| The recently released report by TDWI's Wayne | | | | significant value. To do that, they need to work closely |
| Eckerson is all about how the need among business | | | | with the rest of the organization. |
| intelligence (BI) teams to do "more with less" has | | | | 3. Work smart. When resources are tight, BI teams |
| significantly increased following the recession. We | | | | need to work more efficiently and effectively. They |
| summarize the underlying points in the report. | | | | can do this by embracing existing tools instead of |
| One of the ways that BI teams have coped with | | | | purchasing new ones, postponing expensive upgrades |
| shrinking budgets is via tactics. In the short-term, they | | | | and making do with existing versions, and more. |
| have managed to cut costs without sacrificing quality | | | | 4. Consolidate and negotiate. One method to cut costs |
| or output by actions such as cutting low-priority | | | | is to negotiate new maintenance licenses with vendors |
| projects, dismissing consultants working on them, and | | | | and ask them to donate software to build prototypes |
| avoiding buying new products and expensive software | | | | and conduct proofs of concept for free. Another |
| upgrades. Successful negotiation of software | | | | strategy is to consolidate data marts and BI tools to |
| maintenance contracts while relying on vendors for | | | | reduce overheads. |
| assistance has also lowered capital outlay. | | | | 5. Explore new technology. Open source, cloud BI, |
| In the longer term, Eckerson notes that BI has been | | | | visual, and discovery tools, plus data warehousing |
| focusing on efficiency and effectiveness to deliver a | | | | appliances all offer better functionality and |
| better ROI, for example by implementing self-service BI | | | | performance for less money. These technologies are |
| tools, consolidating spreadmarts and datamarts, and | | | | increasingly being adopted by small and midsize BI |
| getting rid of redundant data, infrastructure, and staff. | | | | programs and on-the-ball, larger BI teams. |
| Of course, tight or nonexistent budgets are the norm in | | | | 6. Tactics vs. strategy. BI teams should look for instant |
| many SMBs, which is why the recession hasn't | | | | tactics to reduce costs without sacrificing output, such |
| changed much in the dynamics of how they deliver BI | | | | as those tactics with more or less immediate returns, |
| solutions. They continue to choose low-cost offerings, | | | | as discussed earlier. Strategic initiatives could |
| such as open source tools, cloud solutions, and | | | | compromise any number of things, but in particular |
| in-memory visualization products, which with SMBs | | | | deployment of self-service BI tools, consolidation, |
| representing a large growth in the BI market, is good | | | | implementation of new technologies and better |
| news for BI vendors offering these types of products. | | | | management of scope and risk. |
| Finally, new technology is the next move taken by | | | | The bright side of the downturn is that BI teams are |
| organizations finding themselves constrained by their | | | | now ready to go with new processes, organizations, |
| budgets - companies are aggressively searching out | | | | and technology which can deliver significant value to |
| new technologies to improve the efficiency and | | | | their organization and clients. With budgets being cut, |
| effectiveness of their BI operations. SMBs are jumping | | | | most BI teams have been forced to focus on their |
| on new offerings to get a foot in the door, while | | | | efficiency drive by innovating and coming up with new |
| established BI teams are replacing existing technology | | | | ways to deliver projects. The recession has really |
| with next-gen capabilities. | | | | tested the resilience of BI teams, as well as the ability |
| Eckerson makes a few recommendations for doing | | | | of solution providers to adapt to their changing needs. |
| more with less: | | | | This is partly why we've built Bime to be like it is - |
| 1. Empower users. Users want tools that empower | | | | requiring no upfront cost, no maintenance and no |
| them to create their own reports and rescue the BI | | | | technical expertise, this makes it lightweight and |
| team from report writing so that they can deliver | | | | scalable, which in turn, makes data analysis faster, |
| added value within budget constraints. | | | | easier and cheaper - a perfect combination for those |
| 2. Align with the business. With limited resources, it's | | | | on a tight budget. |
| essential that BI teams are focused on projects of | | | | |