What are the benefits and drawbacks of self-service BI and how do you balance them?

1 Define your goals and scope

Before you implement self-service BI, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. What are the business problems you want to solve? Who are the target users and what are their needs and expectations? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics you want to track and improve? How will you align your self-service BI strategy with your overall business objectives and data strategy? Defining your goals and scope will help you plan and prioritize your self-service BI initiatives and avoid scope creep and confusion.

2 Choose the right tools and platforms

One of the most important decisions you need to make is what tools and platforms you will use to enable self-service BI. There are many options available in the market, each with its own features, capabilities, and limitations. You need to evaluate and compare them based on your specific requirements, such as data sources, data volume, data complexity, data visualization, data analysis, data collaboration, data security, and data governance. You also need to consider the usability, scalability, and compatibility of the tools and platforms, as well as the cost and support. Choosing the right tools and platforms will ensure that your self-service BI solution is fit for purpose and meets the needs and preferences of your users.

3 Provide training and support

Even if you choose the most user-friendly and intuitive tools and platforms, you still need to provide adequate training and support to your self-service BI users. Training and support can help them learn how to use the tools and platforms effectively, how to access and manipulate data, how to create and share reports and dashboards, and how to troubleshoot and resolve issues. Training and support can also help them understand the best practices and standards for data quality, data security, and data governance. You can provide training and support in various ways, such as online courses, webinars, workshops, tutorials, manuals, FAQs, help desks, and peer-to-peer networks. Providing training and support will boost your user confidence and competence and increase their satisfaction and engagement.