Oracle® Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Solutions

Chapter 12. Justifying Projects and Claiming Success

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — this is often true for business intelligence projects when determining their value to the organization and whether investments in hardware, software, and other resources positively impact the business. All too often, organizations are excited at the prospect of providing business insight to the desktop only to find costs have exceeded budgets and functionality has fallen short of expectations. Most project teams believe they can deliver a superior solution provided that they obtain the necessary funding and are given sufficient time. But the task is becoming more difficult in today's corporate climate where numerous initiatives often compete for a limited pool of resources. Although there is no guarantee that a project will be delivered on time and within budget and provide the desired functionality, a number of key factors can help ensure that there is agreement as to the project value. The measure of such value can be complex and includes tangible items that can be measured and intangible items that often can only be estimated.

The goal of this chapter is to assist you in understanding the key financial metrics required to build a comprehensive justification for a business intelligence initiative. This chapter highlights approaches that have proven successful in justifying projects leading to proper sponsorship and funding. We discuss common methods that can be used in the formulation of ...