1. 5 BI and Data Visualization Trends for 2010

One of the more popular entries on our blog, we thought we’d remind you of the 5 BI and data visualization trends we identified for this year.

2. Top Five Unconventional Uses of Business Intelligence Software

An interesting approach to the uses of business intelligence software, this list is designed to give you a sense of the wide range of projects you can tackle using it.

3. Top 5 Reasons Why Your Business Intelligence Project Will Fail

5 potential reasons for failure, along with 5 antidotes to try and avoid it.

4. Five Steps to Business Intelligence Success

Similar to the above, this list gives 5 steps you can take in order to implement a successful business intelligence project.

5. Top 5 Business Intelligence Considerations for Enterprises

Before deploying any BI solution, you should think through these top five BI considerations from Leslie O’Neill.

If you know of any more, we’d love to hear about them. Feel free to leave a comment.

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Should BI teams reside on the IT or the business side?

Taking our inspiration for a post from a discussion on the Business Intelligence & Analytics Group on LinkedIn, we thought about whether Business Intelligence should be controlled primarily by the IT department or people from business functions.

Divided opinions

First of all, it’s important to remember that the answer to this question depends on the type of BI provided. For example, in house specialists are vital for traditional BI software, which require code to be written for each query as well as servers to be maintained and software to be integrated. SaaS BI is delivered over the internet so there is no software to install, no servers to maintain and no integration to be done. It is intuitive to use and does not require a single line of code. We can’t speak directly for other software vendors, but our software Bime is designed to empower professionals outside of the IT department, with a view to freeing up IT demand so that IT departments can focus solely on their strategic IT role.

Other voices thought it depended on how BI is defined in the organization:

“If the largely accepted definition, that BI = Analysis + DW infrastructure, is held in the organization, then the Analysis side should reside within the business, and the DW team should be within IT. Some people prefer to use the term BI to describe just the Analysis part, if that is the case, then it should be on the business side.”

Others felt slightly different, in that a lot rides on the technical abilities of the BI team itself, as well as how well integrated the IT and the BI teams are.

Some came up with “both and neither” arguments, stating that BI should exist on it’s own accord and should simply liaise with business and IT functions across the organization.

Several offered up their own personal experiences – “I’ve seen it working well both ways, and I’ve seen it struggling both ways. Too often, IT lacks the understanding of the business needs and the sense of urgency. On the flip side, too often the Business doesn’t have any appreciation for structure, consistency and sound fundamentals. From my experience, the best combination happened to be when IT was an active partner alongside the Business team, and the solution was built mostly by IT professionals, with close participation from the Business.”

A common theme

One common theme that seemed to emerge from the discussion was that it was important for the users to have a good understanding of the organization as a business, whether they were IT specialists or not. A lot of opinions felt a mix of the two was the best way to deploy BI, with IT functions taking care of the infrastructure part and business functions carrying out the analysis and reporting.

You can find the original discussion here and a similar discussion for comparison purposes here. (You need to be a member of both groups to view the discussions).

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A savvy IT professional will ask end users about their requirements, before trying to introduce business intelligence to his or her organization. They will ask questions like: “What information are you looking for?” and “How do you want it to be formatted?”.

1. What level of technical skill do the users already have?

This question should not be posed directly to users. Many end users have a somewhat optimistic perception of their technical abilities and most consider themselves more of an expert than they actually are. As a general rule of thumb, if you are handy with Excel, i.e. can use formulas and sort data, and you can interpret numbers with relative ease, you are likely to be able to comfortably work with a business intelligence solution.

2. How much time can you dedicate to finding, accessing and analyzing information?

This is a pretty essential question, probably the most important of the five, but is often completely ignored. Yet if it is answered realistically, you can easily create an accurate deployment plan, even without responses to the other four questions. In most companies, people need access to information, but they often lack the time to dedicate to it. If you don’t have a lot of time to spend finding, accessing, and analyzing information, then you probably don’t require business intelligence capabilities. How much time someone has to devote to reporting is often related to their role in the organization. For example, CEOs may have very little time to spend analyzing data, while analysts will have more since analysis is what they are primarily responsible for.

3. What types of questions will users be asking?

Different types of questions are best asked and answered by different types of solutions. Performance management, dashboards, and scorecards are about monitoring the status of a key metric, whereas ad hoc query tools are better suited to asking random or on-the-fly questions.

4. How timely must the data you are accessing be?

Your BI deployment will be influenced by the required latency of the data involved. Business intelligence has three possible levels of latency – scheduled update, on demand, and real time.

With scheduled update, the information is not up-to-the-minute. The data source is probably updated on a scheduled basis, e.g. once a day or every hour. Or, the data can be close to real time, and be updated incrementally within minutes of a transaction. The majority of BI deployments work well with some kind of a scheduled update.

Users will require direct access to information contained in a near real-time data warehouse with an on demand solution. While this does not necessarily affect the BI deployment itself, it is uncommon for BI tools to give users access to this kind of information, because it is usually stored in a form that makes creating ad hoc queries difficult. However, dashboards, reports, and guided ad hoc reports are effective business intelligence deployment methods when on demand access is required.

Finally, true real time means that the information being displayed is updated as an event happens – even before the relevant data makes its way into a database. Only dashboards and reports will enable the dynamic display and update of information in real time.

5. What role does the user play within the organization?

Understanding a user’s role gives you a certain insight when it comes to their BI requirements. For example, executives look primarily for key performance indicators, whereas analysts will often spend their time analyzing data in more detail. A front office worker, such as a customer rep, often searches for information to solve specific problems. While there are likely to be differences from one organization to the next, understanding the characteristics of the various users in your particular firm will help you better understand user requirements.

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Here are a few tips about getting the most out of your data visualizations.

1. Gather data

Use tools like Bime to mash up your multiple data sources to get unique insights.

2. Use great design

Lots of applications come with pre-built designs that you can use. Others let you customize to a certain extent. If you are using graph-based data, choose your charts carefully – and as long as the data allows, keep it simple and functional.

3. Interactivity

Whenever you are working with data online, you have the chance to provide your users with interactivity. Sometimes, static infographics are good enough to display information but sometimes you will get significantly more interest and understanding if you provide a dashboard that users can play around with for themselves.

4. Quirky is as important as correct

It’s generally not enough to just present the raw facts – interesting comparisons and strong imagery improve the shareability of any piece. We are all wired to remember (and therefore to repeat) comparisons better than plain facts.

5. Know your targets

You need to know first of all who your targets are, and then find a way to reach them. Make sure your visualization is seen by your target market, whether colleagues, customers or senior management, and make an effort to target any niches within that market.

6. Provide the embed code (with the link)

You should provide the embed code primarily for two reasons:

- to make it easy for non-tech-savvy bloggers to share your content
- to make sure (if you can) to get a link out of it

If you can style and include the link in a relevant way (especially if it links to more data or more information) you are likely to increase the chance that the people embedding your content will embed the link along with it.

7. Take information out
There’s a tradition among users of showing absolutely everything – all data points, the whole range, every column and row. But the best visualizations are about clarity with unnecessary information excluded.

8. Self-sufficiency
All graphs, charts and infographics should be self-sufficient. I.e., other information should not be required in order to understand them. Each should have a clear title, legend, source, labels etc.

Adapted from Data Visualization Techniques by SEOmozBlog.

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Astadia, a pure-play cloud computing integrator, and Salesforce.com have come together to announce the launch of the IT Cloud Transformation ROI Calculator, a free online service which will enable you to quickly estimate how much you stand to save in the cloud, versus on-premise. The program takes into account software applications, servers, data centers and back office functions and determines which would be cheaper with Web-based software applications and how long it would take to achieve ROI. The ITX (IT Cloud Transformation) ROI Calculator provides results in both US dollars and British pounds. The ROI generations will be made specifically considering moves to the Force.com platform as well every other major cloud platform including Amazon Web Services and Google.

For example, the ROI calculator shows that an IT environment for 250 users would run $883,000 for on-premise, while in the cloud it would cost $515,875, a massive savings of $367,125. That savings figure takes into account infrastructure migration costs; IT services costs; software licenses; project and platform costs; and IT development. At that rate, the calculator illustrates that the return on investment of the cloud project would be roughly 2 1/2 years. (Andrew Hickey, CRN.com)

"This new tool shows how much money IT departments could be leaving on the table," Cory Vander Jagt, VP, Astadia ITX, says. "Premise based IT solutions leak money at three different inflection points whenever a company gets bigger or smaller. Standardizing an application environment in the Cloud consistently provides elasticity at all three points."

You can access the ITX ROI Calculator here.

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He has narrowed it down to thirteen potential targets for readers to vote on in his poll, one of which is Salesforce.com, the leading SaaS enterprise cloud computing company. Coming under “Pricey Buys in Hot Markets”, I think Salesforce.com is probably a little out of Oracle’s reach at this point in time.

Opinions are divided judging by the comments the post has received: with names such as IBM, Google and Yahoo floating around, some are confident that Oracle has the power to capture the market’s biggest players. EMC is also a popular choice with the expectation that Oracle would take first place in the data storage business on top of NetApp, and despite not making Jannise’s list, NetApp also makes an appearance as a potential acquiree.

Personally I think Oracle are sitting comfortably on Sun Microsystems for their servers and storage activity so may choose to invest in another, weaker area as some other readers suggested, in order to provide a more complete technology stack. Having said that, they may equally wish to secure their place in the market by building on an already successful acquisition… We’ll just have to wait and see.

What do you think? Post your opinion as a comment, or take a look at Jannise’s poll.

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Cloud adoption today

Adoption rates and forecasts for the much-hyped technology of cloud computing are all over the map. Goldman Sachs say one thing, Forrester say another. We looked at a Spiceworks survey of over 1,500 IT professionals that shows that smaller companies are more willing to move their technology to the cloud. The top line: 24 percent said they are using or planning to move to the cloud. Despite this, 62 percent still said they are not currently using the cloud and have no plans to use it. The biggest turn-off appeared to be concerns over unproven technology, something which is sure to change as technology becomes more trusted and more established.

The reality is that SMBs have been on the cloud for some time now, and are the main drivers of the largest and fastest growth trajectory surrounding cloud technology. Adopting SaaS early on, many SMBs have contributed to the rapid expansion of SaaS providers like Salesforce.com. Now small and medium businesses are looking to put much of their IT into the cloud, if only for the sole reason of saving money.

Why is the cloud suited to SMBs?

While larger organizations and government agencies are busy sorting out security, privacy, compliance and control issues, the decision to go cloud for small businesses is an easy one. In many cases they cannot justify or afford the large CapEx of traditional IT. They also typically have less existing infrastructure, less bureaucracy, more flexibility, and smaller capital budgets for purchasing in-house technology. Similarly, SMBs in emerging markets are typically unburdened by established legacy infrastructures, thus reducing the complexity of deploying cloud solutions.

A brighter future

Without the opportunities available in the cloud, most SMBs would have to go without core enterprise systems such as CRM, ERP, calendar sharing, e-mail, and even business intelligence. But what they have come to realize early on, is that all of these can be enjoyed out of the cloud for a few dollars a day.

What’s more, the increasing availability of clouds have opened opportunities for small technology-oriented startups to rent virtual data centers and avoid the huge investment needed to purchase hardware, software, and rent data center space. A million dollars used to be the minimum for a start-up to prepare for its development… With the options in cloud computing today, that money can be put to better use elsewhere.

Unfortunately many cloud computing providers and cloud application vendors are overlooking the emerging SMB market and just concentrating on the big players. We think we’ve positioned Bime to benefit both – and especially SMBs. Bime’s low prices and ease of use make it perfect for a start-up or a medium sized enterprise. But that is not to say it isn’t essential for larger enterprises too – among some of our larger customers are ArcelorMittal and the Adysa Group.

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Results from a recently released survey, 2010 SMB Routes to Market Study, reveal a few interesting trends about how SMBs discover, learn about, evaluate and buy technology solutions and services – including their thoughts about BI solutions. The results suggested that small AND medium businesses consider “getting better insights out of the data they already have” as their highest technology priority. Business Intelligence solutions can help solve this problem by enabling the tools that measure and manage organizational goals and objectives. BI can also assist with conducting “what-if analyses to evaluate different courses of action.

Here are the top 4 technology challenges for each:

Top technology challenges for small businesses:
1. Get better business insights from existing data: 35%
2. Figuring out how different solutions can help the business: 32%
3. Implementing new solutions/upgrades: 32%
4. Integrating social media with Web site, marketing tools, etc.: 24%

Top technology challenges for medium businesses:
1. Get better insights from existing data: 33%
2. Figuring out how different solutions can help the business: 32%
3. Integrating social media with Web site, marketing tools, etc.: 32%
4. Implementing new solutions/upgrades: 30%

In very small companies, spreadsheets and other ad hoc tools are often considered enough to complete the task. But as companies expand, the amount of data being handled grows: there are new products and services, new markets and opportunities, investments, sales, marketing, among many other systems.

As a consequence, more people are increasingly roped into being part of the data collection and analysis process, and different people in the organization (marketing, human resources, finance, etc.) are required to analyze data in different ways. Typical problems with using only spreadsheets are:

* Time consuming and labor intensive to establish and maintain. Setting up a company-wide model, creating organizational plans, distributing and collecting information from different managers, consolidating multiple spreadsheets, and debugging broken macros and formulas becomes unsustainable and unproductive.

* Insufficient collaboration and feedback capabilities. Desktop spreadsheets are siloed, and don’t enable real-time data sharing and updating. Getting a unified, accurate view becomes difficult.

* Errors can be common. Research shows that 20 to 40 percent of all spreadsheets contain errors, and as they become more complex, error rates increase. Without an audit trail, changes and mistakes can go undetected and businesses end up making decisions based on bad information.

* Inadequate analysis and reporting. Collecting information and integrating it together into one spreadsheet is a lot of hassle. The detailed information that decision-makers require can be difficult to obtain or not even available to them.

Business Intelligence solutions give businesses a way to streamline and unify the data collection, analysis and reporting process. BI solutions are built on a unified database, so everyone involved in the process gets a single, real-time view of the data. Many BI solutions feature self-service dashboards and reporting tools that make it easier and less time consuming to contribute to and manage the process.

What else should you consider?

Make sure you are aware of vendor differences in pricing, solution capabilities and complexity. You would benefit from starting off by conducting a thorough assessment of your internal requirements, and then carefully investigating and evaluating how different offerings are aligned to your organizational requirements and limitations. You should take advantage of free trials and demos which will help you get a better idea of whether a specific solution will fit your needs. By taking more time in the first place to assess, evaluate and compare your alternatives, you’ll greatly increase the odds of selecting a solution that will meet, but not exceed your needs and budget.

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