Putting the Business Back in BI
BI means “business intelligence” yet in many BI programs technology interests
supersede those of business.
When a BI program gives more attention to dashboards, scorecards, OLAP, and
data warehouses than to finance, R&D, marketing, operations, and customer
support, then it is time to put the business back into BI.
Dave Wells
dwells@infocentric.org
© David L. Wells
What is Real Business Intelligence?
© David L. Wells
Business-Aligned BI
OLAP
Dashboards
Management
Motivation
functional
alignment
© David L. Wells
Business
Data
Integration
Impact !
goal
alignment
Scorecards
The Business Framework
risk tolerance
economic threats
competitive pressures
etc.
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
R&D
Sales
FLSA
workplace safety
union contracts
etc.
Management
Marketing
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Details Within the Framework
Strategy
volume / size
efficiency
effectiveness
quality
cost
value
viability
sustainability
Finance
R&D
Marketing
Sales
Customers
Operations
HR
© David L. Wells
strategy and goals
competitive environment
regulatory compliance
internal policies & processes
culture & beliefs
past (lagging)
present (positioning)
future (leading)
Business Scope of BI
STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE
FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE
R&D INTELLIGENCE
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
SALES FORCE INTELLIGENCE
CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE
OPERATIONS INTELLIGENCE
WORKFORCE INTELLIGENCE
RISK INTELLIGENCE
REGULATORY INTELLIGENCE
© David L. Wells
Strategic Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Financial Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Research Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Marketing Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Sales Force Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Customer Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Operations Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Workforce Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Risk and Regulatory Intelligence
References
Indexes
Indicators
Metrics
Measures
Strategy
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Management
Management
R&D
Customers
Operations
HR
Motivation
© David L. Wells
Values
Legal & Ethics
Risk
Governance
Compliance
Growth
Opportunity
Profit
Performance
IT
Using the Framework
SCOPING
What is in scope for a BI project?
What is out of scope?
REQUIREMENTS GATHERING
What business domain? (strategy, compliance, finance, …)
What kinds of informiaton are needed? (trends, indicators, indexes)
For what time periods? (leading, positioning, lagging)
What measures are needed? (volume, cost, quality …)
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
What information do we have?
Where do we have gaps?
How does information support strategy, tactics, & operations?
© David L. Wells
The “What’s” of Project Scoping
© David L. Wells
Project Scoping Checklist
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Project Scope Example
© David L. Wells
Project Scope Example
© David L. Wells
Business Requirements
PROJECT SCOPE
Business Requirements
Information ... Delivery ... Data ... Processing
© David L. Wells
The “What’s” of Business Requirements
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
2volume / size
efficiency
effectiveness
quality
cost
value
viability
sustainability
internal policy
regulatory compliance
legal risk
financial risk
4
1
1
© David L. Wells
2
3
past (lagging)
present (positioning)
future (leading)
6 5
7
3
4
2
Information Requirements – Indexes
[Domain] [Objective] Index
One business domain for
one management objective
typically yields one index.
© David L. Wells
is a composite of
[list of business metrics
that comprise the index]
calculated as
[formula by which the index value is derived]
Information Requirements – Indicators
Which [kinds of measures]
for which [business processes]
indicate [management objective]?
© David L. Wells
Information Requirements – Metrics
Which [kinds of measures]
for which [business processes]
indicate [management objective]?
past (lagging)
present (positioning)
future (leading)
INDICATOR
+
TEMPORAL CONTEXT
+
COMPARATIVE CONTEXT
+
BUSINESS CONTEXT
=
Which [indicator] by what [dimensions]
for which [time span] or [point in time]
as compared to [references] or showing [trend]
© David L. Wells
BUSINESS METRIC
Delivery Requirements
reporting
OLAP
scorecard
dashboard
etc.
What does the project scope describe?
What business capabilities are needed?
What kinds of information are needed?
© David L. Wells
Delivery Requirements
© David L. Wells
When you need capability to:
The most probable BI product is:
inform about …
inquire about …
measure properties of …
analyze behavior of …
align business processes for …
track performance against goals for …
inform real-time workflow in ...
monitor current state of …
examine alternatives for …
simulate behavior of …
find influences and causes of …
test hypotheses for …
explore patterns and trends of …
discover hidden insights for …
predict future state of …
see patterns and trends in …
monitor/analyze location of …
find meaning in …
scheduled reports, ad hoc reports
managed query, ad hoc query
OLAP
OLAP
scorecards
scorecards
dashboards (operational/embedded)
dashboards (executive/management)
analytic models (decision)
analytic models (simulation)
analytic models (correlation)
analytic models (experimentation)
data mining
data mining
predictive analytics
visual analytics
spatial analytics
text analytics
Processing Requirements
Metrics
Which [indicator] by what [dimensions]
for which [time span] or [point in time]
as compared to [references] or showing [trend]
Data Requirements
What quantitative data?
What temporal data?
What dimensional data?
What comparative data?
Instrumentation Requirements
What measurement processes
to collect which measurement data
from which business processes?
Computation Requirements
What data transformation processes
to turn measures into metrics,
indicators, and indexes?
© David L. Wells
Index Requirements Example
Sales Performance Index
= sales force readiness
 sales process efficiency
 sales process effectiveness
 sales force productivity
© David L. Wells
Indicator Requirements Example
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS
Sales Performance Index
= sales force readiness
 sales process efficiency
 sales process effectiveness
 sales force productivity
Readiness:
Employee Turnover Rate
Employee Training Level
Employee Satisfaction
Employee Headcount
Sales Capacity
Efficiency:
Time Utilization
Expense Utilization
Time to Closure of Sales
Effectiveness:
Ratio of Leads to Closed Sales
Rate of Return Customers
Productivity:
Revenue per Sales Person
Margin per Sales Person
Average Revenue per Sale
Average Margin per Sale
© David L. Wells
Metrics Requirements Example
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS
Readiness:
Employee Turnover Rate
Employee Training Level
Employee Satisfaction
Employee Headcount
Sales Capacity
Efficiency:
Time Utilization
Expense Utilization
Time to Closure of Sales
Effectiveness:
Ratio of Leads to Closed Sales
Rate of Return Customers
Productivity:
Revenue per Sales Person
Margin per Sales Person
Average Revenue per Sale
Average Margin per Sale
METRICS
Salesperson turnover count in the
fiscal month just closed, by seniority,
organization, and location compared
to past 12 month company average.
Salesperson count for the fiscal
month just closed, by location and
organization as compared to each of
the prior six months.
Average days from first contact to
close of sale by organization and
location with 6 month trend.
Percent of sales contacts that lead to
closed sales by organization and
location with 6 month trend.
Average revenue value of closed
sales per sales person each month
with 6 month trend.
Average revenue value of closed
sales in the month just closed as
compared to the prior six months.
Can be measured cost-effectively. Can be directly affected by management.
© David L. Wells
Delivery Requirements Example – Metrics
READINESS METRIC
Salesperson turnover count in the
fiscal month just closed, by seniority,
organization, and location compared
to past 12 month company average.
READINESS METRIC
Salesperson count for the fiscal
month just closed, by location and
organization as compared to each of
the prior six months.
© David L. Wells
Delivery Requirements Example – Metrics
EFFICIENCY METRIC
Average days from first contact to
close of sale by organization and
location with 6 month trend.
EFFECTIVENESS METRIC
Percent of sales contacts that lead
to closed sales by organization and
location with 6 month trend.
© David L. Wells
Delivery Requirements Example - Metrics
PRODUCTIVITY METRIC
Average revenue value of closed
sales per sales person each month
with 6 month trend.
PRODUCTIVITY METRIC
Percent of sales contacts that lead
to closed sales by organization and
location with 6 month trend.
© David L. Wells
Delivery Requirements Example – The Dashboard
© David L. Wells
Data Requirements Example
© David L. Wells
Process Requirements Example – Instruments
© David L. Wells
Portfolio Management – The Inventory
© David L. Wells
Portfolio Management – The Process
© David L. Wells
Thank You
Dave Wells
dwells@infocentric.org
© David L. Wells