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Business Intelligence Can Be a Long Journey — So How Do You Start Delivering Value Now?4 Tips for Seeing Results Early and Often

Richard StarnesPrincipal

Information ManagementDeloitte Consulting LLP

Pop quiz: What are your long-term business intelli-

gence (BI) goals? What business problems will your

BI solutions help you solve? Chances are you already

have good answers to these questions since BI is now a

leading business and technology issue for many compa-

nies. Business leaders know the value it can bring for

supporting decision making, reducing risk, introducing

cost efficiencies, and improving information quality.

But what is your roadmap for reaching those goals?

For many companies, the picture becomes cloudy here.

For starters, there are more BI-focused software solu-

tions available from SAP now than ever before. And,

while it’s great to have options, it can be hard to know

which configuration is the smartest choice for your

business. Plus, many companies don’t know where to

begin since it can be difficult to analyze how well a com-

pany’s current BI system works, where it falls short, and

how much incremental value a transition will deliver.

For all these reasons, BI is not a quick-hit initiative.

It’s a journey. But businesses can still see results along

the way — if they take the right approach. Here are four

tips for demonstrating BI results early and regularly.

1. Take Time to PlanExperienced mountain climbers don’t just grab their

gear and head to the mountain — not when they’re try-

ing to reach an imposing new peak. They carefully plan

out each stage of the climb with their hiking teams. It’s

the same with improving or implementing a BI solution

— you need to take the time to understand the real

requirements, engage with stakeholders, and create a

vision that will sustain everyone through the long haul.

2. Identify Business Leaders Who Can Help Deliver Quick WinsIt’s best to deliver a BI system in chunks — in a data set

like General Ledger, for instance, or in specific applica-

tions, such as executive dashboards. That way, you

can show progress and move the organization along

in a more gradual, natural fashion. But don’t deliver

these chunks without outside help and just hope that

someone will champion your success. Find a partner

from the business to help get you there faster.

3. Consider Leading with Lightweight Tools, Like SAP BusinessObjects ExplorerSAP BusinessObjects Explorer can be a useful, intuitive

tool for putting BI functionality in users’ hands earlier,

helping them to start generating results on their own

more quickly. For example, the tool can help users dive

into existing SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse data

and master data relationships to present multiple data

sets like sales and inventory with minimal effort. That

means they can look beyond a specific query to see

broader relationships more quickly. It’s like data mining

on the fly. And SAP BusinessObjects Explorer isn’t the

only tool that can help jump-start your analytics efforts.

Preconfigured solutions that focus on the industry or

purpose level (SAP’s business analytics solutions, for

instance) can also be rapidly deployed to deliver value.

4. Experiment with a Pull ModelSAP’s newest generation of solutions (like SAP Business-

Objects Explorer and SAP BusinessObjects Analysis)

were designed to help users change the standard BI

model. Instead of pushing new capabilities out to users,

give them the tools to start pulling their own weight —

enabling them to generate their own analytics, reports,

and capabilities. Through this pull model, they can use

BI to explore uncharted territory on their own.

Putting Your Best Foot ForwardWith BI, you probably won’t be delivering the promised

value right away. That makes it even more important to

drive incremental value along the way, keeping everyone

engaged and helping them remember the “big picture”

questions we asked earlier. Showing that kind of value is

crucial to a BI project. The four tips we’ve offered here

aren’t the only ways to make it happen, but our experi-

ence at Deloitte shows that they’re a great start.

To learn more, visit www.deloitte.com/sap or drop

us a line at sap@deloitte.com. n

BI is not a quick-hit

initiative. It’s a

journey. But

businesses can still

see results along

the way.