Business Intelligence: Driving Value from Data Led Decisions

Business Intelligence was the number one technology priority in 2007, and according to Gartner, it will remain one of the top focuses for CIOs in 2017. So why are some companies still not on board with it? And why are other business intelligence adopters not making the most of the opportunities that BI can create? 

What is Business Intelligence?

Quite simply, business intelligence offers companies a single platform to collect, manage and validate its data. It is an essential tool for gaining a better understanding of an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, and is vital for a company seeking to make informed decisions, which in turn helps them to stay competitive.

So, what’s the problem?

Unfortunately, many organisations are falling behind when it comes to driving value from data led decisions. The main reason why, is because Business Intelligence is seen as a technology initiative when it should be seen as a business initiative. More often than not we see companies with little direction when trying to utilise their data, often they have no clear strategy or sponsor driving the company’s data culture. So, although many organisations are investing in Business Intelligence software and hiring specialists to interpret this data, they are still failing to optimise the benefits to the business as a whole; rather their use of Business Intelligence creates pockets of excellence.

Without a shift in culture it is clear that companies will not maximise the opportunities Business Intelligence has to offer. Here at Purple we have seen that companies who have a business wide approach to business intelligence, rather than a departmental one have seen a true transformation in how they operate.

See below for our top tips for kick starting your BI journey:

1. Look at the bigger picture

First and foremost, BI must support your overall corporate strategy. It is imperative to understand the overall business goals and desired outcomes, as this will allow you to develop a successful Business Intelligence strategy. Secondly, the initiative must have support from C-level executives; ensuring you have a sponsor who will drive it forward will significantly reduce the chances of failure.

2. Consult your stakeholders

Unfortunately, not everyone in the organisation will initially see the value in BI. For adoption to be successful it is important to highlight and share with everyone the capabilities and significance of BI within the organisation’s context. In doing so you will also gain a better understanding of the user needs, i.e. who will use BI and for what purpose. This sharing of information will facilitate the required cultural shift and make BI adoption a lot easier in the long run.

3. Define where the data sits

It is vital you understand your current data environment, so take the time to perform a full audit of all of your data storage solutions including legacy databases, CRM solutions and any other data storage platforms. This will allow you to have a clear idea of the data available, how it relates across the organisation, and how you might then transform this data into a unified platform to give the biggest return on investment to the business.

4. Select the right tool for you

There are numerous BI tools available from many of the big vendors, often with constant changes and innovations, but this can make it hard for businesses to keep up. The best starting point would be to define a set of business critical criteria and compare this to the tools available on the market. From here a clear roadmap of deliverables can be defined starting with the highest business impact first.

5. Empower end users by simplifying the toolset and infrastructure

To see a change, you need to empower employees to be able to create, change and filter live dashboards and reports to fulfil their BI needs. If your user interface or infrastructure is too complex you will take away the user’s ability to be self-sufficient, and this will result in data anomalies and limited user adoption.

6. Change management and training

As with any technology change in a business, to achieve successful adoption it is essential that you align your people and processes. Employee engagement throughout the process is vital, and one way to engage users is to take benchmarking trips with key stakeholders throughout the implementation and adoption phase. Secondly, select key leaders for early training so they can help sell the BI platform internally; and don’t forget to keep track of who has been trained so that no one can be missed. Lastly, ensure training is documented and stored centrally on your company’s intranet so it is available for future reference.

7. Seek external help if needed

Bringing in skilled resources to support this process will allow the business to understand the true potential of its data. BI professionals can help to reveal the many ways in which data can be mapped to produce the most effective business insights and open up new options for maximising the return on this critical asset.

To discuss business intelligence or your organisation’s needs in more detail please contact:

Stuart McClean

stuart.mcclean@thisispurple.com