BI - it's not about reporting

Over a decade since the concept of Business Intelligence was first mooted to a business community desperate for improved visibility of corporate performance; there is finally a technology solution that is applicable and cost effective for the SME community.

But it is becoming patently clear that very few SME organisations have any real understanding of just what BI can deliver. For many the goal is simply to improve the level of reporting from core applications.  Indeed, the majority simply want rapid access to sales history.

This lack of understanding of the role BI can play within a business is a concern. Business Intelligence is not about reporting; indeed it is not just about improved analysis of historical data. BI is also about providing multiple views of the same data to transform real time business performance, using triggers and alerts to inform management of significant business events, and dashboards and traffic lights to manage Key Performance Indicators.

Obsessing about reporting, as so many companies seem to be at the moment, means that they will overlook many of the key areas that deliver the rapid return on investment. Obviously detailed analysis of sales history, customer behaviour and financial trends plays a vital role in ongoing business planning. But those organisations overlooking the full extent of the BI solution set will struggle to maximise ROI and improve business performance. It will be those that step outside the reporting mindset that will be able to use BI to achieve business transformation.

Feeding Frenzy

After a few lean years, the current rush to embrace out of the box Business Intelligence tools is creating a reseller feeding frenzy. The development of predefined cubes is providing users with immediate visibility across key areas such as finance and CRM - without the need for expensive consultancy or development work.

But however simple it may appear on the surface, used correctly BI is a phenomenally powerful tool that can transform business performance. It is, therefore, essential that organisations gain real understanding of what BI can deliver and how it can support specific business objectives prior to product choice and implementation.

For many organisations, however, even understanding the potential of BI is a challenge. Add in a wide range of product options and it becomes clear that the BI purchase is not as simple as, perhaps, some resellers are suggesting.

If organisations are to maximise the BI investment the reseller needs to play an important role in assessing business needs and then prioritising the BI deployment - whether that is the use of alerts, dashboards or detailed analysis of business performance.

With poor reseller support, however, there is a real danger that organisations will simply replicate their existing reporting solution, overlooking the considerable benefit that other aspects of the BI solution set can deliver.

The new BI tools are out of the box; they can be deployed quickly and deliver immediate benefit. But that does not mean there is no need for consultancy. The reseller community may be enjoying the easy revenue boost offered by growing SME adoption of BI but just how many of those products will deliver real value if no attempt is made to understand business requirements?

BI - No Excuses

The arrival of low cost, easy to deploy Business Intelligence technology should result in the end of many standard business excuses. Firstly, rather than traditional, static, two-dimensional reports that are inflexible, provide little real business insight and prompt more management argument than business consensus, BI's single version of the truth can enable a fundamental transformation of both business understanding and business process.

Critically it fundamentally releases the FD from time consuming reporting, to gain a detailed understanding of trends in costs by offering drill down to transaction level information.

Furthermore, combining improved information resources with real time alerts and performance dashboards comprehensively changes the way organisations operate. For example, if a customer places a £10,000 sales order, and the company has the stock to fulfil that order, there should be no possible reason for failing to meet the customer demand. Yet how many times has a valuable customer order been lost simply because of an automated credit stop for a disputed £150?

Proactive and dynamic alerting via SMS or email to the relevant business manager when this condition occurs ensures the company can undertake immediate action to resolve this issue. Without the alert the business is at clear risk of losing the sales order as the customer opts to source goods elsewhere.

The use of proactive alerts can also play a beneficial role in up-selling. Whenever a customer calls to check stock availability or place an order, an immediate alert can support an up-selling call to the customer.

As practical business tools like these minimise the time and resource required on mundane reporting, there is a real opportunity for organisations to grasp BI to become much more dynamic, pro-active and competitive in the way in which they operate.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Watkinson
Sales Director
CPiO