Overview

So you are going to start a business intelligence (BI) program! Whether your exposure to BI derives from the popular press, your friendly hardware or software vendor, or developers within your organization, the promise of BI is sold as a black box full of incredible technology that cranks out dollars by the cart-load. Unfortunately, the reality is a bit different, and that promised benefit is often waylaid as escalating costs and limited benefits become synonymous with your comprehensive BI program.

Note that each of those folks selling BI is motivated differently. The vendors are more interested in selling product or licenses than in ensuring your success. And not only are the developers more motivated by interesting technology than the bottom line, many corporate compensation programs do not tie developer remuneration to long-term project success, because the typical annual review process is based on only the previous nine months of an employee's service.

Any manager planning for a successful BI implementation must be aware that the real driver of any internal program of this sort must be some value proposition. Whether it is a painstakingly crafted return on investment (ROI) model or just the means by which senior management can evaluate ongoing organizational performance, no BI program will succeed without being able to convince the senior management that there is value in building the program.

In this chapter we'll look at some of the critical factors a savvy manager must know regarding the successful planning of a BI program. This...