The Six Sigma Way for improving business intelligence (BI) quality is a program that is rigorous, structured, iterative and based on metrics. In this column, I will focus on the metrics. Why do we need to base the improvement program on data? What are some of the metrics that are crucial to improving BI quality? What should be measured and how do we measure? How do metrics fit into a BI quality improvement program?
Metrics and Improving BI
Why Metrics?
Metrics are important in creating an effective and successful program for improving BI quality. First, it is important to understand and define BI quality and then to decide what actions should be taken to make it better. We define quality by using metrics. It is not sufficient to say that the quality is good or bad. If organizations make changes that seem likely to impact BI quality, they need to be able to measure the impact of those changes. That means that they must be able to measure quality before and after such a change. Organizations need to be able to answer such questions as:
- How effective was the change?
- Is the result worth the risks and the costs incurred?
- Are the positive effects sustained over time?
Adopting and effective improvement program for BI requires:
- A clear definition of both BI quality and the factors which impact BI quality; and
- Some way to measure BI quality and the impacting factors.
It may be determined that in order to meet industry standards, an organization should add two steps to the development process. We will use metrics to both determine that a change is necessary and also to measure the impact of the change on BI quality. To do so, we:
- Audit the development process;
- Measure the results of the audit against a scale of standards for the industry;
- Identify, measure and document changes made in the process; and
- Measure any resulting changes in BI quality.
The Improvement Process
Metrics are used for BI quality and for the factors that influence quality in an iterative process to improve BI. The basic steps in that improvement process loop are:
- Measure the current BI quality,
- Make a change to an impacting factor and
- Determine the effects on the BI quality.
The Six Sigma Breakthrough Formula
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