data intelligence process · data intelligence process (405) 359.3910 |[email protected]! 3 business...

Updated August 2013

Data Intell igence Process Steps towards Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom

Included: § Step-by-step Process for Adopting Business Intelligence Philosophy § Form for Establishing Guidelines, Owners, and Standards of Data § Sample Dashboard § Sample Rules § Dashboard Request Form § Rule Request Form § Job Descriptions of New Roles

Futu

re P

oin

t of

Vie

w

visio

n y

ou c

an u

se

Data Intelligence Process

(405) 359.3910 | [email protected]

2

Overview

Before we dive into this process at all, the number one concept that will help you is the

understanding that Data Intelligence and Business Intelligence are philosophies, not

pieces of software. The philosophies say turning data into wisdom is the process of

creating visibility into things previously unseen. When facts, trends, and patterns are

seen, they now reveal the Truth with a capital “T” – meaning you have facts that support

your thoughts, not just assumptions based on previous experience. It is critical you

understand that simply buying BI tools will not make your organization good at seeing

the Truth. In order to achieve this, there must be an enterprise-wide effort to teach

everyone how to creatively use the technologies to reveal the Truth and put that

knowledge to positive use. Absent this, you will have an expensive set of Data

Intelligence tools and no value created.

In the arc of technology, we are much further along at creating data than actually being

able to analyze it. The process of Data Intelligence is front and center today because

turning data into information, into knowledge, and finally into wisdom (DIKW) are the

steps it takes to make your company the most intelligent in your market. When you add

the corporate skillset of learning to use data as an asset, you gain visibility into trends,

anomalies, and dynamics you have never seen before. This allows you to make better

decisions and be more innovative with your strategy in the market. Of course the

inverse if true, if you do not learn to use data well you will fall behind your competition,

and will learn hard lessons about what happens when someone else sees more of the

Truth than you do.

Data Intelligence is an umbrella term, and underneath it you will find other segments of

vocabulary, for example, Business Intelligence, Customer Intelligence, Social

Intelligence, and Big Data. Also under the Data Intelligence-process-umbrella would be

sections for entities like governments (Government Intelligence), education (Educational

Intelligence), or non-profit organizations (Organizational Intelligence). The philosophy

type depends on the type of Big Data being collected and what it is being used for. Data

Intelligence as a descriptor in all of these sections is the process of upchaining

data into information, knowledge and wisdom so that your people will be able

to see the Truth in a matter. Because the two most well known pieces of vocabulary

underneath this umbrella are BI and Big Data, let’s unpack those concepts first.



3

Business Intelligence – It is a catchall phrase, but it is important to understand

that Business Intelligence simply refers to data mining in most instances, and that data

can be from any number of critical areas. Here’s a model we’ve made to visualize what

BI really is:

Big Data – It is the base and foundation of Business Intelligence because until you

have data, you have nothing to analyze. There are three pieces to remember about

data: More data is better, data is an asset, and data quality defines its value.

Your Data Inventory – The more data you have access to, the more

powerful the asset. Stop and let that sink in for a minute… The more



4

data you have, the better. You need to fight to have an ever-growing

data warehouse. Do you really know how much data you have today?

Do you have a way to measure this? Do you know where you are

strong with data and where you are weak? You probably cannot

answer these questions as well as you should be able to. In a

technology-driven world it’s important to be able to answer these

questions definitively. We want you to care about understanding all

of the data you have, where it is, how accessible is it, how much

integrity does it have? What other types of data do you need? Who

are ALL the providers of data that you could possibly use? You should

monitor the inventory of your data just like you would for the

inventory of the products in your warehouse.

Data Integrity – Just having data will not help us if we cannot trust it.

We have watched companies get themselves in a lot of trouble

because they relied on bad data. In some cases companies have

gone bankrupt because they reacted to data that was not correct. You

should have in place a process where you identify owners of every

pile of data in the organization and make them responsible for the

quality of it. Let’s treat it like an asset and make people care about

our asset being pure.

Now let’s go through the Business Intelligence layers of the pyramid shown above:

Level One: BI cannot work if your underlying data is not organized and available.

This is always harder than people think to achieve. Also, there is a huge amount of

publicly available data your folks aren’t even looking at. You could probably get more

information from your customers if you just asked for it. What other piles of data could

you go buy or access? The first step is really to step back and work harder on

understanding what data you have and what else is out there.

Level Two: Data is worthless until we express it in some way so that people can

digest it visually. The most basic step to do this is through reports and dashboards. The

mission here is to simply improve inventory of available reports, and work harder on

creating more customized dashboards for the executives, VPs, and managers. It would



5

be a great idea to study what is being done holistically with reports and make sure that

you don’t have too many of them spread out all over the company, or some that are

inaccurate or duplicative.

Level Three: The rules layer might be the most underrated piece of technology we

have today. It is not hard to write rules that watch the data and alert us when things are

out of whack, or point out an opportunity or threat. You may have started to dabble in

rules in a few places already, but you need to put in a systematic process that includes

teaching staff about rules, building them, and maintaining them. Rules lower our

dependence on humans watching the data and that frees them up to do things people are

more suited for than technology is. The Data Intelligence process will help your company

institutionalize building rules. Once built, the rules that you make and the information

that they provide are yours to keep forever. This helps the flow of your company in

valuable ways, like if an employee leaves and a new one is brought in; they will already

have the visibility gained from rules and information established by the outgoing

employee, helping you to continue operating as normal.

Level Four: This layer is the combination of the more advanced things you can do

with Business Intelligence: Data Visualization, Mash-ups, and Predictive Analysis. Each

of these takes a high amount of creativity to be good at. The bottom line is that nothing

is stopping us from using these concepts today. We have all the software we need to do

them; we just need the people who will apply their creative ideas to make it happen. It

is much like buying a piano and then waiting for someone to learn how to play it. Then

you get one person who learns to play a little so everyone else just decides they will

enjoy the music when the specialist plays every once in a while. The reality is everyone

could play the piano if they would just commit to try. It is the same thing with using

these more advanced concepts in Business Intelligence. Those concepts sit there vacant

until people are willing to apply them and reap the value. Part of the Data Intelligence

process for a company is helping employees understand that you’re becoming data-

driven and they are being evaluated based on their ability to use these concepts to find

and leverage data in their jobs.

Level Five: Augmented Intelligence is a powerful concept that most people really

just don’t understand. It sounds complicated and futuristic so people just tune out. Stay

with me for a minute… All it means is that we use Business Intelligence and Big Data in



6

such a way that it replaces much of the analysis that our team members have to do with

their own brains today. We are not trying to replace the humans, we are simply building

knowledge-based tools and decision support systems, so the people can better allocate

their time to things other than staring at reports. Augmented Intelligence requires

implementation of the Data Intelligence process and all of the layers of the Business

Intelligence pyramid shown above. It’s a growing and evolving culture that you have to

nurture. The goal we want you to shoot for is to build a powerful Augmented Intelligence

layer at the company that would one day be an asset that separates you from

competitors. It could be a collection of software code you have spent years developing

that becomes the platform for the company’s prosperity.

The Data Intelligence process and Business Intelligence philosophy are not pieces of

software. This makes them much more difficult to add to your culture. Many companies

have many intelligence gathering tools in place, but without the culture of using them

properly it means that you likely aren’t leveraging them to maximum potential in terms

of increased sales, workflow efficiencies, or customer satisfaction.

This Data Intelligence process can be used by your leaders to apply an intelligence

philosophy that will one day dramatically impact your organization’s ability to win in the

market, but, only if you are committed, diligent, and clever about how you apply this

process.

Goals

The main goal of applying this Data Intelligence process is to implement a data usage

system, and to develop a team that can use this tool to make better decisions and be

more innovative. To accomplish this, you must turn data into information, into

knowledge, and then into wisdom. You have to learn to maximize the usage of the data

you have now and then build methods for gathering vastly more data. Also you have to

decide on how to visualize that data in ways that give you insight. Eventually doing this

as a practice builds a culture that shapes your company. You’ll become so used to the

visibility you have that making decisions without it will seem ignorant.



7

A secondary goal is to foster a Leadership Waterfall Process. This is a method for

driving usage of data into the whole organization. The Data Intelligence philosophy

needs to be sold from the top and inspired consistently. It cannot be just the CEO or

COO pushing it. It must have the support of the entire executive team, all of the VPs,

and all managers. When people see the executive team and their individual managers

living the data dream, they will naturally follow. You have to gather up all of your top

people and get them to make this a priority over the next few years until it is deeply

imbedded in your culture. Also, HR plays a crucial role in making sure that as new

people come onboard they are well trained and initiated to the concept. HR should also

be updating employee reviews and evaluations to keep current employees focused on the

plan. That’s one of the steps we’ve added to the process below. People must know,

from the top down, that they must use the tools, be creative, and gain visibility through

data to succeed in your company. You have to be the DIKW (Data-Information-

Knowledge-Wisdom) champions of your industry to succeed, and your people need to see

that ambition in all of your leaders. This desire then needs to get infected into your next

layer of leaders, and then down to the next. It needs to waterfall all the way down – and

on a daily basis, not just periodically or when evaluations are coming up. When a

graphics person designs a new package, we want them to wonder how they can use

Business Intelligence to better choose the colors, font styles, layout etc.

Processes

We’ve developed a 15-step method for integrating the Data Intelligence process into your

company, taking you from the beginning steps of understanding the philosophy and

setting goals, through implementation, and finally to accountability measures and finding

your return on investment. Integrating this fully into the organization takes a combined

effort from specific departments, so we’ve made it clear which one should handle each

step (Executive Team, Business, IT, Both Business and IT, HR, or Accounting).

Once the DIKW Team and leader are selected (step 5) they should be driving this

process.

1.) – Executive Team – Gain education on Data Intelligence and Big Data

a. IT - Create a map of current data and locations



8

***DIAGRAM INCLUDED***

It’s important to understand the philosophy of Business Intelligence and how to achieve

it through the process of Data Intelligence so that you’re clear on what you’re after and

what you can achieve through implementing it. Many organizations fail to get any value

out of an expensive BI implementation because their leaders never really understood the

concept, or how it could really be a benefit. They wanted it so they could get better

reports or a dashboard, but in truth they never really understood the power of the

concept. It would be a little like buying a computer to do email and never using it for

anything else. Leaders must commit to growing their personal knowledge of the DIKW

Chain from end to end.

We can help you with this through our Technology Mastery Institute Business

Intelligence/Big Data Workshop Track. We teach two of these workshops a year, and if

you would prefer a private workshop for just your executives, it can be arranged. You’ll

walk away with an understanding of the concepts, ideas of where they can help your

company, and begin thinking about what data you have and what data you want. Also,

we’ll begin the steps to put your Data Intelligence process into place. Following the

workshop track, you’ll need to map out the current state of your company’s data. We’ve

enclosed a diagram with the companion documents to help you and your IT Department

do this.

2.) – Business – What are your goals for DIKW improvement?

a. Finding visibility into the Truth?

b. Using data to beat your competition to market share?

c. Using data to drive constant operational improvement?

While still fresh from our time at the BI/BD Workshop Track, begin deciding what areas

you want to see visible Truth. We capitalize the “T” in Truth here because we want you

to cut down to the actual Truth, not influenced by any other outside sources. What data

will give you the most specific pieces of information that affect your business, and what

do you hope to gain from knowing these pieces of information? How about winning in

the market? What are your goals in your market? Also, what are your goals for driving



9

constant improvement? Which areas need the most improvement in your company? The

answers to these questions will guide you as you begin mining your data. Have your

business team work through these questions and choose your goals that will help you

become world class with DIKW.

3.) – IT – Documenting guidelines, owners and standards of data for areas

such as:

a. Field level data standards and controls

b. Data storage – hardware and architecture

c. Backup strategies

d. Data security

e. User access

f. Retention guidelines

***DOCUMENT INCLUDED***

For the categories listed, have your IT Department document guidelines of your data.

What is your data? Where is it stored? How is it backed up? What security measures

are protecting your data? Who is the owner of that data - in control of it and making

sure it is accurate? Who has access to the data?

4.) – Both – DIKW Strategy Retreat to integrate business and IT viewpoint

NOTE - This can be used to help with completion of steps 2 and 3

It’s time to bring the Business and IT sides together to share their views and opinions in

achieving a Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom flow. We suggest having a retreat so

you can focus your energy into this process. This should be a joint-discussion about the

data you currently have and what data you would like to have.

If you need our help with facilitating this retreat, we are glad to drive the discussion and

the agenda. Whether we do this, or you appoint an internal resource to be the facilitator,

it is important that you walk away from the offsite discussion with a clear picture in place



10

about what you want to accomplish over the next few years, and have the boundaries,

standards, and guidelines in place to keep things organized.

5.) – Both – Form DIKW Team and pick a leader

NOTE - This can be done at the Strategy Retreat

The DIKW Team should be made up of people from both the Business and IT sides. This

team will be the driving force behind your Data Intelligence process from this point

forward. The DIKW Team will also need to have a leader. The leader needs to be

someone who is high enough in the company to ensure that the tasks taken on by

various team members will be carried out and resources will be available when needed.

In many cases, the leader of this team is the CFO or from the accounting department.

We have found that any large technology project is best executed by a cross functional

team that meets regularly and is tasked with the long-term implementation of the

concept. A project of this size cannot be done by a few heroes who do all of the work for

everyone else. It takes a team of diverse opinions and divisions to really drive Data

Intelligence into the whole organization.

This team will likely be together and meeting at least monthly for approximately two

years.

6.) – Both – Research and document the current state

Before launching into more action steps, it is critical to know where the organization sits

currently with its data inventory and tools. In order to make wise decisions going

forward everyone must be on the same page as to how the organization stands with

DIKW at the moment. For example, where are you on:

a. reports

b. dashboards

c. data integrity

d. current status of data field levels, storage, backup, security, and access



11

There are many other questions, such as, where is your data currently? What volumes

and depth do you already have? How good is the data? How are you gathering it right

now? How is it being reported? Are those reports providing the information that you

need? You’ll need to complete your assessment of the current state of your data and it’s

representation.

7.) – Business – Analyzing the needs of managers

a. What new reports are needed?

b. What dashboard fields and drill down capability would be helpful?

c. How can real time data surveillance rules be applied?

***SAMPLE DASHBOARD INCLUDED***

***SAMPLE RULES STRUCTURE INCLUDED***

***DASHBOARD REQUEST FORM INCLUDED***

***RULE REQUEST FORM INCLUDED***

It is now time to create lists of needs from the management level people. Depending on

the size of your organization, you might want to start with just the executive team. The

goal of this step is to develop lists of custom dashboard needs, custom reports needed,

and rules that would be helpful for each person. When aggregated together, these lists

will form the early task lists for IT and BI specialists to work from when choosing vendors

(if needed) and to practice delivering functionality for the field.

There is another critical reason for this step and that is to begin the process of getting

your management layer to “see” how data could be utilized in innovative ways in each of

their areas. Until they have the ability to be creative with the use of analytics and data,

the tools will be useless. By asking each of them to produce their needs, you will have a

great indicator of how far along your team is with using data in productive ways.

When thinking about dashboards, you need to have an overall corporate dashboard, and

then managers can customize their own in order to monitor their key performance

indicators. Dashboards are a high level view into a collection of various pieces of data

that a person wants to monitor in real time. Certain sections of the dashboard might

also have drill down capability in order to get more detail on that specific area of data.



12

For example, you can click on the daily sales numbers to see where the sales are coming

from state-by-state, and then you click to see sales by each store in a specific state.

When developing rules, we try to have each manager create a list of ten to twenty rules

they would like to see written. The rules must have the following three pieces:

1 – Math will trigger an action if the data falls outside the boundaries

stated. For example: If sales drop by more than 5% over a thirty-day

period over last year, take the following action…

2 – The action is what will happen if the data identifies the condition given.

Actions can be an email being sent, a text message, printing a report and

delivering it, or spawning a workflow. In some cases an action could be a

pop up window on a screen.

3 – Who will be the recipient of the action? Decide who needs that

information and find the best way to get it to them.

At the end of this document we’ve included samples of dashboards, rules, and forms for

employees to request new dashboards and rules. Begin plotting where these can be put

to the best use at gaining intelligence and insight.

8.) – IT – Analysis of tools needed and gaps with current tools

a. Review current hardware and software tools

b. Investigate additional vendor products if needed

c. Do the ROI analysis on the tools you will buy to assure you’ll drive the

value needed (accounting)

You may already have some Data Intelligence tools in place. Whether or not they’re

providing the functionality you need is another story. It is important that the DIKW team

understands fully what hardware and software you already use in this area. What

additional pieces of hardware/software will be needed to fill in the gaps? You’re trying to

figure out what pieces are still needed to get the information necessary for the visibility

sought in your goals from the beginning. Look internally first at what you have and then

begin pricing the additional pieces that will be needed. Accounting will need to join in at



13

this point and provide a ROI analysis for the pieces of hardware/software that you want

to purchase.

It is wise to understand that this is not an area to overspend or overbuy. Being world

class at doing DIKW takes a few years at least, and starting with medium strength tools

makes sense. As you get better you can buy more sophisticated tools to access your

data. As long as the data is in good shape you can always tie in new presentation layer

tools. It does not make sense to overbuy and spend too much money in the early stages

of your growth with Data Intelligence.

9.) – Business – Analysis of staffing needs

a. Development staff, Business Analysts, Data Scientists, etc.

***JOB DESCRIPTIONS INCLUDED***

A mistake many organizations are making at this point is failing to staff this effort

appropriately. When your management staff learns how to use DIKW tools and concepts,

they are going to put a lot of pressure on the technologists to help with the pieces of the

puzzle that only they can do. For example, building rules. Once again, the software

tools are worthless unless you have staff that can put them to work.

It’s time to begin molding your staff to accomplish your goals. New roles will need to be

established to help you navigate the massive amounts of information that you’re bringing

in if you want to get the most out of it. These new roles will likely include Database

Administrators, Business Intelligence Developers, Business Analysts, Program Managers,

Data Analysts, Data Stewards, or Data Scientists. We’ve included job descriptions of

each of these positions in the companion documents.

10.) – IT– Review management needs and use them to help make decisions

on data software and hardware tools.

a. What hardware will be needed to support future data expansion?

b. What software applications do you need to fill out your capabilities?



14

c. What does the timeline look like to get the infrastructure in place?

d. Develop processes for building dashboards, rules, and visualizations

It is important to have the right tools in order to be world class with Data Intelligence.

This does not necessarily mean spending lots of money, but it will mean making

calculated investments. Keep in mind that this does not just mean buying BI software.

Data has to be stored on hardware, in databases, and many times must be aggregated

into data warehouses or data marts.

In addition, the data must be backed up in bulletproof manners and must be secure. For

this reason it is necessary at this step to get a holistic picture as to how you’re gathering

and harvesting data, where you are storing it, how it is being organized, and how it is

secured. You can get really excited about growing your data quantity but at the same

time you can be corrupting the quality of your data inventory if you aren’t taking these

pieces into account.

Because these tools may be in use for up to ten years, it would be a very good idea to

measure twice and cut once, as people say. Be very careful to pick tools that will grow

with you, and that will give you the functionality and security needed now and in the

future. It is expensive and time consuming to keep replacing software applications every

few years because you outgrow them.

11.) – Both – Create fertile ground with the overall team

a. Leaders implement a communication plan to build awareness and

excitement about using data well

b. Involve people of all levels with gathering ideas around how data can be

used better anywhere in the organization

c. Implement a river of information on data usage that creates a consistent

flow of information

This is the process of bringing the entire team on-board with the direction that you’re

going. Find time to explain the process and how important being a data-driven company

will be for future success. We suggest you hold a Lunch & Learn with your employees. If

company leaders host the Lunch & Learn, employees will see the emphasis being placed



15

on this area. Our consultants may join to help answer questions or explain parts of the

strategy in more detail if you feel you need this from us.

12.) – Business (HR) – Training plan developed and executed

a. A training plan must be developed for both current employees and new

hires

b. You must select an owner of training (Preferably the HR department)

c. Make sure the training focuses on creativity in using data

Your current and new employees will need to be brought up to speed on the new tools

and what their roles will be in using them on a daily basis. On this step you should select

who within the company will own and be conducting the training. It is a huge mistake to

spend money on BI tools and then fail to fully train people. This can be compounded by

failure to train new employees as they come on board.

13.) – HR – Add data skills to employee evaluations and compensation plans

a. Integrate data performance into employee evaluations so it is reviewed

regularly

b. Integrate data usage success into the compensation plans so people who

find ways to use data in ways with a high ROI are rewarded

c. Make it clear that part of the culture from now on is gaining skills with

moving data to information, knowledge and wisdom

You’ll need to begin formulating incentives and accountability pieces to make sure

everyone is doing their part in the Data Intelligence process. By rebuilding your

employee evaluations you’ll send a clear message of what you expect from your team

members. Some roles may require more or less compensation in your new data-driven

company. This will need to be accounted for when you think about how to use financial

incentives to motivate people.

With this said, money is normally not the first motivation for people; they are motivated

by feeling valued because they have accomplished something and are recognized for

providing value. Knowing this, it is a great idea to recognize people publicly who have



16

created good example of data usage that benefits the organization. This can be done at

company meetings, through email, or with individual meetings with leaders. Don’t miss

a great chance to reinforce positive examples because it this costs you nothing.

14.) – Business – Choose a DIKW start date

a. Initiate the launch of accountability, compensation plans, etc.

b. Rollout some initial capabilities

c. Start any new processes that have been developed for gathering more

data, or using it in improved ways

By selecting a launch date you’re letting your employees know exactly when the new

accountability standards and changes to the compensation plan will go into effect. This is

the launch of version 2.0 of your company, not the starting point of the Data Intelligence

process. You’ve obviously done a lot of work and made investment into this system.

This is when the system will be in full operation. It will still need to be tweaked at times;

rules will need to be added, new goals will likely emerge and you’ll need to plan out

implementing new hardware/software and employees to reveal the necessary information

to meet those new goals, but this will become part of your culture overtime and the gains

in sales and workplace efficiency will help you afford to make the changes.

15.) – Accounting – Engage ongoing DIKW value measurement process

a. Engage accountability measures

To ensure that you are receiving ROI on the pieces you’ve added you need to have

accounting provide regular measurements of the value that DIKW and your Business

Intelligence culture have provided. Accountability measures will also need to be in place

to make sure everyone is doing their part. These accountability measures will be most

important at the front of this process, but over time Data Intelligence gathering will

become engrained in the culture of your company. Once mangers see the visibility that

all of this data – properly acquired and sorted – can bring, they’ll be the ones pushing for

more of it.



17

Outcomes Expected

The outcome should be a fully functioning system that is regularly turning data into

information, into knowledge, and finally into wisdom. Through the Data Intelligence

process listed above you will have mapped your current data, set goals for the type of

data you would like to have and what you can do with it, taken an internal look at

staffing and tools and adjusted where necessary, explained to your staff the necessity of

becoming a data-driven company, trained them, and held them accountable. Also, you

will have analyzed your ROI for additions you’ve made in staffing and tools so that you

can measure the success that the Data Intelligence process has added to your company.

Over time, as you install new tools for data gathering and build up your dashboards and

rules to analyze it, you’ll be adding to a collection of insights that are yours to keep

forever. You’ll never be completely “finished” with Data Intelligence. The ongoing

question will always be, are you getting a good ROI on the money spent on those new

tools and staff members? Resources invested should get you more visibility, and as long

as you are turning that into better decisions and more sales you will come out okay.

As your culture is influenced by successfully implementing this plan, and DIKW becomes

the standard operation of your business, you simply will have more visibility than any of

your competitors. You will be piling up data rules while they’re just trying to understand

what it means to set up a rule. Your leaders will be efficient and focused more on the

human side of their jobs by allowing the Augmented Intelligence you’ve established to

provide them automated data surveillance. At the same time your competitors will be

buried in spreadsheets trying to pick out small bits of data by hand. Data Intelligence

will be the competitive edge for companies moving forward and that edge will go to the

ones that master it first. They will grab the market share they’re after while the late

bloomers will have to work harder to catch up and regain what they lost. So which side

of that do you want to be on?



18

Companion Documents

We’ve included several documents to assist you with some of the steps listed above. This will help you get through the steps quicker and get your Data Intelligence process moving.

§ Current State Data Mapping Diagram (Step 1) § Form for Establishing Guidelines, Owners, and Standards of Data (Step 3) § Sample Dashboard (Step 7) § Sample Rules (Step 7) § Dashboard Request Form (Step 7) § Rule Request Form (Step 7) § Job descriptions of New Roles (Step 9)



19

Current State Data Mapping Diagram:



20

Documenting Guidelines, Owners and Standards of Data: While preparing for your DIKW (Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom) Retreat, you’ll need your IT Department to provide information about the data that you already have. They should spend about the same amount of time on this that the business-side spends on Step 2 so that both sides are prepared for the retreat at the same time. It’s not important to get every detail about the data you already have in this step, but you do want a broad idea about what you have, where it’s located, and various pieces of information about how it’s stored, backed up, managed, etc. Have the IT Department answer the following questions about your data. For visualization purposes, it may work best to use a spreadsheet to list the types of data and answer these questions about your data: What are all the critical areas of data needed by the company? Where and how is this data stored? Who has access to the data? Who is responsible for managing this data? Who is the owner of the data? How is the data backed up? What types of security measures protect the data? Bring this information to your DIKW Retreat so that it can be a part of the discussion when the business and IT sides share viewpoints. Just as the business-side may add to their list of goals at the DIKW Retreat after talking with IT, the IT-side may have pieces to add to their list of data documentation after consulting with those on the business-side.



21

Sample Dashboard:



22

Sample Rules:



23

BI Dashboard Request Form Version 1.0 Updated 3/29/2013

Describe the dashboard: List any existing reports, spreadsheets, or SolHelp queries which currently present similar data: How would this help you? What’s the value? What Group(s) of employees would need access? What type of visualization do you want?

Line Scatter / Bubble

Histogram Other (please describe)



24

Rule Request Form: Name:

Department:

Date:

1.) What is the name for the rule?

2.) Describe the rule:

3.) Is this a temporary or permanent rule? 4.) Who owns the responsibility for the rule? 5.) What data fields do you want to monitor? 6.) What analytics are you interested in monitoring? 7.) What action(s) do you want taken if the condition you are looking for exhibits itself?

-Print a report and email it -Send an email -Send a text message -Spawn a workflow

-Other 8.) If “other,” describe action:

9.) Who do you want to receive the output of the actions?

10.) When is this rule needed by?



25

Job Descriptions of New Roles:

§ Database Administrator § Project (Program) Manager § Business Analyst § Business Intelligence Developer § Data Scientist (Engineering) § Data Scientist (Marketing) § Data Steward § Data Analyst

Database Administrator – As you mine your data, this person will be responsible

for maintaining it, storing it, securing it, backing it up, and providing access to it. The

more data you gather, the more important this role will be to manage it properly. A

person in this role should have a heavy IT background, especially in areas like data

warehousing.

General Description

A Database Administrator will be responsible for the installation, configuration,

upgrade, administration, monitoring and maintenance of databases.

The role includes the development and design of database strategies, system

monitoring/improving database performance and capacity, and planning for future

expansion requirements. They may also plan, coordinate and implement security

measures to safeguard the database. The person selected for this position will

maintain databases by identifying and solving database requirement issues as well

as supporting users.

We need someone who performs these functions and others while focusing on Big

Data, analytics, and innovation. The selected applicant will be joining a team

where gathering and management of data is a driving force behind the company’s

success. This needs to be a person who is not just willing, but passionate about

building and growing a data-driven company through a focused plan.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Identify database requirements by analyzing department applications,

programming, and operations, evaluating existing systems and designing

proposed systems



26

Recommend solutions by defining database physical structure and functional

capabilities, database security, data backup, and recovery specifications

Install revised or new systems by proposing specifications and flowcharts;

recommend optimum access techniques; coordinate installation requirements

Maintain database performance by calculating optimum values for database

parameters; implement new releases; complete maintenance requirements;

evaluate computer operating systems and hardware products

Prepare users by conducting training, providing information, and resolving

problems

Provide information by answering questions and requests

Support database functions by designing and coding utilities

Maintain quality service by establishing and enforcing organization standards

Maintain professional and technical knowledge by attending educational

workshops; review professional publications; establish personal networks;

benchmark state-of-the-art practices

Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed

Other tasks and duties as assigned

Qualifications and Desired Experience

Prospective candidates will need a bachelor's degree in a computer-related field

such as computer science or management information systems. A master’s

degree in related field is preferred. Certifications for various database platforms

may help applicant.

Ideal candidates will also have 5 to 7 years experience designing and/or managing

complex applications. Previous experience with data warehousing is necessary.

Combined equivalent technical experience will be considered.

The right person for this position will also be able to provide/manage:

Database performance tuning



27

Database security

Promoting process improvement

Problem solving

Presenting technical information

Quality focus

Database management

Data maintenance

Operating systems

Attention to detail

Information security policies

Promote company objectives

Salary Range

$70K - $110K, based on

experience

This Position Reports to

CIO



28

Project (Program) Manager – Your Project Manager will be guiding the

implementation process of your Data Intelligence tools through all the necessary

departments, making sure that projects are completed correctly and on schedule. As you

add new tools, this person will work across the company to get them running. This

person needs to be familiar with the technology as well as business operations. This role

will require someone who can manage several projects, tight deadlines, and who can

foster teamwork to get a project completed.

General Description

This Project Manager position will work with our IT department to create and

maintain an IT project plan that communicates tasks, milestone dates, statuses,

and resource allocation. They will coordinate delivery of development (beta) and

production releases that meet quality assurance standards, assist technical team

in design and development tasks, and assist testing team in creating test plans

and testing efforts.

This position will work alongside several portions of our operation as projects and

plans work their way through the implementation process toward fruition. This

company is investing in Business Intelligence philosophies and a major part of this

job will be to follow, monitor, and report on the status of those corresponding

processes as they are developed and put into place.


Responsible for implementing, improving, supporting and leading the processes,

strategies, and tools for the assigned projects

Monitoring projects and working to keep them running on schedule

Provide input and expertise for key technical functions by utilizing knowledge of

the business, industry, and technology

Setting and meeting deadlines

Coordinating launches

Facilitating communication between teams

Bringing people together into a cohesive whole

Define, design, and implement processes into the organization and facilitate

change through consulting and collaboration



29

Actively engage in discussions from high levels down to more of a granular look at

very specific projects and goals.

Must have a thorough knowledge of industry workflow (processes, procedures,

tools, applications, systems, etc.) coupled with a strong business background in

order to fully support the organization.


The ideal candidate will have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science,

Information Systems or a related field. Having a master’s degree will help

prospective applicants. Candidates should also have 5 years experience designing

complex applications with combined equivalent technical experience in any of the

following roles: project management, information architecture, information

development, technical research writing, information systems analyzing, or a

similarly technical occupation. A strong working knowledge of business operations

will be important to have in this position.

Desired Knowledge Skills, and Abilities

Excellent communication skills

Thrives on collaboration

Ready to lead when the team is counting on your expertise

On a mission to identify opportunities to optimize, expand or transform the world

through the lens of information

The discipline of a scientist in problem solving

Using data analytic techniques to create innovative solutions

An obsession for information, solving insurmountable problems and finding unique

ways to accelerate our business

The right person for this position will also be able to:

Manage tight deadlines

Foster team unity

Juggle several projects at once

Find efficiencies in any given project’s process

Prioritize projects based on the company’s goals and needs



30

Provide progress reports to managers and members of the executive team for

planning purposes

Use technology in new and creative ways to increase efficiency in the position

Salary Range

$60K - $90K, based on

experience


CIO, COO



31

Business Analyst – This person will be studying business practices along the way

and trying to find the ideal way of doing things. As your Data Intelligence pieces are

gaining traction, this individual will look for the most efficient and effective ways of doing

them through analysis. As tools are added, this person will be helping pull together the

information necessary to perform a proper return on investment. This needs to be a

person who understands the Business Intelligence philosophy, the technology, and

business operations.

General Description

This role will be a position that gathers information on the operations of different

divisions of the company. The Business Analyst will develop and implement

reports and metrics based on the analysis of business operations, best practices,

and key business indicators.

As our company works at applying a Business Intelligence philosophy, this

position will analyze existing operations of the company as well as pieces that we

plan to add for maximum effectiveness.

Candidates must have a solid background in understanding business operations as

well as a working knowledge of Business Intelligence.


Uses independent judgment to analyze a business unit to determine the business

drivers and metrics

Identifies and gathers relevant data for reporting business metrics

Develops and implements analysis, reports, and metrics to represent business

performance

Analyzes business data and reports the performance

Identifies, and using independent judgment, recommends process and operational

improvements to increase productivity and efficiency

Selects and applies appropriate quality and process improvement methodologies

to measurably improve operational effectiveness and efficiency

Provides professional/ technical guidance to team members

Influences others regarding existing concepts, processes and/or methodology

Works independently or part of a team



32


The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer-Science, Business,

or a related field. We’re looking for someone with at least 5 years of experience

in designing and developing business solutions. Background with IT or working

knowledge of tools and terms will be needed.


Can analyze a large business unit to determine the business drivers and metrics

Develops and implements the analysis, reports, and metrics which represent the

business performance

May lead other business operations analysts in the development of the analysis

and reporting of metrics and operational information

Can work independently or as part of a team


Select and apply appropriate quality and process improvement methodologies to

measurably improve operational effectiveness and efficiency

Independently interpret and analyze existing concepts

Use independent judgment to make decisions for less defined issues and select

methods and techniques for obtaining solutions

Develop cohesive working relationships with peers and leadership team

Be proactive in developing solutions to complex problems

Provide professional/technical guidance to team members

Influence others regarding existing concepts, processes and/or methodology

Salary Range

$60K - $90K, depending on

experience


COO, CIO



33

Business Intelligence Developer – This will be a crucial role as your layers of

Business Intelligence philosophy become established. The idea is that someone hired

into this role continues the work of your DIKW Team after you’ve completed the Data

Intelligence Process steps listed above. They will take the charter and goals that the

team established in the implementation process and work to maintain momentum. This

person will need to look at the Business Intelligence system you’ve established broadly

and conceptually, but also dig into the various pieces individually and mold them into an

ideal situation. In the DIKW model, this individual will focus more on the Data and

Information pieces while working to get those pieces in the best possible form to the

people working with that information to instill Knowledge and Wisdom to your company.

General Description

The Business Intelligence Developer’s role is to design and apply BI

hardware/software, staff, and structures. This includes acquiring, analyzing,

arranging, blueprinting, designing, rolling out, and training of BI solutions to

company employees and other users. The Business Intelligence Developer is also

responsible for accessing data when needed and testing system functionality to

find problem areas or room for improvement.

We’re looking for someone who can take a leadership role in a data-driven

company. This individual will use technology to bring in and leverage data in

ways that help the company perform better. This needs to be a forward thinking

individual who wants to help design a market-leader based on the company’s

intelligence level as compared to competitors.


Gather requirements, analyze, create design documents, and perform impact

analysis on all Business Intelligence functions

Assess and foster long-term strategic goals for Business Intelligence expansion

alongside users, managers, clients, and others as necessary

Continuously gauge industry trends for opportunities to apply new technologies

and data sources for BI improvement and prepare plans to apply these

enhancements to the company

Conduct research and make endorsements on Business Intelligence products,

services, and standards in support of obtainment and development



34

Evaluate and select database/data warehouse mechanisms, including hardware,

relational database management systems, ETL software, metadata management

tools and database design solutions

Provide ongoing backing of existing Business Intelligence operations

Develop, enhance and preserve meta data layers, reports, report definitions and

dashboards

Help produce guidelines and standards for data gathering, ownership, and usage

Help build database models, dashboards, reports, and interfaces for BI packages

Assist users with problems and resolve issues independently

Creates test plans, test cases, test scripts and performs testing of the Business

Intelligence functions and related environments

Promote Business Intelligence benefits to the organization and usage of our tools

to relevant business groups

Plan and organize tasks, report status to manager

Assist with plans to contribute to productivity and usefulness of the work

Attend management meetings on behalf of team


The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s Degree in a design or engineering-

related discipline to include: computer science, software engineering, information

systems, interaction, technical writing, information or interface design, human

computer interaction, design planning, graphic design, or communications. A

master’s degree would help a prospective applicant. We’re looking for a candidate

with at least 5 years of IT experience. Previous experience with Business

Intelligence development as well as sourcing and presenting data is preferred.

Professional exposure and experience with developing data reports and

dashboards geared towards Business Intelligence is an advantage for applicants.

Needs to have a working knowledge of data extracting techniques. At least two

years of experience with data warehousing is necessary.

We need someone who is focused on Big Data and developing layers of Business

Intelligence. This will take someone who is focused on company goals and can

also bring fresh and creative ideas towards reaching them. In the process of

turning data into information, into knowledge, and finally into wisdom for the

company, this person will work hands-on in the data and information parts of that

process while preparing information to be utilized in the best possible way by



35

those working on instilling knowledge and wisdom to the company from that

information. This will take the right individual. We will consider all relevant

experience.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Strong working knowledge of Business Intelligence philosophy, Data Intelligence

processes, and demonstrated ability to implement and use both

Working knowledge and understanding of Business Intelligence technologies as

well as familiarity with those tools

Understanding and familiarity with data warehousing

Strong written, oral, and presentation communication skills

Proven ability and initiative to learn and research new concepts, ideas, and

technologies quickly.

Demonstrated critical thinking, strong systems/process focus, organization talents

and difficulty solving skills

Ability to quickly pick up new tools and technologies

Willingness to study industry trends and maintains a focus on finding ways to

keep the company ahead of competition through forward thinking

Ability to work in a team-oriented, collaborative setting

Willing and able to facilitate meetings and put together action teams to achieve

results

Able to teach and train others

Ability to prioritize tasks in a high-pressure environment and follow through to

execute

Able to lead and influence cross-organizationally

Strong interpersonal and leadership skills


Grasp and describe ‘big picture’ approaches to solving otherwise complex

problems

Focus on Business Intelligence ideas and constantly be looking for ways to

improve company performance

Manage teams and effectively guide them through company goals



36

Work with management and executive team to develop Business Intelligence

goals and carry those goals throughout the rest of the company

Look at data with a creative yet analytical eye, taking into account industry

trends, company performance, and marketing strategies

Salary Range

$80K – $110K, depending on

experience


COO, CIO



37

***NOTE*** The next four positions listed (Data Scientist for Engineering or Marketing,

Data Steward, and Data Analyst) are very similar but have differences. The Data Analyst

focuses on the analysis and presentation of data while the Data Steward’s main role is to

help manage, find, secure, backup, and provide data for the company. The Data

Scientist role (with either department listed, or other areas as you see fit) encompasses

both the Data Steward and Data Analyst roles. Data Scientists will help manage AND

analyze data. The Data Scientist is a higher paying position because it requires a larger

skill set and handles a wider range of responsibilities. We point this out because the

status of your operation’s Data Intelligence process will determine which of these roles

fits in best with your company at the moment. A smaller company may not want to add

several people, so they might prefer just a Data Scientist to preform both roles instead of

hiring both a Data Steward and Data Analyst. However, a larger company may have

more data to track and be looking for more in-depth analysis; those companies may find

more value in hiring Data Stewards and Data Analysts so that those people can focus in

and devote more time to their specific roles. Really it doesn’t matter what size the

company is; a small organization may establish a fantastic Data Intelligence process that

returns a lot of value to the company. That company may start out with just Data

Scientists but later decided to hire Stewards and Analysts to help develop and get more

out of their layers of intelligence. The choice of which positions to go with is really just

determined by what your company needs at the moment.

Data Scientist (Engineering) – This position encompasses a few different roles,

including Data Analyst and Data Steward. We’ve added two Data Scientist positions to

this document; this one is for handling data relevant to company operations. This person

should not only be able to manage your data, but also be able to pull it and analyze it.

This will take – as mentioned in the description – someone who is analytical in studying

the data, but also creative and innovative in how they gather data and present it visually.

General Description

Data science incorporates varying elements and builds on techniques and theories

from many fields, including math, statistics, data engineering, pattern recognition

and learning, advanced computing, visualization, uncertainty modeling, data

warehousing, and high performance computing with the goal of extracting

meaning from data and creating data products. Data Scientists seek to use all

available and relevant data to effectively tell a story that can be easily understood



38

by non-practitioners.





building and growing a data-driven company through a focused plan. This is a

position that has substantial potential for growth depending on the amount and

type of data that you’re able to gather and how useful and visual you can make it.

This position will require someone who is innovative and creative in their data

mining and visualizing techniques, but also analytical in their findings.


Pull data through various sources

Apply data gathered to help the company function more effectively and gain new

vision about operations in new and valuable ways

Provide expert knowledge of user-centered design capabilities with a clear

understanding of human computer interaction

Analyze data and tell compelling and easy to understand stories with

visualizations about trends

Work with staff to share and use trends in company data that is uncovered

Provide strong leadership and diplomatic skills with the ability to defend and stand

by recommendations

Create information architectures and to develop technical documents, materials,

procedures, standards, and templates that support technical information

architectures

Architect, create and maintain technical content

Maintain a working knowledge of information systems, security, and survivability

issues

Distill complex matters into clean, intuitive solutions

Use good writing skills

Participate in highly collaborative processes and team-based environments

Adhere to tight deadlines

Help develop and utilize UI design for mobile device applications for use by

company employees and/or consumers



39






master’s degree is preferable. Looking for a candidate with 5 to 7 years

experience in any of the following roles: information architect, information

developer, technical research writer, information systems analyst, data

warehousing, or similarly technical occupation. Professional experience in

developing technical and/or analyst reports would help.

We’re looking for someone who can find, navigate, analyze, and provide

visualizations of good data. As mentioned above, this will require an extremely

creative yet analytical individual.


Ability to mine, store and use vast amounts of data

Able to use mined data to provide information to company employees

Expert knowledge of user-centered design capabilities with a clear understanding

of human-computer interaction

Excellent project management skills: the ability to organize and prioritize work

across a team of contributors

Excellent communication skills with a passion for building intuitive, easy-to-use

dashboards and visualizations of data

Strong leadership and diplomatic skills with the ability to defend and stand by

recommendations

Ability to create information architectures and to develop technical documents,

materials, procedures, standards, and templates that support technical

information

Ability to architect, create and maintain technical content

Working knowledge of information systems interoperability, security, and

survivability issues

The ability to distill complex matters into clean, intuitive solutions

Outstanding written, verbal, and presentation communication skills



40



problems

Solve problems efficiently and creatively

Be a quick study and self-starter

Be a visionary designer

Be comfortable working independently at times in a rapidly changing, loosely

structured environment

Maintain a high level of professionalism at all times

Work meticulously with careful high-level attention to detail

Meet deadlines while working on multiple tasks

Work diplomatically in a highly collaborative environment

Salary Range


experience


CIO, COO



41

Data Scientist (Marketing) – This position encompasses a few different roles,

including Data Analyst and Data Steward. We’ve listed two Data Scientist positions in

this document; this one is for handling data relevant to marketing operations and

studying consumers. This person should not only be able to manage your data, but also

be able to pull it and analyze it. This will take – as mentioned in the description –

someone who is analytical in studying the data, but also creative and innovative in how

they gather data and present it visually.

General Description

This Data Scientist position would work with our Marketing department to pull and

analyze information from consumers based on their interactions with social

technologies and other valuable data sources.

Data Scientists incorporate varying elements and build on techniques and theories

from many fields, including math, statistics, data engineering, pattern recognition

and learning, advanced computing, visualization, uncertainty modeling, data

warehousing, and high performance computing with the goal of extracting

meaning from data and creating data products. Data scientists seek to use all

available and relevant data to effectively tell a story that can be easily understood

by non-practitioners. The position will take an innovative and creative individual.





building and growing a data-driven company through a focused philosophy of

Business Intelligence. This is a position that has substantial potential for growth

depending on the amount and type of data that you’re able to gather and how

useful and visual you can make it.


Pull data from consumers through social technologies and various sources

Apply data gathered to help the marketing department and company reach more

consumers in new and valuable ways

Help by working with marketing department to provide an effective consumer

revenue engine



42


understanding of human-computer interaction

Analyze data and tell compelling and easy to understand stories, with

visualizations, about trends.

Work with the marketing department staff to share and use consumer trends that

are uncovered


by recommendations

Create information architectures and develop technical documents, materials,


architectures



issues





Help develop and utilize UI design for mobile device applications to pull data about

consumers









warehousing, or similarly technical roles. Professional experience in developing

technical reports and analyst reports is preferred.

We’re looking for someone who can find, analyze, and provide visualizations of

good data. This will be done through our marketing department so you will need

to be able to use several different social technologies and other methods to pull

data about consumers and then map out trends and themes that can be visually



43

presented to the marketing department staff as well as other company divisions.

This will take a creative and innovative individual who is also analytical in their

findings.



Able to use mined data to provide information to marketing staff and company

employees


of human computer interaction

Demonstrable fluency with industry-standard design tools






recommendations



information





Outstanding written, verbal and presentation communication skills



problems








44





Salary Range


experience


CIO, CMO

Updated August 2013

Data Steward – This person should not only be able to manage your data, but also

be able to pull it and analyze it as needed. Their responsibility will be caring for your

data and making sure it is available when needed. This will take – as mentioned in the

description – someone who is analytical in studying the data, but also creative and

innovative in how they gather data and present it visually. They will need a working

knowledge of techniques for data warehousing and security.

General Description

Data Stewards focus on the management of data as well as the upkeep of the

guidelines and standards for that data. For this position a Data Steward will work

with several members of the team to store data as well as pull it out when needed

for analysis. This person will also be responsible for helping secure and backup

data.









mining, storing, and securing techniques.





Store data and be able to recall it effectively

Help with management, security and backup of company data








46


by recommendations



architectures



issues













We’re looking for someone who can find, navigate, analyze, and provide good

data. As mentioned above, this will require an extremely creative yet analytical

individual.



Able to provide mined data to company employees as needed




ways of storing and accessing data


recommendations



47



information




problems










Salary Range


experience


CIO

Updated August 2013

Data Analyst – This position is focused on the analysis of your data and presenting it

in understandable and clear ways. This person’s main responsibility will be to find

information within your data, track it, and visualize it for employees. This will take – as

mentioned in the description – someone who is analytical in studying the data, but also

creative and innovative in how they gather data and present it visually.

General Description

Data Analysts are responsible for studying data, discovering valuable or

threatening trends, and then visualizing that information in easy-to-understand

ways. This position incorporates varying elements and builds on techniques and

theories from many fields, including math, statistics, data engineering, pattern

recognition and learning, advanced computing, visualization, uncertainty

modeling, data warehousing, and high performance computing with the goal of

extracting meaning from data and creating data products. Data Analysts seek to

use all available and relevant data to effectively tell a story that can be easily

understood by non-practitioners.









mining and visualizing techniques, but also analytical in their findings.











49



by recommendations



architectures



issues





Help develop and utilize UI design for mobile device applications for use by

company employees and/or consumers











We’re looking for someone who can find, navigate, analyze, and provide

visualizations of good data. As mentioned above, this will require an extremely

creative yet analytical individual.



Able to use mined data to provide information to company employees



50


of human-computer interaction






recommendations



information








problems










Salary Range


experience


CIO