Business Intelligence: Tips to Buying a BI Tool Intelligently

Am I going to change my reporting requirements to a more advanced Business Intelligence solution? Do I have the funds and how do I budget for this? Do I really need a BI tool now? These are just some of questions that you might have already asked yourself when looking to invest in Business Intelligence technology. The notable thing is that you already took the time to investigate the need to invest in a BI tool when asking yourself these questions. Also, you would have taken this step because you have already identified some the most common triggers that forced you to look at investing in Business Intelligence. Some of these are: 

• It takes us huge amounts of man hours every month doing manual Excel reports
• Drawing and integrating data from multiple data sources are not a simple exercise  
• We are not always capable to access and utilize the data to provide the correct insight to what's happening in our business
• We would like too and are desperate to see the information in real-time 

The reality is that most companies still utilize Excel for reporting purposes and staff can spend up to a week, sometimes, to actually compile these reports. Then, with it comes the difficulty to present the information correctly in order to get the real picture about what’s happening in your company, that critical visualization you require to identify anomalies in order to address it on time to be more effective.

It is important to take a step back and take a simple, but effective approach, to making your decision.

Establish Your Needs In Order To Produce A Budget

To simply going out to and identify vendors, who will gladly rush to your aid in order to provide information or present their product to you and submit extensive proposals, should never be your starting point. Upfront planning is key to making the right decision. The more time you spend upfront to establish your exact needs, the less stress you will have about and ensuring that you have bought the right product, at the right price and whether you will remain within your budget. Pay attention to specific questions, such as:

• Over what time period do you want to complete your BI implementation project?
• Do you want to roll BI out to every department and how many users will have access to it?
• Would you like to roll this out to your clients and what type of access would you like to give them?

There are many more questions you should consider but the couple, mentioned above, will most likely assist you to get a better understanding of what your needs are and provide you with a better idea what your budget requirements will be.

Project Roll-Out

How am I going to roll Business Intelligence out in my company? Who am I going to involve? There are many ways to plan a BI Implementation project, each one coming with different time lines and naturally different cost implications. It is key that you identify the best approach, in line with your company requirements, and only then start the approach to identify Business Intelligence vendors that can fit in with these needs.

Present and Future Needs 

It is important to plan your BI implementation by considering your current goals and objectives but to also to plan according to your future needs. Too many companies only consider what is required right now and end up spending a fortune on trying to adapt to their evolving business environments and requirements. You should therefore look at solutions that will allow you to adapt around your business growth and possible strategic changes.

Some key considerations that should be:

• Quantity of user licenses
• Ease of use and adaptability of the BI application
• Scalability and flexibility of the software
• To what size will your data requirements grow over a period of time  
• The number of user instances where queries are run at the same time 

Budget Cost Factors

We always consider the cost and the price is always one of the most important factors in determining what BI tool will be used. But be careful of choosing the least expensive option, for example, so many companies end up focusing just on the license cost, when they do their cost estimates for a BI implementation project. This in itself is extremely risky and leads to unseen costs and expenses, in almost all instances, especially if hidden costs are not identified upfront. Always establish factors such as the cost of software customization, ongoing maintenance and support, etc. during your planning. You should, as a minimum, consider the following in order to get a more accurate cost for your BI implementation project:

• Software License Fees and related annual renewals
• Customization Costs
• Maintenance and Support Fees
• Hardware requirements and Costs
• Implementation costs 

Cost Consideration

Most companies are looking for ideas about that special monetary value in order to determine a more cost effective price range to work from when starting the process. This is not always possible, as needs and size of the requirement differ in most instances. But be wary when looking at the cheapest approach and to BI solutions advertised as a free solution. The free and cheapest solution generally present some kind of a catch, such as; restrictions to data size with additional costs as your data requirement becomes bigger, restrictions to actual software features and capability in entry level price options, restricted user licenses, additional customization costs, etc. It is important that you do it right when you are going to spend money on Business Intelligence.

Typical BI Implementation Timelines

Timelines are the last component to consider when you decide to implement a BI project. The scope and size of your project will play a major role and will have an impact on the timelines. The size of your company will be another factor to consider, especially when it is a big company with large footprint and you intend to roll it out in a phased approach, for example.

It is however very reasonable to consider that project timeline might be between 3 to 6 months. This period will include the identification and evaluation of suitable vendors, completing the Proof of Concepts and the implementation of the Business Intelligence tool. This timeline should allow both your company, and the vendor, with enough time to complete the requirement analysis exercises and implement a solution speedily.

MAKING THAT FINAL DECISION

As a last consideration, always re-analyse the reason why you are attempting to invest in a BI tool. There are many benefits to implement business intelligence in your business and these should be your main consideration. Above all, ensure that you actually that your output allows to uncover data that you currently do not use, which will present you with better insight and the ability to better measure and manage your actual performance.

BI offers plenty of benefits, such as:

• Informed Decision Making
• Improved Productivity 
• Crucial Data Delivery 
• Return on Investment 
• Consumer Behavior Insight 
• Improved Visibility 
• Actionable Information 
• Improved Efficiency 

Please feel free to contact me should you require more information or assistance with your Business Intelligence implementation projects. We will gladly assist you with your requirements analysis, designing, implementation and BI roll out projects .