Develop an Effective Strategy for True Business Intelligence Success

Business intelligence (BI) has long been a topic of discussion among small and large businesses alike. While the value of business intelligence has never been debated, industry experts have questioned whether business intelligence was a viable solution for small and mid-sized businesses. With recent developments making it a more affordable solution, business intelligence has branched into the small business market and is transforming the way businesses use data on a daily basis.

While business intelligence certainly provides valuable insight into a business, many companies struggle with how to obtain that value. For many companies, business intelligence is just another solution that has massive potential with no real results. While there are many reasons for failed business intelligence projects, we believe that the majority of BI failures result from poor business intelligence strategies.

Before you deploy any business solution, you need to have a strategy in place outlining the purpose of the solution, what you hope to obtain from the solution, and how you plan to go about obtaining your results. Without an effective strategy, you stand to gain no lasting value from your business intelligence solution. For business intelligence to be truly successful, you need to have a strategic plan in place and clearly outline your expectations and goals.

Take a look at the following tips for developing a successful business intelligence strategy and – ultimately – helping you achieve a higher return on investment (ROI) on your investment:

1. Start out small – don’t bite off more data than you can chew. In order for business intelligence to be truly effective, it needs a chance to grow. Many companies have made the mistake of investing in hefty solutions or trying to measure more data than they can handle. They send in analysts to determine the “needs” of business intelligence users and create data warehouses to capture the necessary information.  While this sounds like a good idea in theory, the reality is that business intelligence needs change and what your user’s wanted last year may not be what they want this year. Most business intelligence users do not know what business intelligence can deliver, so they don’t know what questions to ask. More often than not, they are stuck with reports that have no relevance to the questions they have today and no data to answer their questions. By starting small, you can deliver the metrics and data insights your users need today while allowing your business intelligence project to grow along with the users’ understanding of its benefits.
2. Keep it affordable. This is probably the most important secret to achieving a higher return on your business intelligence investment. If your business intelligence project is too expensive, it will take you longer to achieve an ROI on your investment – if you achieve one at all. In fact, traditional business intelligence projects can take up to 12 – 24 months to implement and have high total cost of ownership (TCO).  In order to ease the financial burden, many companies are planning their business intelligence projects in stages.  Pay-as-you-go, Cloud-based solutions make it easier for companies to adopt this business intelligence strategy. So instead of spending a lot of money on a solution and having to wait one or two years to see if there will be an ROI, businesses can invest in Cloud-based solutions that deliver incremental benefits at incremental costs. This makes business intelligence affordable at every stage in the game.
3. Be results-focused.   An effective business intelligence strategy focuses on the results. Develop your strategy around the results you are hoping to obtain, rather than the means to obtaining those results. Make a list of your desirables and plan your business intelligence strategy around these goals. Without any deliverables, your business intelligence project has no grounds and no value to your organization.

Business intelligence is a smart investment, especially in today’s business market. It can help you obtain the information you need to make smarter decisions for your business; however, if you don’t create an effective strategy, it can lose value quickly. Keep the above tips in mind as you consider implementing business intelligence. We promise – they will help you create lasting value and achieve a higher ROI on your investment.

Mindover Software is a Sage business software reseller which offers a broad range of accounting, ERP, business intelligence, and CRM software including Sage 100 ERP, Sage 300 ERP, SageCRM, and Acumatica. From offices in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Boise, Mindover Software’s team of professional consultants will work closely with your company to determine your unique needs and find a business intelligence solution that best fits your budget requirements. For more information visit our website.