IT Performs - The Business Intelligence Specialists

Creating a 'Business Intelligence Culture' to help change and compete in tough times.

We all know that our data has massive potential and can be unlocked using Business Intelligence (BI) solutions; however it is the people and corporate culture that enables real benefit to be obtained from BI. Here we explain how to create a BI Culture and use BI technology to enable change in order to be more competitive.

Here we provide some practical advice on what companies need to consider to take advantage of their data asset by establishing a 'BI Culture' to enable change. This advice is based upon many years of real world experience to help you understand what activities are necessary to obtain an advantage from corporate data by combining Change Management and Agile Development Methods.

BI Centric Diagram

In many organisations Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Warehousing are driven by IT, but the best results are obtained when solutions are actively guided by business leaders who see the value in their information and can use it to improve the organisation. Today's BI technology is functionally very rich; hence technology is no longer a barrier to success. Making the best use of the technology and optimising the business benefit by enabling people to make better decisions and to act quicker is the real challenge!

For organisations to fully capitalise from BI, they must use it as an enabler to change and incorporate BI into a change management programme. The following diagram shows how a 'BI Centre of Excellence' fits in an organisation to bridge the gap between IT, Operations and Decision Makers.

Providing the right information to the right people at the right time can have a huge impact on your organisation, however companies often struggle to get the full potential from BI as it is given to people that are too busy 'doing their day job' and who are not motivated to explore new information or find better ways of working. To unleash the real power of BI it needs to be managed by business focused data analysts with executive sponsorship. It can then be actively devolved into operational units, improving effectiveness and gently enabling change. BI used correctly will motivate and drive the workforce in the direction of the corporate strategy. This is what is meant by a 'BI Culture'.

Align your BI Strategy to your Business Strategy
and create a 'BI Culture'

As the BI solution enables change, the business will demand more of the BI solution; therefore it must rapidly adapt to keep in step with the business changes. A good BI solution will continually evolve and must be open to change. Many organisations struggle to adapt their BI solution as they are large technology based projects with long time scales. Modern BI technology can now be deployed and adapted very rapidly. It is usually people and process that slow deployments down, not the tools being used. To fully enable the 'BI Culture' a suitable technology delivery methodology is essential. Fortunately such a methodology already exists and has already proven itself - the Agile Development Methodology. Agile is now the approach of choice for BI, replacing the traditional waterfall methodology, although for many companies this will require a major change.

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