Middle-Size Enterprise Consulting - Business Intelligence
In today’s economy, companies must take full advantage of their information and people assets. It’s more common to hear “do more with less” or “focus resources on the most profitable activities.” Given this economic climate it is no surprise that in the past year, IDC has found that “interest in business intelligence tools (BI) is soaring among companies in many different industries. Over half of large North American companies surveyed by IDC are currently using BI, with an additional 30% implementing or evaluating it. Companies have realized that in order to compete, they need to be able to gather, track, and use information from their transactions and other processes.” While the ROI on Business Intelligence projects is great, over 50% of the projects fail because they are too large and collapse under their own weight or they are short-sighted and have an inability to scale. Omicron’s approach for the Mid-Sized Enterprise to a Business Intelligence project is based on achieving early and consistent results based on a solid architecture based upon Microsoft’s suit of technologies including SQL Server, SharePoint Portal Server, BizTalk and Office. This approach allows our clients to see a timely return on their Business Intelligence investment while utilizing tools they already own.
Omicron’s methodology to creating a Business Intelligence system centers on the need to find the balance between the potential user inquiries and access to clean, reliable data. There are 5 key concepts which guide our methodology:
Concept 1: A Focus on the User and Usage – From a usage standpoint, a Business Intelligence system differs from a standard transactional application in that it is difficult to pre-define the exact processes users will follow. That type of function analysis is replaced with a more generalize pattern analysis of the types of answers users will look to find in the system and the ways in which they will look to analyze the results provided. Additionally, Business Intelligence systems are often deployed to support varying tiers of users, from the highest level executive who wants to see summary key performance indicators to the product manager who wants to analyze detailed market data. Critical to the success of this type of project is the ability to provide easy to use tools for each tier of user in a seamless manner while managing the cost of the underlying deployment.
Concept 2: Architecting for the Future – Business Intelligence systems are most often implemented in phases for two reasons: the magnitude of potential scope that they can encompass, and the increased desires that users uncover once they begin working with the systems. Oftentimes, this leads to an approach that begins with an initial pilot which is then expanded without the proper architectural foundation. One of the key components of a Business Intelligence vision is the design of a strong foundational architecture which can be implemented in conjunction with the continued phases of deployment. In addition to a flexible suite of user tools, the architecture must lay the foundation for rapid access to a data intensive system addressing all of the core issues associated with a data warehouse. In addition, today’s architectures look to leverage flexible technology such as XML and consider key management issues such as enterprise application integration.
Concept 3: Manage the Underlying Data – In addition to taking into account its customers (the users of the data) and how to supply them with what they need in the timeframe they need, a successful Business Intelligence system must provide rapid access to large volumes of data. To accomplish this, the Business Intelligence system must be organized in such a way that users can quickly and efficiently obtain the data they need while maintaining security and data integrity. With most enterprise environments, this data is often dispersed through a variety of systems that have different data stewards, formats, and time cycles with varying levels of integrity and security. A core part of a business intelligence vision is developing an approach that marries the need for data with the availability of data.
Concept 4: Implement in Phases with Clear Scope Control – Omicron also recognizes that the process of implementing a data warehouse and Business Intelligence system is an iterative process, one in which lessons learned from the first steps can be applied to succeeding steps to enhance the data available for analysis and its access.
The early efforts of a Business Intelligence project are the first of an on-going series of steps that will leverage the system as a channel for information. It is not unlike the process a company undergoes when conceptualizing and launching a new product. As such, our approach to planning a business intelligence implementation relies heavily on the lessons we have learned in planning product releases for our software clients. Our product development expertise has given rise to a unique product-based methodology and quality process that has been incorporated into our approaches. We have found that incorporating version management and implementation phases are central to the successful on-going delivery and management of all business intelligence projects. Dividing the project into versions that can be created and managed independently, facilitate scope management and support the ability to deliver future components in less time and with reduced risk. This version plan can only be put in place once the requirements and architecture are understood to allow for the appropriate implementation plan.
Concept 5: Produce Rapid Results – Given the magnitude of reach with a business intelligence system there is the tendency to think too big and end up in analysis paralysis. Therefore, once we complete the vision we look to leverage a fast track approach for phased implementations. There are two key goals for this approach: to provide the user community with experience in the process of defining their needs and in the use of business intelligence reporting capabilities and provides the IT community with experience in defining, designing and implementing a business intelligence solution.
Omicron’s full suite of Business Intelligence services for the Mid-Sized Enterprise are designed to help gain a competitive edge by maximizing the strategic use of existing technology investments and corporate data. Omicron’s Business Intelligence Services are divided into two categories: (1) Data Warehouse ( data collection and the systems that gather and store the data); and (2) Business Intelligence (the presentation, interpretation and utilization of the data).
Business Intelligence Workshop and Prototype: This planning workshop defines a results oriented implementation process and strategic project team to put your project on the path to success. The workshop focuses on making strategic timing and delivery decisions to define your optimal Business Intelligence approach along with developing a Microsoft-based prototype.
Business Intelligence Fast Track Dashboard Implementation: A “fast-tracked” process used to jump-start Business Intelligence development and delivery. Targeted for a specific department production pilot, Fast Track follows a week-by-week cycle to deliver a working data-mart based business intelligence dashboard.
Business Intelligence Enterprise Implementation: A process for defining and building a business intelligence system based on an enterprise data warehouse. This project facilitates the design and implementation of an enterprise system addressing issues such as: KPI’s, dashboard design, business alignment, warehouse modeling, integration with your application architecture, access methods, physical storage, data transformation and integrity, use of the internet, and data repository management.
< Back to Top |
