Our (so far) modest BI undertakings at Westminster have very much been joint efforts between IT and everyone else. I’ve helped to define the overall project while individual departments have partnered with an IT person to implement what they need. I have personally handled some of the dashboard development as well, but again, this is in partnership with others. As the CIO, I do have a very good understanding of what key performance indicators are considered by our president to be critical information, and I’ve worked with the departments responsible for the work that generates those metrics to make sure that the information we’re pulling is accurate and current. Before we put a new metric onto an “official” dashboard, we vet that data carefully. Nothing is worse than making decisions based on bad data!
Here are four keys to success that I feel must be in place for BI to succeed:
* The organization needs to make BI a well-known and resourced priority.
* While the CIO has (and probably should have) primary responsibility for these kinds of efforts, the CIO is far from alone in determining overall initiative success. An understanding by all involved that BI is not an “IT project” but is, instead, a “business project” is essential.
* Business unit leaders must be willing to work with the CIO to make sure their areas are well-represented and those leaders - or someone in their area - must have the expertise necessary to understand their data and extrapolate appropriate metrics.
* The organization must be willing to appropriately react based on the information gleaned from the BI system. If, for example, data begins to clearly point to a drying up of the market, the organization needs to be willing to not stick its head in the sand. If this is the reaction, why use BI at all?
