Creating a BI Strategy Document

The core reason for establishing your BI vision in the form of a strategy document is to ensure that implementation of specific technology or a data structure e.g., data mining or the establishment of an ODS- is not done in a haphazard manner. The project planners must understand what and where the technology or technique fits in their overall BI environment.

The challenge for the modern data architect and solution strategist is to implement the right combination of techniques and technologies to create a business intelligence BI- organization. Seasoned architects are aware that new techniques and technologies must be adapted to meet the challenge of BI. They understand that BI is much bigger than traditional tools and techniques. They also know that to deliver a predictable, timely source of information content requires a conscious approach, a blending of traditional and nontraditional techniques and technology to deliver on the promise of business intelligence. An obvious mistake architects and project sponsors make is associating BI and warehouse efforts to particular technologies. Too often, the notion of implementing an online analytical processing OLAP- tool or building a star schema overshadows the rationale and purpose for these tools and techniques in the first place. Hopefully, it was a business requirement that drove project planners to recommend the use of OLAP, for example. It is important to understand that business requirements drive warehouse iterations and not the techniques used or technology implemented. Nevertheless, the data architect or solution strategist must recognize when a particular technique or technology will be necessary. Moreover, these individuals must plan the overall BI architecture in advance of any iteration being implemented. This includes any data structures required to support the overall BI plan as well as predicting the type of technologies to implement. Architects and solution strategists must set into motion an inclusive picture, an encompassing agenda for virtually any combination of BI applications that might be necessary for their particular enterprise. Implementing your BI organization as a big-bang effort has long been deemed a formula for disaster. Instead, BI environments are grown iteratively, addressing business requirements one at a time. Iterations, consequently, must remain focused and well defined to address specific business requirements. On the other hand, iterations must be assimilated into the long-term vision of the BI organization. Iterations are driven by specific requirements but guided by the broader, enterprise-wide road map. The conceptual diagram of the business intelligence organization as shown in Figure 1 serves as the basis for such a road map and all subsequent planning, including the basis of the strategic document. Bron en volledig artikel: www.dmreview.coma>