Lessons from the real DW/BI life

Based on my latest experience from the field, I'd like to mention a few things that are close to my heart.

This is not a thorough check list and I'm not going to plunge you into lots of details for each single issue.

Although your experience may be different, please give them a thought anyway and you're welcome to share your opinion.

 

 

Be driven by adding or enhancing the business value. This is easier said end done, but I've seen that often the focus is on technology.

The long-term vs. short-term goal of your DW/BI team regarding building of an enterprise information infrastructure. And for it's data modeling freaks : there are pros and cons regardless of your usage of an Inmon, Kimball or Data Vault approach or not. Sooner or later - just like in marriage - there is a chance that you will regret it.

The ETL part does not equal the whole DW/BI, but it's a very important part of your DW/BI solution. Although the ETL part is 'transparent'  for the users, I faced situations tendencing to emphasize the metadata part of the ETL or the 'bureaucracy' of data stewardship in stead of listening to the business users and deeply analyse their requirements.   

The Toolset: When it comes to the architecture and product selection for your DW/BI system choose one vendor. If you choose a mix, then there is a huge risk that you'll spend your time integrating the systems or platforms. Microsoft DW/BI platform delivers according to Gartner the best ROI and TOC, but you may feel free to choose IBM, Oracle, SAP or another platform  if you really have strong arguments for it.

The BI solution fails in targeting users of different profiles and the natural flow of information between them: from top level management to analysts and information workers and to fullfill both strategical, tactical and operational business.
I worked on solutions where the ad-hoc or selv-service BI was not taken into account and where the entire solution tried to fulfill the daily operational business insight. No implementation of a Strategy Map, a Six Sigma, a top 5 or bottom 4 culture or even a deep understaing of the notion of KPI or KPI objectives as the underlying pieces of the business perspectives.

Data Mining is still one of the most underestimated parts of the DW/BI solution and I do not have any explanation. According to a IDC study, data mining should be the fastest growing business intelligence segment surpassing any other BI field. Unfortunately I can not recognize this trend. Customers prefer to explorer the yesterday's figures and not to discover patterns of data or predict the metrics with a huge potential to improve their business for a low cost.    
    
Heppy New DW/BI Year.