9. Ask the right questions
It goes without saying today that organizations that adopt BI tools just perform better on every level. And, of course, achieving operational efficiency is the goal of every company. But what does that look like on the ground and in the day to day?
One of the benefits of BI integration is that business can finally ask the right questions. This is something that often gets overlooked in the rush to “always find the answer” to more revenue, customer retention, etc.
The cause and effect of putting actionable insights to use can be powerful. Here’s a case in point from the standpoint of operations. A company uses BI to discover that everyone is clocking out at 6:30. So, it decides “why don’t we turn the heat down at 7 and save $1000s of dollars a year in heating expenses.”
Or, another case. Analytics data shows that the first stage of processing for insurance claims takes 8 days. Customer stakeholders start to ask, “can we bring that down to 2 so that we get a major boost in customer satisfaction?”
Always be looking ahead to the possibilities of what proper analytics reporting can look like for your company. Start by asking the right questions.
10. Make sure it will scale
When it comes to BI integrations, there is additional consideration that you’ll need to build into your SOW based on your particular company and industry. But the core ones that are very important across the board are:
Security – Data privacy is very important all around but it is especially so in the healthcare and financial sectors. With the prominence and rise in enterprise hacking incidents in recent years, don’t leave the security of your BI tools or data to chance.
Disaster recovery – What happens in the event of a major power outage or data breach? Data is changing in real-time all the time and as the volume and variety and velocity continue to grow, new disaster recovery scenarios must be envisioned.
Scalability & organizational roadmap – The simple consideration here is “will the tool grow” with your changing needs as a company? The picture in 12 months is going to be significantly different than today. Keep this factor in mind as you build out your SOW.
Now what?
It’s great that your organization has decided to build out a BI strategy, vetted the best solutions, and settled on a platform that will turn your actionable insights into gold.
But this is where the hard work really begins. From here on out everything’s about figuring out the best practices, requirements, dependencies, and numerous other processes necessary to successfully get your BI tool successfully implemented.
Unfortunately, this is also where the majority of businesses fail.
But that doesn’t have to be your company’s story. In case you’re feeling stuck and unsure how to move forward with implementing your BI strategy, give us a call today. We can turn things around, help you scope out the SOW, and deliver a powerful implementation strategy that will meet your KPIs, ensure user adoption, and win over new customers in no time.