The BI Pentagon of Success: The Importance of Effective Tracking Across the BI Function

A project can be seen to require a one-time effort to accomplish an explicit objective by a specific time. Each project is unique although similar projects may exist and every project has a definite beginning and a definite ending. The BI Pentagon of Success follows illustrates the best norms and common practices, placing stress on the process of overseeing planning, organising, scheduling, leading, communicating and the tracking of activities to achieve objectives regarding schedule, cost and scope.

Tracking is one of the pivotal components of a BI implementation, on which its success and failure largely depend. Any outstanding business BI solution invariably expects the highest level of impeccable quality delivery, at every stage of implementation progression and tracking helps to ensure these needs are met.

Tracking is vital across all the sub-dimensions of the BI Pentagon framework which refers to rigorously perusing of tasks, assignments, events and activities related to the BI implementation or its subsequent roll out. It is not only limited to measuring and reporting the status of milestones, tasks and activities (required in achieving the pre-defined goals and objectives), with its scope reaching over and above that.

Empirically proven, it is beyond doubt that tracking or in simple terms project monitoring is closely linked to risk management. A high level of tracking often results to low project risks and a low level of monitoring often leads to a high probability of increased exposure to risk factors.

Those responsible for BI must be able to develop a fully integrated information and tracking system to plan, instruct, monitor and control large sections of BI Pentagon processes and deliverables (largely embedded best industry practices). The pathway adopted ought to be prompt and accurate in order to facilitate the better understanding and judgement process in decision making, the definitive intent of going-in for BI solutions for any business entity. Having a good strategy in place (or lack of) can ultimately define success or failure.

(A)           Defining trackable work

1.     Unique and well defined: Primary Tasks /Sub-tasks / Activities are precisely defined, to be easily understood by all the project participants and sponsors

2.     Manageable: Clear and meaningful per work package is designated to the specific responsible authority under whose there may be a set of people or individual is given control for execution of the assignment

3.     Measurable: Progress of work should be clearly trackable/comparable in terms of statistics in timelines and costs. At a first instance and as a unanimous strategy of tracking, each unit of work ought to have an unchallengeable start and completion dates with interim demarcated and documented milestones

4.     Independent: Where possible it is vital to ensure that individual components of work are not dependent on others to minimise widespread disruption in the event that an element goes off track. It must be assigned to a single control entity (as explained above) and clearly distinguishable from other activities

5.     Integration: Each component/unit of an implementation job should be able to meaningfully fit in with other work elements. This aids the overall progression towards reaching milestones and deliverables, within permissible cost and schedule

6.     Adjustable: Each unit of work should be sufficiently flexible enough to get accommodated in Pentagon Work Breakdown Structure (PWBS) framework for any changes in scope during core implementation

 (B)   Fundamental Advantages

1. Project tracking strengthens the hands of management to manage the BI solution’s envisioned deliverables

2. Better tracking often leads to finding important variances including unexpected and interesting outliers for further investigation and next steps

3. Corrective remedial measures could bring BI implementation back to track in terms of strategies, timelines and cost factors

4. Significance of in-time and prompt response from authorities could save the project from going down the drain if gone beyond certain threshold danger limit

5. Responding swiftly to tracking results could subsequently help in fixing or streamlining of many more aspects of BI design and architecture

 (C)    Tracking Possibilities

1. Framing of end to end project measurement plan metric

2. Tasks tracking

3. Problems and issues tracking

4. Subject wise ticket tracking

5. Quality tracking at each stage of measurement plan

6. Status reporting (current period, cumulative, exception, stoplight and variance) vis a vis overall implementation position

7. Marking note-worthy deviations vis a vis per milestone achieved

8. Taking action on stakeholder’s probing surveys and feedback

9. Defined mechanism for reporting to business partners/sponsors

10. Well defined timelines for senior Management Review

11. Explicit management reporting template

12. Workable escalation matrix

The Balancing Act

Too little tracking often increases project cost and excessive tracking can unnecessary limits the proportions and productivity. The quality of BI as a product to be delivered could be affected by excessive use of controls during the development process. As per the defined tracking guidelines of BI Pentagon of Success, the project should primarily focus on monitoring the performance of the tasks, activities and providing input to team members as and when needed. Other tracking standards may aid in issue resolution and in producing effective communication amongst the stakeholders.

To summarise, it can be said that well thought out tracking action plan thrusts to catch deviations from the curve early, dampen oscillation and triggers for corrective actions. At the same time, the tracking results could also serve as an outline for future phases of BI implementation or roll outs.

Business Intelligence projects are a big investment for organisations in terms of stakes; when minutely tracked and nurtured with skills they can provide big returns. Understanding the BI Pentagon of Success model’s dimensions, concepts and its applicability can serve the initiator to get desired business results.

Maninder Singh is a leader in Cloud Business Intelligence and Analytics with more than a decade of experience. He is the author of the Flagship Model: The BI Pentagon of Success. Many thanks to Hannah Jones and Harpreet Singh for their contributions to this article.

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