Preparing 21st Century
Business Intelligence Students
Through 21st Century Approaches
Bellevue College
Presenters: Linda Rumans & Sylvia Unwin
lrumans@bellevuecollege.edu,
sunwin@belleveucollege.edu
The Problem
How do I retain
customers?
How do I increase
sales????
GAP
How do I make my
product better???
Business People
Mountains of Data
The Problem
How do I retain
customers?
How do I increase
sales????
Business Intelligence
GAP
How do I make my
product better???
Business People
Mountains of Data
What is BI?
The process by which an organization
manages large amounts of data, extracting
pertinent information, and turning that
information into knowledge upon which
actions can be taken.
What is BI?
Business intelligence (BI) is a broad category
of application programs and technologies for
gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing
access to data to help enterprise users make
better business decisions.
BI



Involves PEOPLE and Technology
Involves using a rational approach to
management
Involves a continuous cycle of measurement,
adjustment & remeasurement
The BI Cycle
BI
start
Reasons for BI


BI enables organizations to make well
informed business decisions and gain
competitive advantage.
BI enables organizations to use information to
quickly and constantly respond to changes.
To Note:
Although we call it Business Intelligence, the
concepts and techniques are applicable to
almost any organization including those in
health care, biotech, education, government
…
Why This Curriculum?

Discovered new, growing field
–

The world is a database
Target students both from Business and
Technology
–
–
Upgrade skills
Jobs won’t be outsourced

example: business analyst, data analyst, data
warehouse support specialist, data architect, reporting
analyst
Why this Curriculum?


Organizations have lots of data
Data is not in a form that is useful to
decision-makers
–
–
Not easy to review
Not informative nor insightful
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
"business intelligence" Job Trends
Scale: Absolute - Relative
Indeed.com searches millions of jobs
from thousands of job sites.
This job trends graph shows relative
growth for jobs we find matching your
search terms.
BI Curriculum

Analytics
–
–
–
Reporting
Analytic Tools
Performance Management



Dashboards
Score Cards
Data Visualization
BI Curriculum




Data Warehouses
Multi-Dimensional Databases (cubes)
Data Mining
Dimensional Modeling
Analytics and Data Visualization
All about analyzing the data and presenting
information in a meaningful format
Analytics

Reporting Applications
–
–
–

Limited user interaction
Fulfill a significant portion of an organization’s
information needs
SQL Server Reporting Services
Analytic Applications
–
–
–
Allow users to visualize and explore data
following their train of thought
Extensive interactivity
Tableau
Analytics –
Performance Management



Key Performance Indicators
Dashboards
Score Cards
Dashboard Example
Bridging the Gap


Need software to provide access to the data,
allow flexible manipulation, and provide
meaningful presentation
Need data storage structures to facilitate fast
analysis of huge volumes of data
Data Storage Structures

Multi-Dimensional Databases
 Cubes
Multi-Dimensional Databases

Measures
–
–
–

Any quantitative expression
Some are designated as Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
Appropriate to the business process.
Dimensions
–
–
–
How we describe the measures:
Product/Customer/Region/Time
These are the “By’s
“What were our Customer Sales by Product Line by
Region by Quarter for the past two years?”.
Logical Structure
Multi-Dimensional Databases (Cubes)
Multi-Dimensional
Database (Cube)
Business
Intelligence
Programs
Data Warehouse
ODS
ODS
* ODS = Operational Data Store
ODS
Relational
Database
Programs
Multi-Dimensional Databases
Multi-Dimensional
Database (Cube)
Software Applications
Business
Person
Business
Person
Business
Person
Reporting
Applications
Analytic
Applications
Score Cards
Dashboards
Multi-Dimensional
Database
(Cube)
Summary

Students learn to:
–
–
–
Create multi-dimensional databases
Create professional quality reports
Use analytics to provide in-depth data analysis
Data Warehouse Topics

Decision Support Systems
–

Requirements Gathering
–

history
Where data located, owners, definition, how often
updated
Data Analysis
–
–
Determine table structures (Facts & Dimensions)
What makes good data
Data Warehouse

ETL Processes &
Deliverables
–
Cleaning & Conforming


–
–
Valid, missing
Address, gender
Staging areas
Schemas


Dimension Tables
Fact Tables
Key Concepts

Design and plan the data extraction
–

Analyze the source data
–


Data source type => extract/load => Target
database
Column name, data type, delimiter, transformation
Target Database
Determine logical data mapping
Logical Data Mapping
Target
Transformation
Source
DB Name
Table Name
Column
Name
Data Type
Source
File Name
Column
Name
Data
Type
MachineVars
EnvironVars
VarName
VarChar
(50)
Setup.txt
VarName
VarChar
(50)
MachineVars
EnvironVars
VarValue
VarChar
(500)
Setup.txt
VarValue
VarChar
(500)
Slowly Changing Dimensions


Updating and inserting records into a data
warehouse dimension tables
Type 1
–

Type 2
–

New changes will overwrite existing data
New changes create new records instead of
updating existing ones. Will change date to
indicate current or expired record.
Type 3
–
Limited historical data; add columns for “old”
value, update “new” data
Data Mining

The process of identifying patterns in data

Goes beyond simple querying of the database

Goes beyond multi-dimensional database
queries as well
Data Mining

Data Mining works for problems like:
–
–
–
Develop a general profile for credit card customers
…
Differentiate individuals who are poor credit risks
…
Determine what characteristics differentiate male
& female investors.
Data Mining vs. Data Query


Use data query if you already almost know
what you are looking for.
Use data mining to find regularities in data
that are not obvious.
Data Mining Applications




Fraud detection
Targeted Marketing
Risk Management
Business Analysis
Origins of Data Mining

Mathematics
–
–


Statistics
Numerical Analysis
Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
Computer Science
–
Data Storage and Manipulation
How does Data Mining work?

Uses induction-based learning:
The process of forming general concept
definitions by observing specific examples of
concepts to be learned.
How does Data Mining work?
What-Cha-Ma-Call-Its
NOT What-Cha-Ma-Call-Its
How does Data Mining work?
Which of these are What-Cha-Ma-Call-Its?
Data Mining Process
List of Customers:
-some bicycle buyers
Data Mining
Software
Model
-some not
List of Prospective Buyers
Model
List of Likely Buyers
Overview of Mining Strategies
Data Mining
Strategies
Supervised
Learning
Market
Basket
Analysis
Unsupervised
Clustering
Note: This representation is over-simplified and data mining strategies
are continually being invented.
Skills


Written communication
Problem Solving
–
–

Analytical
Troubleshooting
Software
–
–
–
–
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
SQL Server BI Development Studio
SQL Server Reporting Services
Tableau
E-Modularity

Delivery online
–
–

Available across the country
Available across foreign lands
Each class has modules
–
–
–
–
–
How to get started
Introduction to the topic
Intermediate
Advanced
Each with hands on applied assessments
Delivery Methods

Use of Camtasia for
–
–



Software demonstrations
PowerPoint lectures
Elluminate
Camtasia Relay
You tube
Marketing

Internal
–
–
–
–

Faculty
Career center
Workforce, Workfirst
Community Relations office (press release)
External
–
Agency

–
Web pages, brochures, posters, radio ad
Continuing Education: Chamber of Commerce contacts,
memberships to business organizations
Higher Level



Designed for those students already in the
field: database analyst, developer, business
analyst
How do we prepare students?
Certificates as a stepping ladder
Certificates

Database Analyst (6 classes)
–
–

Database Report Developer (3 additional
classes)
–

SA & D, programming, reporting, spreadsheets, db
theory
2 quarters full-time/ 3 quarters part-time
Programming, SQL, group processes
Web site: www.bellevuecollege.edu/prog
Certificates

Business Intelligence Analyst (5 classes)
–
–

Business Intelligence Developer (4 additional
classes)
–

Analytics, Multi-dimensional analysis, data
warehousing, data mining, statistics, general business
2 quarters full-time/ 3 quarters part-time
Dimensional modeling, data visualization, multidimensional analysis II, data warehousing II (more
programming with SQL Server)
Web site: www.bellevuecollege.edu/prog/bi
Student Placement

Outside Businesses have found our program
–
–
–
–
–

Hiring Agencies/Recruiters
Microsoft
Consulting firms
Coldwater Creek
Start-ups
Advisory Board volunteers
–
–
Small Businesses
Curriculum
Presenters: Linda Rumans & Sylvia Unwin
lrumans@bellevuecollege.edu,
sunwin@bellevuecollege.edu