Make BI Pervasive by Making BI Easy

Information Management Special Reports, October 21, 2008

John Piekos

Internet search has dramatically changed how the world accesses information. As a result of popular Internet search engines such as Google, nontechnical users have become accustomed to getting instant access to information. In the workplace, nontechnical users haven’t faired as well. Many business users still struggle with how to get the answers they need when they need them. The challenge is that the information they need isn’t just an Internet search or mouse click away. Business answers gleaned from knowledge data sources by sophisticated business intelligence (BI) tools are often only accessible by a small group of power users, such as the corporate IT staff or analysts.

 

Many organizations are struggling to address this important issue. As the quantity and complexity of business information grows within the enterprise, it is increasingly important to provide employees throughout the enterprise with quick and easy access to the right information. In today’s highly competitive corporate environment, self-service BI is no longer viewed as a nice-to-have, but as a requirement.

 

Imagine a world where employees could access and analyze corporate business data, reports and metrics just as easily as they search the Web. Ask a question, get the answer. By applying the metaphor of Internet search to BI, that world is within our reach.

 

Dissecting the Commonly-Used BI Attribute: “Easy to Use”

 

To meet the goals of pervasive BI, a BI application must satisfy the requirements of a large user base of people with varying degrees of corporate knowledge and computer skills. Add to this the range of vocabulary-related challenges due to the diversity of the English language, and you have some major hurdles to overcome. The application must be easy to use for all people and also must deliver secure, fast, accurate results. This represents quite a challenge in how BI is delivered. Such a tool encompasses the following characteristics:

 

• Familiar user interface. The BI application’s user interface must not be intimidating. Further, users should know the basic interface interaction methods even before they use the tool. A person can drive any model automobile. A low barrier to use is one of the reasons automobile use is pervasive in society with basic familiarity and no special training.
• Familiar language. To interact with a BI tool, users should not be required to learn intricate report or query builders or complex query languages such as SQL. Users should interact with the application using their own knowledge and vocabulary.
• Reduced training. Employee turnover occurs regularly in every corporate environment. Training employees to become competent, let alone expert users of sophisticated tools is costly and a drain on existing resources. Any such requirement presents a hurdle to adoption, reducing the pervasive use of the BI application. An effective BI application should require little training.
• User assistance. A common refrain from BI search users is “What do I ask?” Staring at a blank search input box can give a novice user stage fright. Like typical Internet search engines, BI applications should provide unobtrusive assistance to users in the form of sample questions, query suggestions and term suggestions to quickly guide the user on a useful query.
• One-stop shopping. With myriad BI tools available, users often have to switch between applications to uncover answers, prompting the frequent question “Where do I look?” A pervasive BI tool must be the sole application that users interact with for answers. The application must compute answers by drawing upon existing reports, applications, legacy assets and corporate databases.
• Secure, fast, reliable. Finally, and most importantly, any pervasive BI tool must provide secure, fast and accurate answers every time. Because a pervasive tool interacts with users of all levels, the tool must enforce corporate-mandated security constraints, allowing users to access to only the information they are allowed to see.

BI applications that extend the Internet search paradigm with advanced natural language query technology coupled with query suggestions can meet the pervasive BI challenge.

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