This column is focused on measuring business intelligence (BI) success. The column topics will cover The TBIA Business Intelligence Capability Maturity Model, which is a blueprint for the audit of business intelligence assets. This BI capability maturity model includes the following components:
- What should be included in a BI audit program?
- Measurement factors (key performance indicators).
- Measurement scale (industry standards for comparison).
- How to audit (the audit program).
- Using the audit results (an action response plan).
This is the second column in the series of articles focused on BI key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs are key business and technical drivers which are necessary for successful creation and management of BI assets (see Figure 1). These KPIs have been developed for the TBIA Business Intelligence Capability Maturity Model in order to provide measurement factors which can be used in the assessment of the BI assets. The KPIs are used in a manner similar to which we might use height as a measurement factor for an object or person.
Figure 1: List of the BI Key Performance Indicators
The subject of the first column was management support. The focus for this second column is business goals and requirements. The next column in this series will address the need for business alignment with BI assets and goals.
The Best Business Intelligence
Those organizations with the best BI will gain the business advantage. What is the best BI? That is dependent on what the organization needs. Successful BI can be directly measured by how well it matches the business objectives and goals. Management has a strong incentive to identify specific business objectives and goals and to communicate these to everyone in the organization.
Classic and Crucial
There are some classic definitions and discussions concerning business goals and requirements which are entirely appropriate to the current BI arena. It may be worthwhile to repeat some of these very well known ground rules. Most of the players in the business world are familiar with the concepts. However, these obvious rules are not necessarily followed. For BI assets, that is crucial. The money and other resources dumped into these BI systems can be astounding. Consultants and others in the industry for any length of time have personal experience or knowledge of major BI failures which have cost jobs and even crippled entire companies. So, understanding the concepts is not enough. It is imperative that management take the very hard road of defining and then regularly revisiting and redefining the strategic and tactical goals for their organization. This also means ensuring that the BI assets conform to those goals.
BI Success and Strategic Business Objectives
The first rule for any business success is to define what success means. What exactly has to occur for the business to be successful. The definition for success of the organization and the associated business objectives should be a carefully defined package. There are at least two primary positive results from the process of defining these strategic business objectives.
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