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Strategies to Organize, Train, and Motivate Your BI Support Team to Meet the Needs of Reporting End Users

Strategies to Organize, Train, and Motivate Your BI Support Team to Meet the Needs of Reporting End Users . Dr. Bjarne Berg Comerit Inc. Introduction and Session Topics. Learn how to train, maintain, and compensate your BI support staff

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Strategies to Organize, Train, and Motivate Your BI Support Team to Meet the Needs of Reporting End Users

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  1. Strategies to Organize, Train, and Motivate Your BI Support Team to Meet the Needs of Reporting End Users Dr. Bjarne Berg Comerit Inc.

  2. Introduction and Session Topics Learn how to train, maintain, and compensate your BI support staff Learn how to determine what staff you need and what responsibilities should be assigned to each role Real-world examples of how companies have organized their help desk and power users for Level 1 and Level 2 support Online help and computer-based training to reduce support needs Clear and measurable service level agreements (SLAs) Examine three staffing models with roles and responsibilities, as well as guidelines for choosing and justifying the size of your support team

  3. The Support Organization The Support Activities Training and Motivating Your Support Team Writing SLAs with the Business Community Wrap-Up What We’ll Cover …

  4.  The Support Organization Small team organization Medium team organization Large team organization Sizing your BI support organization

  5. BI Support Organization — Big Picture You need to separate the operations of BI systems from the project work If there is no support organization, the BI system quickly becomes an orphan when the project ends Without a support org. there is a risk that future BI projects are delayed since the project team has to support previous projects

  6. Sizing the Team — Benchmarking 7 Best-of-Breed Companies By examining 7 companies from various industries that have implemented SAP NetWeaver® BI/SAP NetWeaver BW, we found that consistencies have emerged within organizations and that we now can draw some conclusions based on their successful BI support models The companies used for benchmarks can be summarized as:

  7. The Need for Non-Basis Support People • First, we looked at factors we could remove since they were not linked to the need for non-basis support people. We found that four factors had no real impact on the need for these resources: • Number of power users has little impact on the number of non Basis support people you will need. (p=0.97)** • Complexity of security has little impact on the number of non Basis support people you will need. (p=0.85)** • Number of process chains has little impact on the number of non Basis support people you will need. (p=0.82)** • Number of data stores has little impact on the number of non Basis support people you will need. (p=0.81)** **P is the possibility that a factor is simply due to randomness in the sample.

  8. How Many Non Basis Support People Do You Need? Number of non Basis support people needed = 0.4 + 0.065 (number of executive users) + 0.0069 (# of casual users) + 0.31 (system load issues) (Note: F-Stat=13.59; P of F = 0.03**) Other ways to put it: • You need 0.4 people regardless of any size of you system. • Each non Basis support person can support 15.3 executives, or 144 casual users, or 3.2 load issues. When planning development and help desk support staff, you need to look at number for executives, casual users, and the level of load issues you have.

  9. The Need for Basis Support People In the second test, we looked at factors we could remove since they were not linked to the need for Basis support people. We found that three core factors had no real impact on the need for these resources. These included: • Number of process chains has little impact on the number of Basis support people you will need. (p=0.98)** • The complexity of the security has little impact on the number of Basis support people you will need. (p=0.88)** • The number of data stores has little impact on the number of Basis support people you will need. (p=0.84)** • **P is the possibility that a factor is simply due to randomness

  10. How Many Basis Support People Do You Need? Number of Basis support people needed = 0.49 + 0.15 (number of BI environments) Note: F-Stat=11.32; P of F = 0.02** Other ways to put it: • You need 0.49 people regardless of any number of BI systems • Each Basis support person can support 3.18 environments. With 1.5 positions you can support 6.3 environments, and with 2 full-time basis support people, you can support 9.5 BI environments Note: Basis tasks include: Notes research, testing and application, support packs/upgrades/transports/installs/backup /disaster recovery/hardware management and other related tasks

  11. The Need for Support Leadership People In the third model, we also looked at factors we could remove since they were not linked to the need for support leadership people. We found that six core factors had no real impact on the need for these resources: • The number of data stores has little impact on the number of leadership support people you will need. (p=0.89)** • The number of BI environments has little impact on the number of leadership support people you will need. (p=0.89)** • The number of power users has little impact on the number of leadership support people you will need. (p=0.97)** • The number of process chains has little impact on the number of leadership support people you will need. (p=0.54)** • The complexity of the security system has little impact on the number of leadership support people you will need. (p=0.46)** • The number of casual users has little impact on the number of leadership support people you will need. (p=0.26)** **P is the possibility that a factor is simply due to randomness.

  12. How Many Support Leaders Do You Need? Number of Leadership support people needed = 0.32 + 0.012(# of executive users) + 0.09 (System data load issues) Note: F-Stat=2.211 Other ways to put it: a. The number of executive using the system drives the need for user support leadership, but you need at least 0.32 leaders regardless of the number of users or the data load issues b. A leader can handle up to 56 executive users, or 7.3 load issues (scale 1-10) When organizing the support leadership team, you need to look at the number of executive users and the level of load issues. The more load issues and senior managers using your system, the more support team leads you will need.

  13. Testing the Staff Size Models To test the staffing models, we ran the original companies used. We found that the government organization was overstaffed by two and the high-tech was understaffed by one resource. For all others we found 80%-100% accuracy.

  14. An Example of a Small Support Team Note: These are Support models and does not include any resources for new content development. This is assumed to be staffed separately. This small group is typically folded in under an existing manager, who devotes only part-time efforts to BI support The power user is normally also situated in a different organization Support leader Part time (50%) Power User Part time (25%) SAP BI Basis Full-time/part-time Helpdesk & data loads Full-time

  15. An Example of a Medium Support Team This medium sized team is typically folded in under an existing manager, who devotes only part-time efforts to BI support The group sometimes also undertakes portal support, security, development standards, and feature enhancements such as broadcasting and cockpit consolidations; but is normally not extensively involved in new content development Support leader Part time (65%) Data loads & fixes Full-time SAP BI Basis Full-time Help desk, training, user support Full-time Query & Web Full-time

  16. An Example of a Large Support Team This large team can support complex applications, cockpits, BI portals, and broadcasting while providing training and help desk support as well as on-going SAP NetWeaver BW production support. Note: Job areas are meant for illustrations, and will vary depending on the BI applications supported Support leader Full time Data loads & fixes Full-time SAP BI Basis Full-time Helpdesk, user support Full-time Query & cockpits i.e. SEM Full-time Query & cockpits i.e. APO, CRM Full-time Data loads & fixes Full-time Training, user support Full-time Data quality & data resource mgmt. Full-time Portal, collaboration, KM security Full-time

  17. Basis and functional R/3 support 4-5 team members and normally 3-6 months duration, depending on scope Small BI Project Team for Single Subject Area • Example: Billing, Inventory, or Accounts Payable Note: These are roles, not positions (sometimes one team member can fill more than one role)

  18. Project sponsor/ Steering Committee Project Manager BI Architect Basis and functional ECC support Business Analyst(s) Extract, Transforms and Loads Data Management (InfoCubes, MP & DSO) Presentation Developer(s) Sr. Business analyst Sr. ETL developer Sr. BI developer Sr. Presentation developer Business analyst ETL developer BI developer Presentation developer Mid-Sized BI Project Team, Single Complex Subject Area • Example: Cost and Profitability, Internal Billing Note: These are roles, not positions (sometimes one team member can fill more than one role) 8-10 team members and normally 2-4 months duration, depending on scope

  19. Project sponsor/ Steering Committee Project Manager BI Architect Portal developer(s) Sales Team Finance Team Material Mgmt. Team Business analyst/(sub-team lead) Business analyst/(sub-team lead) Business analyst/(sub-team lead) BI developer BI developer BI developer Presentation developer(s) Presentation developer(s) Presentation developer(s) ETL developer ETL developer ETL developer Basis andfunctional ECC support Large SAP BI Project Team for Multiple Subject Areas • Example: Sales, Finance, and Material Management Note: These are roles, not positions (sometimes one team member can fill more than one role) 15-25 team members and normally 6-18 months duration, depending on scope

  20. The Support Organization The Support Activities Training and Motivating Your Support Team Writing SLAs with the Business Community Wrap-Up What We’ll Cover …

  21. The Support Activities The BI help desk Maintaining data loads Doing break-fix for the production environment Using on-line help systems Leveraging computer-based training for end users

  22. The BI Help Desk — Level 1 Support The first level support should be done by Power Users in the organization You will have to train these resources, empower them to make changes, and leverage them as much as possible, even when it is easy to “jump to solutions” Query related support tickets from a central location/Web site should be routed to the power users in each department. The power user can escalate the ticket to Level 2 support if he/she is unable to resolve it.

  23. The BI Help Desk — Level 2 Support The second level support is used for issues that are not related to queries, presentations, reports, and formatting This include data loads, performance, security, availability, training schedules, etc. This is addressed by the central support team Some support ticket types are always routed to Level 2 support. It is important to have a generic email address for Level 2 support that is not related to an individual. Emails to this address should not be deleted.

  24. Maintaining Data Loads • A typical BI system of a mid-sized organization may have 50-100 different jobs running that are dependent on lookups, referential integrity, calculations, data quality, and source system availability • Since most BI system are asynchronously (batch) updated, the number one complaint of a BI system is the lack of timely data • Mature BI organizations may operate at 99% load efficiency, but that still means that 15-30 jobs (out of 1,500-3,000) have issues each month You cannot plan for the unknown, but you can set aside resources to deal with it. Dedicated resources for process chains in the production environment is paramount to a BI program’s success.

  25. Break-Fix for Production Environment By Introducing a Break-Fix (BWB) environment, the support team can correct break-fixes and move code into the Testing environment (BWQ) and Production environment (BWP) without impacting the project team Transports can be captured in the buffer and moved to the Development environment (BWD) on a periodic basis Break fix and Production stack The Break-Fix and production stack as well as the training environment is owned by the support team. The project teams own the development and Sandbox environments (BWS and BWD). BWP BWB BWQ Project Stack Training BWD BWT BWS

  26. Online Help Systems The use of an online help system is a must for successful BI systems You can make your own system, by simply saving your Microsoft Word docs as .htm files and then pick them up in a Web page Adding internal links makes it easy to use Plan to publish how-to, step-by-step docs for even the simplest tasks.

  27. Online Help Systems — Animations You can also buy cheap software like Snag-it and Camtasia and create demos that show how to accomplish more complex tasks The development and maintenance of the online help system belongs in the support organization. This is not a one-time task, but a “living” system that is updated based on user feedback, issues, and new development.

  28. Computer Based Online Training On-line training can be delivered on-demand There are many companies that can develop customized, cost-effective, interactive training for your end users (starting around $8K to about $20K) Over time, this is probably the best way of delivering casual user training The trick to being successful here is to provide interactivity and common tasks scenarios. Hint: Use a storyboard to develop your training.

  29. The Support Organization The Support Activities Training and Motivating Your Support Team Writing SLAs with the Business Community Wrap-Up What We’ll Cover …

  30. Training and Motivating Your Support Team The support staff training roadmaps Using team rotation as a tool for motivation Internal and external rewards Career paths and promotions

  31. Training for Your Support Staff — Core Classes If you are going to create a support team that is on equal level with your developers, they have to have adequate training to make enhancements and manage the system Failure to train properly would only place the real support work back on the developers and the cost of the support team is wasted!

  32. Employee Turnovers By 2016, the Department of Labor statistics estimates that the IT job market will grow by 38.6% Of the 1,031 job types tracked, IT jobs ranked in the top 25 by growth 645,000 new IT employees are needed, where will they come from and how many of these jobs will be filled by your current employees? Source: “Turnover Rates" U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sept, 2009

  33. Turnover and Team Rotations 24% of application developers leave their jobs every year 4 years, 2 months is the average time spent in an IT job However, the IT support staff lasts only 25 months! Source: NobScot, Sept 2009 SOLUTION: Create a formal plan for rotating each support role every 6 months. Provide a formal mentoring and training program that is communicated in writing to each employee annually. The top reason for leaving an IT support job is the lack of personal growth opportunities Source: “Turnover Rates" U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sept, 2009

  34. Internal and External Rewards • While the compensation can vary by regions, and salaries have been revised downwards in 2008-2009, the typical support costs are: • However, money is not the only compensation. Other popular rewards include: • Extra week vacation for people in support roles • One week SAP training of choice each year • Clearly defined promotion path (given in writing) • Reduced work hours (7 hr workday) • Remote support from home 1-2 days per week

  35. Career Paths and Promotions • End user support  web support  Support manager  security support  Support manager  training  Support manager • ETL support BI Architect  System administrator • BI Basis support BI Architect  System administrator • Support Manager Project manager  BI Program Director There are many career path in the BI support organization and titles may vary. Common career paths include:

  36. The Support Organization The Support Activities Training and Motivating Your Support Team Writing SLAs with the Business Community Wrap-Up What We’ll Cover …

  37. Writing SLAs with the Business Community How to write Service Level Agreements (SLA) for BI How to measure SLA performance Reasonable performance and consequences

  38. What to Include in a BI SLA When must data stores be loaded by (time) What will happened if a persistent problem occurs (“swat” teams)? Who is responsible for fixing process chains and who pays? Do you get a discount for each DataStore that is not loaded in time? How should software fixes be applied When will service packs, SAP Notes, and fixes be applied? Who pays for it? Who is responsible for testing them? When will the system be upgraded When will upgrades occur, how is the pricing determined? Who pays for it and who is responsible for testing? How long can the system be off-line? Minimum uptime and target uptime What is uptime defined as (data store loaded vs. queries available vs. security fixes applied vs. portal uptime vs. third-party reporting tool uptime vs. network uptime, etc.)? What are the penalties (money) for missing the uptime requirements?

  39. What to Include in a BI SLA (cont.) Issues log What issues must be logged? Who owns the log? Do you have access? Can entries be updated, or must an audit trail be preserved? Backup and disaster recovery What is included in the backup and when is it taken? When will restore abilities be tested? How fast must restore occur, and what data stores and users will first have access (priority list)? Who owns the data If you switch vendors, who owns the data? How will you get access to the data? Do you get full insights to all? Who, of the vendor’s employees, gets access to your data? Can they share it with your competitor? Service tickets When will service tickets be monitored? What are the categories and who will resolve them? What are the resolution process and timelines? How are customer and support satisfaction measured?

  40. Escalation process What will happened if an issue cannot be resolved by the Internal IT department/vendor and your Business SLA manager? What are the steps needed to terminate the SLA contract and are there any payments/fault payments or budget recourse (i.e., move money from cost centers)? What to Include in a BI SLA (cont.) The more details you put into the contract up front, the easier it will be to measure and the more likely you are to have a successful relationship

  41. Measuring SLA Performance and the Blame Game • Try a few measures to start with (less than 5) and add as issues arise • Create an objective log and schedule periodic status reports and standing meetings (typically monthly) • Avoid finger pointing and the blame game • Instead look at commonalities of issues and address causes instead of symptoms • If you spend more than 15 minutes discussing an issue in this meeting, you are on the wrong track • The trick is to address long-term problems, not the load job that failed last Thursday • Unless you have quantifiable, objective measures, the SLA is meaningless

  42. Reasonable SLA Performance Some examples of reasonable performance include: • 90% of all queries run under 20 seconds • System is available 98% of the time • Data loads are available at 8am — 99% of the time • User support tickets are answered within 30 minutes (first response) • User support tickets are closed within 48 hours — 95% of the time. • System is never unavailable for more than 72 hrs — including upgrades, service packs, and disaster recovery • Delta backups are done each 24 cycle and system backups are done every weekend

  43. The Support Organization The Support Activities Training and Motivating Your Support Team Writing SLAs with the Business Community Wrap-Up What We’ll Cover …

  44. Resources • Boris Otto and Jörg Wolter, Implementing SAP Customer Competence Center, SAP PRESS, 1st edition; 1st edition (December 1, 2008) • Michael Missbach, Ralf Sosnitzka, Josef Stelzel, and Matthias Wilhelm, SAP System Operations, SAP Press (February 10, 2004) • 30 critical lessons for global SAP NetWeaver® Business Intelligence project teams • http://www.comeritinc.com/UserFiles/file/30%20Critical%20Lessons%20BI%20Portals%202009.ppt

  45. Separate your support and your project organization Size your support team according to best practice benchmarks Compensate (money and benefits) the team to assure stability Leverage online training and online help systems to reduce support costs Create a formal SLA process with the business community with realistic performance targets Make sure you have identified environment owners – consider a break-fix environment Create career tracks for the support staff 7 Key Points to Take Home

  46. Your Turn! How to contact me: Dr. Bjarne Berg bberg@comeritinc.com

  47. Disclaimer SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, SAP NetWeaver®, Duet™, PartnerEdge, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Wellesley Information Services is neither owned nor controlled by SAP.

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