Identify and combat the top-four worst practices for BI.

This paper provides insight into the top four worst practices for business intelligence. It also provides guidance on how to avoid or overcome worst practices in order to tap into the true power of BI. By reading this paper, you will have a solid understanding of how to avoid BI failure and achieve success with your BI initiatives.

Turning Failure Into Success

Business intelligence (BI) software emerged in response to the need for accurate and timely information to support informed business decisions. With origins in COBOL-based, green-line reports in the 70s and 80s, BI has evolved into a complex market comprised of tools and platforms.

Tools exist for report design, ad hoc query, and online analytical processing (OLAP), while BI platforms combine these tools with databases, integration technology, and portals to deliver sophisticated BI applications. Whereas COBOL required IT involvement and months to generate a single report, today’s solutions are targeted toward business users and boast real-time reports.

Why is it then that the majority of organizations still feel that their information access and reporting needs are unfulfilled?

BI software – tools, platforms, and applications alike – holds great potential for helping organizations readily access the enterprise information needed to make informed business decisions and, ultimately, achieve their business objectives. But, as with any technology, the implementation, roll out, and usage practices play a critical role in the success of BI. ...

Request Your Free White Paper: "Worst Practices in Business Intelligence: Why BI Applications Succeed Where BI Tools Fail"

A White Paper
By Kevin R. Quinn, Vice President of Product Marketing
Information Builders Inc.

Geographic Eligibility: USA, Selected International

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Turning Failure Into Success
Worst Practice #1: Assuming the Average Business User Has the Know-How or Time to Use BI Tools
Overlooking the True End User
Too Much for Too Few
It’s a Matter of Time
Usability Trumps Capabilities
BI Go-To Guys and Multiple Versions of the Truth
The Solution
Worst Practice #2: Allowing Excel to Become the Default BI Platform
Manual, Error-Prone Process
The Impact of Data Errors
The Creation of Spreadmarts
The Solution
Worst Practice #3: Assuming a Data Warehouse Will Solve All Information Access and Delivery
Requirements
Failing to Fully Assess the Need for a Data Warehouse
The Solution
Worst Practice #4: Selecting a BI Tool Without a Specific Business Need
The Solution
You Have the Antidote

ABOUT KEVIN R. QUINN
Kevin R. Quinn is vice president of product marketing for Information Builders. Kevin has over 24 years experience designing and implementing business intelligence and enterprise integration solutions. He has written and published many articles and white papers on strategic information architecture.

In his various roles at Information Builders, Kevin has helped companies worldwide develop information deployment strategies that help them accelerate decision-making and improve corporate performance. He has worked with global companies to implement best practices for their successful deployments.

Kevin graduated from Queens College with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

ABOUT INFORMATION BUILDERS
Information Builders was founded with a very simple mission: to help organizations access all of their information and deliver it to anyone who needs it. With our simple and agile business intelligence (BI) and integration solutions, that mission has been a success.

Flexible, scalable, and secure, WebFOCUS – the most widely utilized BI platform – connects to any enterprise system or application and enables simple, intuitive interaction with information. iWay Software’s suite assembles powerful, pre-built components – without custom code – delivering the fastest, most cost-effective, and simplest way to integrate business processes and achieve the promise of SOA: true reusability.

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