Everyone wants meaningful Business Intelligence (B.I.). At least, everyone who hopes to do well in business endeavours to do so intelligently. Everyone I know anyways.
Recently, someone kindly pointed out that B.I. is actually DETERMINISTIC as opposed to intelligent by its very nature…. being just a construct of rules and structure within an IT system.
This comment was brought about through a discussion around creating B.I. solutions, what is a good approach.
The talk actually ended sounding more like a Philosophy class than an IT group. Inductive and deductive reasoning. Asking questions. Treating matters objectively.
Stuff about helping management understand their own strategy by questioning manifest business processes. In order to arrive at answers to seemingly imponderable business questions. Things like, “What are your business goals?”
Some Focus Points
- Let outcomes guide decisions
- Let goals guide focus
- Let value guide priority
The above-mentioned firm put on a talk through TDWI (The Data Warehousing Institute) in Vancouver last Friday and I was fortunate enough to attend. For anyone local who is looking to better understand the B.I. space, these monthly meetings are a good start. The local chapter is fairly “young”, but it’s been growing and I’ve got to say, the meeting was quite interesting.
Some other points that jumped out were:
- B.I. is a technical issue, but success is a human issue
- Always keep the broader vision in mind
- Understand that business processes, definitions, and meanings change over time
- Greenfield B.I. projects have an advantage [over existing systems (i.e. no baggage)]
- Think big picture, work the details
and – Choose for impact!
It appears the growing consensus in this group is that the technical barriers aren’t what is standing in the way of getting good B.I. spread all throughout the organization. But it’s organizational psychology that sometimes stinks.
There’s a delicate balance that has to be struck. Top management don’t want to feel like they are being lectured, or questioned. But it’s education and Socratic inquiry that are required if the end B.I. solution is going to work.
In my view, part of the difficulty is that management doesn’t necessarily have their strategy worked out to the level of detail really required to get a “perfect” solution. There’s a lot of moving parts regardless of business size. But don’t look at me I’m just a software vendor.
Do you think I could be counted on to whip business strategy into shape?
Anyway you slice it, I think B.I. and strategy will always be inextricably linked. As mentioned in the talk, these are tied into part of a feedback loop.
Helpful to remember this stuff.
Enjoy!
