Business Intelligence For Dummies®

Chapter 15. The Day After: Maintenance and Enhancement

Research data say that most business intelligence projects don't live up to their expectations. That means they're not meeting their return-on-investment (ROI) goals—and the users don't think they're worth much, either.

Avoiding that fate is easier said than done. Hopefully you went through a careful planning process and kept the business goals front-and-center while you developed your BI platform. And if all went well, you listened to the user community, gathered good requirements, and designed a sound system.

After the team has successfully launched the first iteration of the platform, the real work begins. Before you fluff up the bed of laurels to rest upon, however, it's time to start thinking about how you're going to keep this environment running smoothly—and how you can make it even better.

Note

It's a common misconception that says businesses need only install BI software, and then they're "finished" with the job; they can check it off the list and move on to the next IT project. The reality is that BI is not a project—it's a process that's driven by the business and supported by technology professionals. BI is a way of thinking about and utilizing information in the day-to-day and year-to-year processes that guide organizations.

BI = Constant Improvement

The BI process manifests itself in two main forms: software implementation projects and the accompanying business process changes that work in concert with the software. ...