Business Intelligence is for everyone.

1. PATHWAYS to Business Intelligence from Joe Orlando
1
PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Menlo Park Europe
ARE YOU REALLY READY FOR BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE?
Inthedayofthesimplecountrystore,BusinessIntelligencewascomprisedofknowingwhatwas“instock,” what was
“out of stock,” what it cost to replenish andhow muchturnover was inagiven period. Today, retailers capture how
longa productis onaspecificshelf and does itsellbetterhereorthere –in which seasonandatwhatpriceanditwassold
towhom.
Everycompetitivebusinessrecognizesthepowerinknowledge.The definitionof“knowledge”isboth subjectiveand
obscure.Alltoooften,abusinessisunabletosuccinctlyexpresswhatinformationitwantsand what it will do with this
information. Many earnest efforts are made to develop effective data reporting resources.Themostcommon
mistakesarecostly,timeconsumingandwasteful.
Taking the path less travelled can seem daunting and
treacherous. When it comes to BI, it can often be the right one.
Becausedifferentcompanieshavevariousneedsandgoals,a
businessintelligencesystemwilldifferfromone companyto
another.ClassicBIismerelyareportingtoolforhistorical
performance.Effectiveanalyticsand dataminingcanestablisha
seriesof “knowns“andexpectationsfromaseriesofinfluencing
datapointsto provideatrendingforecastthatcanlendafew
potentialoutcomeswithwhichmanagerscanmakedecisions.
Muchlikehowameteorologistreliesonreadingsofbarometric
pressure;windspeedanddirectionat differentaltitudesin
conjunctionwith highandlowpressureareas,nextweek’s
weathercan bepredicted better thanrelying on whether
someone’s arthritic knee is throbbing in pain.
Itiscommonto buildreportscomprisedofdisparate datapointsfromfunctionalislands reportedseparately and
conclusionsaredrawnmanually.Withoutapredefinedplan,BIcancausemanagerstoreactandthe overallenterprise
canappear rudderless. Managersstruggle withthe truth but BI isn’tintendedto be there toendorsethebusiness’s
decisionsorvalidateaspecificstrategybuttoprovidesensitivitytohowthingsare progressingagainstgoalsand
targets–andprovidealertsifthetargetsandgoalsareslippingaway-and most importantly, provide insights into
which dials to turn that will get everything back on track.
The most common tool managers rely on as BI resources are simple Excel spreadsheets. As a platform for BI, Excel
spreadsheets are inherently flawed. The manual entry nature of most Excel spreadsheets simply means that, on average
7-11% of the data in a spreadsheet is an error. In addition, as exposed by most Sarbanes Oxley audits and security
penetration tests, spreadsheets rarely have adequate security, protection and process compliance to ensure the
integrity of the data. For example, sales people who aren’t likely to make their sales figure for a period are readily there
to change data points that reset their expected sales but the changes are rarely reflected in all relevant data.
Additionally,spreadsheetsareportable.Thismeansthattherewillbenumerousversionsandevenmore copiesof

2. PATHWAYS to Business Intelligence from Joe Orlando
2
PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Menlo Park Europe
versionsfloatingaroundinsideandoutsideofanorganization.Thoseonlaptops,tabletsandflash drives are the most
commonly foundto wind up inthe wrong hands.

3. PATHWAYS to Business Intelligence from Joe Orlando
3
PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Menlo Park Europe
The fact is, it isn’t about the data but it is in planning for how to use the data to create knowledge an organization
canacton.Formanyorganizations developing BI,theyworkto define what datathey want,but this is only asmallfirst
step– not the end. Assessing,first,howanorganizationwillact withwhat information isthefirstrealstepinassessing
thegenuineuseofbusinessintelligence.Figuratively,asifyouareplanninga trip, establishyou’re destination objective
and plot the most desirable route to your current location. Next, establishanhonestgapanalysisandassessmentof
theresources,effortandcommitmentrequiredtomove fromwheretheorganizationisto whereit needstobe.Thisisa
verycriticalstepsince aswimmerdoesn’tset theirdestinationgoaltobehalfwayacrossalake.
Establishhowdecisions aremadebefore decidingwhatdatayouwantandwhen. Decisionsare,typically,a resultof
cascadinginputs.Analyticalsystemsseethisas“ifthis–then.”Experiencedmanagersuseagreat dealof informationto
makedecisions.Notallthe informationis inthesameplace,inthesameapplications, inthesameformoreveninthe
samefunctionaldepartments.Inherently,experiencedmanagersgatherdata pointsfromhereandthereandthe
outcomehelps guidetheiractions. EffectiveBI deliversthe collective “reasoning”derivedfromtheexistingdata
pointstoempowermanagerstomakethe bestdecisions basedon allthe relevant information available.
Besensitivetocertainrealities. Indevelopingeffectivebusinessintelligenceresources,rememberthat60% to80%of
therealendusersare goingto benon-technical.Inaddition,recognizethatwhat isavailableistoo muchfortoofew.
Toservethe needs inaseparate andcompartmentalized way will hamper the ability for theorganizationtooperate
withagenuinerealtimedashboard.Thecomponentsshouldseamlessly aggregatetoacollectiveoverviewaseasilyas
itwouldbetotakeasnapshotofrelevantinformationina definedsmaller“ecosystem.”Whileitseemsobvious,too
fewBIsystemscreateapicturethateasilydelivers the sumofits parts as arefinedpresentationof results.
Process“BestPractices”callfordefinedandcommunicatedworkflows–completewithinterdependencies and
relationshipsexposed.BestpracticesinBIrequirethesamedisciplinebeappliedtotheflow,importance and
dependency on datathroughoutthe enterprise. Agreatofdatawillbe discoveredto be historically relevantbutserve
littlepurposeinoverallstrategicdecisionmaking.Userslikelydefinedthe needbystating howthat data point has
always beenametric watchedbut fewcansay whyit isrelevantany longer.
A business intelligence system can therefore be customized to answer the particular needs of a particular company.
The tools and necessary resources can be designed in such a way that it features the company's unique performance
indicators and measurements. This way the business intelligence system will help determine if the company's
strategies and plans are compatible with their goals. This is an important part of the assessment process because it is
at this stage that the company's current status and position is analyzed to determine how it is going to fare in the next
few years to come.
ToascertainifyourorganizationisreadyforBusinessIntelligence,explorehowyoursituationstacksup. Senior
Executive Commitment
 Sponsorshipto drivetheestablishmentandrelianceonasolidBIstrategyismore importantthatthe
requirements,designanddevelopmentstages.Isitbeingwovenintotheculture?Aregroupslikelyto

4. PATHWAYS to Business Intelligence from Joe Orlando
4
PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Menlo Park Europe
feign support? – submit requirements but maintaintheir own particular reporting tools outside the BI
infrastructure?
Welldefinedshortandlongtermgoals.
 Istheorganizationreadytodoagenuineassessmentonsetting,documenting,communicatingand steering
basedonshortandlongtermgoals?Are alloarsinthe waterpulling inthesamedirection andcadence?
 Establish key performance indicators KPIs – as mile markers toward 3-5 year enterprise goals.
The foundation of a successful Business Intelligence Competency Center is critical.
 ThedrivinginspirationbehindaBICCis(andshouldremain)aserviceorientation.Itisn’tabouttheIT
department–developingandmaintaininganapplication.
o Serviceorientation–forexample–goodonesimplementaclassichelpdesktrackingsystemto ensure
usersreceivethehighestlevelofsupport.
 Keep as a mantra - Be an adaptive, responsive and proactive resource.
 BICC metrics established in the planning phases - keep an eye on the targets.
 Experiencedstaffwiththe service mentalitytosupportthe functionalareas.
 Measuredbenefitslinkedtotheincentivesforaserviceorientedorganization.
 Manage the content torelatetothe enduser needs.
 Continuoustraining–forBICCstaffandusers–withafocusoncontinuousimprovement. Froma
technicalaspect,BusinessIntelligencebenefitscanbederivedfromthefollowingapproaches.
 UseofDataMartsthatautomaticallypropagatespreadsheetsinacentralworkspace.
 Locatinghistoricaldata-collectiontools–actions expected-migrationofdatatoasinglesource for
analytics.
 Knowinghowtoworkfromunstructureddatatodeliveracomprehensiveexecutiveperformance
dashboard
 From the start, establish a regular and natural approach to data cleansing and processes to ensure integrity,
security and optimization…as a continuous effort instead of on a project basis.
Startwithsolidvendormanagement policies–don’tletvendors drivethestrategyandoutcome.
 Data integration, reports, analytics and performance management tools – being able to buy as modules
– when ready.
 Training–feedbackloops–developmentresourcesforspecialneeds-adhocaccess

5. PATHWAYS to Business Intelligence from Joe Orlando
5
PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Menlo Park Europe
A good BI platform must have:
 Traceability – transparency – meta data integration ----compliance with governance and regulatory
requirements
 Easeofadoptionbyfunctionalareas-relevant–readytouselogicalandphysicaldatamodels,data
integration processes, analytical models and a series of cascading standard reports
 Benchmarks – industry performance –competitor intelligence – market research.
 SolidBIreportingwilldelivermorethanROI,customerchurn,costsofgoodssoldorotherclassic metrics,real
BI can helptoshow what combinationof offers or promotions havethe most impact on aggregategross
margincontribution.Forexample,whichbundleofservicesatwhatpricepoints deliverthehighestprofitable
ARPUfromwhichsegmentofmobilecustomers?
BusinessIntelligenceisnotimmunetowhathauntsmostothermajorenterpriseinitiatives.Anorganization getsout
ofBusinessIntelligencewhatiswillingtoputintoit.CustomerrelationshipManagement(CRM)and Enterprise
ResourcePlanning(ERP)arejusttwoclassicinitiativesthatexperiencea60% to70%failurerate tocompleteand/orfully
implement.Agreatmanyseniorexecutiveshavedisparagingthingstosayabout whatthey gotagainstwhatthey
expectedand,in almosteveryinstance,itis easytofindwhere the commitment waned and the effort simply became
too difficult to do well.
To relate the effort to how we think:
Business Intelligence is less like a diet and more like a commitment to a complete change in lifestyle. Are you really
ready?