Does On-Demand Business Intelligence Make Sense?

April 2, 2009David M. RaabRaab Associates Inc.www.raabssociatesinc.com

On-Demand ComputingDefinition of On-Demand

• Remote resources• Self-provisioned• User-operated

Comparison

In-house On-Demand Outsource

local resources remote resources remote resources

IT-provisioned self-provisioned vendor-provisioned

user-operated user-operated vendor-operated

Advantages of On-Demand

• Low cost / no fixed investment

• Easy to expand (or reduce) capacity

• Easy to use / no tech skills

• Quick deployment / easy to change

Business Intelligence

“Information used for decisions” • Standard reports • Dashboards• Ad hoc exploration• Operational / predictive /

distributed BI

BI Components• Data warehouse (source,

integrate, structure)• Presentation (BI system)…most of the work is in the

warehouse

An executive dashboard.

A traditional BI architecture diagram.

Does On-Demand BI Make Sense?

On-demand is good.Business Intelligence is good.

…so, they must be good together, right?

(Remember peanut butter and chocolate.)

(But what about broccoli and ice cream?)

Business Intelligence Challenges

• Need tech skills to set up

• Requires IT support

• Costly to deploy

• Time-consuming to implement

• May be short-term or one-time project

• May require large computing resources

BI Challenges vs. On-Demand Advantages

BI Challenges On-Demand AdvantagesNeed tech skills to set up Easy to use / no tech skills

Requires IT support Easy to use / no tech skills

Costly to deploy Low cost / no fixed investment

Time-consuming to implement Quick deployment / easy to change

May be short-term or one-time project

Easy to expand (or reduce) capacity

May require large computing resources

Easy to expand (or reduce) capacity

Does On-Demand BI Make Sense?

On-demand is good.Business Intelligence is good.On-demand strengths match BI challenges.

…but what about objections to on-demand?

Objections to On-Demand

• Security

• Process integration

• Reliability

• Vendor lock-in

• Inadequate tools

Responses to On-Demand Objections

• Security: often better than in-house

• Process integration: APIs more available

• Reliability: most BI projects are not mission critical

• Vendor lock-in: negotiable

• Inadequate tools: pick the right vendor

Does On-Demand BI Make Sense?

On-demand is good.

Business Intelligence is good.

On-demand strengths match BI challenges.

Objections to on-demand can be met.

…but the real issue with BI is complexity.

Complexity in BI

• Complex data preparation

• Complex data models

• Complex requirements

• Complex analytics

Does On-Demand BI Make Sense?

On-demand is good.Business Intelligence is good.On-demand strengths match BI challenges.Objections to on-demand can be met.

Can it reduce complexity?

Strategies to Reduce Complexity1. Make standard technology

more efficient• Simplify the tasks• Automate the tasks• Do fewer tasks

2. Use non-standard technology• Columnar and in-memory

databases

Strategies vs. Types of Complexity

Data Preparation

Data Models

Requirements Analytics

Simplify x x x

Automate x x x x

Do less x x x

Database x x

Does On-Demand BI Make Sense?

On-demand is good.

Business Intelligence is good.

On-demand strengths match BI challenges.

Objections to on-demand can be met.

It can reduce complexity.

Is there any problem on-demand BI can’t solve?

Problems On-Demand BI Can’t Solve

• Data isn’t available

• Too costly to move data

• Project has no clear objective

…do these in-house or outsource.

When Does On-Demand BI Make Sense?

In-houseOn-

Demand Outsource

General on-demand advantages

• In-house tech skills lacking x x

• In-house tech staff unavailable x x

• In-house cost too high x x

• In-house time too long x x

• Short term / one-time project x $

• Large hardware requirements x x

General on-demand issues

• Security risk x x x

• Process integration x x* x

• Reliability x x* x

• Vendor lock-in x x x

• Inadequate tools x x* x*depends on tool

When Does On-Demand BI Make Sense?

In-houseOn-

Demand Outsource

On-Demand BI issues

• Complex data preparation x x* x

• Complex data models x* x

• Complex requirements x* x

• Complex analytics x* x*depends on tool

Issues on-demand BI can’t solve

• Data not available x ? x

• Too costly to move data x x

• Project lacks clear objective ? ? ?

Picking the Right Vendor

• Technology– Provisioning– Functionality– Scalability– Complexity– API / integration– Maturity

• Terms of service– Data access– Service levels– Intellectual property

• Professional services– Strategy – Project management– Data integration– Analytics

• Pricing– Upfront and ongoing cost– Impact of volume– Contract period

• Financial stability

Final Thoughts

1. On-demand BI offers substantial benefits

– Cost, time to market, flexibility

2. Vendors differ substantially

– Cost, time to market, flexibility

3. It can’t solve all your problems

4. Choose projects and vendors carefully for success