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What is the main factor for NOT implementing a BI system?
Business Intelligence systems are proving to be more and more necessary, yet companies don't seem to be in a rush to implement them. Why haven't you implemented a BI system yet? Is it because it's difficult to forecast the amount of investment needed for a system? Is it because of a high learning curve? What are some other reasons why companies aren't implementing BI?
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4 Answers
BI is complicated. To implement it effectively, at a minimum you will need a very good business analyst, a good ETL person, someone who is very good with SQL, and a good database and systems person. Not every organization can bring these 4 skills together. Also, outside of the personnel expertise and costs, there are legitimate hardware and software costs -- a BI project can easily start at $50-100k in Hardware, Software, and Database costs, and can quickly go north of those numbers for large data sets.
Implementing BI is definitely challenging and expensive, but the results always pay for themselves quickly if you implement it well.
Mike, I think it all starts with the foundational system, CI (company intelligence). People tend to do the things they are comfortable with, not necessarily what might be best for their business.
I believe the reasons you gave are all valid and I would add that even though we live in an age of technology, in business, we are only scratching the surface of properly leveraging that technology.
I asked several CFO's what software or programs they use to manage the budgeting process, they all answered, Excel. Now, I'm not a CFO, but give me a break, there's some phenomenal software available that can provide organizations with real time data.
I think the biggest issue is lack of knowledge combined with lack of strategy.
Dan, I totally agree with your comment. The needs and costs are correct from my experience. Plus you need to get management team consensus on what 3 top metrics they want to track. But also ask, when you get those answers: "What decisions would you make based on having this data?" That helps to narrow down the scope.
Incapability!
Today there is no excuse anymore for not implmenting BI. With the right tools it is available for every organization for reasonable costs, without technology nerds ruling and fast to implement.
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