Now that Big Data is driving big companies, Visual Analytics is seen on more CVs, and Predictive Analytics is predicted to be the next big thing, there has never been a better time for strategic Business Intelligence (BI) investments. However, actually writing the business case can be one of the most significant hurdles.
This is often caused by a lack of unilateral buy-in, difficulties discussing technical complexities with the C-suite, and a gap between leadership opinions of BI capability (generally that it works well enough) and user opinions of BI capability (often that key information is missing, low quality or untrustworthy).
These are seven ways you can help you build a successful BI investment that is compelling, collaborative, and focused on driving benefit across your business.
DO IT TOGETHER
The benefits of strategic data investments are rarely contained to one area of the business. De Beers had built their data landscape organically for years without an overall approach or framework, but they found that bringing together representatives from each major function allowed them to drive bigger benefits across the board. Collaboration will not only make the funding process easier, but will make delivery and benefits measurement easier too.
Find out where key information comes from, how it is sorted, and who’s using it. Over a year on from a merger, Penguin Random House suffered some serious data inconsistencies. Developing a detailed understanding of their BI landscape let them paint an accurate picture of the current situation, highlight real business questions that can’t be answered today, and prioritise their investment so that high profile problem areas can be tackled first.
The road to a new strategic data platform can be long, often taking multiple years. Before defining their overall roadmap of change, the BI team at Sainsbury’s were delivering tactical initiatives to enhance their BI capabilities with little long-term planning or visibility of where they were heading.
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