Getting It All Together: Creating BI Centers of Excellence

1. Getting It All Together: Creating BI Centers of Excellence Claudia Imhoff Intelligent Solutions, Inc. cimhoff@intelsols.com www.intelsols.com

2. Claudia Imhoff President and Founder Intelligent Solutions, Inc. A thought leader, visionary, and practitioner in the rapidly growing fields of business intelligence and customer focused-strategy – Claudia Imhoff, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert on analytical CRM, business intelligence, and the infrastructure to support these initiatives – the Corporate Information Factory (CIF). Dr. Imhoff has co-authored five highly-regarded and popular books on these subjects and writes monthly columns (totaling more than 60) for technical and business magazines.

3. Agenda • The Need for BI Centers of Excellence • Getting Data In Versus Getting Information Out • Getting Started

4. The Need for Centers of Excellence • Your company needs a BI Center of Excellence if it… • Has multiple, uncoordinated BI projects occurring • Created BI silos • Has redundant BI teams and processes • Is questioning value of BI initiatives and their funding • Must perform extensive reconciliations before analysts “trust” BI data – inconsistency one more time… • Lacks formal BI processes for creation, maintenance and usage of analytics environment

5. The Need for Centers of Excellence • Your company needs a BI Center of Excellence if it… • Bought myriad of BI technologies and isn’t sure what its got – has one (or two) or everything… • Cannot align BI initiatives with business objectives or strategies • Has huge back log of BI requests pending • Keeps saying it wants “one version of the truth” despite presence of BI projects • Believes it is spending too much on BI

6. Center of Excellence is… • A permanent, cross-functional team that • Enables enterprise to coordinate / complement all BI projects • Ensures BI environment is optimally constructed, performing, and used throughout the enterprise • Establish enterprise-wide definitions, calculations, business rules, etc. • Eliminate confusion & apples-to-oranges comparisons • Encourage “self-service” reporting for business • Migrating reporting capabilities to the business users • Promoting IT’s role in making data available

7. Centers of Excellence • No matter what you call them: • Center of Excellence • BI Competency Center • Integration Center of Competence • All have the goals of: • Creating an integrated, enterprise-wide, sustainable BI environment • To deliver analytics and analytic results to business communities • For better decision making at the lowest cost

8. Agenda • The Need for BI Centers of Excellence • Getting Data In Versus Getting Information Out • Getting Started

9. Infrastructure Management Center of Excellence Governance Tactical BI Operational Data Store Data Warehouse Data Integration and Aggregation Internal Data BI Delivery Workbench Operational BI Metadata External Data Operational Data Data Marts Strategic BI Quality Management Application Management Metadata Management Courtesy of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. and BI Research Corporate Information Factory e

10. Business Intelligence Integration Availability Quality Getting Information Out Getting Data In Capability Usability Security

11. Getting Information Out Getting Data In Integration Availability Quality Getting Data In Capability Usability Security

12. Tactical BI Operational Data Store Data Warehouse Data Integration and Aggregation Internal Data Operational BI Metadata External Data Operational Data Strategic BI Courtesy of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. and BI Research Getting Data In

13. GDI Competency Center – Primary Role • Focuses on technical issues of data integration and data quality • Develops standard BI and data management systems • Ensures that high quality detailed data is available • Proliferates specialized skills, processes and technology for complete data integration • Permits quick ramp up • Is more cost efficient • Maintains data integration and data quality expertise

14. GDI Center – Key Technological Features • High Performance • Data must be loaded efficiently and in a timely manner • Data must then be further processed for data delivery process • Particularly important for right time BI • High Reliability • Integration processes must not fail • High Flexibility • Changes always occur and GDI technology must accommodate an ever-shifting environment

15. GDI Center – Key Technological Features • High Scalability • Increasing data volumes may become a barrier to BI otherwise • Low Maintenance • Easy to use integration tools • Easy to learn • Good technical metadata

16. GDI Center – Best Practices • Create one centrally located GDI team • Generally located within IT department • Ensures operational systems expertise and sharing of knowledge • Develop data quality expertise • Consistent quality processes and responses • Reuse of data quality technology • Create conformed dimensions for OLAP capabilities • Get requirements from GIO Center needs • Store these with other data warehouse tables

17. GDI Center – Best Practices • Determine standard set of data integration and data quality technologies • Establish technical meta data repository • Communicate what is available (data-wise) to GIO Center • Develop mechanisms to handle emergency situations • Establish mechanism to capture and document best practices when discovered or learned

18. Getting Data In Getting Information Out Integration Availability Quality Getting Information Out Capability Usability Security

19. Operational Data Store Data Warehouse Metadata Data Marts Getting Information Out Tactical BI Data Integration and Aggregation BI Delivery Workbench Operational BI Strategic BI Courtesy of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. and BI Research

20. GIO Competency Center – Primary Role • Act as a bridge between business community and IT developers creating the GIO environment • Focus on understanding business needs and collaboration • Ensure new data requirements are communicated back to GDI Center • Communicate any data quality problems to GDI Center and business community • Develop experts within business units for gathering, delivering BI needs and requirements

21. GIO Center – Key Technological Features • Flexibility • Presentation of analytic results must accommodate multiple skill sets, locations, technologies • Easily incorporates new data, reports, applications, etc. • Seamless interface • Be able to integrate with BI, operational data, and external data • CIFe fades into the background • Easy to use • Can easily move from activity to activity • Results from one activity feed into next step in process

22. GIO Center – Best Practices • Establish expertise in how the business interfaces with BI environment • Maintain expertise about business community’s usage patterns and procedures – ensure data security / privacy • Determine standard set of access technologies • May have more than one GIO team – set up LOB GIO teams • Establish business meta data repository (may be in same repository as GDI Center’s)

23. GIO Center – Best Practices • Communicate what is needed (requirements-wise) to the GDI Center • Determine what to do if data is not available - no end runs back to operational systems, please! • Establish mechanism to capture and document best practices when discovered or learned

24. Agenda • The Need for BI Centers of Excellence • Getting Data In Versus Getting Information Out • Getting Started

25. Center of Excellence Challenges • Responsibility • No single business unit responsible for enterprise data? • Once captured in operational system, business unit washes hands of further responsibility • Discipline • Corporation must define and assign responsibilities • Formal procedures must be created and adhered to

26. Center of Excellence Challenges • Investment • Time, funding, resources – all needed • Ongoing Effort • This is not a one-time effort • Return on Investment • How do you determine ROI on COE? • Savvy corporations adopt COE approach

27. Optimal COE Organization • There are two flavors depending on politics: • COE that does everything – soup to nuts BI implementations • COE that serves in advisory and governance role for external BI efforts

28. If You Have Strong Centralization • COE responsible for all BI-related activities • Program and project management • Technology selection • Data quality • BI applications • Business requirements gathering • Maintenance and future enhancements

29. If You Have Strong Decentralization • COE responsible for limited activities • Project plan templates • Standards for: • Nomenclature • Data models (entities and attributes) • ETL programming • May supply: • Resources for specialized skills • Program coordination • Data stewardship coordination

30. What You Need to Get Started • An architecture – start with the CIF? • Separation of getting data in from getting information out • Architecturally, technically, and skill sets • Standard methodology and project plan for GDI and GIO Centers • Create template of two types of project plans • Best practices, services and training for each Center’s components – for your culture

31. Getting Started – GDI • Assign team members (mostly IT) to GDI Center • Prune back number of BI tools you have • Designate standard tools for GDI • Manage relationships with the various vendors • Define GDI strategies, standards and processes • Establish clear boundaries / delineation of responsibilities • Develop service level agreements with operations • Develop service level agreements with GIO Center for data freshness, quality, and availability

32. Getting Started – GDI • Imbed data hygiene routines in acquisition process • Communicate any and all quality problems to • The business community • Operational systems personnel • Data delivery personnel • Constantly comb data warehouse and ODS for quality problems • Your goal is to catch errors and inconsistencies BEFORE your business community does

33. Getting Started – GIO • Assign team members to GIO Center – mix of LOB IT & business • Prune back number of BI access tools you have • Define GIO standards and processes • Establish clear boundaries / delineation of responsibilities • Develop service level agreements with GDI Center for data freshness, quality, and availability • Communicate any problems encountered with business community and GDI team

34. Summary – COE Benefits • Increase likelihood of successful projects – or reduce risk of failure • Not only preserve but exploit technological investments • Better understand and support business community’s BI needs • Hang on to BI expertise – concepts, technological, business – and share it throughout the enterprise • Reduce cost of overall BI environment • Improve utilization of BI throughout enterprise

35. Questions

36. Recommended References

37. Books • The Business Intelligence Competency Center: A SAS Approach • Gloria J. Miller , Editor • SAS Press – ISBN 13-978-1-59047-911-7 • Integration Competency Center: An Implementation Methodology • John Schmidt and David Lyle • Informatica Corporation – ISBN 0-9769163-0-4 • Mastering Data Warehouse Design • Claudia Imhoff, Nick Galemmo, and Jonathan Geiger • John Wiley & Sons – ISBN 0-471-32421-3

38. Books • Corporate Information Factory – Second Edition • W. H. Inmon, Claudia Imhoff and Ryan Sousa • John Wiley & Sons - ISBN 0-471-19733-5 • Data Warehouse Project Management • Sid Adelman and Larissa T. Moss • Addison Wesley – ISBN 0-201-61635-1 • Data Strategy • Sid Adelman, Larissa Moss, and Majid Abai • Addison-Wesley – ISBN 0-321-24099-5

39. Other Sources • B-EYE-Network.com • Claudia Imhoff Expert Channel • Claudia Imhoff Blog • First Person Interviews with Claudia Imhoff • ISI Articles • B-EYE-Network.com • DM Review.com • TDWI – www.tdwi.org • BI Journal • TDWI Flashpoints and White Papers • 10 Mistakes to Avoid

40. About Intelligent Solutions • Founded in 1992 by Claudia Imhoff • Received outstanding recognition for client satisfaction • Internationally recognized industry expertise • Full line of Corporate Information Factory and CRM courses • Full line of strategic BI, data integration, and CRM Consulting services • International client base in all industry verticals and many government agencies

41. Appendix: COE Sample Roles and Responsibilities* Get a complete list from book entitled “The Business Intelligence Competency Center: A SAS Approach” edited by Gloria J. Miller, SAS Press, www.sas.com/consult/bicc.html

42. Appendix: COE Sample Roles and Responsibilities* Get a complete list from book entitled “The Business Intelligence Competency Center: A SAS Approach” edited by Gloria J. Miller, SAS Press, www.sas.com/consult/bicc.html

43. Appendix: COE Sample Roles and Responsibilities* Get a complete list from book entitled “The Business Intelligence Competency Center: A SAS Approach” edited by Gloria J. Miller, SAS Press, www.sas.com/consult/bicc.html