BICC Overview

The Business IntelligenceCompetency Center (BICC)The Business Intelligence

Competency Center (BICC)

Andrew Marks

Copyright © 2005 Business Objects S.A. All rights reserved.Slide 2

Naming Conventions

Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) So if you aren’t part of it, or don’t have one, your incompetent? We use this term because it is generally used by many of the analysts who cover BI

Business Intelligence Centre of Excellence (BICOE) As opposed to being just mediocre?

Business Intelligence Proficiency Center (BIPC) Less demeaning than calling someone incompetent is saying they aren’t proficient.

Business Intelligence Operations (BIO) BIO has a nice ring to it; especially for a healthcare or biotech company But this center is more than just operations

Business Intelligence Organizational Network Infrastructure Center (BIONIC) The name is confusing but BIONIC is a pretty cool acronym

Business Intelligence Backbone Operations (BIBO) BIBO sounds like it could be the name of a chimp at your local zoo

Don’t focus on the name; It’s the concept that matters most!


Current State / Future State

BI Enterprise Deployments & BI Success Model

BI Competency Center (BICC)

BICC Organizational Model

Service Offerings

How To Get Started

Conclusion

Agenda


Current State

Narrow understanding of Business IntelligenceLots of deployments, requests or needs Clamoring around BI capabilities

Can’t keep up with demand Constantly behind the curve Afraid to let “them” know what’s available for fear of not being able to

meet demand

Lack of SME’s on platformLack best practices or standards Ensure predictable, repeatable results

Inadequate requirements gathering or understandingAssets being manually leveraged / non-strategic usageLack of confidence in product and support team


Ideal Future State

Holistic view of Business Intelligence

Deliberate Growth Infrastructure growth based on anticipated or predicted usage growth

Development of architecture expertise and domain knowledge BI Functional & Technical expertise BI Analysts & Tool Specialists for capabilities mapping & evangelism

Understand & Implement a true BICC Capabilities – Technical & Strategic Staffing Levels How to become self-sustaining Strategic Staff Augmentation






Service Offerings

How To Get Started

Conclusion

Agenda


What is a BI Enterprise Deployment?

Supports multiple BI applications across enterprise

Built on common BI Backbone

Necessitates development of common procedures Ensure efficient growth, ample performance, and appropriate support

Supports entire enterprise and/or extended enterprise (extranet)

Considered a Tier 1 application Very strategic High visibility Every internal organization can leverage BI

Every employee and/or customer may access it Tremendous potential exposure It has to be deployed well and supportable


Why a Backbone and BICC?

First Project Maintain/Evolve

Second Project Maintain/Evolve

Third Project Maintain/Evolve

Fourth Project Maintain/Evolve

Fifth Project Maintain/Evolve

ADOPTION RATE

ENTERPRISE

As additional projects roll in, the need for centralized control and well-defined process becomes KEY to maintaining success

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Common Issues

• Higher Total Cost of Ownership

• Lower User Satisfaction

• Improper Usage

• Resources

DEPARTMENTAL

Driving Force Behind BI Backbone & BICC


Achieving the BI Success Model

What does it take to achieve the BI Success Model?






Service Offerings

How To Get Started

Conclusion

Agenda


Worst Practices – Where no BICC Gets you

Universe Development Situation: Teradata Universe with 3000+ objects Result: 30 min. loads; difficult to work with; extensive change control

planning; challenge to regression test; poor report performance; no ad-hoc usefulness due to its size

Data Warehouse/Data Mart Situation: Data warehouse structure based on data sources/load Result: Data warehouse isn’t optimized; data must be aggregated

multiple times; reporting performance is poor and results are questionable

Architecture Situation: Deploying Production BI infrastructure on VMWare Result: Unsupported platform; unstable infrastructure; poor performance

Staffing Worst Practice Example Situation: Cheap 3rd Party contractors with “Crystal Reports” on resume Result: No best practices employed in building a complex report (100

sub-reports); poor performance; unusable results; wasted15 man-months


BICC – Focus Model

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BI Backbone

BI Competency Center

Custom Applications

ERP DataRDBMS Data

Legacy Data

Web Data Customer Data

Supplier Data

Best Practices


Guiding users in self-service to meet their BI needs, Training end-users on how to use the data; leverage solutions available BICC has leverage instead of having to create every report or query itself When necessary - performing ad hoc or complex analysis for the business

• The BICC’s personnel should be analytic experts. • When the analysis becomes repetitive, it should become self-service

Establishing standards for BI tools throughout the enterprise Ensuring the analytic approach used across the enterprise is consistent. The BICC connects various parts of the enterprise that have similar needs and are

experiencing similar problems.

Coordinating use and reuse of business metadata in the enterprise Helping to define and integrate definitions of the relevant business terms.

Communication and subscription of business users to the BI environment. Effectively understanding and communicating with end-users

• Business analysts acting as a conduit between IT and the business

Maintaining a reasonable level of business involvement and use of the BI tools• Evangelism and capabilities mapping

Ensuring that best practices are being adhered to

BICC - Guiding Principles


Communication is Crucial Support team must communicate succinctly with users

• To sustain the environment• Respond to change quickly

Best practices in place to drive communication that supports growth

BI needs to evolve along with the Organization Key to an evolving BI culture is tracking organizational growth Support structure growth should coincide with increases in the information

consumer community Incorporate changes and enhancements to BI functional capabilities

Keys to Success: Trained and experienced individuals Business Analysts that understand the functionality of the solution and can

communicate with the business effectively Best Practices in line with organizational constraints and objectives Executive Sponsorship AND Executive Users

BICC - Objectives


BICC – How to Get There: Teaching You To Fish

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime” — Author unknown


Knowledge / Skills Development Formal training delivered to BICC resources Mentoring by experienced consultants

Organizational Development Securing the appropriate staff to support the BICC Ensuring that ancillary teams will support BICC

Best Practices Development Quality Assurance Business Analysts that understand the functionality of the solution

and can communicate with the business effectively Best Practices in line with organizational constraints and objectives Service Offerings

Staffing Compliment internal team with external resources to mitigate risk

BICC – How To Get There


BICC –Teaching YOUR Users to Fish

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you will not have to listen to his incessant whining about how

hungry he is.”—Author unknown






Service Offerings

How To Get Started

Conclusion

Agenda


BI Tool SpecialistBI Tool

Specialist

Security TeamSecurity Team

BICC Organizational Model: Sample Role Structure

Business IntelligenceSr. Executive


DW Project Manager

DW Project Manager


Specialist

DW Operations Manager


Data Quality Lead

Data Quality Lead

ETL LeadETL Lead

Meta Data Lead

Meta Data Lead

Security ManagerSecurity Manager

Infrastructure Lead

Infrastructure Lead

Business UnitSupport


Data StewardChampion

Data StewardChampion Business AnalystBusiness Analyst

Business IntelligenceCompetency Center


Content SpecialistContent Specialist Training SpecialistTraining Specialist

Education Lead

Education Lead

Key Relationship

Data Architect/Dba

Data Architect/Dba

BI Business Analyst

BI Business Analyst

BOBJ Program Manager

BOBJ Program Manager



Specialist

Security TeamSecurity Team

BICC Organizational Model: Sample Role Structure



DW Project Manager

DW Project Manager


Specialist



Data Quality Lead

Data Quality Lead

ETL LeadETL Lead

Meta Data Lead

Meta Data Lead

Security ManagerSecurity Manager

Infrastructure Lead

Infrastructure Lead



Data StewardChampion

Data StewardChampion Business AnalystBusiness Analyst



Content SpecialistContent Specialist Training SpecialistTraining Specialist

Education Lead

Education Lead

Key Relationship

Data Architect/Dba

Data Architect/Dba

BI Business Analyst

BI Business Analyst






Service Offerings

How To Get Started

Conclusion

Agenda


Service Offerings (PMO)

Development of repeatable predictable approach Deployment of “Solutions” to support the business Handbook of tasks, objectives & deliverables

Service Offerings Focused on specific functionality

• Structured Reports (Crystal)• Ad-Hoc Query & Analysis (Web Intelligence)• Universe Development• Dashboards• Performance Management

Amalgamation of Corporate BI best practices and deployment tasks• Specific to client environment and technical requirements

Development of Deployment Costing Understanding of costs associated with functionality requested Allows development of ROI model






Service Offerings

How To Get Started

Conclusion

Agenda


Proposal: COE Scope

COE Scoping Effort Objectives:

• Scope out the development for an internal BICC • Determine internal skill levels required to support BICC• Identify knowledge gaps and recommend training courses• Establish Internal BOBJ deployment Inventory• Develop consolidation plan

» Approach/Structure» Timeline» Resource Requirements (Client & BOBJ)

• Determine initial “net-new” deployments to focus on• Determine scope of Best Practices framework• Determine education plan/path for internal resources

Deliverables• Documentation of findings and recommendations• Development of proposed BICC organization chart• Recommended strategic staffing to mentor/compliment team• Establish preliminary project plan to achieve success• Determine appropriate “Service Offerings” to focus on development

Resources:• Principal Project Manager• Senior Technical Architect

Cost: $64,000 + expenses


Proposal: Strategic Staff Augmentation (VPA)

Project Management Initial project deployments during COE development Future larger project deployments to supplement internal PMO

Business Analysis Assistance Requirements Gathering & Visioning Capabilities Mapping (ensuring the right functionality is being leveraged)

Technical Staff Augmentation Specific technical resources to augment deployment teams Covering tasks such as:

• Universe & Report Architecture & Development

• Dashboard development

• SDK integration

• Security Integration

• Data Warehouse Design

Reporting Factory Off-site / Offshore / Near-Shore Development Production Support / Tech Support / Sustaining Engineering






Service Offerings

How To Get Started

Conclusion

Agenda


Conclusions

Communication with BI consumers is required to align objectivesAn enterprise BI deployment requires an enterprise class support planEstablishment of a BI Competency Center requires: Educated and capable support individuals Understanding of current and future business intelligence needs Best practices to ensure standards are established and maintained

Support for a BI backbone must be proactiveSpecific roles need to be defined in order to succeedLeveraging BOBJ consulting for strategic staff augmentation will mitigate risk and help achieve “flawless execution”


Conclusions

BI Competency CenterBI Competency Center

Appendix Slides


BICC Roles: Staffing & Growth

Business Intelligence Senior Executive Description:

• Responsible for the day-to-day BI operations; technical management• Interfaces with executive sponsor and business unit exec sponsors

Drivers For Growth:• Number of BI COE Employees

DW Operations Manager Description:

• Responsible for all Data Warehouse operations• Platform operations, technical management, project management

Drivers for Growth:• Number of DW employees• Number of data sources, data marts & locations



DW Project Manager Description:

• Responsible for Data Warehouse or Data Mart deployments• Understanding of data warehouse design standards; methodology

Drivers for Growth:• Number of projects; data warehouse instances; data mart instances

BI Business Analyst Description:

• Understands functional aspects of BOBJ Suite• Understands COE service offerings• Performs formal requirements gathering and gap analysis with business units• Develops estimates of effort for functional deployments• Ensures that appropriate capabilities are being leveraged given desired outcome• Develops preliminary project approach and project charter

Drivers for Growth:• Number of Business Units; projects; project complexity; end-users



Data Architect/Dba Description:

• Responsible for the day-to-day Data architecture and Dba related activities• Interfaces with business unit data architects and BI business analysts• SQL, Data Modeling, Capacity Planning, Tuning

Drivers For Growth:• Number of database instances, tables, projects

Security Manager Description:

• Responsible for understanding security requirements and constraints• Interfaces with corporate security team; Technical Management

Drivers for Growth:• Number of end users & applications requiring security integrations



BI Tool Specialist Description:

• Understands functional and technical aspects of the BOBJ Suite• May require more than one resource depending on scope of suite deployed• Designer; Web Intelligence; Dashboard Manager; Crystal Reports

Drivers For Growth:• Number of data marts; applications; projects; end-users

Meta Data Lead Description:

• Manages meta-data for various deployments supporting BI Tool Specialists• Ensures Best Practices are being adhered• Designer; Crystal Business Views; Ad-Hoc Reporting

Drivers for Growth:• Number of data marts; applications; projects; end-users



Data Quality Lead Description:

• Establishes data quality standards• Ensures data source quality is sufficient to meet business needs• Same person as Data Architect?

Drivers For Growth:• Number of database instances; tables; projects

ETL Lead Description:

• Develops & Maintains ETL processes to populate Data Mart• Ensures Best Practices are being adhered• Works with Data Architect & Data Quality Lead

Drivers for Growth:• Number of data sources & data marts; projects



Infrastructure Lead Description:

• Responsible for the infrastructure, it’s maintenance and growth• Ensures infrastructure growth meets anticipated demand• In-depth understanding of BOBJ architecture and services; Unix; Windows

Drivers For Growth:• Number of servers and operating systems

Education Lead Description:

• Develops & Maintains Education offerings for BICC employees and end-users• Leverages BOBJ curriculum; deploys & maintains Knowledge Accelerator content

Drivers for Growth:• Number of projects; number of end-users; functionality being leveraged


BICC - Best Practices

Some of the topics covered include: User Requirement Definition & Documentation Data Access Methods Presentation Methods Change Control Process Universe Development Policies, Procedures and Processes Report Development Policies, Procedures & Process Quality Assurance Policies, Process & Procedures Application Integration Review Security Integration Review & Analysis User Administration & Support Processes & Procedures System Auditing Policies Support


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BICC - Training as a Success Enabler