Business Intelligence (BI) continues to be one of the hottest topics in the industry. Whatever the aspirations, big or small, the path to a successful BI implementation must be followed with care at every stage. Most important, obvious yet often overlooked, is getting a very clear picture of the ultimate goal of the BI initiative. It’s easy to get caught up in the BI buzz and feel driven to implement something yesterday, which can lead an organization into buying a software package before knowing what it is trying to accomplish.
Upfront, a business should come up with a list of specific stakeholders who will benefit from BI. Without the who, how can an organization possibly hit the target? Smart companies will go a step further and take the time to ask these individuals what they need and when. Don’t make the mistake of basing decisions on assumptions that may not be accurate. After all, BI that doesn’t get used by employees to make a company more competitive in the marketplace is wasted money. User adoption directly affects the ROI of the entire initiative, and without user engagement in the planning stages, the likelihood of adoption decreases.
Having clearly defined the goal and user profiles, the vendor selection process and implementation plans can begin. At this point, a company might even find that a good Excel spreadsheet fits the needs of a Sales Manager just fine. Why spend the money when the complexity of a robust BI tool might not be needed? It’s just this type of error that can occur if a company hasn’t invested time to define goals and user needs. Spending the time upfront also speeds the implementation time, which is crucial to user adoption. Day-to-day business continues on with or without the BI reports, and stakeholders will find other methods of finding the information they need, even if it’s less efficient, less predictable, and more prone to error.
Finally, attention must be given to the strategy that will help employees understand and make the most of the BI deliverables. Even if they were included in the beginning stages of the process, the users will need reminders on how to leverage the solution. Training should start during implementation so the users can jump right in once their reporting capabilities are ready. Also, businesses should take the time to create ‘tips and tricks’ or ‘cue cards’ that users can take away with them to jog their memories when using BI to perform their jobs. Again, this type of attention to detail can make all the difference in deciding whether a company’s BI initiative is a success or merely a response to an industry buzzword.
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