Understanding and Applying BI and BA provides foundation knowledge and practical guidance that will help IT and Business Area managers and their staffs to design, develop and deploy Business Intelligence and Business Analytics functions that deliver actionable information to decision makers.  This one-day seminar presents a highly pragmatic overview of current BI and BA concepts, state-of-the art techniques and realistic implementation issues.

Understanding and Applying BI and BA defines Business Intelligence and Business Analytics (sometimes called Business Analysis).  The seminar shows how BI supports operational and tactical decision making while BA focuses on detailed examination of business factor relationships and supporting strategic planning.  Participants will learn how BI has evolved from simple data warehouse inquiry and reporting to provide the Business Analytics that enable sophisticated understanding of the relationships between business factors and power advanced forecasting and business planning.

Understanding and Applying BI and BA examines the various types of BI and BA users and how their needs dictate different data requirements and different BI/BA functions. The seminar explains the critical impact of information currency on BI and BA.  Participants will learn how information taxonomy locates and illuminates subtle relationships between business factors.  They will also gain a clear understanding of the special metadata requirements imposed by the need for historical context.

Understanding and Applying BI and BA discusses data presentation techniques and strategies.  The seminar explains popular push and pull alternatives, and describes when and how to use portals, analytical dashboards and other data presentation applications to optimize effectiveness.

Understanding and Applying BI and BA presents effective and proven frameworks and approaches that participants can immediately utilize as they plan and build their own BI and BA functions.  The seminar identifies and discusses challenges, obstacles and issues faced by BI and BA initiatives, and provides sound guidance for how to successfully deal with them.

Who Should Attend?

This concepts seminar has no prerequisites and does not assume any prior knowledge of BI, BA, Data Warehousing or any technical IT topics.

• Business area leaders and senior staff members

• Business Analysts

• IT management, senior staff members, data administrators and data analysts

What You Will Learn

• What are Business Intelligence and Business Analytics and how do they differ?: How BI reports what has happened and predictions of what will happen.  How BA explains how and why it happened or will happen.

• How do BI and BA work?: How both rely on data integrated from multiple sources.

• Why would you do that?: How BI and BA support strategic and operational decision-making.

• What do you have to do to do it right- technically?: How BI and BA data sourcing requirements differ compared to data warehouses, data marts and conventional business applications.

• What do you have to do to do it right- organizationally?: How BI and BA force managers and executives to share data and think across political boundaries.

• What use presentation techniques should you use?: When to use reports vs. inquires, and portals vs. dashboards.

Course Outline

Section 1: What are Business Intelligence and Business Analytics?

• The Information Pyramid

  • Operational Data

  • Tactical Decision Making

  • Strategic Decision Making and Planning

• BA vs. BI

  • BA: Strategic Information and Decision Making

  • BI: Operational Decision Making

• Evolution of BI and BA

  • Traditional: Provide information

  • Decision-Centric: Sophisticated decision support

• BI and BA Users

  • Viewers

  • Authors

  • Business Analysts

Section 2: BI and BA Data Concepts and Characteristics

• Information Currency

  • Real-time

  • Near-real-time

  • End-of-reporting period

  • Historic

• Metadata

  • Definition

  • Context

  • Documentation of changing business conditions

• BI and BA Data Taxonomy

  • Semantic integrity

  • Defining and understanding relationships

Section 3: Presentation Strategies and Techniques

• Push vs. Pull Delivery

  • Ad hoc Inquiry

  • Publish and Subscribe

• Portals

  • Vertical information integration

  • Specialization and personalization

• Analytical Dashboards

  • Summarization, detail and drill-down

  • Data correlations and graphical display of relationships

  • Data visualization

Section 4: Challenges and Obstacles

• Technology and Methodology

  • Data quality

  • Metadata

  • Data integration

  • Iterative spiral release approach

• Sociology

  • Information overload

  • Vision and commitment

  • Unengaged business sponsors

  • Unavailable or unwilling business representatives

  • Lack of skilled staff or sub-optimal staff utilization

  • User-centered design

  • Cross-organizational nature vs. silo culture

  • Number and diversity of methods and tools

• How many BI and BA products and tools to use

  • User requirements

  • Function, feature and capability spectrum

  • Best of breed components vs. single enterprise solution

  • Single solution benefits

  • Loyalty and inheritance issues

Section 5: Approaches and Frameworks for Success

• Gartner Group recommendations

  • IT and Business Area Success factors

  • BI Readiness Assessment Matrix

  • BI Strategic Maturity Spectrum

• Larissa Moss’ Business Intelligence Roadmap

  • Characteristics

  • 6 Stage Engineering Process

    • Justification

    • Planning

    • Business Analysis

    • Design

    • Construction

    • Deployment