| Business Intelligence (BI) is not just about providing a | | | | skills of their resources, and the in-built inclination of |
| means to present business information; it is an enabler | | | | people to improve business performance. By defining |
| that improves the power of individuals to make | | | | who is accountable for each decision, the company |
| knowledgeable decisions. In order to unleash this | | | | can empower its employees and focus management |
| power, BI needs to move beyond data and reporting, | | | | on identifying decision making patterns that can |
| and become more integrated into the processes that | | | | represent best practice. This best practice can be |
| actually run the business. BI should be extended to | | | | disseminated throughout the organisation so that |
| focus on individual needs, providing simple and | | | | continuous improvements in decision making can be |
| proactive tools that can be called upon at any time | | | | seen in the future. To support employees, |
| and used to enhance business collaboration throughout | | | | management needs to ensure that the relevant |
| the company. A number of key trends will drive | | | | information is available at the various decision points, |
| companies to move Beyond Business Intelligence over | | | | enabling the employees to move forward with the |
| the coming years: | | | | confidence that the decision is correct. |
| Driving Performance Management from inside the | | | | Bridging the gap between business and technology |
| Business | | | | One of the key problems that affect every company |
| Enterprise Performance Management is a set of | | | | is the struggle that they have when business and |
| processes that help organizations optimize their | | | | technical people are in the same room. The |
| business performance. It is a framework for organizing, | | | | technologists are frustrated that the business does not |
| automating and analyzing business methodologies, | | | | understand why IT is critical to their success and how |
| metrics, processes and systems that drive business | | | | it can help the business move forward. The business is |
| performance. Over the next 5 years, Enterprise | | | | frustrated that IT never seems to understand what |
| Performance Management (EPM) will begin to | | | | they want and complains when they want to make |
| supersede traditional Business Intelligence. More | | | | changes just before the project is delivered. |
| emphasis will be placed on how organisations define, | | | | This gap is one of the most common problems facing |
| develop, communicate and deliver strategies and plans, | | | | companies trying to implement BI solutions (but this |
| and how these are managed, monitored and | | | | problem is not limited internally). Many management |
| assessed as they are executed. Organisations will | | | | consultancies provide strategic business advice on |
| need to change attitudes of both executives and staff | | | | how to improve business performance, build strategic |
| to create a culture willing to listen, learn and innovate. | | | | initiatives and change the operations of the business, |
| With this willingness to share ideas and adapt quickly | | | | with little or no regard to how this will be implemented. |
| to change, the organisation will be able to create an | | | | Technology vendors build applications and data |
| environment where freedom of information, | | | | warehouses that do much more than the business |
| collaboration of individuals and traceability of | | | | desires, and sometimes require the business to change |
| governance are core business values. | | | | key processes. |
| Linking Budgeting, Planning and Execution | | | | Acting in isolation business and technology can be |
| With the current downturn in the global economy | | | | driven down different directions; communication is the |
| reducing budgets, the need to adequately forecast | | | | key to bridging the gap. By developing and utilising a |
| both the budget and overall outcome of strategies and | | | | common and consistent language that both the |
| plans is becoming critical. A recent | | | | business and IT can understand, requirements defined, |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers study of US companies | | | | delivered and measured throughout the lifecycle of the |
| showed that 65 per cent of respondents indicated that | | | | solution. |
| their budgeting and forecasting needed to be more | | | | Conclusion |
| relevant, while 44 per cent saw the link between | | | | As these trends show, in the future more emphasis will |
| strategy and planning as requiring the most | | | | be put on the integration of information into everyday |
| improvement. Utilising historical and external information, | | | | tasks and how business improvements can be made. |
| executives can predict the results of strategies and/or | | | | Technology will still enable the solutions and continue to |
| plans, allowing them to construct feasible business | | | | drive many of the opportunities available to the |
| strategies with obtainable objectives, and support the | | | | business, but the focus of solution definition and design |
| development of achievable plans with realistic budgets. | | | | will move to the business and be based on five core |
| Utilising Real-time Information | | | | values |
| Decision making will begin to be disseminated | | | | - FOCUS - Providing personalised and tailored |
| throughout the organisation moving from back-office to | | | | guidance and information to people within the |
| front-office staff (i.e. sales, call centre). Management | | | | organisation allowing them to make the right decisions |
| will begin to work to identify key attributes that affect | | | | - ACTION - Allowing the organisation to move away |
| decisions and feed these to the front-office staff, | | | | from a "question and answer" model to one which |
| allowing for decisions to be made that realistically | | | | provides "actionable information" to all people, allowing |
| affect the overall business. Having the most up to date | | | | them to integrate information into the natural flow of |
| information is critical to making better decisions. As | | | | their business activities. |
| information moves closer to the front-office and | | | | - COLLABORATION - Using information to allow |
| impacts decisions made there, the latency of | | | | individuals to share ideas and inform them of their |
| information must be reduced. | | | | impact to the overall goals of the business |
| Creating simpler ways to get knowledge | | | | - INTEGRATION - Combining multiple sources of |
| As BI becomes more integrated into the operational | | | | structured and unstructured data allowing companies |
| processes of an organisation, the methods required to | | | | to extend their knowledge network and open up |
| retrieve the information need to be simplified so that | | | | previously unexplored information repositories |
| the natural process of decision making is not | | | | - TRACEABILITY - Using information during the |
| interrupted. Solutions need to provide simple and | | | | process of strategy definition and planning. Information |
| engaging mechanisms for users to retrieve the | | | | can be made available throughout the organisation, |
| relevant information at the right point of the process. | | | | allowing both management and operational resources |
| Technology that provides flexible reporting will need to | | | | to understand the impact of their contribution to the |
| be "fronted" with pre-built focused and personalised | | | | business |
| solutions that are applicable to the step of the process | | | | Whilst focusing on these core values, companies will |
| and the role of the individual interacting with it. Providing | | | | utilise more Advanced Analysis techniques (i.e. |
| these types of solutions will enable organisations to | | | | Predictive models for forecasting, complex attribute |
| reduce the skills necessary to access the information | | | | generation, What-if Models) to turn the information |
| and speed up the process of decision making. | | | | available into valuable knowledge. Distributing this |
| Utilising Unstructured data | | | | knowledge throughout the organisation to people at all |
| BI has historically been based on structured data | | | | levels of the business in focused, personalised and |
| gathered from applications and databases utilising a | | | | easily usable solutions will be the key to moving |
| small amount of the actual information within the | | | | Beyond Business Intelligence. |
| organisation. Typically, 80 percent of business | | | | The journey will not be complete overnight, it is a |
| information is unstructured, held within documents, email | | | | commitment that needs to be made by the company, |
| communications and other formats. New techniques | | | | but the long-term benefits will positively affect all |
| for harvesting this information will continue to be | | | | aspects of the companies business. The company will |
| developed including enhancements in text mining and | | | | be more proactive in the way it manages itself, able to |
| analysis, the ongoing development of the Semantic | | | | effectively utilise the skills of its resources, and |
| Web and the increased use of Natural Language | | | | continually improve business performance. |
| Processing (NLP). These developments will allow | | | | Many of the building blocks exist today; companies can |
| organisations to include new data into their analysis (i.e. | | | | leverage what they have already implemented and |
| call centre communications, customer complaints, and | | | | add value in improved reporting and information |
| email communications), improving knowledge of their | | | | analysis, plugging the gap between the day-to-day |
| customers and lead to more innovative sales, | | | | operational and financial systems that run the business |
| marketing and retention strategies. | | | | and the top-level strategic reviews that show whether |
| Delivering Knowledge at decision points | | | | it's on course. By measuring themselves against the |
| Execution is a result of thousands of decisions being | | | | core business values, companies can identify areas of |
| made by employees acting on information they have | | | | improvement where immediate benefits can be |
| and their prior experiences. In order to execute more | | | | realised. |
| effectively, companies need to take advantage of the | | | | |