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Business Intelligence Can Be a

Long Journey So How Do You
Start Delivering Value Now?
Richard Starnes
Principal
Information Management
Deloitte Consulting LLP

BI is not a quick-hit
initiative. Its a
journey. But
businesses can still
see results along
the way.

4 Tips for Seeing Results Early and Often

op quiz: What are your long-term business intelligence (BI) goals? What business problems will your
BI solutions help you solve? Chances are you already
have good answers to these questions since BI is now a
leading business and technology issue for many companies. Business leaders know the value it can bring for
supporting decision making, reducing risk, introducing
cost efficiencies, and improving information quality.
But what is your roadmap for reaching those goals?
For many companies, the picture becomes cloudy here.
For starters, there are more BI-focused software solutions available from SAP now than ever before. And,
while its great to have options, it can be hard to know
which configuration is the smartest choice for your
business. Plus, many companies dont know where to
begin since it can be difficult to analyze how well a companys current BI system works, where it falls short, and
how much incremental value a transition will deliver.
For all these reasons, BI is not a quick-hit initiative.
Its a journey. But businesses can still see results along
the way if they take the right approach. Here are four
tips for demonstrating BI results early and regularly.

1. Take Time to Plan

Experienced mountain climbers dont just grab their
gear and head to the mountain not when theyre trying to reach an imposing new peak. They carefully plan
out each stage of the climb with their hiking teams. Its
the same with improving or implementing a BI solution
you need to take the time to understand the real
requirements, engage with stakeholders, and create a
vision that will sustain everyone through the long haul.

2. Identify Business Leaders Who Can

Help Deliver Quick Wins
Its best to deliver a BI system in chunks in a data set
like General Ledger, for instance, or in specific applications, such as executive dashboards. That way, you
can show progress and move the organization along
in a more gradual, natural fashion. But dont deliver
these chunks without outside help and just hope that

someone will champion your success. Find a partner

from the business to help get you there faster.

3. Consider Leading with Lightweight

Tools, Like SAP BusinessObjects Explorer
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer can be a useful, intuitive
tool for putting BI functionality in users hands earlier,
helping them to start generating results on their own
more quickly. For example, the tool can help users dive
into existing SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse data
and master data relationships to present multiple data
sets like sales and inventory with minimal effort. That
means they can look beyond a specific query to see
broader relationships more quickly. Its like data mining
on the fly. And SAP BusinessObjects Explorer isnt the
only tool that can help jump-start your analytics efforts.
Preconfigured solutions that focus on the industry or
purpose level (SAPs business analytics solutions, for
instance) can also be rapidly deployed to deliver value.

4. Experiment with a Pull Model

SAPs newest generation of solutions (like SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP BusinessObjects Analysis)
were designed to help users change the standard BI
model. Instead of pushing new capabilities out to users,
give them the tools to start pulling their own weight
enabling them to generate their own analytics, reports,
and capabilities. Through this pull model, they can use
BI to explore uncharted territory on their own.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward

With BI, you probably wont be delivering the promised
value right away. That makes it even more important to
drive incremental value along the way, keeping everyone
engaged and helping them remember the big picture
questions we asked earlier. Showing that kind of value is
crucial to a BI project. The four tips weve offered here
arent the only ways to make it happen, but our experience at Deloitte shows that theyre a great start.
To learn more, visit www.deloitte.com/sap or drop
us a line at sap@deloitte.com. n

Reproduced from the Jan n Feb n Mar 2011 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS Publishing | sapinsider.wispubs.com