomewaysinwhichyoucanaddressthose
challengesinauniquelymidsizecompanyfashion.IlllookatwaystobringBIintothe
companywithoutturningitintoagiant,neverendingimplementationandwithout
breakingthebank.IllshowyouhowBIcanbemadetoworkwithinthescopeofyour
currentITresources,withoutneedingexpensiveconsultantscampedoutforthenext18
months.Finally,IlllookathowtodoBIinawaythatcomplements,ratherthandisrupts,
yourbusinessenvironment.Illwrapupthisbookbyexplainingafewofthethingsthatbig
businessesdealwithwhenitcomestoBIandhowsomeofthosethingsarentgoodfor
midsizecompanies;Illthenshowyouhowtoavoidthem.
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Chapter4:SuccessfullyAddingBusiness
IntelligencetoaMidsizeCompany
Atthispoint,youshouldbeatleastreadytoconsiderabusinessintelligence(BI)solution
foryourmidsizecompanyandyoumayevenbeoutrightconvincedthatitstherighttool
foryourbusiness.SohowdoyougoaboutsuccessfullyaddingaBIsolutionwithout
disruptingyourcompany?Withoutbreakingthebank?Withouthavingtoaddstaff
memberswithspecialtiesyouveneverevenheardofbefore?Mygoalinthischapteristo
helpanswerexactlythosequestions,withpracticaladviceforbringingBIintoyourmidsize
company.
ReviewingtheProblemswithBI
Beforewecontinue,Iwanttojustbrieflyreviewandsummarizesomeofthehurdlesthat
BIhastraditionallyfaced.Keepinmindthatthesehurdlesarepotentiallyaproblemforany
sizecompany;asIgo,Illoutlinewhybigcompanieschoosetoacceptthesedownsides,and
howmidsizecompaniescanavoidthementirely.
TooComplex
BIsystemsaretypicallyseenasincrediblycomplex.Thatsbecause,toalargepart,the
underlyingbusinesssystemsandprocessesthataBIsolutionmustmodelarealsocomplex.
Inotherwords,ifyouhaveahuge,complexcompany,thenyourBIsystemislikelytobe
hugeandcomplexalso.
Bigcompaniesacceptthisasafactoflifesimplybecauseeverythinginabigcompanyisbig
andcomplex.Payrollsystems.Accountingsystems.Customerrelationshipmanagement
(CRM)systems.Enterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)systems.Assettrackingsystems.Heck,
justfilinganexpensereportinabigcompanycanbeliketryingtopassabillinCongress
everythingiscomplicated.Toalargedegree,bigcompaniescantavoidthatcomplexity.
Theyresubjecttoalotoflegalscrutiny,foronething.Microsoft,forexample,hastobevery
cautiousabouthowitsvariousbusinessunitsinteract,simplybecausetheyrealmost
continuallysuedovertheresultsofthoseinteractions.
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Midsizecompanies,however,canoftenavoidsomeofthatcomplexityandtypicallytry
veryhardtodoso.Midsizecompaniesdontoftenhaveinternationaldivisions,multiple
linesofbusiness,andmergersandacquisitionstodealwith.Midsizecompaniesoftenuse
offtheshelfsoftwareorservicesforthingslikeaccounting,customermanagement,stock
management,andsoon.Thatmakesmidsizecompaniesinherentlylesscomplicated,anda
lesscomplicatedcompanywillhavelesscomplicatedoptionsforBI.
TheanalogyIveusedbeforeisthatofahouse:BuildingagiantcompanysBIsolutionisa
lotlikebuildinganentirecity.Noothercityisgoingtobeexactlylikeit,soyouwindup
withalotofcomplexarchitecturalanddesignelements.Youhavemanydifferentbuildings,
eachofwhichhaveadifferentpurposeandmustbebuiltforthatpurpose.Youcantuse
offtheshelfengineeringnumbers;youhavetoworkallthemathfromscratch.Nothingis
standardized;everythingwillbecompletelycustomandtherewillbealotofittodealwith.
Allthatcustomizationandcomplexitymakesthebuildingprocesscomplex:Permitsare
complicated(andtherearealotofthem)engineeringdrawings(tonsofthem)aremore
complicated,eventhingslikegradingplansandlandscapingdesignswillnaturallybemore
complicated.Theupsideisthatyougetanentirecityintheend;thedownsideisthatit
takesalotoftime,money,andeffortandalotofwastedeffortbecausecustomalso
meansalotofwrongturns,backingup,andredoingthings.Anotherdownsideisthat
tryingtobuilditallinonegowillmeanalotofbacktrackingandwastedeffort,alotofre
donework,andalotofprojectsthatstartbutsimplynevergetfinished.
Forme,amidsizecompanysBIsolutionismorelikeanicehouseinamasterplanned
community.Theresstillalotofqualityintheconstructioninfact,thequalitycanoftenbe
higherthanthecustommansionbecausethetradesmenarebuildingseveralunitsthatare
basicallythesame,andtheyworkoutalltheglitchesearlyon.Thehousecanstillhavealot
ofsemicustomoptionsandelements,sotheyrenotcookiecutter(becausemidsize
businessescertainlyarentcookiecutter),butmanyofthoseoptionsarepreengineered,so
theyreeasiertobuildandlessexpensive,andtheycanbepluggedintothebasehome
designwithoutalotofgriefandturmoil.
SoareBIsystemscomplex?Yesiftheunderlyingcompanyiscomplex.Midsizecompanies
tendtoavoidthatkindofcomplexityontheirown,however,soamidsizecompanyBI
solutionislikewisemuchlesscomplicated.
TooExpensive
Complexityleadstoexpense,andbecauseBIsystemsaretypicallyseenascomplicated,
theyrealsotypicallyseenasexpensive.Andtheycanbe.Bigbusinessestypicallyneed
themtobeexpensivebecausethatexpenseiswhatpaysforaBIsystemthatcanmatchthe
underlyingcomplexityofthegiantbusinessitself.
MidsizebusinessesdontneedtoautomaticallyspendafortuneonaBIsolution.Theres
justnoneed.PrepackagedBIsolutionswhatIllcallasoftwareappliancecanbe
purchasedforamuchlower,fixedpricethanacustombuilt,massiveenterpriseBIproject.
Softwareappliancesareentirelyselfcontainedyoumayjustinstallasinglesoftware
applicationontoaserver,oryoumayevenpurchasethesolutionfromavalueadded
resellerwhojustshowsupwithapreinstalledmachineandplugsitintoyournetwork.
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Withasoftwareapplianceorprepackagedapproach,yourcostsarealsoknownfully,up
front,beforeyoumakeanacquisition.Youcandecidethenifitsexpensiveornot,and
knowthatthepricetagisallyoullpaybecausetheBIsolutionisprepackagedandself
contained,theresnochanceforscopecreep,forneverendingimplementationprojects,or
forconsultantsthathavebeeninoneofyourofficesforlongerthanhalfyouremployees.
TooDisruptive
IvesavedmyworstcaseBIstoryforthislastchapter.Ionceworkedforacompanya
largecreditcardissuingbankthatdecidedtoimplementamajorBIproject.Theywere
stickingwithaspecificdivisionofthecompany,figuringthatwouldbeeasierandless
disruptivethantryingtogowholehogwiththeentirecompanyallatonce.Thisparticular
divisionemployedabout12,000people(althoughmanywereparttimers),andhad
literallymillionsofcustomers.
TheBIprojecttook2yearsbeforeitwasfinallycompleteandeveryconsultantwenthome.
Inthemeantime,thedivisionhadtobringonanother1000employeestooffsetthe
resourcesthatwoundupbeingtiedupalmostfulltimeontheBIproject.Theyspent
foreverfiguringoutwhatreportstheywouldneed,whatdashboardswouldlooklike,where
datawascomingfrom,wheredataneededtogo,whatspreadsheetswouldcontributeand
needtobeupdateditwasnuts.Thereweresevendifferentdatawarehousedesignsinall,
becauseeverytimetheydcompleteonedesign,theydrealizethatitwasmissingafew
thingsandenduphavingtostartover.
TwentyITpeopleincludingmyself,unfortunatelywereonthisprojectalmostfulltime
for2years.Weemergedfromitcompletelyunawareofwhatelsewashappeninginthe
company.MostofusoccupiedfairlyseniorpositionsinIT,yetwewereessentiallyclueless
aboutthestateofourowndepartmentbecausewedbeenentirelyfocusedonthisBI
projectforsolong.
Disruptive?Youbet.BIcanbedisruptive.Now,ourprojectwasnotashiningexampleof
BIeveninaverylargecompany,butthepointisthatBIcangetawayfromyou,andthats
whenitstartsbeingdisruptive.CanyouimagineatenthofyourITstaffoccupiedfor
severalmonthsonnothingbutaBIproject?
Thegoodnewsisthat,withprepackagedBIsoftwaredesignedforamidsizecompany,
youllneverhavetoimaginethat.Theresnodiscoveryofbusinessrequirementstobe
done.Manyreportsanddashboardswillcomeprebuilt,soyouwonthavetocreate
everythingfromscratchyoullbeabletostartusingthesolutionmuchmorequickly.
Therearenodatawarehousestodesign,redesign,discard,anddesignagaininsome
cases,thesolutionmayevenrelymoreoninmemoryanalyticsthanadatawarehouse.
Muchofthedesignworkisdoneforyouallyouhavetodoisinstallitandconfiguredata
connections.Itdoesnthavetobeanymoredisruptivethaninstallinganewmessaging
serverintoyourinfrastructure.Yes,someonewillhavetospendsometimeonitbutthat
timewillbemeasuredindays,notmonthsoryears.
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AddingBIWithoutBreakingtheBank
ThereareafewwaysyoucanchoosetoapproachBI,evenasamidsizecompanythatplans
touseaprepackagedsoftwareappliance.Youcould,forexample,goforacompanywideBI
solutionthatencompasseseverythingyoudo;youcouldchoosetoinsteadfocusona
smallerinitialproject.Yourchoicesinthismatterwillhelpdefineyourcosts,sowhat
choicescanyoumakethatwillminimizeacquisitionandimplementationcosts,while
deliveringreal,tangiblevalue?
NotJustReporting!
BeforeIdivein,IwanttoreemphasizeonepointIvetriedtomakethroughoutthisbook:
BIisnotjustreporting.ItseasytoseewheresomeonemightthinkBIwasjustfancy
reportingbecauseBItendstofocusondynamicreports,staticreports,scorecards,
dashboardsallofwhichare,really,akindofreport.TrueBI,however,shouldbethe
whole,integratedreporting+analysis+planning.CallitCorporatePerformance
Managementifyoulike(somefolksdo).Gatherdata.Analyzeitinvariousways.Make
tentativedecisions,andseehowtheyaffectthedataoutcome.Makefinaldecisions,and
havethemmodifyyourplanningsystemsdynamicallytomakeimplementingthose
decisionsseamlessandeasier.Repeat,asshowninFigure4.1.
Figure4.1:TheCorporatePerformanceManagementlifecycle.
ThisiswhattrueBIisallabout.Notjustdeliveringdatainvisuallystunningdashboards,
butgivingyourealtoolstospottrendsandunderlyingcauses,tomakedecisions,andto
makethosedecisionshappen.
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ThinkBig,StartSmall
Inpreviouschapters,Ivementionedacoupleofapproachestodatawarehousedesign.
Thesearebothveryhighlevelphilosophies,bothespousedbyveryhighlevelexpertsin
thefield.Thefirstisthetopdownapproach,whichsaysthatyouhavetostartbycreatinga
datawarehousefortheentirecompany,thenbreakthatdownintosmallerdatamartsfor
differentdepartmentsandpurposes.Thesecondisthebottomupapproach,whichmoreor
lessstatestheopposite:Thatyoustartwithsmallerdatamartsthatareverytaskspecific,
thengraduallyaggregatethemintoacompanywidedatawarehouse.
Proponentsonbothsidesofthedebatehaveveryscathingandwittythingstosayabout
theiropponents,andIdontproposetohaveafinalansweronthesubjectinthisshort
book.However,whatIwillsayisthis:Philosophyanddebateisallverywellandgood,but
thepracticalrealitiesofthebusinessworldsometimesmeanyoumakeacompromise.For
me,bottomupisthatcompromise.
Yes,youhavetothinkaboutyourentirecompany.ButimplementingacompanywideBI
solutionisobviouslymorecomplexthanonethatjustservesaspecificdepartment.As
wevealreadyseen,complexity=time=expense;acompanywidesystemisdesirablebutit
isntalwaysthemostpracticalstartingpointforamidsizecompany.Whatsoftenmore
practicalandapproachableistoimplementaprepackagedBIsoftwareapplianceforone
partofthecompany.Learnhowtouseit.Gainsomeexperiencewithit.Then,gradually,
addinanotherpartofthecompany.Andanother.Andanother.
WillaBIsolutionbuiltinpiecesbeasgoodasonethatwasbuiltfromthetopdown
approach?Well,thatdepends.Mynormalanswerwouldbemaybe,maybenot,which
isntverydefinitivebecauseitdependsalotonhowwellthepiecesweredesigned.
Dependingontheexactsolutionyouchoose,youmightwindupwithseparate,
independentBIsystemsfordifferentdivisionswhichcanbeunitedintoacompanywide
system.OtherBIsolutionvendorsmayofferasinglesystemthatcanstartoutsmalland
growtoincludeotherdepartments,andeventuallytheentirecompany.Thisisapointto
investigateasyoubeginresearchingandevaluatingspecificsolutions;neitherapproachis
wrong,butunderstandingtheapproachthatavendorhaschoseniscertainlyimportant.
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StartwiththeBiggestPain
Ionceworkedforaninternationalretailer.Weshippedproductstohundredsofstores
fromthreedistributioncentersworldwide;wealsomanagedasmalldirectmailbusiness
forcustomerswhodidnthaveastoreintheirimmediatearea.Oneofthecompanys
biggestfrustrationswasourshippingcosts.Wednegotiatethebestdealswecouldwith
variouscarriers,buttherewasalwaysthissensethatshippingwasavast,blackpitinto
whichwejustpouredmoney.Ourexecutiveteamwasnotoriouslydetailorientedtheyd
reengineeredanumberofourbusinessprocessesandhadsavedhundredsofthousandsof
dollarsinsodoing.Butshippingjustfeltlikethisuntouchablecomponentitcostwhatit
cost,andallyoucoulddowasnegotiatelowerrates.Theywerealsofrustratedwithwhat
theyperceivedasinconsistentdeliverytimesandotherdetailstheycouldntmakesense
ofexactlywhattheirmoneywasgettingforthem.
ItwasthefirstareathecompanychoseforaBIsolution.Infact,itwastheuntouchable,
unknowablenatureofshippingthatmadeourexecutivesevenconsideraBIsolution.
Everythingelsetheydtriedhadntgiventhemanyinsightintoshipping;maybeBIcould
proveitselfbydoingwhattheycouldntaccomplishontheirown.
Acoupleofmonthslater,wehadaprettybasicBIsolutioninplaceandourexecutiveswere
alreadygettinganswerssurprisingones.Theirstrategyhadbeentoofferexclusivitytoa
givencarrierinreturnfordeeperdiscounts,andtosendpackagesthatwereascloseas
possibletothecarriersmaximumsizeandweight.SomewhatifscenariosintheBIsystem
suggestedthatevenwithmodestdiscounts,wedsavemoneyandgetbetterdelivery
timeswithsomewhatsmallerpackages,andifweusedseveralcarriers,selectingthem
basedontheproximityoftheirhubstoourstores.Withinayear,theBIsystemhadpaidfor
itselfinshippingsavings.
Notlongafter,westartedpluggingtheBIsystemintomoreareasofthecompany.Wecould
punchinproposedsalesfiguresforagivenmonthandseeexactlywhatwedprobablybe
spendingonshipping,seeifthedistributioncenterstaffwouldneedmoreorfewerpart
timerstohandletherestockingworkload,andevenpredicthowlongthelossprevention
departmentwouldneedtoauditthesales.AsIwaspreparingtoleavethecompany,a
singledashboardcouldeventellyouhowmuchlosstoexpectforagivensalesamount(it
wassurprisinglynonlinearwesawgreaterlossesatverylowandveryhighsales
amounts,butlesslossforaveragesales),leadingtoawholenewsetofinitiativestocombat
thatloss.Itwasexciting.
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Thelessonistofocusonwhereyouhavethemostpain.StartyourBIeffortthere.Thereare
afewreasonsfordoingso:
Youhavethemosttogain.RelativelyfewandminorinsightsfromaBIsolutioncan
providemaximaleffectinyourmostpainfulareaofbusiness.
Youreprobablyalreadyfocusingonthisareaofyourbusiness,sotheBIsystem
wontbeseenasadistraction,itwillbeseenasatooltoassistyouralreadyheavy
focus.
Itoffersthehighestincentive.Peopleinawellrunareaofyourbusinessareless
likelytowelcomeaBIinitiativewithenthusiasmbecausetheyllfeeltheyalready
haveeverythingundercontrol.Byshowingthemhowanotherpartofthebusiness
benefits,youllhaveaneasiertimesellingthemonBIlater.
Sohowdoyouquantifypaininanareaofyourbusiness?
Lookforareaswheremajordecisionsarebeingmadeprimarilyfrominstitutional
knowledgethatis,bygutinstinctfromexperiencedmanagers.
Lookforareasthatareawashinrawdatabuthaverelativelylittlerefineddata.
Lookforareaswheremanagersarealreadyaccustomedtousingspreadsheetsto
crunchnumbersandmakedecisionsthosearethefolkswhowillbenefitfirstfrom
aBIsolution.
Lookforareaswhereyousensethattrendsandpatternsmustexistbutwherethose
trendsandpatternsneverseemtomaterialize.
LookforareaswhereoldassumptionsarestilldrivingcriticaldecisionsaBI
systemcanhelprevisethoseassumptionsusingrealworlddata.
Selecttheareaofyourbusinessthathasthemostofthesefactors,andyoullbegivingaBI
solutionthebestopportunitytohelpyouimprovethebusiness.
AddCapabilitiesasNeeded
Likemostappliances,softwareappliancesareoftenmodularinnature.Needanicemaker
foryourfreezer?Wanttoaddtheicecreammakerattachmenttoyourkitchenstandmixer?
WanttoaddanewreportingmoduletoyourBIsolution?Noproblem:Extensible
appliancesarenothingnew,andtheygiveyoutheabilitytobuyjustwhatyouneed,just
whenyouneedit,soyouresavingmoneyandeffort.
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EveryBIsolutionvendorwillobviouslyfollowdifferentpatternsfortheirtoolset,butin
general,thecapabilitiesbreakintotwohalves:
Analysisandvisualization.Thisincludestheabilitytopullinrawdataand
generateanalysesandvisualrepresentations.Inmemoryanalyticsmaybeoffered,
whichhelpsyougeneratefasteranalysisresultsfromrealtime,operationaldata
stores.Thisiswhereyoulloftengetvisualizationslikethedashboardshownin
Figure4.2.
Figure4.2:UsingadashboardfromaBIanalysispackage.
Reportingandadhocquerying.Thisoftenincludesselfservicereporting
interfaces,givingyoutheabilitytocreatecustomreports.Thebenefithereisthat
thereportsarealldrawnfromasingledatasourcethedatawarehouseandso
everyuserwillbeworkingwithconsistentdata.Reportsareoftencolumnar,
althoughyoullalsobeabletodesignmorecomplexones.Figure4.3showsasample
BIreport.ThebenefithereisthattheBIsolutionprovidesatoolsetthatletsusers
createtheirownreportsratherthanjustusingprepackagedones.Thisfeaturehelps
eachusergettheexactanswerstheyneedatthatexactmoment.
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Figure4.3:AnexampleBIreport.
Youmayfindothermodules,too,suchasmodulesthatsupportMicrosoftExcel
connectivity,whichcanbeaboonforspreadsheetjockeysinyourcompanywhoare
comfortableusingExcelfordataanalysis.
EnsurethatYouHaveaGrowthPath
Whateveryoudo,makesureyouhaveaplaninthebackofyourheadtoextendyourBI
solutiontootherareasofyourcompany.DiscussthosepossibilitieswitheachBIsolution
vendorthatyouspeakwithandletthemhelpguideyoutowardasolutionthatcan
accommodatethosegrowthplans.Yourplansmightchange,buthavingasolutioninplace
withtherightflexibilitywillhelpensurethatyoucangetwhereyouwanttogo.
SeekOutFixedPriceSolutions
Ivebeeninvolvedinanumberofhighpricedsoftwareacquisitions,andIhatenegotiating
withsalespeople.Frankly,Imnotverygoodatit.Ineverknowiftheirfirstpriceisreally
thepriceoriftheyexpectmetohagglethemdown.Iftheydo,Idonteverunderstandwhy
theyjustcouldntbringmethatpriceinthefirstplace.
Whenitcomestoprepackagedsoftwaresolutions,however,yourerarelygoingtofind
yourselfhavingtonegotiateandyoushouldnthavetowithamidsizecompanyBI
solution.Solutionslikethisareaknownquantityforthevendor;inservingamidsize
businessaudience,goodvendorswillfocusonstandardizedpricing.
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Whileonthesubjectofprice,however,Idohaveacautiontooffer:Dontseekoutadoit
yourselfsolution.EvenifyouvegottheworldsbestdatawarehousingandBIexperton
yourstaff,arollyourownBIsolutionisnearlyalwaysgoingtocostyoumoretimeand
moneyinthelongrunthanapackagedsolution.Iveseenjustacoupleofmidsize
companiesgothebuildourownroute,andafteracoupleofyearsofsustainedeffort,they
finallygaveupandjustboughtsomething.Whentheydid,theygotasystemthatdidmore
thantheirhomegrownsystem,haditupandrunninginafewdays,andspentlesson
softwaremaintenancethantheydbeenpayingthetwostafferswhohaddevelopedand
weremaintaining,theirinhousesolution.Oneofthosecompaniesdecisionwasdriven
purelybystaffingtheirBIexpertquit,leavingthemwithoutanyonewhounderstoodhow
theBIsystemhadbeenbuiltorhowitworkedunderthehood.Theyhadnochoicebutto
eitherhiresomeoneelseandsalariesinthatspecializationhadgonewayupatthat
timeorbuyaprepackagedsolution.
AddingBIwithYourCurrentITTeam
IvesaidbeforethatmidsizebusinessescanandshouldimplementarightsizedBIsolution
withoutneedingexpensiveconsultingservicesorspecializednewhires.Herearesometips
fordoingso.
SoftwareAppliances
LookforaBIsolutionthatcouldaccuratelybedescribedasasoftwareappliance.Iveused
thattermbefore,asasynonymforprepackaged;whatexactlydoesitmean?Consideryour
corporatefirewall.Thereareacoupleofwaysyoucangowhenchoosingafirewalla
dedicatedfirewallsoftwarepackage,whichoftenrunsonanOSsuchasWindowsorLinux,
orapowerfulhardwarefirewall,likethosefromCisco.Theseallinvolveafairlycomplex
levelofconfiguration,andyoullprobablyneedanexperttoatleastsetthethingup
initially,ifnottohelpmaintainitonanongoingbasis.Configurationoftenrequires
somethingakintoprogramming,whichdefinitelyrequiresspecializedexpertise.Insome
cases,youmayneedotherprerequisitesinordertomakethefirewallsolutionwork,such
asanauthenticationserver,loggingserver,andotherelements.
Thepointhereisthatyouhavetobuythesoftwareand/orcomponents,hookitintoyour
infrastructure,redesignyourinfrastructuretoaccommodateit,thenfullyprogramthe
thingwithallthesettingsitneedstooperateandthatyouneedtofityourbusinessneeds.
Alternatively,youbuyafirewallappliance.ThisisaboxthatplugsintoACpowerandinto
yournetwork.Configurationisoftenmuchsimpler,typicallyWebbased,andusually
wizarddriven.Youhavefeweroptionstoworryabout,fewerthingsyoucouldpotentially
dowrong,andyoulikelywontneedanexperttogetthethingworkingproperly.Manycan
evenselfdiscovercertaininformationaboutyournetworksothatyoudonthaveto
configurethosethingsmanually.
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Imusingfirewallsasanexamplebecausetheyreacommonnetworkelementthatcanbe
hadbothasacomplexsolutionandasaprepackaged,preconfiguredappliance.For
midsizecompanies,IrecommendthelatterapproachforaBIsolution:Findanappliance.
Itmightnotbealiteralboxyouplugin,butitshouldntbefarfromthat.Itshould:
Comelargelyprebuiltandpreconfigured
Comewithwhateverprerequisitesitneedsyoushouldnthavetobuyorinstall
anythingelsetomakeitwork
Requireminimalconfigurationtoadapttoyourenvironment,andthatconfiguration
shouldbedrivenbywizardsandothertoolstohelpmaketheconfigurationeasier
andmoreorderly
ThatshowyougetaBIsolutionthatyourcurrentITteamcandeploy.Infact,lookforaBI
solutionthatsavailableasafreetrial.Ifthevendorissoconfidentoftheireaseof
deploymentthattheyfeeltheycanofferadoityourselftrialwithperhapsashortPDF
evaluatorsguidetowalkyouthroughsetupthenyouveprobablyfoundsomethingthat
canaccuratelybedescribedasasoftwareappliance.
ModularAppliances
AsIvewrittenearlierinthischapter,youridealBIsolutionwilloftencomebrokeninto
modulessothatyoucanbuyjustthebitsyouwant.Anotherapproachistooffereditions,
wheresuccessivelyhighereditionsoffergreaterandgreaterfunctionality.Ipreferthe
modularapproachbecausewithityoucanbuyjustwhatyouneed;witheditionsIalways
findmyselfstuckwiththenexthighereditionthanIreallywantjustbecauseofoneortwo
musthavefeatures.
Spendsometimeworkingwithtrialversions,and/orspeakingwiththesolutionvendor,to
understandexactlywhatcapabilitieseachmoduleoreditionoffers.Evenifyourefocused
onsavingmoney,dontforgocriticalfunctionalitydoingsocouldspellfailureforyourBI
project,andmanycompaniesdontliketogivesomethingasecondchanceifthefirst
attemptfails.Inotherwords,dontbuymorethanyouneed,butcertainlydontbuyless,
either.
EnsurethatYouHaveaGrowthPath
AsIvewrittenbefore,youneedtomakesureyourebuyingasolutionthatcangrowwith
youandyouneedtounderstandhowthatgrowthwillphysicallyhappen.Heresan
example:Yearsago,backwhenMicrosoftExchangeServerwasstillnew,Microsoftreleased
aStandardeditionandanEnterpriseedition.Theprimarydifferencebetweenthetwo
wastheirstoragecapacity:TheStandardeditionhadanarbitrarylimitonhowmuchit
couldstore,whiletheEnterpriseeditionsupportedthemaximumWindowsdisksizeatthe
time.
TheproblemoccurredwhenpeopleontheStandardeditionranoutofroomanddecidedto
upgrade.Therebasicallywasnoupgradepath;youhadtobuyEnterprise,installit,and
thenmigrateallofyourmailboxestoitandthendecommissiontheoldserver,typically
withoutreceivinganycreditorrefundforthecostofitslicense.
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Don Jones
MakesureyourBIsolutiondoesntstickyouinthesameboat.Withamodularproduct,you
shouldbeabletojustaddonnewmodulesasneeded.Ifyoureusingaproductthatsbuilt
aroundfeatureeditions,makesureyouhaveawaytogrowtothenexteditionwithout
havingtostartformscratch.Thatmightinvolvepayinganupgradefeeandenteringanew
licensecode,forexample,ratherthaninstallingawholenewproductandmigratingyour
data,reports,configuration,andotherwork.
MidsizeManageability
HowwillyourexistingITteammanageyournewBIsolution?ABIsolutionevenonethat
isprepackagedasasoftwareappliancestillhasmaintenanceandmonitoring
requirements.Someoneneedstomakesureitsupandrunning,andthatitsrunningina
healthycondition.Ifsomethinggoeswronglikeitgetslowondiskspaceyoullwantto
knowbeforethatbecomesarealproblem.WilltheBIsolutionneedperiodicdatabase
maintenance?Whowillperformthat?Howhardisittodo?
Themoreprepackagedandappliancelikeasolutionis,themoreIwouldexpectittodo
thesethingslargelyonitsown.Sure,youllstillhavetodoOSlevelmaintenancepatches
andsoforthbutyourITstaffiswellequippedtodothatkindofbasicupkeep.The
solutionmightmaintainitsowndatabase,andmighteventakecareofitsownmonitoring,
perhapsbysendingsomeoneanemailifaproblemconditionisdetected.Somesolutions
mightofferoptionsforsendingnotificationstoanoperationsmonitoringconsole,although
themoreprepackagedthesolutionis,thelessImightexpectthatoption.Iwouldcertainly
expectanappliancestylesolutiontoprovideitsownmonitoring,oftenthroughan
administrativeconsole.
Ideally,theentireproductshouldbeeasytoadminister,perhapsthroughaWebbased
console.Figure4.4showsanexampleofhoweasyitshouldbetoaddnewdataconnections
tothedatawarehouse,forexample:Anice,welllaidoutWebconsolecanmakeotherwise
complicatedtaskseasierforyourexistingITstafftounderstandandaccomplish.
69
Don Jones
Figure4.4:AdministrationthroughasimpleWebbasedconsole.
IfaBIsolutionusesanexternaldatabasemaybeitrequiresyoutoprovideaMicrosoft
SQLServer,orOracleserver,forexampleImightexpecttohandlethemaintenanceof
thatdatabasemyself.However,suchasolutionwouldnotbeanapplianceinmyopinion;
appliancesdontrequireyoutoBringYourOwnDatabase.
AddingBIwithoutDisruptingBusiness
SoyoucandeployamidsizeBIsolutionwithyourexistingITstaff;canyoudosowithout
distractinganddisruptingyourdaytodaybusiness?Thetrickindoingsoistorequirea
minimumofcost,specializedexpertise,andspecializedsoftware,aswellasaminimumof
training.LetsseehowaproperlydesignedmidsizeBIsystemmightaccomplishthat.
LowStartupCost
IvealreadyexplainedhowafixedpriceBIsolutionisdesirable,andhowamodular
solutiondesignletsyoubuyjustthepiecesyouneed.Thosefactors,combinedwiththe
abilityofyourexistingITstafftodeployandmaintaintheBIsolution,leadstoalower
startupcost.AlowstartupcosthelpscontributetoalessdisruptiveBIimplementation
project;fewereyeswillbenervouslywatchingeverystep,givingtheprojectanopportunity
tobecompletedandputintousewithoutanyonepanickingaboutthemountingexpenses.
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Don Jones
Besides,highpricedsystemsinmidsizecompaniesalmostalwaysleadtoagonizing,
sometimesantagonisticbattlesaboutwhetherthecompanyshouldevenpursuethe
solution.Thatsortofthingputseveryoneofftrack,disruptingmanagerialrelationships
anddistractingpeoplefromdaytodaybusiness.Alowerstartupcostletseveryonehavea
betterdiscussionabouttheprojectsmeritswithoutquiteasmanyeyesbuggingoutover
anexorbitantpricetag.
Finally,afixedpricesolutionmakeseveryoneinvolvedwiththecompanysfinancialsfeel
better.Starttalkingaboutconsultantsandservicesandfees,andeveryonegetsnervous
becausetheyjustknowthebillwillkeepgoingupandupandup.Anappliancestyle
solutionwithafixed,knownupfrontcostisaknownquantitythatcanbeconsideredand
accepted;knowingthatthepricewontcontinuetoclimbisanotherwaytoprevent
disruption.
MinimalSpecializedExpertise
Aprepackaged,appliancestylesolutionavoidsthatbysimplynotrequiringverymuchin
thewayofspecializedexpertise.Theexpertiseisbuiltintotheproduct,readytobeused;
youdontneedmuchmoretogetitinstalledandworking.
SelfServiceviaWebConsoles
UsersshouldbeabletoaccessmuchoftheBIsolutionsanalysisfunctionalitythrough
simpletouse,selfserviceconsoles.Webconsolesaremoreeasilyaccessiblefromavariety
ofdevicesandOSs,andgiveyourusersasingle,consistentknowledgeportalthrough
whichtheycanaccessarangeofinformation.Webconsolescanofferrichfunctionality,
tooFigure4.5showsanexampleofacomplexanalysisthatausercanconductthrougha
Webinterface.
Figure4.5:EasytouseWebinterfacesminimizedisruption.
Webinterfacesalsomeanyoudonthavetodeploysoftwaretoeveryonesdesktop.Thatsa
hugething,givenhowdisruptivesoftwaredeploymentscanbecombinedwiththe
trainingandpainalmostalwaysassociatedwithnewsoftware.
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Don Jones
IntuitiveUserInterfaces
Speakingoftraining,youcanminimizethelearningcurveforyourusersbyselecting
softwarethatsintelligentlyandintuitivelydesigned.Forexample,Figure4.6showsan
excerptfromaWebdashboard.Someonelookingatthismightwonder,Whyaremargins
ingolfequipmentthewaytheyare?Awelldesigneduserinterfacewillallowuserstodrill
downandanswerthatquestionbydoingwhattheuserwilltendtodonaturally:Clickon
theGolfEquipmentitem.
Figure4.6:Startingwithawelldesigneduserinterface
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Don Jones
Ifclickingleadstheusertoanotherlayerofdata,theyllcontinuetoexplore.Figure4.7
showswherethefirstclicktookthemtoabreakdownofdifferenttypesofgolf
equipmentanintelligentnextstepinalineoffreeforminvestigation.Usersdontneedto
knowanydatabasequerylanguages,orevenunderstandthattheyreusingaBIsystemora
datawarehouse.Theyrejustexploringcompanydatatolookforpatterns,trends,and
underlyingreasons.
Figure4.7:allowsuserstodrilleverdeeperintothedata
Bycontinuingtosupportadditionallayersofdrilldown,thisuserinterfaceallowsauserto
continuelookingfortherootcauseoftheproblem.Here,itappearsthatputtersarethe
lowestmarginitem.Shouldthecompanyjustdiscontinueputters?Anotherclickand
anotherdrilldowniswarranted.
Figure4.8:untiltheyfindtherootcause.
AsshowninFigure4.8,itsonebrandofputtersthatsactuallydraggingdownthecategory.
Now,thisusercanmakeabusinessdecisionbasedonfacts,notongutinstinctorbad
assumptions.Ittooklongerformetowritethisnarrativethanitwouldhavetakenareal
usertoactuallyreachthisconclusionallwithoutanyformalbusinessanalyticstraining.
Thatsthevalueofawelldesigneduserinterface:immediateresults,lessdisruptiontothe
business.
73
Don Jones
KeepYourExistingTools
Userswhoarecomfortablewithanexistingtoolsetshouldbeabletousethem,ifpossible.
AsIvementionedbefore,manymidsizebusinessusersareincrediblyproficientwithExcel
spreadsheetssowhynotletthemcontinueusingatoolthattheyreskilledwith?
Ifyouhavesomeofthesespreadsheetjockeysinyourcompany,havingaBIsystemthat
supportsthembydeliveringBIdatatoExcel,andallowingthemtoworkwithitthereis
amusthavefeature.AlthoughExcelisntforeveryone,itcanbeincrediblypowerfuland
empoweringforsomeonewhohasinvestedthetimetouseit,andbecausetheyreworking
inacomfortable,familiarenvironment,youllfindthatthesespreadsheetjockeyswillbe
amongstthefirsttograspthepowerofBI,andtostartmakingareturnonyourBI
investment.
WhatsGoodforBigBusinessIsntNecessarilyGoodforYou
Bigbusinessescanoftenaffordabigsacrificeiftheyseeabigbenefit.Midsizecompanies,
however,havetobealotmorecareful.Disruptingadozenemployeesfor3monthsis
hardlyevennoticeableforagiantcompany;foramidsizecompany,however,itcandistract
vitalassetsforanunforgivablylongtime.
ThatswhyBIisntonesizefitsall.Whatworksforanenormousenterprisemonthsof
factfinding,specializedconsultantstobuilddatawarehousedesigns,lengthy
implementationsandevenlengthiertrainingjustdoesntfitamidsizebusinessmodel.
Whatcanworkforamidsizebusiness,however,aresmallersizedBIsolutionsthat
althoughtheywouldneverworkforahugecompanyfitnicelyintoamidsizecompanys
needs,availableresources,andavailabletime.
Iveusedthewordprepackagedalotinthisbook,andinthebeginningIworriedabout
usingthatexactterm.Prepackaged,tomanypeople,seemslikeitmightmeanlower
quality,likeaprepackaged,frozendinner.ThatsnotwhatImeanatall.Inthetechnology
industry,prepackagedsoftwareproductspowermostaspectsofmostmidsizecompanies,
fromfinancialmanagementtocustomerrelationshipmanagement.Eventheoffice
productivitysuiteyoureusingawordprocessor,aspreadsheet,andperhapsasmall
databaseapplicationareprepackaged.Prepackageddoesnotmeanlowerqualityorless
powerful.Forme,prepackagedmeansaneasytoinstall,easytolearnpieceofsoftware
thathandles90%ormoreofthefunctionsthat90%ofbusinessusersrequire.Itmeansno
lengthy,expensivecustomizationsrequired.IntheworldofBIsolutions,prepackaged
solutionsdesignedtofitamidsizecompanyarethebestwaytoimplementBI.Frankly,even
hugeenterpriseswoulduseprepackagedBIsolutionsiftheyhadtheoptiontheydsavea
fortuneandalotoftime.Thisisanadvantagethatmidsizecompaniescancapitalizeon:
TheabilitytouseaprepackagedBIsolutionbringsyoubigcompanypowerwithoutthe
bigcompanypriceortimecommitment.
74
Don Jones
Wevecoveredalotofgroundinashortspace.Inthefirstchapter,Iexplainedwhat
businessintelligencereallyis,andwhyyoumightwantitinyourcompany.Inthesecond
chapter,IexplainedthewaysinwhichBIbecomesarealitystartingwithhowyou
assembledataandanalyzeittomakebetterdecisionsforyourcompany.Thethirdchapter
wasachancetoplaymythbusters,debunkingconceptslikethefactthatBIcandisrupt
yourbusinessorthatBIisonlyforlargecompanies.Inthischapter,Iofferedsometipsand
practicesforbringingBIintoyourcompanyinaproductive,practicalmanner.
Ihopeyouvefoundthisinformationtobeuseful,andIhopethatBIisonyourradarnot
onlyasausefulsetoftechnologiesbutasanobtainable,practicalideaforhelpingyouand
yourcompanymakebetterdecisionsaboutyourfuture.Thanksforreading.
75

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The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies

The Shortcut Guide to Achieving Business Intelligence in Midsize Companies