5 Steps To A Better Functioning Business Intelligence System

Any good Business Intelligence System needs to produce context. In order for this quality data to be produced, organizations need to analyze why they need to implement a Business Intelligence System, what they hope to achieve from it and how each department plans to use the data. BI needs to facilitate departmental team leaders to make more confident decisions as quickly and accurately as possible. It is up to these team leaders to input how this information will be displayed to them. Do they work better with charts and diagrams or would a report work better for them? It is this process of decision making that ultimately needs to drive what information organizations need to collect, analyze and share.

Gone are the days when you could compare this quarters data to last years and make future predictions. It just isn’t enough data, nor does it give an accurate picture of current trends. Users need to understand what factors are influencing these sales. That is where your business intelligence system comes in.

One of the biggest roadblocks to a properly functioning BI system is the end user. Adapting to new BI systems can be daunting, and if the organization’s users are uncertain how to use it or why they should trust it, they probably won’t use it effectively, if at all. When implemented strategically throughout an organization, a strong Business Intelligence System can completely change a company’s operations and improve the decision making process.

Below are five steps to implement a better functioning Business Intelligence System:

Focus on business objectives. These objectives need to be clearly explained and agreed by each participating department. Each department will require different objectives, and all should be clearly defined. Revisit these objectives quarterly.

Define your ROI clearly before you implement your BI system. Everyone in the organization should understand the specific results that are hoped to be achieved. This should be analyzed every quarter.

Make sure your data is clean.It is important that the data that is being collected isn’t redundant. Make a maintenance schedule to review each fielding a data collection, starting with the most popular queries. If you find missing data, ask yourself why it is missing and if you need it. If you find fields that are the same as others, get rid of them. Your data needs to be clutter free to work efficiently.

Train users effectively. If your users don’t know how to use the BI system, the system will fail the company. Users should understand from the onset of the BI integration the specific objectives and KPI’s of the group. They should know clearly what data is to be collected, how it is collected and how it can be reported.

Adjust as you go. Don’t waste time trying to develop the perfect report. As needs evolve, so will these reports. The most import aspect of reporting is that it provides the users with accurate information quickly. It can be tweaked later. And should be, often.

MSP Consulting offers a free half-day workshop, looking at your organizations specific needs and requirements. During this informal “round table”, team leaders will have the chance to ask specific questions and outline exactly what they would like from a Business Intelligence System. These BI Workshops are a great starting point for any organisation thinking about implementing a BI strategy.

If you would like to know more about building a Business Intelligence System, or are interested in meeting with MSP Consulting, hosting a free half-day workshop, simply click here to fill in a request form and a consultant will give you a call.