How to Start a Business Intelligence Program

Initiating a business intelligence program is unlike the launching of a traditional application development project. The most significant difference is due to the data (versus process) orientation of the effort and the importance of building a strong foundation that can accommodate change. Unlike processes, which are often aligned with organizational responsibilities, data frequently crosses organizational boundaries and doesn't carry with it a clear line of responsibility. For BI programs, this creates difficulties in determining succinct definitions, gaining consensus on business rules, establishing quality expectations, and determining access rights and permissible usage.  

Readiness assessments, which may be performed internally or using external resources, provide an objective evaluation of the organization's knowledge, culture, technical environment, data, processes and organization to determine what adjustments (if any) are necessary to maximize the potential for success.

Culture: It is beneficial to consider whether or not the enterprise is open to sharing and collaboration. Data is a shared resource, and if there are constraints to cross-departmental cooperation, the program will likely evolve into siloed initiatives. Deficiencies in this area require active involvement of key executive stakeholders and the establishment of a formal governance structure with the authority to break down the unwarranted barriers.

Data: Data is the soul of the BI environment. The assessment must determine the availability and quality of the needed data. In addition, the firm's data management practices must be evaluated to determine if they can adequately support a BI program. Formal data profiling may be required to assess the data and identify actions that ensure its quality. Formal data management practices, including standards, data model usage and data stewardship will also need to be established if they don't already exist.

Organization: Consider the degree to which the BI roles and responsibilities have been defined as well as the skills and experiences that are available to fulfill those roles. Several publications describe the roles typically required, and deficiencies can be overcome through a combination of education, training and recruiting. 

The program charter establishes the overall direction and scope of the program. It should be a brief document that includes information on the business drivers, overall scope, roles and responsibilities, methodology, architecture, business value and risks. 

• Business drivers describe the BI vision and the reasons this approach is being pursued.
• The overall scope describes the major areas to be addressed by BI, with some detail provided for the first few increments. The sequence of the increments may be adjusted as the program gets underway.
• The major roles and responsibilities are delineated at both the organizational and individual levels. This includes the governance and data stewardship structures as well.
• The methodology describes (at a high level) the development and support processes to be pursued. These get transformed into the major activities within project-planning templates.
• The conceptual architecture and its implications are described, along with a migration plan for getting there.
• Business value provides the major costs and benefits for the program and the first few increments.
• The major risks are identified. Each risk should include an assessment of its probability (how likely is it that the risk will materialize?) and severity (what's the impact if it happens?). For significant risks, mitigating actions should also be indicated.

The program charter should be reviewed and sanctioned by the key stakeholders overseeing the program.