Information Technology
Information Technology
- Business Intelligence System Assessment
- Master data management and integration
- Technology evaluation and selection
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT
Business intelligence systems are built to provide functional leaders the information they need to address specific business problems. Because of their flexibility and usefulness, over time, these systems often grow to satisfy needs for which they were never intended. This can lead to systems that are slow and brittle, sometimes to the point that they no longer serve any user particularly well. Dataspace has experience helping clients identify and resolve such situations. Our approach starts with a Business Intelligence System Assessment. Usually performed in 2 – 4 weeks, these assessments consist of a structured analysis of system goals and system performance both from technical and business user perspectives. At the completion of an assessment, the client is provided a detailed description of the problems identified along with a prioritized list of the steps required to address them.
This offering also extends to systems that encounter problems during their initial construction projects. On a number of occasions Dataspace has been asked to review the status of a business intelligence or data warehouse initiative. These reviews usually occur when the efforts’ sponsors identify areas of concern.
Among items that lead to the assessment of a project in progress are:
- significant deviations from target dates
- major increases in project cost
- IT <–> user communication breakdown
- technical difficulties
Given the level of ‘friction’ usually associated with challenging efforts, our role as an experienced, outside, independent reviewer can be valuable in uncovering facts and getting to the bottom of issues. As with the assessment of an existing system, the result of these reviews is a description of the problems identified along with a prioritized list of the steps required to address them.
Master Data management and integration
The US branch of a German auto manufacturer was suffering from a situation in which its ordering, sales, and various delivery systems were entirely unintegrated. As a result, product data which should have been shared was manually duplicated in these systems, sometimes with near-disastrous results. For example, when product definitions changed at the factory in Germany, those changes were not always duplicated in the US systems. Thus, the US organization sometimes mistakenly ordered product that was not saleable in the markets for which it was intended.
Dataspace consultants were engaged to analyze this situation and develop a plan for integrating US product data with related data from the parent company in Germany. The result was a strategic approach and plan for master data management that is currently being implemented.
TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION AND SELECTION
Technology selection can make or break a data warehousing and business intelligence effort. Adopting the wrong business intelligence technology can lead to user dissatisfaction as well as significant development and maintenance inefficiencies. Selection of the wrong data manipulation and data storage technologies can result in a host of issues including poor system performance, erroneous results, and excessive development & maintenance effort. Conversely, proper evaluation and selection procedures yield a highly functional system that meets or exceeds user expectation, resulting in increased funding for additional data warehousing initiatives. Whether it be for business intelligence, ETL, DBMS or other technologies, Dataspace applies a combination of experience and methodology to technology selection. Having served clients in BI and DW since 1994, we’ve developed an experience base with the major technologies in our field, and have applied that experience to our clients’ efforts, helping ensure that they are working with the optimal tools for their particular situation.
