- Where the company is going,
- Where it has been, and
- Provide the information to take decisions about where they want it to go.
A recent Aberdeen Group report has highlighted that there has recently been a turn in the way that companies implement Business Intelligence in their Enterprises. This indicates a large swing away from the “build-it” approach, and towards the “buy-it” approach.
For Aberdeen Group this represents not only a swing away from traditional Business Intelligence models, but also that companies are beginning to see the value in outsourcing the BI and IT skills.
In their report, they go on to say, “The current use of traditional information delivery technologies among Best-in-Class organizations will give way to emerging methods within the next 12-24 months, according to survey responses.”
Again, the potential opportunity for consultants here is enormous. Facilitating a company’s transition to a SaaS type BI model, reviewing the business processes underlying the entire data structures, and providing the expertise required to embed the Business Intelligence initiatives.
Regardless of whether your clients are leaning towards off-premise BI or not, there are still areas where you can help them.
- Asses their skill sets for BI – Poor performing companies are three times more likely to be deficient in this area.
- Determine the data sources and the timeframes that information would be required. Sixty percent of poor performing companies do not have information available to them until after one week.
- Embed the use of BI, to do this you will need to make sure that:
o Information is Actionable – relevance is tied to business goals;
o Information is Timely – information must be delivered within a time-frame that provides opportunity to act
o Information is Accessible – knowledge workers and decision makers must be able to grasp the meaning of the information and take advantage of the BI tools.
- Help them establish a BI centre of Excellence - an independent internal organization that represents all departments.
- Beware of Information overload – Ensure the right information is there to facilitate decisions, but avoid paralysis by analysis. Ensure your BI center of excellence makes sure that all measures are useful for optimal decision-making.
- Help them progress toward a self-service BI environment – Get them to a point where end users can reduce their dependence on a central IT function,
