Phase
1
2
3
PHASE
3
Create a BI Roadmap for Continuous
Improvement
Build a Next Generation BI with a Game-Changing BI Strategy
Info-Tech Research Group, Inc. is a global leader in providing IT research and advice.
Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with
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Create a BI roadmap for continuous improvement
Phase 3 Overarching Insight
The benefit of creating a comprehensive and actionable roadmap is twofold: not only does it keep BI providers
accountable and focused on creating incremental improvement, but a roadmap helps to build momentum around the
overall project, provides a continuous delivery of success stories, and garners grassroots-level support throughout
the organization for BI as a key strategic imperative.
Understand the Business Context to
Rationalize Your BI Landscape
Establish the Business
Context
Rationalize Existing
BI Environment
BI Perception
Survey
Framework
Evaluate Your Current
BI Practice
Assess Your Current BI
Maturity
Business Vision,
Goals, Key Drivers
SWOT Analysis
Business Case
Presentation
BI Practice
Assessment
High-Level ROI
Summary of
Current State
Create a BI Roadmap for
Continuous Improvement
Construct a BI Initiative
Roadmap
BI Improvement
Initiatives
BI Strategy and
Roadmap
Usage Analyses
BI Report
Inventory
Undergo Requirements
Gathering
Requirements
Gathering
Principles
Overall BI
Requirements
Envision BI Future
State
BI Patterns
BI Practice
Assessment
Plan for Continuous
Improvement
Excel
Governance
Policy
BI Ambassador
Network Draft
List of Functions
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Phase 3 overview
Detailed Overview
Step 1: Establish Your BI Initiative Roadmap
Step 2: Identify Opportunities to Enhance Your BI Practice
Outcomes
•
•
•
•
Consolidation of numerous business intelligence improvement objectives into robust initiatives
A list of improvement initiatives prioritized by cost, effort, and urgency
Creation of a one-year, two-year, or three-year timeline for completion of your BI improvement initiatives
Identification of supplementary programs that will facilitate the smooth execution of road-mapped initiatives
Benefits
• Clear characterization of comprehensive initiatives with a detailed timeline to keep team members accountable
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Revisit project metrics to track phase progress
Info-Tech’s Suggested Metrics for Tracking Phase 3 Goals
Goals for Phase 3:
• Put everything together.
Findings and observations
from Phase 1 and 2 are
rationalized in this phase to
develop data initiatives, and
create a strategy and
roadmap for BI.
• Continuous
improvements. Your BI
program is evolving and
improving over time. The
program should allow you to
have faster, better, and
more comprehensive
information.
Learn more
about the CIO
Business Vision
program.
Practice Improvement
Metrics
Program
Level
Metrics
Data Collection
and Calculation
Expected
Improvement
Efficiency
• Time to
information
• Self-service
penetration
• Derive from the
ticket management
system
• Derive from the BI
platform
• 10% reduction in
time to information
• Achieve 10-15% selfservice penetration
• Effectiveness
• BI Usage
• Data quality
• Derive from the BI
platform
• Data quality
perception
• Majority of the users
use BI on a daily
basis
• 15% increase in data
quality perception
Comprehensiveness
• # of integrated
datasets
• # of strategic
decisions made
• Derive from the data
integration platform
• Decision-making
perception
• Onboard 2-3 new
data domains per
year
• 20% increase in
decision-making
perception
Intangible Metrics:
Tap into the results of Info-Tech’s CIO Business Vision diagnostic to monitor the changes in
business-user satisfaction as you implement the initiatives in your BI improvement roadmap.
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Phase 3 outline
Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.
Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of
2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.
Guided Implementation 3: Create a BI Roadmap for Continuous Improvement
Proposed Time to Completion (in weeks): 1-2 weeks
Step 3.1: Construct a BI Improvement Initiative Roadmap
Step 3.2: Continuous Improvement Opportunities for BI
Start with an analyst kick off call:
Review findings with analyst:
• Review findings and insights from completion of activities
pertaining to current and future state assessments
• Discuss challenges around consolidating activities into
initiatives
• Review completed BI improvement initiatives and roadmap
• Discuss guidelines presenting a finalized improvement to
the relevant committee or stakeholders
• Discuss additional policies and programs that can serve to
enhance your established BI improvement roadmap
Then complete these activities…
Then complete these activities…
• Present BI improvement roadmap to relevant stakeholders
• Develop Info-Tech’s recommended supplementary
policies and programs for BI
• Collect improvement objectives/tasks from previous phases
• Develop comprehensive improvement initiatives
• Leverage value-effort matrix activities to prioritize these
initiatives and place them along an improvement roadmap
With these tools & templates:
BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool
BI Strategy and Roadmap Template
With these tools & templates:
BI Strategy and Roadmap Executive Presentation
Template
Phase 3 Results & Insights:
•
Comprehensive initiatives with associated tasks/activities consolidated and prioritized in an improvement roadmap
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STEP
Construct a BI Improvement Initiative Roadmap
Phase
1
2
3.1
3
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Solidify your revamped BI strategy with a comprehensive
improvement initiative roadmap
3.1
Step Objectives
•
•
Bring together activities and objectives for BI improvement to form initiatives
Develop a fit-for-purpose roadmap aligned with your BI strategy
Outcomes
Step Activities
3.1.1
Characterize individual improvement
objectives and activities ideated in
previous phases
3.1.2
Synthesize and detail overall BI
improvement initiatives
3.1.3
Create a plan of action by placing
initiatives on a roadmap
• Detailed BI improvement initiatives, prioritized by
value and effort
• Defined roadmap for completion of tasks
associated with each initiative
Research Support
• Info-Tech’s BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool
Proposed Participants in this Step
Project Manager
Project Team
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3.1
Create detailed BI strategy initiatives by bringing together
the objectives listed in the previous phases
When developing initiatives, all components of the initiative need to be considered, from its
objectives and goals to its benefits, risks, costs, effort required, and relevant stakeholders.
Use outputs from previous project steps as inputs to the initiative and roadmap building:
Step
(Output)
Business Context
Development
(BI Objectives)
Initiative Sequencing
and Mapping
(Improvement Roadmap)
Launch Project
(BI Team)
Initiative Creation
(Initiatives)
Phase 3
Phase 3
Initiative Creation
Improvement
Roadmap
Phase 1
BI Requirements
Gathering
(Requirements
Objectives)
BI Usage, User
Perception and Inventory
(Data Objectives)
BI Practice Assessment
(Capability Objectives)
Determining the dependencies that
exist between objectives will enable the
creation of unique initiatives with
associated to-do items or tasks.
• Group objectives into similar buckets
with dependencies
• Select one overarching initiative
• Adapt remaining objectives into tasks
Phase 2
of the main initiative
Objectives
Initiatives
Roadmap
• Add any additional tasks
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3.1
Leverage Info-Tech’s BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool to
build a fit-for-purpose improvement roadmap
BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool
Overview
Use the BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool to develop
comprehensive improvement initiatives and map
them onto a BI strategy improvement roadmap.
This will provide the foundation of your final
presentation for support to begin implementation.
Recommended Participants
• BI project team
Tool Guideline
Tab 1.
Instructions
Use this tab to get an understanding as to how
the tool works.
Tab 2.
Inputs
Use this tab to customize the inputs used in the
tool.
Tab 3.
Objectives
Repository
Use this tab to list and prioritize objectives, to
determine dependencies between them, and
build comprehensive initiatives with them.
Tab 4.
Improvement
Initiatives
Use this tab to develop detailed improvement
initiatives that will form the basis of the roadmap.
Map these initiatives to objectives from Tab 3.
Tab 5.
Improvement
Roadmap
Use this tab to create your BI strategy
improvement roadmap, assigning timelines and
accountability to initiatives and tasks, and to
monitor your project performance over time.
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3.1.1
Activity: Consolidate BI objectives into the tool
and assign dependencies and priorities
3.1.1
2 hours
Inputs
1
2
Have one person from the BI project team populate Tab 3. Objectives Repository with
the BI strategy objectives that were compiled in Phases 1 and 2. Use drop-downs to
indicate in which phase the objective was originally ideated.
With BI project team executives, discuss and assign dependencies between objectives
in the Dependencies columns. A dependency exists if:
• An objective requires consideration to another objective.
• An objective requires the completion of another objective.
• Two objectives should be part of the same initiative.
• Two objectives are very similar in nature.
3
Then discuss and assign priorities to each objective in the Priority column using input
from previous Phases. For example, if an objective was previously indicated as
critical to the business, if a similar objective appears multiple times, or if an
objective has several dependencies, it should be higher priority.
• BI improvement
objectives created in
Phases 1 and 2
Output
• Objectives with
dependencies and
priorities
Materials
• BI Initiatives and
Roadmap Tool
Participants
• BI project team
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3.1.1
Activity: Consolidate BI objectives into the tool and assign
dependencies and priorities
3.1.1
2 hours
Screenshot of Tab 3. BI Activities Repository, with samples improvement activities, dependencies, statuses, and priorities
Revisit the outputs of your current
state assessment and note which
activities/objectives have already
been completed in the “Status”
column, to avoid duplication of your
efforts.
When classifying the status of items in
your activity repository, distinguish
between broader objectives (potential
initiatives) and granular activities
(tasks).
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3.1.2
Activity: Customize project inputs and build out detailed
improvement initiatives
3.1.2
1
2
1.5 hours
Follow instructions on Tab 2. Inputs to customize
inputs you would like to use for your project.
Screenshot of the Improvement
Initiative template, to be used for
developing comprehensive
initiatives
Review the objectives repository and select up to
12 overarching initiatives based on the objectives
with extreme or highest priority and your own
considerations.
• Rewording where necessary, transfer the
names of your initiatives in the banners
provided on Tab 4. Improvement Initiatives.
• On Tab 3, indicate these objectives as “Selected
(initiatives)” in the Status column.
3
In Tab 4, develop detailed improvement
initiatives by indicating the owner, taxonomy, start
and end periods, cost and effort estimates, goal,
benefit/value, and risks of each initiative.
4
Use drop-downs to list “Related Objectives”
which will become tasks under each initiative.
• Objectives with dependency to the initiative
• Objectives that lead to the same goal or
benefit/value of the main initiative
Inputs
• Tab 3. Objectives
Repository
Output
• Unique and detailed
improvement initiatives
Materials
• BI Initiatives and
Roadmap Tool
• BI Initiatives section
of the BI Strategy and
Roadmap Template
Participants
• BI project team
Note: First add or edit new objectives
in Tab 3, then select them in Tab 4.
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3.1.3
Visual representations of your initiative landscape can aid in
prioritizing tasks and executing the roadmap
Building a comprehensive BI program will be a gradual process involving
a variety of stakeholders. Different initiatives in your roadmap will either
be completed sequentially or in parallel to one another, given
dependencies and available resources. The improvement roadmap
should capture and represent this information.
To determine the order in which main initiatives should be completed,
exercises such as a value–effort map can be very useful.
Example: Value–Effort Map for a BI Project
Initiatives that are high value–low effort are found in the upper left quadrant and are bolded; These may be your four
primary initiatives. In addition, initiative 5 is valuable to the business and critical to the project’s success, so it too is
a priority despite requiring high effort. Note that you need to consider dependencies to prioritize these key initiatives.
High Benefit
5
6
1
4
8
2
Low Benefit
High Effort
7
Low Effort
9
3
1. Data profiling techniques training
2. Improve usage metrics
3. Communication plan for BI
4. Staff competency evaluation
5. Formalize practice capabilities
6. Competency improvement plan program
7. Metadata architecture improvements
8. EDW capability improvements
9. Formalize oversight for data
manipulation
This exercise is best performed using a white board and sticky notes,
and axes can be customized to fit your needs (E.g. cost, risk, time, etc.).
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3.1.3
Activity: Build an overall BI strategy improvement roadmap
for the entire project
3.1.3
45 minutes
The BI Strategy Improvement Roadmap (Tab 5 of the BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool) has
been populated with your primary initiatives and related tasks. Read the instructions
provided at the top of Tab 5.
1
Use drop-downs to assign a Start Period and End Period to each initiative (already
known) and each task (determined here). As you do so, the roadmap will automatically
fill itself in. This is where the value–effort map or other prioritization exercises may help.
2
Assign Task Owners and reporting Managers.
INPUTS
• Tab 3. Objectives
Repository
• Tab 4. Improvement
Initiatives
OUTPUT
• BI roadmap
3
Update the Status and Notes columns on an ongoing basis. Hold meetings with
task owners and managers about blocked or overdue items.
• Updating status should also be an ongoing maintenance requirement for Tab 3 in
order to stay up to date on which objectives have been selected as initiatives or
tasks, are completed, or are not yet acted upon.
Materials
• BI Initiatives and
Roadmap Tool
• Roadmap section of
the BI Strategy and
Roadmap Template
Participants
Screenshot of the BI Improvement Roadmap (Gantt chart) showing an example
initiative with tasks, and assigned timeframes, owners, and status updates.
• BI project team
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3.1.4
Obtain approval for your BI strategy roadmap by organizing
and presenting project findings
Use a proprietary presentation template
Recommended Participants
•
•
•
•
Project sponsor
Relevant IT & business executives
CIO
BI project team
Overall Guidelines
• Invite recommended participants to an approval meeting.
• Present your project’s findings with the goal of gaining
key stakeholder support for implementing the roadmap.
o Present results and roadmap first
Materials & Requirements
Develop your proprietary presentation template with:
• Results from Phases 1 and 2 and Step 3.1
• Information from:
o Info-Tech’s Build a Next Generation BI with a GameChanging BI Strategy
• Screen shots of outputs from the:
o BI Practice Assessment Tool
o BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool
Next Steps
Following the approval of
your roadmap, begin to
plan the implementation
of your first initiatives.
o Dig deeper into specific issues by touching on the
important components of this blueprint to generate a
succinct and cohesive presentation
• Make the necessary changes and updates stemming
from discussion notes during this meeting.
• Submit a formal summary of findings and roadmap to
your governing body for review and approval (e.g. BI
steering committee, BI CoE)
Info-Tech Tip
At this point, it is likely that you already have the support
to implement a data quality improvement roadmap. This
meeting is about the specifics and the ROI.
Maximize support by articulating the value of the data quality
improvement strategy for the organization’s greater
information management capabilities. Emphasize the business
requirements and objectives that will be enhanced as a result
of tackling the recommended initiatives, and note any
additional ramifications of not doing so.
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3.1.4
Leverage Info-Tech’s presentation template to present your
BI strategy to the executives
Use the BI Strategy and Roadmap Executive Presentation Template to present the most important findings
and brilliant ideas to the business executives and ensure sure your BI program to be built is endorsed. The
business executives can also learn about how the BI strategy empowers them and how they can help in the
BI journey.
Important Messages
to Convey
Executive summary of the presentation
Current challenges faced by the business
BI benefits and opportunities associated
SWOT analyses of the current BI
BI end-user satisfaction survey
BI vision, mission, and goals
BI initiatives that take you to the future
state
Roadmap that depicts the timeline
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STEP
Continuous Improvement Opportunities for BI
Phase
1
2
3.2
3
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3.2.1
Create supplementary policies and programs to
augment your BI strategy
3.2
Step Objectives
•
•
Develop a plan for encouraging users to continue Excel use, but in a way that does not compromise overall BI
effectiveness
Take steps to establish a positive organizational culture around BI
Outcomes
Step Activities
3.2.1
Construct a concrete policy to integrate
Excel use with your new BI strategy
3.2.2
Map out the foundation for a BI
Ambassador network
• Business user understanding of where Excel
manipulation should and should not occur
• Foundation for recognizing exceptional BI users
and encouraging development of enterprisewide business intelligence
Research Support
• Info-Tech’s BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool
• Info-Tech’s BI Strategy and Roadmap Template
Proposed Participants in this Step
Project Manager
Project Team
Additional Business Users
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Establish Excel governance to better serve Excel users while
making sure they comply with policies
Excel is the number one BI tool
• BI applications are developed to support
information needs.
• The reality is that you will never migrate all
Excel users to BI. Some Excel users will
continue to use it. The key is to support them
while imposing governance.
• The goal is to direct them to use the data in BI
or in the data warehouse instead of extracting
their own data from various source systems.
The Tactic: Centralize data extraction while
customizing delivery
• Excel users formerly extracted data directly
from the production system, cleaned up the
data, manipulated the data by including their
own business logic, and presented the data in
graphs and pivot tables.
• With BI, the Excel users can still use Excel to
look at the information. The only difference is
that BI or data warehouse will be the data
source of their Excel workbook.
Top-Down Approach
• An Excel policy should be created at the enterprise level to
outline which Excel use cases are allowed, and which are not.
• Excel use cases that involve extracting data from source
systems and transforming that data using undisclosed
business rules should be banned.
• Excel should be a tool for manipulating, filtering, and
presenting data, not a tool for extracting data and running
business rules.
Excel
Bottom-Up Approach
• Show sympathy to their Excel situations. (They just want
information to get their work done.)
• Sub-optimal information landscape is the root cause, and they
are the victims. Excel spreadmarts are the by-products.
• Make the Excel users aware of the risks associated with
Excel, train them in BI, and provide them with better
information in the BI platform.
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3.2.1
Activity: Create an Excel governance policy
3.2.1
4 hours
Construct a policy around Excel use to ensure that Excel documents are created and shared
in a manner that does not compromise the integrity of your overall BI program.
1
Review the information artifact list harvested from Step 2.1 and identify all existing
Excel-related use cases.
2
Categorize the Excel use cases into “allowed,” “not allowed,” and “not sure.” For each
category define:
3
Category
To Do:
Policy Context
Allowed
Discuss what makes
these use cases ideal
for BI
Document use cases, scenarios, examples, and
reasons that allow Excel as an information artifact
Not
Allowed
Discuss why these
cases should be
avoided
Document forbidden use cases, scenarios, examples,
and reasons that use Excel to generate information
artifacts
Not Sure
Discuss the
confusions, clarify the
gray area
Document clarifications and advise how end users can
get help in those “gray area” cases
Document the findings in the BI Strategy and Roadmap Template in the Manage and
Sustain BI Strategy section, or a proprietary template. You may also need to create a
separate Excel policy to communicate the Dos and Don’ts.
Inputs
• Step 2.1 – A list of
information artifacts
Output
• Excel-for-BI Use Policy
Materials
• BI Strategy Roadmap
and Template, or
proprietary document
Participants
•
•
•
•
Business executives
CIO
Head of BI
BI team
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Build a network of ambassadors to promote BI and report to
IT with end-user feedback and requests
The Building of an Insider Network – BI Ambassador Network
BI ambassadors are influential individuals in the organization that may be proficient at using BI tools, but are
passionate about analytics. The network of ambassadors will be IT’s eyes, ears, and even mouth on the frontline
with users. Ambassadors will promote BI, communicate any messages IT may have, and keep tabs on user
satisfaction.
Ideal candidate:
•
•
•
•
A good relationship with IT
A large breadth of experience with BI, not just one dashboard
Approachability and well-respected amongst peers
Has a passion for driving organizational change using BI and continually looking for opportunities to innovate
Push
• Key BI Messages
• Best Practices
• Training Materials
Pull
BI Ambassadors
• Feedback
• Complaints
• Thoughts and New Ideas
BI/IT Leaders
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Motivate BI ambassadors with perks
You need to motivate ambassadors to take on this additional responsibility. Make sure the BI ambassadors are recognized in
their business units when they go above and beyond in promoting BI.
Reward
Approach
Reward Type
High Priority Requests
Privileges
Description
Given their high usage and high visibility, ambassadors’ BI
information requests should be given a higher priority.
First Look at New BI Development
Share the latest BI updates with ambassadors before
introducing them to the organization. Ambassadors may even
be excited to test out new functionality.
Featured in Communications
BI ambassadors’ use cases and testimonials can be featured
in BI communications. Be sure to create a formal
announcement introducing the ambassadors to the
organization.
Recognition
BI Ambassador Certificate
A certificate is a formal way to recognize their efforts. They
can also publically display the certificate in their workspace.
Appointed by Senior Executives
Have the initial request to be a BI ambassador come from a
senior executive to flatter the ambassador and position the
role as a reward or an opportunity to success.
Rewards
BI Ambassador Awards
Award an outstanding BI ambassador for the year. The award
should be given by the CEO in a major corporate event.
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3.2.2
Activity: Plan for a BI ambassador network
3.2.2
2 hours
This exercise focuses on pinpointing individuals within your organization to act as
ambassadors for BI and a bridge between IT and business users.
1
Inputs
Obtain a copy of your latest organizational chart. Review the organization chart and
identify key BI consumers: Review your most up-to-date organizational chart and identify
key BI consumers across a variety of functional units. In selecting potential BI
ambassadors, reflect on the following questions:
•
•
•
•
Does this individual have a good relationship with IT?
What is the depth of their experience with developing/consuming business intelligence?
Is this individual respected and influential amongst their respective business units?
Has this individual shown a passion for innovating within their role?
• An updated
organizational chart
• A list of BI users
Output
• Draft framework for BI
ambassador network
Materials
CEO
2
3
Create a mandate and collateral detailing the
roles and responsibilities for the ambassador role.
• Promote BI to members of your group
• Represent the “voice of the data consumers”
Approach the ambassador candidates and
explain the responsibilities and perks of the role,
with the goal of enlisting about 10-15 members
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Compliance
and Risk
E-Marketing
Compensation
Accounting
Graphics Team
Sales Planning
Finance
Reporting
PR
Sales Ops
• BI Strategy and
Roadmap Template or
proprietary document
Participants
•
•
•
•
Business executives
CIO
Head of BI
BI team
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Keeping tabs on data about data is essential to creating a
data democracy with BI
A next generation BI not only provides a platform that mirrors business requirements, but
also creates a flexible environment that empowers business users to explore data assets
without having to go back and forth with IT to complete queries.
Business users are generally not interested in the underlying architecture or the exact
data lineages; they want access to the data that matters most for decision-making
purposes.
Like BI, metadata lies in the
Information Dimension
layer of our data
management framework
Metadata is data about data
It comes in the form of structural metadata (information about the
spaces that contain data) and descriptive metadata (information
pertaining to the data elements themselves), in order to answer
questions such as:
• Where is this data coming from?
• What is the intended purpose of
• How have these data elements
this data?
been transformed?
• How up-to-date is this information?
• Who owns this data?
By creating comprehensive metadata, business users are able to make connections
between and bring together data sources from multiple areas, creating the
opportunity for holistic insight generation.
The metadata needs to be understood before building anything. You need to identify fundamentals
of the data, who owns not only that data, but also its metadata. You need to understand where the
consolidation is happening and who owns it. Metadata is the core driver and cost saver for building
warehouses and requirements gathering.
– Albert Hui, Principal, Data Economist
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Focus on delivering timely, quality, and affordable
information to enable fast and effective business decisions
In order to maximize your ROI on business intelligence, it
needs to be treated less like a one-time endeavour and
more like a practice to be continually improved upon.
An optimal BI operating
model satisfies three core
requirements:
Timeliness
Though the BI strategy provides the overall direction, the BI
operating model – which encompasses organization structure,
processes, people, and application functionality – is the primary
determinant of efficacy with respect to information delivery. The
alterations made to the operating model occur in the short term to
improve the final deliverables for business users.
Effectiveness
Affordability
Bring tangible benefits of your
revamped BI strategy to business
users by critically assessing how
your organization delivers
business intelligence and
identifying opportunities for
increased operational efficiency.
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Implement a fit-for-purpose BI and analytics solution to
augment your next generation BI strategy
Organizations new to business
intelligence or with immature BI
capabilities are under the impression that
simply getting the latest-and-greatest tool
will provide the insights business users
are looking for.
BI technology can only be as effective as
the processes surrounding it and the
people leveraging it. Organizations need to
take the time to select and implement a BI
suite that aligns with business goals and
fosters end-user adoption.
Our vendor landscape will simplify the
process of selecting a BI and analytics
solution by:
Differentiating between the platforms and
features vendors are offering
Detailing a robust framework for
requirements gathering to pinpoint your
organization’s needs
Develop a high-level plan for
implementation
As an increasing number of companies
turn to business intelligence technology,
vendors are responding by providing BI
and analytics platforms with more and
more features.
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If you want additional support, have our analysts guide
you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop
Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:
• To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an InfoTech analyst team.
Insert your
headshot
here
• Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to
Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
• Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email
Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.
The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:
Construct a BI improvement initiative roadmap
3.1.13.1.3
During these activities, your team will consolidate the list of BI initiatives generated
from the assessments conducted in previous phases, assign timelines to each action,
prioritize them using a value–effort matrix, and finally produce a final roadmap for
implementing your organization’s BI improvement strategy.
Identify continuous improvement opportunities for BI
3.2
Our analyst team will work with your organization to ideate supplementary
programs to support your BI strategy. Defining Excel use cases that are
permitted and prohibited in conjunction with your BI strategy, as well as
structuring an internal BI ambassador network, are a few extra initiatives that
can enhance your BI improvement plans.
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Insight breakdown
Your BI platform is not a one-and-done initiative
A BI program is not a static project that is created once and remains unchanged. Your strategy must be treated as a living
platform to be revisited and revitalized in order to provide effective enablement of business decision making. Develop a BI
strategy that propels your organization by building it on business goals and objectives, as well as comprehensive
assessments that quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate your current BI capabilities.
Put the “B” back in “BI”
The closer you align your new BI platform to real business interests, the stronger will be the buy-in, realized value, and
groundswell of enthusiastic adoption. Ultimately, getting this phase right sets the stage to best realize a strong ROI for your
investment in the people, processes, and technology that will be your next generation BI platform.
Go beyond the platform
BI success is not based solely on the technology it runs on; technology cannot mask gaps in capabilities. You must be
capable in your environment – data management, data quality, and related data practices must be strong – otherwise the
usefulness of the intelligence suffers. The best BI solution does not only provide a technology platform, but also addresses
the elements that surround the platform. Look beyond tools and holistically assess the maturity of your BI practice with input
from both the BI consumer and provider perspectives.
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Appendix
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1.1
Strategic
Importance
(1-5)
Popularity
(1-5)
Effort (1-5)
Detailed list of Info-Tech’s BI patterns
Selected user groups are able to interact with BI data, slice and dice, and find answers on their own
5
5
2
Allows information users to access BI content on mobile devices in real time and/or on the go, allowing native interactions. It
gives the ability to leverage your mobile interface, including device-specific navigation and interactions
5
4
2
Creates a user-friendly, intuitive, and interactive interface that makes use of rich visualizations to organize and present
information to the end users
5
5
2
Enables users to visualize and analyze data in real-time; broadcasting alerts and notification in real-time according to
predefined situations and conditions
4
4
3.5
A model that delivers data and information in different formats and channels to different user groups
4
3
3
The network of ambassadors will be IT’s eyes, ears, and even mouth on the frontline with the users; ambassadors will
promote BI, communicate any messages IT may have, and keep tabs on user satisfaction
4
3
2
A matrix organization that consists of IT and business staff that helps you to provide service to the business
5
4
3
Incorporate new data sources to your data warehousing environment as well as your BI platform; the new data will be
available for new BI content develop, and allow self-service users to access
4
3
2
Consolidate existing BI platforms, reporting platforms, un-governed Excel spreadsheets, analytics tools to realize cost savings
and/or simplify application portfolio
4
4
4
Introduction of analytics capabilities or analytics tools to your BI program to support predictive analytics that predict future
outcomes
5
5
3.5
BI Upgrade
Upgrade the version of your existing BI platform to the latest version or close-to-latest version in order to leverage new
features, performance, realize performance gain, or fix bugs
4
2
2
BI Remodel
Remodel the data in your data warehousing environment and/or your BI schematic layers to help you to improve the ability to
make sense of your data
4
2
3
Connect, manipulate, and analyze big data and NoSQL sources
5
4
3
Establish a data governance to govern data that fed into BI and data on the BI platform
4
4
3
Improve data quality so that the BI platform can present good quality data for effective decision making
4
4
3
Pattern
Self-Service BI
Mobile BI
Data Visualization
Real-Time BI
BI Delivery Model
BI Ambassador Network
BI CoE
Onboard New Data
Sources
BI Consolidation
Predictive Analytics
Integration with Big Data
Establishing a Data
Governance Program
Improving Data Quality
Description
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Our BI strategy approach follows Info-Tech’s popular
IT Strategy Framework
A comprehensive BI strategy needs to be developed under the umbrella of an overall IT strategy.
Specifically, creating a BI strategy is contributing to helping IT mature from a firefighter to a strategic partner
that has close ties with business units.
1. Determine
mandate and
scope
2. Assess
drivers and
constraints
3. Evaluate
current state
of IT
4. Develop a
target state
vision
5. Analyze gaps
and define
initiatives
Mandate
Business drivers
Holistic
assessments
Vision and mission
Initiatives
Scope
External drivers
Focus-area specific
assessments
Guiding principles
Risks
Project charter
Opportunities to
innovate
Target state
vision
Execution
schedule
Implications
Objectives and
measures
8. Revamp
6. Build a
roadmap
Business-driven
priorities
7. Execute
This BI strategy blueprint is rooted in our road-tested
and proven IT strategy framework as a systematic
method of tackling strategy development.
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Research contributors
Internal Contributors
•
•
•
•
•
•
Andy Woyzbun, Executive Advisor
Altaz Valani, Senior Director of Application Development
Christine McKay, Data Operations Specialist
Linda Nguyen, SFDC Solutions Architect
Randy Hearn, Executive Advisor
Rob Anderson, Database Administrator and Business Intelligence
Manager
• Shari Lava, Associate Vice President, Vendor Advisory Practice
External Contributors
•
•
•
•
Albert Hui, Principal, DataEconomist
Cameran Hetrick, Senior Director of Data Science & Analytics, thredUP
Emilie Harrington, Manager of Analytics Operations Development, Lowe’s
Sharon Blanton, VP and CIO, The College of New Jersey
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Research contributors and experts
Albert Hui
Consultant, Data Economist
Albert Hui is a cofounder of Data Economist, a data-consulting firm based in Toronto, Canada. His
current assignment is to redesign Scotiabank’s Asset Liability Management for its Basel III liquidity
compliance using Big Data technology. Passionate in technology and problem solving, Albert is an
entrepreneur and result-oriented IT technology leader with 18 years of experience in consulting and
software industry. His area of focus is on data management, specializing in Big Data, business
intelligence, and data warehousing. Beside his day job, he also contributes to the IT community by writing
blogs and whitepapers, book editing, and speaking at technology conferences. His recent research and
speaking engagement is on machine learning on Big Data.
Albert holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering. He
has two young twin boys and enjoys camping and cycling with them in his spare time.
Cameran Hetrick
Senior Director of Analytics and Data Science, thredUP
Cameran is the Senior Director of Analytics and Data Science at thredUP, a startup inspiring a new
generation to think second hand first. There she helps drives top line growth through advanced and
predictive analytics. Previously, she served as the Director of Data Science at VMware where she built
and led the data team for End User Computing. Before moving to the tech industry, she spent five
years at The Disneyland Resort setting ticket and hotel prices and building models to forecast
attendance. Cameran holds an undergraduate degree in Economics/Mathematics from UC Santa
Barbara and graduated with honors from UC Irvine's MBA program.
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