Survey Shows Disconnect Between BI Vision and Strategy

A survey of global organizations showed only 10 percent of respondents reported that their business intelligence and performance management efforts were supported by a C-level executive with a direct link to the business, according to Gartner, Inc.

Gartner s survey of more than 350 global organizations in December 2006 showed the largest number of respondents 40 percent- stated that efforts were sponsored by specific executives 25 percent said they were sponsored by an IT manager and 25 percent indicated that they had no executive sponsor. Many business managers find themselves overwhelmed with a plethora of data and content, but, due to a lack of access, consistency and quality, they are unable to actually use this information to drive their business, said Betsy Burton, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. As a result, many business managers point to the information management infrastructure and applications as being the primary problem. However, Gartner analysts said the root problem is not an IT issue at all. Gaining information access, semantic consistency and quality are, first and foremost, challenges to management commitment and focus, which must be supported with appropriate technology, governance, processes and methodologies, said Ted Friedman, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. Between year end 2006 and year end 2012, Global 1000 organizations will experience a three-fold increase in data, content and application quality issues. Gartner analysts said information integrity, consistency and quality are, and will continue to be, of significant concern for most organizations in the near future. Without business user involvement and hard work to define common definitions, metrics and quality levels, the problem can t be solved, Ms. Burton said. Most successful organizations focus on getting the right skills, forming a team that s business- and IT-oriented, working on semantics issues, measuring quality levels and agreeing on what s good enough and what isn t. Until companies have all that figured out, they should limit their focus and investment on technology. Rather than focus on technology as the saving grace for information access, organizations need to think of incremental evolution, Mr. Friedman said. The key is to start with the business objectives and the people and processes driving the business. Source: www.dmreview.coma>