The BEST way to focus is to have a good assessment of the landscape of information needs and apply limited resources to obtain the most bang for the buck.

The basic concept of BI is to get the right information to the right people. The only way to accomplish this goal is to define "right". There are many tools to aid in the process:

1. Information Needs Assessment
2. Process Maps
3. Surveys
4. Interviews and faciliated sessions

However, one step is often missed in many efforts. Business analysts often begin with the step "Ask the users for requirements". Well, this is often not enough in many environments. Many knowledge workers don't know what is possible within a mature BI environment and thus aren't well equipped to articulate BI requirements. In these environments I include a significant amount of training and education as part of the communication plan. We first help the users understand the value proposition of BI before asking them to articulate BI requirements.

Once this is done we help users to articulate thier information needs into BI requirements. These requirements are then fed into the information needs analysis for eventual incorporation into the program plan.

A final step I like to do in closing the loop, again ensuring the right people are getting this new, right information, is to ask them how they are going to use this information to impact the business. BI is only an enabler - what will the right person do with the right information once they have it?

John Wilson

VP, AIG/Chartis Insurance

Posted on Jan. 5, 2011

The best way for getting the right information to people is to get them involved in the process of using data to make decisions. They will begin to define what they need for you. If you are an organization where IT is trying to drive the BI initiative you are in for a long bumpy road. If IT (in most organizations) decides what's strategically important for the business people the BI initiative will ultimately fail.

I think the key is for your business constiuents to define what they want to accomplish with data. That is, what problems do they want to solve, what processes do they want to improve, what resouces do they want to manage better, what customer behavior do they want to understand better, etc.

Then you and your constiuients will need to decide what format the delivery of the data takes so it can be easily and quickly used. Some examples may include standard report templates, some custom templates that are easily modifed, dashboards with what if capabilities, ad hoc cabablility, etc.

Hopefuly much of this was done upfront so you designed your Data Warehouse or Data Mart appropriately so it will be able to provide what your users need.

Have fun!