Published in The Nation on February 16th, 2011

Business Intelligence (BI) systems refer to computer-based techniques used to retrieve, consolidate and analyse business data.

BI systems aim to provide each function in an organisation with a set of data correctly chosen for the critical tasks of monitoring business performance and making better decisions. If properly implemented, BI enables users to easily access relevant information and identify trends and business issues. Therefore, BI systems can add tremendous value to organisations.

 

Global software vendors have reported that currently up to 50 per cent of their new software-licence sales in Asia are related to BI systems. They have also noticed an upward tick in BI requests from Thailand.

 

However, Thai companies have not been as eager to adopt BI solutions as companies in other countries. In addition, the companies in Thailand that have invested in BI have not been able to fully realise the potential of their BI solution.

 

Thai companies cannot afford to sit back and miss the global trend towards using technology for better decision-making. International Data Corporation (IDC) reports that global expenditure on BI increased from US$1 billion (Bt30.77 billion) in 1993 to $8 billion in 2009, and is expected to reach $11.3 billion in 2015.

 

I would like to suggest a three-phased approach that Thai companies can use to successfully implement BI solutions. By addressing all aspects mentioned below, Thai companies can design and deploy BI solutions to help their business grow and compete, within the region and globally.

 

A good BI solution has to start from the business. From our experience, companies that spend sufficient time focusing on properly defining the business side of the BI challenge enjoy a much higher rate of success than companies that start by selecting a technology solution. BI projects cannot be delegated to IT departments; they need close attention from senior management and business users.

 

Each user group should decide how they will use the system to improve their current work and what kind of information they need to support their objectives in the future. This exercise is much more than just listing metrics and key performance indicators. It includes enhanced capabilities, such as benchmarking peer groups, exception rules and comparisons with previous periods.

 

The company needs to be very clear about the purpose of the new system and what business benefits are expected to flow from it. This will give the implementation team the necessary guidance to structure and design content. For one client, for instance, we were able to reduce the number of required user licences by 80 per cent, which translated to a seven-digit cost saving - just by clarifying the purpose of the system.

 

Companies must determine how the information needs to be displayed and distributed to users in order to achieve the objectives specified in the business concept. Information concepts include chart types, drill-down navigation, grouping of reports and dashboards, key report features such as sorting and comparisons, frequency and channels of distribution, access rights and the need for advanced features or analysis.

 

With the information concept defined, technical teams know what data needs to be captured. The data concept describes how the data is to be sourced and stored in a data warehouse. This is very technical work.

 

Similar to the data concept, the technology concept strongly depends on the business and information concepts. This phase is focused on overall systems architecture and the underlying software solution.

 

The first phases dealt with defining the content and technology components of the BI solution. This alone will not work if the necessary processes and people are not aligned.

 

It is crucial to implement corresponding data-management processes so that the quality of data in the data warehouse is of a level sufficient to guarantee its reliability. These processes cover data-entry monitoring and regular data cleansing. If this includes customer data, it may be beneficial to regularly reconnect with customers as they tend to change, among other things, their contact information and employers.

 

This is often forgotten and frequently leads to the statement: "no one is using this expensive system." With a new BI system, there should be many more types of useful information than ever before. New views of the business and reports should be integrated into day-to-day business activities. For instance, the company should review reports and agree to actions that create value from the newly available insights at special and regular department and top-management meetings. This phase is where the company begins to create real value from the new tool.

 

Finally, the company should determine how the BI solution can be improved over time to add even more value to the business. Businesses usually don't stand still and reporting needs may change over time.

 

Furthermore, with the introduction of a good BI system, information usage will increase throughout the company, which in itself will increase the demand from users for more information. A formal process should manage gathering, prioritisation, structuring and implementation of respective enhancements.

 

Succeeding in the implementation of BI is rather complex as many different aspects of both the business and the technology need to be addressed. If one link in the chain breaks, companies risk failing to achieve the business benefits they expected. It is crucial that companies get BI implementation right, because usage of the correct information can be a major competitive advantage when operating in dynamic market environments.

 

Peter Theisen may be contacted at BusinessConsulting@freewillsolutions.com.