The CEO's Guide to The Top 5 Issues that Misguide Business Intelligence Decisions

Business Intelligence BI Software Articles : The CEO's Guide to The Top 5 Issues that Misguide Business Intelligence Decisions by R.L. Fielding

When considering business intelligence (BI) software, it is essential to be aware of underlying issues that can seriously impact on your bottom line. In a country where most businesses have information stored in several different databases, it's no secret that the BI strategy you choose will effect your profit and loss target. From data collection and integration to data analysis, the holy grail of Business Intelligence software combines your disparate databases to provide a decision support system that will enable you to make key conclusions using all of the available information. This is clearly a huge bonus to those companies searching for ways to surpass their competitors. However, in today's landscape, managers and executives in "small to midsize" organizations are at a significant disadvantage where business intelligence is concerned.

Their business intelligence data and needs are similar to their Fortune 500 and Global 9000 counterparts, but their business intelligence budgets are not. So how do you find the right Business Intelligence vendor--one that provides concurrent access to all available types of information with a simple, user-friendly interface at a cost that makes sense? Simple: Avoid these top five common obstacles and purchase only what your company will use.

1. Usability verses feature bloat.
We've all experienced it--we want only the best. The most technically sound flat screen TV on the market. The newest cell phone with the most ring tones, Web access, and email. A membership to the most popular gym filled with the most technically advanced machines and highly-educated trainers. But does too much of a good thing become more overwhelming than beneficial?

Simplify. Are all the bells and whistles necessary? Be selective about the BI programs you choose and only buy what you'll use. Carefully consider the expensive BI products and do your research. There are companies in the BI marketplace that provide decision support systems tailored for the small to mid-size company, without the unnecessary, expensive add-ons. With a little legwork, you can identify BI software that enables users to integrate, publish and analyze enterprise data across disparate data sources - without expensive ETL technology.

2. Enough already about metadata!
Metadata is literally data about data. It can range from timestamps to icons to free-text comments and much more. Because of the need to distill the useful information from the mass of information available, it's typical to invest in a large BI company that ensures consistency by manually creating your metadata, which in turn can add value, but also adds tremendous cost. However, it is often possible to leverage companies' existing metadata - a fact that many big BI companies overlook. As such, it may not be necessary to spend the extra money to manually create these metadata schemes - the info you need may already be there. As with anything else, the key is about finding balance--too much or too little data is not useful. Good business intelligence means balanced information.

3. Consulting
Don't buy it if you don't need it. Many BI products require substantial consulting projects as part of their launch process, often costing as much as the software itself. Take a close look at your company's needs and determine whether or not this additional support is necessary. Unlike the business intelligence products of Big BI, there are niche BI companies with software that installs and runs without expensive consulting - yet they still provide concurrent access to any combination of enterprise data sources in a single user request; can be installed in a matter of hours; and include user-friendly tools for query creation, reporting and data analytics.

If you would like to read the complete article, please visit Decision Technology at http://www.decision-technology.com/article_fielding_ceo.htm. About Decision Technology, Inc. Decision Technology business intelligence software is the ideal solution for organizations with limited IT resources, and whose data are confined in disparate databases or operational systems.

Since 1985, Decision Technology has provided organizations with intuitive, information retrieval software for decision support applications. Its newest business intelligence software product, DecisionCentric, provides Enterprise Information Integration with query and reporting tools optimized for small and medium size organizations. It enables users to integrate, publish and analyze enterprise data across disparate data sources - without expensive ETL technology. This article is copyrighted by Decision Technology. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part and may not be posted on other websites, without the express written permission of the author who may be contacted via email at DTI@digitalbrandexpressions.com.

About the Author
R.L. Fielding has been a freelance writer for 10 years, offering her expertise and skills to a variety of major organizations in the education, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing industries. She lives in New Jersey with her dog and two cats and enjoys rock climbing and ornamental gardening.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=111502