REAL*WORLD INTELLIGENCE INC.

Transcription

1 REAL*WORLD INTELLIGENCE INC. P.O. BOX 2089 FRIDAY HARBOR, WA TEL: FAX: HERBERT E. MEYER CHAIRMAN MICHAEL S. PINCUS PRESIDENT REAL-WORLD INTELLIGENCE INC. designs, builds, and integrates Business Intelligence Systems (BIS) for companies and other private sector enterprises throughout the world. A BIS provides senior executives with the external information required to achieve the strategic objectives of their enterprise. These Systems, which are custom built for each client, are based on the model developed by Herbert E. Meyer and outlined in his best selling book, Real-World Intelligence, and on the advanced computing methods and technology developed.by Mnemotrix Systems, Inc. INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Business Intelligence is a new management tool that helps companies harness the information they need to compete. The best way to understand Business Intelligence is through an analogy: Imagine that you are sitting in the cockpit of a jumbo jet. You have before you an instrument panel whose gauges, dials, and indicators tell you everything you need to know about the internal state of your aircraft -- speed, altitude, fuel supply, oil pressure, and so forth. Good pilots spend much of their time studying the instrument panel and making whatever adjustments are necessary to assure that the aircraft is flying at optimal condition. But a pilot who spends too much time studying the instrument panel is likely to fly into a storm, or worse. This is why planes are now equipped with radar. A radar system is the tool a pilot uses to see beyond the skin of the plane; to see what is going on through the total environment in which the aircraft is flying. With the vision that a radar system provides -- information about topography, weather, other aircraft -- a pilot can make the necessary course adjustments to reach a destiration safely. In the business world, it is the management information system (MIS) and the executive information system (EIS) that, like an " 3

2 instrument panel to a pilot, enables the chief executive to learn whatever he or she needs to know about internal conditions and operations. The BIS -- like radar -- is the management tool that provides information about the external environment in which the company or group is operating. This defines the difference between a management or executive information system and a BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE (BI) SYSTEM. OVERVIEW An RWI Business Intelligence System enables the efficient and comprehensive acquisition of information about: -- Competitors -- Customers -- Suppliers -- Markets -- Relevant Trends in Politics and Economics -- Science and Technology developments in subjects relevant to the enterprise With the correlated and analyzed information provided by the knowledge workers who run the BI system, a chief executive can chart the most direct, safest, and most viable course to the company's strategic objectives. The chief executive who has such a system at hand can see looming dangers in plenty of time to take evasive actions. More important, the chief executive can see opportunities long before they are visible to those without such a system. Thus a BI system is a management tool of exceptional power. Today the emergence of BI is the most striking, and potentially the most significant, business trend of our time. An RWI Business Intelligence System is comprised of seven modules: Module 1: The Intelligence Profile Module 2: The Intelligence Audit Module 3: System Design and Integration Module 4: Intelligence Products and Formats Module 5: Training Irf

3 Module 6: System Operation and Testing Module 7: Final Verification and Completion Module One: The Intelligence Profile The Intelligence Profile is a detailed outline and taxonomy of the categories of information the organization should monitor to remain aware of the entire environment surrounding the business or activity in which it is engaged. The profile answers the crucial but all-too-often overlooked question: What do we need to know about? In addition to listing the various relevant categories of information, the Profile includes a detailed listing within each category of the specific information about those categories the organization should acquire. Thus "competitors" would be a category. Within this category the specific competitors would then be listed and, for each competitor, the kind of relevant information that should be monitored (e.g. "new research programs") would be outlined. Methodology: We begin with the Basic Profile Model (BPM) that we have developed, and which is proprietary. This Model is based on our own intelligence expertise and experience, combined with extensive interviews of leading experts in the relative business fields. The BPM is then customized for the client company. This customization process includes extensive interviews with key organization executives and officials to learn specific details of their objectives, along with details about specific competitors and processes they feel are important to monitor. Following an initial round of interviews and subsequent analysis by RWI, a draft Profile is prepared and brought to the organization for comment. This procedure by itself often is regarded as an especially useful one by the organization; in many cases it is the first time key personnel have gathered to focus directly on the crucial issue of what they need to know about. A revised draft of the Profile is then prepared and submitted, and the Profile that emerges from this step usually proves to be finished product. This first Module takes about 3 weeks to complete, depending largely on the availability of key organization officials.

4 Module Two: The Intelligence Audit The Intelligence Audit is the process through which we identify where to find information pertinent to the Profile items. Some of this information will come from within the organization; other information will need to be acquired externally. Because companies and groups are already accessing so much raw information -- albeit in a dis-organized, ad hoc fashion -- the Intelligence Audit is always needed to determine: 1. Which categories of information and which specific items of information contained in the Profile are, in fact, reaching the organization; 2. Precisely where in the organization this information now is located (that is, who has it); 3. Which categories of information and which items of information contained in the Profile are not at present reaching the organization; 4. Where this necessary information may be located and how best may it be acquired; 5. What information is presently reaching the organization that, based on the Profile, is not relevant to the organization's needs and whose collection can safely be stopped. Note: We often find that companies spend huge amounts of money collecting unnecessary information. Termination of these collection activities often brings a financial windfall to the company. In some cases this savings is sufficient to finance operation of the BI System itself. Methodology: The Intelligence Audit is an intensive interview-and-analysis process. Although structurally it follows completion of the Intelligence Profile, as a practical matter we have discovered that the interviews we conduct to produce the Profile also provide us with much of the information required for the Intelligence Audit. Thus the interview-and analysis process required to conduct the Audit to some extent parallels the Profiling process. As a result the Audit can be completed in a relatively short period of time (about 2-3 weeks) after the Profile is completed. 1"1&

5 Module Three: System Design and Integration The System Design phase of building an Intelligence System consists of taking the Profile and Audit and encapsulating it into a computer based environment. There are a number of things to take into account when doing this. For instance, choice of hardware and operating system selection are part of this phase. Additionally we will determine the hardware and software needed to support the collection, correlation, and analysis of information. We help select appropriate on-line information services, for the acquisition of information external to the company, and establish the correct linkages that will enable relevant internally generated information to reach the System. Methodology: A Business Intelligence System consists of the following components: Hardware: Central CPU (DOS or UNIX) 3-5 workstations select storage media modems and printers OCR scanner cables and outlets Software: Best-of-Class Information Refining Software Information Engineering Utilities Select Hyper-Text and/or Text Database Programs Problem Analysis and Decision Making Tools Telecommunications Software Word Processor OCR Scanning Software Operating System Additional: Online Services /&7

6 Live-Wire News Services Text Inputting Services Other RWI works with the client to select the most appropriate software (and, if necessary, the hardware) to satisfy the specifications established in the Profile and Audit. RWI then assists the client to get the system up and running. When this is done we program the Profile into a software platform and install it on the system. This software program is a critical part of the intelligence system; it is the foundation upon which strategic information will be collected, stored, and studied in an orderly way. We then fine-tune and test this text-based system until it fits the requirements established by the Profile and Audit. This is followed by a number of steps to ensure that gross information collection can begin. As a convenience for our clients, and to prevent incorrect product acquisition, RWI has arranged with selected software OEMs exclusive licensing of Best-of-Class software products and utilities appropriate to the collection, correlation, analysis, and distribution of information. The actual selection of products for a particular clients scenario is a case-by-case decision and, thus, an integral part of the design specifications. Module Four: Intelligence Products and Formats For intelligence to be useful to an organization, it must be delivered to consumers in the form of products they find appealing. These intelligence products include: 1. Daily or weekly written "Intelligence Reports"; 2. Weekly or monthly oral "Intelligence Briefings"; 3. Special "Intelligence Alerts" as events warrant; 4. Occasional "Intelligence Assessments" of selected strategic issues. I6f

7 Moreover, in addition to selecting the most appropriate intelligence products each product must be "customized" so that its format is compatible with the structure and style of the organization and its executive decisionmakers. The key point is that to be effective an intelligence system must communicate with its consumers. One key to effective communications is the customization of products to match the working style and even personal tastes of the specific consumers. Methodology: One of this company's unique strengths is the personal experience of its principals in creating intelligence products and managing the production of intelligence for the U.S. Government, specifically including the President and his top-level national security advisors. As we "re-invented" intelligence itself as a business tool, we "re-configured" many of the intelligence products and formats that have proven successful with managers and policymakers at the middle and top levels of the U.S. Government. Module Five: Training In addition to hands-on training of intelligence methods and techniques that we have developed and evolved, we also employ our own multi-media instructional kit to help facilitate the training module. This package, called RADAR, has two components: an audiotape with lectures covering a wide range of related topics, and a diskette with a computer aided instructional program (CAI) specifically designed to enhance business intelligence training. Part of the Training Module may also include an analysis and verification of the skills and capabilities of the selected members of the intelligence unit, to determine and confirm their capabilities and qualifications. This is an optional step if so desired by the client company. Methodology: As outlined above [Module Four] the regularly scheduled oral intelligence briefing is a key part of the RWI Business Intelligence System. As part of this Module we train the person selected by the client company to be the "Intelligence Chief" to prepare and deliver this oral briefing. As part of this training effort at least one (s 9

8 principal of Real-World Intelligence Inc. serves as "coach" for at least one such briefing; our participation diminishes and then terminates as the briefings become routine for the selected Intelligence Chief, and the organization itself. Module Six: System Operation and Testing At this stage we bring the intelligence system to life and make it operational. Methodology: During this phase we work on two separate but related tracks. We work with the designated intelligence chief to begin "dry runs" of the various intelligence products. And we work with the intelligence unit's "technical" personnel to assure that the information which comprises the raw material for these products now is flowing in smoothly to support both correlation and analysis. During the course of this Module some time is devoted to developing and then refining the collection and analysis methods, fine-tuning them to blend seamlessly into the client company's world. In this phase both the computer-based system and its operators are tested and corrected until all the elements are functioning as a unit. Module Seven: Final Verification and Completion During this concluding step we work with both the producers of intelligence and the consumers to finally verify and assure that the System is functioning smoothly and delivering the intelligence necessary to support the organization's strategic decisionmaking needs. Methodology: In our experience the consumers themselves often will request changes at this point, both in the System and its customized intelligence products. New products may need to be formalized to accommodate these needs. Anything may change until by consensus the System is stable and functional. We do not complete our work in one fashion or '7J

9 another until we are sure that this step is done. Clients may opt at this point to maintain RWI on a retainer basis to handle any special case tasks or just to be safe. INFORMATION VERSES INTELLIGENCE For a corporation or any other enterprise there are three features to remaining competitive through the 1990s and on into the 21st century: 1. The ability to cope with a changing world. 2. The ability to survive in the global arena. 3. The ability to manage overwhelming amounts of information. In technology, revolutions in micro-electronics, communications, materials, and manufacturing processes keep the industrial landscape in a state of constant turmoil. The state of world economics and world politics has never been more volatile than it is today. The result is that it has never been more difficult for a business to chart and then sustain its course. The key to staying on top lies in the ability to manage and resolve the information about which we deal. This is the toughest managerial responsibility to grapple with, because it requires that the organization not only collect and process, but also learn to use information itself as a competitive advantage. Business Intelligence is both a product and a process. As a product BI means useful and current information on the competitive environment in which one must operate. As a process BI includes the technology and methodology needed to gather, analyze, and report on the environment in a way which produces insight that decisionmakers can use as their guide to action. The RWI Business Intelligence System can help you to produce timely, refined information ready for human analysis and reporting. This is a major support facility to crisis management. Similarly, this same technology can be used to distill opportunity in support of an enhanced decisionmaking "I

10 capability. All this provides the user of such a system with a powerful, sustainable strategic advantage for competing in today's fast-paced, multi-national, information-driven business environment. FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CALL OR WRITE: REAL-WORLD INTELLIGENCE INC. P.O. BOX 2089 FRIDAY HARBOR WA Telephone: FAX: ********** FOR TECHNICAL OFFICE AND LABORATORY: REAL-WORLD INTELLIGENCE INC. P.O. BOX 839 CHESTERLAND, OHIO Telephone: Liaison Offices in Paris and Tokyo COPYRIGHT C 1989, 1990, 1991 REAL-WORLD INTELLIGENCE INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A72-

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