Five techniques for successful BI adoption

The primary reason business intelligence strategies fail is the lack of alignment between organizational processes and technological factors. These core areas need to be aligned appropriately. They must receive central business focus, in a way that everyone can identify with these and thus can take an active part in fully utilizing the potential of business intelligence solutions. Business intelligence adoption rates can only increase if every employee making use of business intelligence solutions has a strong sense of involvement and ownership in all strategic areas. 

Strategies for successful business intelligence adoption in an organization: 

Defining and monitoring data quality standards during the initial implementation phase: 

Data quality is the primary factor that can make or break any business intelligence initiative. This is because the users will immediately judge the capabilities of any BI system by the result it generates when they use it for the first time. The results and insights generated from any BI system largely depend on the data quality, and if the initial results are promising and accurate, then only the users will show interest in using the system again, increasing the BI adoption in the organization. 

Real-time integration between BI system and other third-party ERP and CRM systems  

The real potential for generating actionable insights from any BI system is highly dependent on the successful integration of the BI system with legacy ERP and CRM databases. The integration is also essential because it should include all the departments’ data in the BI implementation phase to provide visibility for their deliverables and respective business drivers. In larger organizations, it is imperative to have the Project Management Office (PMO) manage the BI implementation project and to have a senior executive taking ownership of the implementation project. If an organization doesn’t have the PMO, the best approach is to define a project leader who will oversee and manage all aspects, from the formulation of the BI roadmap strategy to implementation on a daily basis. 

Business results–driven approach: 

An organization must always keep the focus on the strategic business drivers for developing a good business intelligence system. This approach can provide more significant insights that can turn into revenue. A constant emphasis on the business results will keep the BI project’s focus and intensity on a higher level until the project is completed. Thus, the result–driven approach will lead to successful business intelligence implementation and adoption in an organization. 

Identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): 

Any organization would want to see its business intelligence applications showing an analysis of its KPIs that represent its business objectives in both the short and long run. An analysis of the KPIs will help the organization to spot the areas for improvement. A successful business intelligence strategy will always consider the company’s overall strategy and map it to align with the company KPIs. Thus, for the successful adoption of business intelligence solutions and applications, it is critical to identify and analyze KPIs from the users’ data. 

Selecting a flexible and agile BI application: 

Any user of a BI system would want an application that is flexible and agile enough to accommodate and allow changes according to the changes in indicators and requirements. A BI application that has some of the essentials features like content creation, data and its infrastructure management, and embedded analytics will undoubtedly set the foundation for the organization to implement business intelligence and thereby increasing the BI adoption rates in the organization. 

Conclusion: 

According to Zion Research, the global BI market, which accounted for 16.3 B in 2015, is expected to reach 26.5B in 2021, indicating around 9% year-on-year growth. Today, business intelligence has become the buzz word, where every organization is investing in BI systems, but very few of them can reap its full benefits. The five strategies discussed above will surely increase the BI adoption rates in the organizations and the benefits resulting from successful BI implementation.