The Value of Business Intelligence

[binboy]

I had nothing else to do so I typed in Bus Intel into you tube and found this video - Its a pretty good summary and there probably some stuff in here that you could use to impress those not so technically blessed in your organiasation(ie teh guys that make the big decisions)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArOFlLzblHo

theres a whole raft of video footage available on Youtube relating to BI, reporting etc.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...rch_type=&aq=f

[Steve Bennett]

Business intelligence hots up


By Rosalie Marshall
1 September 2008 06:27AM

Business intelligence (BI) is cheaper and more accessible to businesses than ever before, a new analyst report has revealed

When mega vendors such as Microsoft, SAP, IBM and Oracle started to buy off pure-play BI specialists Business Objects, Cognos and Hyperion, industry analysts and remaining independent vendors warned that innovation in business intelligence would be lost.

But according to an analyst report from Technology Evaluation Centers, new technology developments in BI prove it is only getting more exciting.

“It is time to take a down-to-earth look at a few recent advances that are making BI more accessible, affordable and relevant to businesses than ever before,” said the author of the report, Anna Mallikarjunan.

She pointed to how innovations in the search space allow companies to search unstructured and disparate data sources and cut down on data warehouse and ETL processing costs.

For example, Endeca has revolutionised search with its Guided Summarization experience, added Mallikarjunan. Endeca’s BI search capabilities allow people to ask open-ended questions, such as “How can I consolidate purchasing?”

“The approach widens the BI audience in an organisation, as the user does not need to have a detailed understanding of underlying metadata or data models,” noted Mallikarjunan, before listing Fast and Information Builders as other BI firms with particularly innovative search technology.

The growth in software-as-a-service applications is also changing the BI horizon, eliminating the need for businesses to build data warehouses and online analytical processing (OLAP) cubes, and making it easier for companies that already have BI solutions in place to add on new functionalities, said Mallikarjunan.

In the report she mentioned SAS, Business Objects, Oco and Host Analytics as vendors hosting high-quality on-demand BI services.

The report also noted operational BI is allowing users to access data immediately.

IBM and Informatica are pioneering BI solutions that allow user access to data in real time, Mallikarjunan said.

“BI is at the forefront of innovations that take full advantage of recent advances in hardware and software technologies,” Mallikarjunan concluded. “Google’s revolution has touched several areas of the software industry – BI is no exception.”
itweek.co.uk @ 2008 Incisive Media

[admin]

From CIO Magazine:

Analytics: Unlocking Value in BI Initiatives

Most companies are making a colossal mistake in how they are approaching the business intelligence challenge because they fail to realise data does not equal information.

Scott Staples 15 April, 2009 09:42:00

Over the past few years, one of the hottest growth areas in IT has been in the business intelligence (BI) space. Companies have finally realised there is value in their data and have launched major BI initiatives in their organisations. But most companies are making a colossal mistake in how they are approaching this challenge because they fail to realise data does not equal information.

This is an important concept and bears repeating: Data ≠ Information.

To turn data into information, companies need a three-step process:

1. Data Warehouse (DW)--companies need a place for data to reside and rules on how the data should be structured.
2. Business Intelligence--companies need a way to slice and dice the data and generate reports.
3. Analytics--companies need to extract the data, analyze trends, uncover opportunities, find new customer segments, and so forth.

Most companies fail to add the third step to their DW and BI initiatives and hence fall short on converting data into information. Why is this happening?

It really comes down to an issue with nomenclature. The term, "business intelligence" is the culprit here. Software companies like SAP (Business Objects), IBM (Cognos), Oracle, Microsoft and others in this space have put themselves in a great position by promoting the term, "business intelligence" to describe this sector. They are basically telling companies that if they buy their software, they will automatically have the tools-capability to gather intelligence to run their businesses. Plus, since these tools are providing "intelligence", they come with premium pricing.

This has become one of the most effective software industry marketing campaigns in the past decade. There is no question these software companies have very good tools for things like reporting, data mining, creating dashboards, etc., but calling this "business intelligence" has misled IT organisations.

Why? All of these tools, and the strategy and structure behind them, are geared toward providing data to business users and not creating information for them. This is because the tools are really just pipes with a business user using the pipe to get data out of the data warehouse. In the simplest of terms, a data warehouse is a box and BI tools are pipes coming in and out of the box--basic plumbing.

While it is paramount to have a solid DW and BI infrastructure in place, real "business intelligence" can only occur when analytics is also added into the mix. The DW and BI infrastructure allow business users to query against existing data, but it is only analytics that enable business users to go beyond the current boundaries of that data.

This is because analytics is done by people and these people can look outside of the current data limitations in an organisation and can even look outside the company walls for answers. This is what separates data and reports from information and answers. This is providing "business intelligence."

When analytics is added to this structure, the entire offering becomes powerful. Analytics enables companies to move beyond reporting and into a higher decision-making and questioning mode. Analytics opens the door for things that will have maximum impact on the business: marketing campaign effectiveness, pricing, channel segmentation, customer treatment, supply chain optimization, risk mitigation, sales effectiveness, and so forth.

The only way to accomplish this, is to embrace the concept of analytics being a key component of any business intelligence plan. Business intelligence without analytics is just reporting.

So, instead of companies just talking about their DW and BI strategies, they must now accept analytics as a core component of business intelligence. This change in mindset will solve the dilemma of Data ≠ Information:

Current Mindset: DW + BI = Data

Future Mindset: DW + (BI + Analytics) = Information

Analytics will be the next big value-add offering for IT organisations. The businesses which embrace it, will grow. The IT organisations that own it and drive it will thrive. It is that simple.

Scott Staples is the president and Co-CEO of IT Services at [[xref:http://www.mindtree.com/|MindTree|MindTree

[Doug Heywood]

This is a bit old but has some good information you can still use:

The data dump
Christine Christian, The Age, October 12, 2007

Identifying, acquiring and retaining profitable customers are critical to business success.

To meet this demand, high performing marketing functions have shifted their offering from list suppliers to the provision of true customer insight.

Smart executives understand the value of customer insight and the need for data and analysis to drive this outcome.

In fact, a survey conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide, revealed that nine in ten top executives place strong analytical and business intelligence capabilities at the top of their list in preparing them for the challenging business environment.

This finding demonstrates that organisations which take advantage of their data to improve decision-making and customer service are better prepared to thrive in the competitive business marketplace.

This message is particularly important for SMEs. Most small and medium sized organisations have limited resources for marketing and customer relationship management activities. This means that data quality and its effective use is of paramount importance so that return on investment can be achieved.

Only a very small portion of businesses use their data in a sophisticated manner.

According to a Harvard Business Review survey, only 23 per cent of businesses use customer data to quantify the relationship between their business drivers and financial outcomes.

This 23 per cent however, had an average 2.9 per cent higher return on assets and a 5.1 per cent higher return on equity, demonstrating that good quality data is a corporate asset that has positive financial impacts.

Although there are numerous examples that demonstrate the positive impacts of good quality data, many organisations have not transitioned from a focus on lists to the use of business intelligence.

Many even lack confidence in the data they use to produce these lists.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers study revealed that only 40 per cent of respondents were very confident in their own data quality.

So how can SMEs ensure their data is high-quality?

Depth and breadth are of paramount importance. This means data should come from a variety of sources, it should be updated regularly and there should be a significant number of records available.

The other side of the equation, the cost of bad data quality, is also significant. It prevents SMEs from developing a comprehensive understanding of their customers, limits the possibilities of identifying new business leads and inhibits the establishment of authentic customer relationships.

One of the key drivers of bad quality data is data decay.

Data decay is directly linked to data age; the older the data, the increased presence of data errors. To put this into context, in Australia, D&B trends data reveals that:

*a new business is formed every 54 seconds

*a business files for bankruptcy every 29 minutes

*a company address changes every 5 minutes

*a company enters external administration every 15 minutes and

*a company name change occurs every 22 minutes.

Data must be continually refreshed to ensure these changes are captured.

But having good quality data is just part of the process: for SMEs to achieve positive outcomes they must also have the tools required to leverage this data and turn it into a wealth of valuable information.

Without this capability SMEs will find themselves data rich, yet information poor.

Utilising analytical, predictive and profiling tools to segment data in a myriad of ways is the key to informed decision making.

But, if SMEs want to achieve the absolute maximum from a campaign they must not stop here.

They must go even further to understand the behaviours of their profitable customers and make informed decisions about the customers they chase.

This means examining the likelihood their customers will still be here in 12 months and, whether their customers have the capacity and propensity to pay on time.

Strike Force Sales, a boutique tele-prospecting firm, provides a good example of how this type of analysis can be used by small business to generate a real competitive advantage.

Aware of the hidden costs of bad data on productivity, Strike Force Sales carefully studies its customers through data segmentation and analysis to ensure that the business deploys its resources appropriately.

High performance sales representatives are armed with information which allows them to meet the needs of their customers, ensuring the highest possible conversion rate on calls.

The business has seen a significant improvement in positive customer experiences since it introduced business intelligence to its sales and marketing operations.

SMEs operate in an environment where lists are no longer enough to drive growth; an environment where data, analytics and behavioural modelling are a must.

The shift from the provision of lists to business intelligence has begun and it must continue.

If your business is not utilising quality data and analytics you are wasting valuable resources and risk being left behind by your competitors.

Christine Christian is the chief executive of Dun & Bradstreet Australia

[admin2]

Mary K. Pratt, Computerworld 09.21.2009


Reality Digital Inc. , a San Francisco-based technology company that helps other businesses launch social media campaigns, is a big proponent of calculating ROI -- for its own uses of social media as well as for customers'.

CEO Cynthia Francis says calculating return on investment starts with understanding what you want to accomplish: Do you want to promote internal collaboration? Establish real-time connections with customers? Generate and track sales leads?

Then, you have to figure out what tools will help you achieve that goal, she says.

"The idea that everyone should have Facebook and Twitter is not true. You have to think about what people and customers want. Maybe all you need is a blog with three people in your company blogging. Bigger companies might want to be in all the public environments," Francis says.

In addition to a Web site and e-mail newsletters, Reality Digital uses Twitter and Facebook to interact with existing and potential customers.

Here's how the company's numbers break down:

• Total investment for social media programs (including technology costs and PR agency hours): roughly $3,000 per month
• Total sales leads generated in April, May and June: 72
• Average sales leads per month: 24
• Average cost per sales lead: $125
• Lead conversion to sales opportunities: 11.1%
• Lead conversion to closed deals: 1.4%

"Given the typical size of our deals, the annual cost of our social media programs is covered by revenue from one closed deal (annual contract)," marketing manager Lawrence Mak wrote in an e-mail about the figures.

He adds: "Because we started our social media program only three months ago, I consider it to still be in ramp-up phase. I expect cost per lead and conversion metrics to improve as the program matures over the next three to six months."

[zamir]

Monash University lecturer thinks BI solutions are too sexy, contributing to low utilisation rates
ComputerWorld, Trevor Clarke 22 October, 2009 15:08

Is it possible business intelligence solutions are too sexy for their own good? Yes, according to one Monash University lecturer.

Peter O’Donnell has been working as a business intelligence applications lecturer at the university since 1990. In that time he has focused on testing things people take for granted in the BI space – including sex appeal.

"As a collective BI industry, everyone has the rhetoric that it is about visualisation and letting people see their data; it's a grand dream that we put this slice and dice interface in front of people," he said. "That is the way vendors do their demos and somehow or other people will drop, click and drag to get to the relevant number and their day is better and the problem solved."

But one of O'Donnell's concerns is all the main vendors' products are similar with the same style of interface. And it's an interface that O'Donnell contends has contributed to low utilisation rates – often as low as single digits he claimed – despite strong sales.

According to analyst firm Gartner, the Australian BI market hit $US211 million in 2008 for growth of 11 per cent. BI applications were also ranked the top technology priority in 2009 for the fourth year in a row in Gartner’s annual survey of CIOs.

Globally the appetite for BI platforms, analytic applications and performance management software in 2008 increased 21.7 per cent on the previous year, from $US7.2 billion to $US8.8 billion.

Yet, according to O'Donnell's research, many employees don't get the full benefit out of BI applications. People who acquire knowledge and learn visually or kinaestheticly (by doing) are relatively comfortable with fancy graphical representations of data in BI solutions, but those who learn aurally or by reading aren't.

"A lot of the tools are very sexy. You can do 3D pie charts and donut charts; in theoretical terms it is known as the data to ink ratio. If you have embellishments and 3D effects you are using a lot of ink for only a small amount of data," he said.

"In a sample of 2 groups of 20 people, we gave the same data to each group. To one of them we gave them plain, boring looking charts that adhere to the guidelines of keeping the data to ink ratio close to one. The other one we gave them sexy stuff. One group would get a bar chart the other a pie chart. One would get a bar char the next would get a bar chart with 3D effects. We'd ask them to analyse very simple questions – i.e. compare this data, which one is bigger, which one is smaller, etc. The results were generally awful. There was something like a 62 per cent probability of getting the questions right if you got the plain charts. If you got the sexy ones it was like 47 per cent."

While O'Donnell freely acknowledges it is hard to generalise from such a small sample he concludes there are significant problems with BI solutions using sexy graphics that are trying to support decision making processes.

"When all the vendors have tools that look the same, we may be supporting one group of people with one particular cognitive style and missing some others," he said.

One of the reasons for the disconnect between strong sales and poor utilisation rates is there hasn't been enough focus on employing developers that have advanced interface skills. O'Donnell's research team has been observing the Australian job advertisements for BI positions. The findings appear to back up his position.

"Everyone says the front end is important but all the job ads are for data modelling skills or data transformation skills. I have seen in the last six months, and there are 500 or 600 jobs in Australia at any one time, one job mention anything about usability. They generally have got something on, must have business objects or must have used COGNOS or that kind of stuff – clearly front end technologies. But nobody is going beyond the tool set and saying they must know about visualisation or usability."

In short, BI vendors may be capable of creating sexy hot graphics to present data, but they have failed to engage users. For O'Donnell providing greater choice, and in particular plain Jane options for graphics, would help boost the utilisation and success rates.

"I don't think people are using the slice of dices to get the wrong data," he said. "I think they just give up."