Practical IT Research that Drives Measurable Results Deliver the BI Tools & Information Needed by Management
Choose a BI Solution that is right for your organization • Every organization wants to leverage its data to make timely and effective decisions. IT is challenged to deliver this information but needs the tools to do so quickly and cost effectively. Business Intelligence solutions are increasingly relied upon for this purpose. • Business Intelligence is a general category of software that includes a wide spectrum of tools, from full blown suites to component solutions for each part of the BI architecture. Sorting through which tools to evaluate is confusing. • Once you have decided that buying a BI solution is right for your organization and you have gotten executive approval for BI, you are ready to generate a vendor shortlist. • This storyboard will help you navigate the complexities of BI with actionable insight on major vendor products and clear advice for managing the evaluation and selection process.
Executive Summary • Buying a BI suite involves a long term commitment to a product and vendor that could result in an expensive divorce if the relationship sours. • BI tool selection requires understanding all facets of your information architecture and business processes in order to choose a tool that is genuinely compatible with your needs. • BI products are notoriously complex and the variety in vendor offerings and packaging make straightforward comparisons difficult to come by. • Market consolidation and an evolving technology landscape also raise concerns about the product roadmaps, leaving IT managers uncertain that their future needs will be met. • Minimize the risk by building the selection process on five critical factors: business requirements, end user requirements, technical requirements, cost, and expertise. • Making a smart choice means defining your needs, understanding the products, and knowing how they stack up.
Strategize Take Five Steps to Selection Success Compare Understand the Vendor Landscape Select Create Your Shortlist Identify Leading Vendors and Compare Capabilities 4
Choose wisely: Most BI Projects Exceed $100 K & go beyond 6 months to implement • Most BI projects take 6 -12 months to implement, with 35% taking 12 months to 2+ years. This does not include initial project planning and tool selection. • Most organizations don’t accurately capture the TCO when assessing the cost of an ongoing BI project. Training and support costs are usually left out of the equation. • Organizations cannot afford a failed BI implementation or the cost of replacing a tool that does not meet their needs. “ I think companies are somewhat short sighted when they say “This BI tool costs X amount. ” They haven’t thought about maintenance fees or about the administrative costs of rolling it out to 100, 200, 1, 000 users. The total cost of ownership is not just the invoices you get when you buy the tools. ” -Claudia Imhoff, BI Consultant, President of Intelligent Solutions Inc. , Founder of the Boulder BI Brain Trust
Develop a five-step selection strategy that addresses business & technology requirements, end user traits, affordability & staff expertise 1 2 3 Business Requirements. Meet business objectives with a thorough understanding of business processes and pain points. End User Considerations. Low adoption will undermine the ROI of the solution. Match tool capabilities to how analysts will use the tool, both technically and functionally, to avoid misuse or resistance. Technology Requirements. Make sure that the candidate solution will be compatible with existing enterprise applications. 4 5 Cost Considerations. Prioritize features and functionality to match potential solutions to what your organization can afford. Calculate total cost of ownership. Out-year and hidden costs often exceed the purchase price. Expertise. Assess IT staff proficiency and familiarity with available offerings. Include internal product expertise in your vendor evaluation. For more information… • The next five slides describe each of these steps in more detail. the “ Knowing you requirements and what you want to get out of the BI solution can tell you whether need a VW or a Ferrari. - IT Director, Financial Services ”
Step 1: Identify business processes, pain points & differentiating features Determine which critical business information and analysis the solution will be expected to enable. Identify pain points with existing reporting and analysis systems. Solutions that can address these pain points represent opportunities for business improvement. “ The business should be the primary driver for business intelligence deployment, but ultimately, they’ve got to be able to converse knowledgeably with the IT resources to make sure there is a comprehensive and shared goal and that everybody understands what that is. - Jim Payton, BI Consultant, Dynamic Intelligence Focus on differentiating features. This will reduce the number of candidates to a list that addresses business needs. More Research • For more information on gathering business requirements for BI, refer to the Info. Tech research note, “BI Vendor Selection Factors: Business Requirements. ” ” ”
Step 2: Avoid end user adoption challenges by specifying how the solution will be used day-to-day Classify end users based on how they will use the solution. Evaluate each solution based on how well it fits with the profile of your users. Ask a diverse group of end users to be involved in the selection process. Avoid placing too much emphasis on technical specialists and power users. Add user experience-specific requirements to the evaluation process. Thinking about potential purchases from the perspective of the end user will increase user satisfaction and adoption. Look to existing product suites for clues about familiarity and functionality. The learning curve for end users tends to be shorter for products that are from a familiar product line. experience has to “ Userlist during BI vendorbe tops on the selection. A poor user experience killed our product. - IT Director, Manufacturing Info-Tech Insight: 78% of IT professionals rate end user requirements analysis as very important during BI planning, yet 53% of BI implementers cite end user adoption as a challenge. More Research • For more information on end user requirements for BI, refer to the Info-Tech research note, “BI Vendor Selection Factors: End User Considerations. ” ”
Step 3: Do a technology inventory, gather technology requirements & assess the network’s ability to support BI Conduct a technology inventory and look for compatibility issues. Keep four major technical areas in mind: • Database environment. • Application environment. • Web services environment. • Infrastructure/network performance. Document all high priority databases and applications that the solution must integrate with. To anticipate and mitigate potential technical complexities, make sure technical requirements go into the request for proposal or request for information. Documenting these needs will put you in a better position to manage vendors if problems occur during the implementation process. Monitor network performance and determine if there will be capacity/performance issues. Large volumes of report requests at peak times can cripple a network. Ask vendors whether they have process-based fixes for these types of problems. More Research • For more information on technology requirements for BI, refer to the ITA Premium research note “BI Vendor Selection Factors: Technology Requirements. ”
Step 4: Avoid breaking the bank by keeping TCO in mind Consider both one-time and ongoing costs for BI projects. One time costs include things like software licenses, implementation costs, and hardware costs. Ongoing costs include things like maintenance fees for software and hardware as well as labor. To help assess costs, use the Info-Tech “Total Cost of Ownership Calculator. ” Understand product pricing. Ask vendors which functionalities come in their base package and what you will need to pay extra for. Keep in mind that not all BI vendors package the same functionalities together. Request this information in your request for proposal. Be aware of alternative licensing options. Vendors often apply pressure to pursue an enterprise-wide licensing arrangement. Ask the vendor to provide information on other licensing options that might be available. Don’t put all of your eggs in one BI basket. Have an alternative software choice to use as leverage during contract negotiations. “ Organizations that select BI software primarily on license/subscription cost do not recognize that the total cost of ownership has many factors beyond the software and implementation fees. - CEO, Business Services ” Info-Tech Insight: 37% of BI implementations run over projected budgets. More Research • For more information on cost considerations for BI, refer to the Info. Tech research note “BI Vendor Selection Factors: Cost Considerations. ”
Step 5: Assess whether or not you have the IT skills in-house to implement & deploy a BI solution Understand the complexity of the proposed implementation and required skill sets. On the technology side, enterprises can require data management specialists, data and systems integrators, web developers, and report designers. On the business side, IT may be responsible for training end users. Have IT staff apply for the BI implementation/support position. This will allow you to validate the experience of those who step forward. Secure additional training for IT staff. This may consist of upgrading general BI related skills and/or product specific training for the selected solution. Get clear about the level of support that vendors offer for their solution. Be sure you understand the associated support costs. Find third party assistance. Value added resellers (VARs), systems integrators, and consultants can help manage a BI implementation from start to finish. “ If you put in a BI solution that is a challenge to support, it will be a thorn in your side for a long time. - IT Director, Utilities ” Info-Tech Insight: A lack of internal IT capabilities is a challenge for 53% of organizations implementing BI. 40% of organizations relied on a third party to complete most of the work on their BI project. More Research • For more information on addressing skills gaps for BI, refer to the Info-Tech research note, “BI Vendor Selection Factors: Expertise. ”
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