One major goal of EWBI therefore is, that every information worker knows

• that the information relevant to him is available,
• how to access this information
• what exactly this information means.

In terms of technology, the minimum requirements consist of a data warehouse together with web enabled Business Intelligence Tools. Leading vendors are offering a variety of such tools. The end user can greatly benefit from the fact, that some vendors have managed to integrate all relevant BI function groups in an single tool suite. By using software modules out of the same tool suite, the end user can seamless accomplish tasks ranging from queering relational and multidimensional data bases (Query and OLAP), designing and distributing reports, to engaging in advanced data mining activities. Since products considerably differentiate with respect to functional capabilities and ease of integration, a thorough evaluation process is always recommended.

There are on the other hand several organisational considerations to take into account, to fully enable EWBI. We recommend the implementation of a Business Intelligence Competence Centre (BI CC), which ensures a consistent BI framework and aligns BI initiatives. Such a competence centre intermediates between business requirements and IT strategic considerations and thereby prevents the development of non integrated BI solutions. The BI CC will also take responsibility for all BI embracing subjects, as far as they are mission critical. These include

• the data quality management ("one version of truth", standardization of terminology, generation and interpretation rules)
• the coordination of distributed and centralised reporting
• building up a business oriented support organisation (power user)
• a coherent concept of roles and authorisation
• the interfaces to operational systems, as far as the sought information directly drives subsequent actions

Last but not least, the BI CC is responsible for coordinating enterprise wide BI based initiatives, such as Balanced Scorecards, Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise Risk Exposure or Anti-Money Laundering. Taking advantage of synergies among these initiatives will not only significantly reduce costs, but also raise the quality of each separate application.

Get further information and contact BSCRM Company