The Partnership Route to Business Intelligence Success

Four steps to building BI solutions that meet strategic objectives

By Aage Seljegard

According to Computerworld’s “Business Intelligence Survey 2006,” 90 percent of large companies have either acquired or are looking to acquire a business intelligence (BI) solution. At the same time, many companies are expanding the scope of their BI solutions from departmental problem-solving systems to strategic, enterprisewide solutions. While this trend promotes the business value of the BI solution, it also requires a revised approach to implementation.

The key to making BI a strategic asset lies not only in the choice of the right technology, but also in the ability to realize the technology’s potential through the right implementation approach. Based on consulting experience from a number of successful BI projects in the UK and Norway, I would recommend this four-step process to companies that are implementing BI:

1. Partner with a trusted vendor.
2. Create a formal project organization.
3. Document shared expectations.
4. Identify business-driven priorities.

Partner with a trusted vendor
As businesses work to expand the value of BI, the roles and characteristics of the BI supplier also change and expand. Although it may have been possible to deliver a departmental tool almost as a parcel in the past – with a supplier approach of “Here is your software; where do you want me to put it?” – this is not a sufficient mechanism for larger implementations.

When the big picture gets considerably bigger and the details required become considerably more complex, a deeper partner relationship is required. For enterprisewide BI solutions, companies should seek longer-term relationships with experienced partners who will share ownership of the business challenges.

Working with the supplier as a trusted adviser and team member can better leverage the benefits of external competencies. A true BI partner will:

• Focus on the business challenge – and not seek short-term financial gains from suboptimal recommendations.
• Understand that large BI projects involve risk – and show the willingness to co-manage that risk.
• Know that flexible determination is a key success factor – and provide the mindset and technology to enable the managed facilitation of project change.
• Seek win-win solutions – and endorse this commitment through project documentation and contracts.

Recently, Norwich Union, one of the UK’s leading insurance providers, adopted a partner approach in working with SAS to implement the SAS Enterprise BI Server. Together, Norwich Union and SAS set up a team that secures the required blend of business and technology competence. The approach of working as one team with a common goal – rather than as a customer and a supplier with separate goals and expectations – has helped the project to maintain its solution orientation.

“A joint project team was established which quickly blended SAS BI and Norwich Union business knowledge,” says Norwich Union Program Manager Adam Munt. “A clear set of deliverables were jointly agreed, and the team worked together effectively. This made communication easier and allowed focus on the shared goal.”

Create a formal project organization
After adopting a partnership mindset, the next step in making the partnership work is formalizing a management structure for the project. This involves establishing a project organization, with a steering group as its senior body.

While the partnership mindset establishes the project values, the roles in the project organization provide the formal structure that gives the project managers authority to implement these values. Hierarchically, the project teams report to the project managers, and the project managers report to the steering group.

Project teams typically include members from both the partner and the customer organizations. Likewise, I recommend representation from both organizations at the project management layer of the project hierarchy and at the steering group level as well. The steering group represents the interests of the business and is responsible for setting the overall direction of the project. Alignment between the partners at this senior level is therefore crucial to secure a stable partnership throughout the project.

When implemented well, this system gives all stakeholders a clear ownership and understanding of the roles in the project organization. The agreed reporting lines enable the project managers to manage the stakeholders and limit confusion caused by undue escalation.

The project organization also ensures continuity when the senior stakeholders who were central to the early shaping of the BI vision remain involved in a steering group capacity. Likewise, the authority passed on from the steering group gives the project managers control of events and milestones. At Norwich Union, senior managers have partnered with SAS account managers to secure these benefits in their joint steering-group capacity.

“It was important for us to ensure that the SAS solution was implemented to meet Norwich Union’s strategic requirements,” says Rob Smith, SAS Account Manager for Norwich Union. “By attending the steering group meetings along with Norwich Union senior management, we were able to proactively verify that the delivery was meeting expectations.”

Finding the right blend of people is essential to achieving a successful implementation, and a carefully thought-out project organization can help. With shared objectives, a strong team should be able to work across the boundaries of different companies and departments to realize the business value of the solution.

Document shared expectations
Out-of-sync expectations form a very real threat to the success of BI implementations. Even when a project begins with a partnership mindset backed up by a formal project organization, the project will be vulnerable unless expectations are aligned among stakeholders. A project charter document with clearly defined scope and timelines is fundamental to secure such shared expectations.

The steering group should own the project charter document, which will enable the project managers to lead the project on a day-to-day basis. Without the approval of a formal body with recognized authority, such a document loses much of its value – like a new set of laws that are not recognized by the enforcers of those laws. Without approval, this documentation may provide a useful guideline, but does not secure the authority required by project management.

With the project charter sign-off, the expectations have been agreed at all levels of the project organization. In such a situation, the steering group can revert to an approach of management by exception whereby the plan sets the expectation, and further senior management intervention is required only for exceptions to the plan. At Norwich Union, the project charter is “owned” at a senior level within both partner organizations – secured through the steering group’s agreement and sign-off.

Identify business-driven priorities
One of the pitfalls of large BI projects can be setting out on the journey without a clearly defined destination. A BI vision should think big and seek to identify opportunities for cost savings and revenue increases across the enterprise. At the same time, the project will fall off track if it attempts to achieve all of its ambitions at once. With the technologies and the masses of data now available to a large enterprise, there are continual opportunities for improved BI.

The challenge therefore becomes identifying priorities. These should be business-driven. Realizing the BI vision is best achieved by identifying a sequence of achievable phases or iterations. Each phase should be driven by a particular business opportunity – with added data or functionality acting as the enablers. Such an approach secures a continuous cost/benefit focus and reduces the overall project risk by enabling new organizational learning to be picked up for each iteration.

Maintain a flexible long-term focus
BI projects are characterized by their reliance on meticulous detail to enable the tackling of big-picture challenges. Businesses should not embark upon large BI initiatives without an ally who has previously tackled similar challenges.

The partnership approach, implemented through clear reporting structures, shared expectations and a drive for business value realization, is key to making the project both constructive and profitable. When getting these fundamentals right, companies are equipped with the rigor to keep sight of the ultimate destination, and the flexibility to tackle challenges and make required adjustments along the way.

“The time invested in creating a joint SAS and Norwich Union project team and finding the right way to work together with the business laid the foundation for a successful implementation,” concludes Program Manager Adam Munt.

Bio: Aage Seljegard is Senior Project Manager for SAS Professional Services.