Recession May Be the Best Thing for BI

WASHINGTON — If anyone arrived at this year's Gartner Business Intelligence Summit, being held here this week, without a BI strategy, there's a good chance they'll return home with ideas for senior management -- especially after this morning's industry-expert panel session. Consultants from Accenture, Deloitte Consulting, IBM Global Services, and Tata Consultancy Services, took the stage this morning to describe the current state of the BI industry, where it's going, and how the technology is faring in today's economy. The session delivered like-minded views on one particular area -- BI alignment with enterprise strategy. As companies pursue cost-cutting measures, BI, if planned strategically, doesn't have to be -- rather, shouldn't be -- one to get the axe, the panelists agreed.
 
Panelist member Shari Rogalski, an executive director for Accenture Information Management Services, said that, as a consultant, she's seen an upswing of strategically motivated BI projects. She noted that, despite tighter budgets, technology investments are still occurring, especially when they can be shown to deliver cost reductions. Viewing BI as a strategic investment is helping to keep the market ripe, she told the crowd. "There's an opportunity now to take advantage of funding that doesn't usually come our way in the [BI] space," she said. "What's different is there's interest in the strategic area, which…is great." Rogalski did point out a change in investment patterns: Rather than multiyear, multimillion-dollar programs, organizations are investing in shorter-term solutions that are less expensive. "You can do a lot in this space in the small span of three months and show tangible results," she told attendees.
 
To that point, Michael J. Schroeck, partner and global business intelligence leader with IBM Global Business Services, added that customers want -- in fact, need -- shorter time-to-value periods. Whereas they are spending more time investigating BI investments, they're now expecting to see results more quickly. "Companies are instilling a lot more discipline, with key milestone checkpoints, to make sure the projects are on time and within budget and delivering the values set out in the business case," Schroeck said. It's also apparent, he said, that organizations are deploying fewer BI initiatives than before: A company that might have once juggled five or six projects is now likely focusing on just two or three. The benefit, he pointed out, is that having fewer projects often leads to greater value.
 
"Realigning priorities is key," put forth Richard Cohen, principal with Deloitte Consulting's Technology Integration Practice. "You don't have to do everything this year." BI's place on the agenda for chief information officers has been established -- the technology has topped the list among those making investments, four years running in a Gartner survey -- but it's the gap between the priority and the reality that remains an issue. (Gartner even titled this morning's panel, "The Big Discrepancy: The Priority Vs. Reality in Business Intelligence.") Part of that reality is the difficulty users have reported in their attempts to get full value out of their BI initiatives. Cohen said one aspect of the solution involves empowering line-of-business users by giving them access to the right tools.

In a session prior to the panel, Thom King, a data architect for Moody's, compared BI to a glove -- a compelling metaphor for how users relate to solutions: "I want my tool to fit me like a glove," he said, noting that users don't want the glove's "fingers" to come from separate vendors. "I want to be able to put my hand in the glove and do my job," King said. "I don't want to think about the glove; I don't want to learn the glove; I don't want to take classes about the glove."

The industry panel maintained, however, that education is lacking at the top. In fact, before starting any projects, BI advocates should not only explore their internal needs, but also consult maturity models and best practices from external sources. Seek as much help as possible, Rogalski advised, and then, when you're ready, pitch BI projects to senior management by telling them The BI Story. "Too often we don't tell the story," she said. When you do, prepare to make a strong case:

• Develop a "BI Roadshow" that describes the components and highlights the "what-ifs."
• Show BI's context within the company roadmap.
• Show how BI fits the organization's strategy.
• Point to what BI will deliver, and when.

"Now's the perfect time," Rogalski emphasized. "Now is the time for insight. Now's the opportunity to get money and funding."

After all, she said, "All they can do is say 'No.' "

News relevant to the customer relationship management industry is posted several times a day on destinationCRM.com, in addition to the news section Insight that appears every month in the pages of CRM magazine. You may leave a public comment regarding this article by clicking on "Comments" at the top; to contact the editors, please email editor@destinationCRM.com.

For more of CRM's special coverage — The Recession Issue.

 

Related Articles

New Challengers Added to Gartner Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence

Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence '10: Smaller vendors gain traction, but 75 percent of the market remains controlled by the top five vendors, with Oracle on top yet again.

Mashups Make You Smarter

A new Forrester Research report encourages organizations to embrace self-service business intelligence and mash it up to get even more intelligent.

The 4 Hidden Costs of Business Intelligence

A new Aberdeen Group report contends that BI could cost your organization more than you think, but some investments can help avoid budget blunders.

Hot New BI Vendors Keep Things Cool

Gartner unveils its 2009 "Cool Vendors" in business intelligence and performance management.

LucidEra Makes an Impact with Spring '09 Release

With its latest edition, the software-as-a-service business intelligence vendor touts usability over features.

SMB Software Market to Resume Positive Growth in 2010

Software spending among small and midsize businesses is now expected to grow at an annual rate of 6 percent during the next five years -- with software-as-a-service leading the charge.

5 Common Snags in Your BI Strategy

Gartner Business Intelligence Summit '09: BI remains a top priority, but one that often conflicts with reality.

Gartner Magic Quadrant Puts Together Data Integration Leaders

As the market for these tools continue to evolve, vendors continue to push towards a consolidated solution set.

Teradata Tops Gartner Magic Quadrant for Database Management

Big-name companies populate the Leaders Quadrant as vendors and customers alike look to leverage data warehouses as mission-critical applications.

Informatica Joins Leaders in Gartner's Data Quality Magic Quadrant

Others in the top category are DataFlux, Business Objects, Harte-Hanks Trillium Software, and IBM; expect to see increased M&A activity as smaller, international players make their presence felt.

BI Tools Market Shows Continued Growth

A study by IDC reveals that BI software is both popular and necessary; Business Objects and SAS continue to lead the field.

DataFlux Has the Edge in Gartner's Magic Quadrant on Data Quality Tools

Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Tools '08: Business Objects, IBM, Informatica, and Harte-Hanks' Trillium Software join the SAS Institute unit in the top box.

Oracle Hyperion's Performance Manages to Top Gartner's CPM Magic Quadrant

In the research firm's annual look at the consolidation-ridden corporate performance management space, Oracle's Hyperion acquisition was the only one that made the cut -- literally.

MicroStrategy and Microsoft Move Up in Gartner's BI Magic Quadrant

Magic Quadrant '08: The research firm's assessment of the business intelligence sector shows the two vendors joining SAS Institute, Oracle, Cognos, and Business Objects in the top segment.

SAS Tops Gartner's BI Magic Quadrant

Magic Quadrant '07: The market will experience more growth as the technology includes more users within an organization while application and suite providers enhance their own offerings.

Gartner Releases Its BI Magic Quadrant

Magic Quadrant '06: The analyst firm expects the business intelligence market to experience sustained growth as the technology includes more users within an organization.