Putting the 'I' back into BI
Just exactly how is business intelligence used in the field? Is it delivering on its full potential, or are users merely scratching the surface and limiting the value that can be created from investments in the technology?

These are questions which occurred when, some time back, we received a request from a user to increase the allowed export row limit for a specific report above the 500,000 records provided for.  They wanted to be able to export 2,000,000.

While there wasn’t clarity on why the user wanted to do this, it can be surmised that the records were to be dumped into another database. That begged the question of just what it is that users are doing with BI software and how are they using it. In this instance, it appeared that the intention was to replicate databases using BI tools. That’s a little like using a Ferrari to pull a caravan for a camping trip. The analogy is even more fitting when one considers that tow bars aren’t available on Ferraris.

Make no mistake, it is a testament to the capability of the software that it is able to perform such wizardry. But that is certainly not its intended purpose. All too often, we come across companies which are not really using the tools as they were intended to be.

Take the famous Cognos PowerPlay.  The tool gives end users the ability to create wonderful crosstabs – nesting level after level, dimension after dimension.  It is quick and easy to create a report; just drag and drop.  Depending on your cube design, you’ll have a large report in no time at all, and then of course, like any normal user, you’ll want to export this to Excel – all 6.5 million records. And that’s where the trouble starts.

Perhaps the greater part of the challenge is to educate users and to make them feel at home in BI tools, just as they feel at home using email and Excel. The export to Excel scenario is driven by the user’s comfort with the spreadsheet and the relative unfamiliarity of the BI software. For users to maximise the value they take out of it – and, by extension, for the company which paid for it to get its return on investment - they need to ‘get’ BI. They need to understand it, and appreciate what and how it can deliver.

This understanding needs to be driven across the organisation, not just at management and executive level.

A recent article listed 5 best practices for BI success in an organisation. You know, the typical stuff like ‘Enterprise-wide data quality and strategy’ and ‘having a BI Competency Centre’.  But what was absent and something which we should hasten to add to the list, is the necessity to involve end users in the process. The real questions that should be asked might include ‘What do you want to do with the 2,000,000 records you need to export’?

With this level of awareness and a good BI Competency Centre, the result should be efficient and effective reporting solutions which put the ‘I’ back into ‘BI’.

Article by:  Philip Lautenbach, Senior Consultant, Synergy Business Intelligence