Too Much for Too Few
BI report design, ad hoc query, and OLAP analysis tools have hundreds, if not thousands, of features. Although the user interface is often simple, complexity is introduced from the data side. Even a simple data warehouse has hundreds of columns of data, and it’s not uncommon for more complex systems to have thousands of columns. When an end user is faced with a blank canvas, thousands of columns of data, and hundreds of accessible features, complexity is automatic. “Where do I begin?” is often the first question, shortly followed by “I don't have time for this,” or “I give up.”
The user skill pyramid is a widely discussed and generally agreed upon description of the end users in most organizations. The simple version of the pyramid shown below demonstrates that 90 percent of the users within most organizations fit into the class of users known as non-technical business users, which means that only 10 percent of users are advanced enough to use a BI tool.
What may not be obvious from the pyramid is that most executives and managers, often the primary strategic decision-makers, are in the lower portion of the pyramid – that is the non-technical users.
It’s a Matter of Time
In some instances executives and managers are technical enough to use a BI tool, but they don’t have the time to work with a BI tool and navigate a data warehouse to produce the information they need. Most people need a faster, easier way to get the information they need than that provided by a BI tool.
BI Go-To Guys and Multiple Versions of the Truth
In some cases, moderately successful deployments of BI tools are found in individual departments. Usually that means that each department has identified and relies on a handful of advanced users who become the tool experts, or the “BI go-to guys.” These users employ the BI tool on the behalf of others, and create and distribute information for their department. In these cases, another issue is brought to the surface – the inconsistency of the answers generated by more than one
advanced user, also known as multiple versions of the truth.
Multiple versions of the truth result when two or more people apply different query methods and functions, and arrive at different conclusions. The challenge is that it’s difficult to know which, if any, conclusion is correct.
The tool-based efforts of advanced BI users do not go through the same rigorous quality testing of an IT department. Their work within a tool is typically not auditable. When this occurs, the validity of the information system, the BI tool, and the data warehouse are all brought into question. Valid or not, many companies have more confidence in operational reports generated, and tested by IT professionals. Many become skeptical of pure ad hoc information created with a BI tool because of the potential for variations and inconsistencies.
The Solution
Organizations need BI solutions that are easy to use for the entire user population, especially those in the bottom portion of the usability pyramid. In addition, they need a solution that mitigates multiple versions of the truth by providing access to a common source of enterprise information and standardized report generation methods. A BI platform is the answer to all of these requirements.
A BI platform leverages BI tools along with other technologies, including databases, data integration, and portals to provide an end-to-end solution for a defined business problem or set of business problems that can be termed a BI application. While BI platforms are implemented by IT professionals, their end result, the BI application, is designed for business users.
Organizations have been led to believe that BI platforms are too complex for their needs. This couldn’t be further from the truth. When you consider the data integration, warehousing, and end-user training costs associated with BI tools, a BI application built on a BI platform has about the same time to market as a BI tool. And end users embrace easy-to-use BI applications as part of their day-to-day routine, which is arguably the most critical success factor of any application.
This is why BI platforms have far greater success than BI tools.
The fact is that most non-technical business users can and will access information through BI applications, which are much simpler to use than BI tools. BI applications leverage reporting technology, Web browsers, and e-mail to make information more accessible to these business users in a comfortable, easy-to-use environment.
For example, today’s parameter-driven BI applications provide users a simple Web interface to navigate to the report they want, much the same way they would find an item on eBay or a book on Amazon. BI applications allow users to easily customize the report by selecting options from pull-down menus the same way they would fill in their address and select their home state or a shipping option from a drop-down list.
BI report design, ad hoc query, and OLAP analysis tools have hundreds, if not thousands, of features. Although the user interface is often simple, complexity is introduced from the data side. Even a simple data warehouse has hundreds of columns of data, and it’s not uncommon for more complex systems to have thousands of columns. When an end user is faced with a blank canvas, thousands of columns of data, and hundreds of accessible features, complexity is automatic. “Where do I begin?” is often the first question, shortly followed by “I don't have time for this,” or “I give up.”
The user skill pyramid is a widely discussed and generally agreed upon description of the end users in most organizations. The simple version of the pyramid shown below demonstrates that 90 percent of the users within most organizations fit into the class of users known as non-technical business users, which means that only 10 percent of users are advanced enough to use a BI tool.
What may not be obvious from the pyramid is that most executives and managers, often the primary strategic decision-makers, are in the lower portion of the pyramid – that is the non-technical users.
It’s a Matter of Time
In some instances executives and managers are technical enough to use a BI tool, but they don’t have the time to work with a BI tool and navigate a data warehouse to produce the information they need. Most people need a faster, easier way to get the information they need than that provided by a BI tool.
BI Go-To Guys and Multiple Versions of the Truth
In some cases, moderately successful deployments of BI tools are found in individual departments. Usually that means that each department has identified and relies on a handful of advanced users who become the tool experts, or the “BI go-to guys.” These users employ the BI tool on the behalf of others, and create and distribute information for their department. In these cases, another issue is brought to the surface – the inconsistency of the answers generated by more than one
advanced user, also known as multiple versions of the truth.
Multiple versions of the truth result when two or more people apply different query methods and functions, and arrive at different conclusions. The challenge is that it’s difficult to know which, if any, conclusion is correct.
The tool-based efforts of advanced BI users do not go through the same rigorous quality testing of an IT department. Their work within a tool is typically not auditable. When this occurs, the validity of the information system, the BI tool, and the data warehouse are all brought into question. Valid or not, many companies have more confidence in operational reports generated, and tested by IT professionals. Many become skeptical of pure ad hoc information created with a BI tool because of the potential for variations and inconsistencies.
The Solution
Organizations need BI solutions that are easy to use for the entire user population, especially those in the bottom portion of the usability pyramid. In addition, they need a solution that mitigates multiple versions of the truth by providing access to a common source of enterprise information and standardized report generation methods. A BI platform is the answer to all of these requirements.
A BI platform leverages BI tools along with other technologies, including databases, data integration, and portals to provide an end-to-end solution for a defined business problem or set of business problems that can be termed a BI application. While BI platforms are implemented by IT professionals, their end result, the BI application, is designed for business users.
Organizations have been led to believe that BI platforms are too complex for their needs. This couldn’t be further from the truth. When you consider the data integration, warehousing, and end-user training costs associated with BI tools, a BI application built on a BI platform has about the same time to market as a BI tool. And end users embrace easy-to-use BI applications as part of their day-to-day routine, which is arguably the most critical success factor of any application.
This is why BI platforms have far greater success than BI tools.
The fact is that most non-technical business users can and will access information through BI applications, which are much simpler to use than BI tools. BI applications leverage reporting technology, Web browsers, and e-mail to make information more accessible to these business users in a comfortable, easy-to-use environment.
For example, today’s parameter-driven BI applications provide users a simple Web interface to navigate to the report they want, much the same way they would find an item on eBay or a book on Amazon. BI applications allow users to easily customize the report by selecting options from pull-down menus the same way they would fill in their address and select their home state or a shipping option from a drop-down list.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario