Business Intelligence Project Prioritization System

Transcription

1 A three-page excerpt from our 11-page Best Practice Guidebook: Business Intelligence Project Prioritization System

2 1 Best Practice Guidebook Business Intelligence Project Prioritization System guidebook summary Firm: Enterprise IT Solutions, (EITS), a division of L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. Industry: Aerospace and Defense Headquarters: New York, New York, USA Geographic Footprint: Global Ownership: Public Parent Company Revenue (2011): $15.68 billion USD Problem: EITS Business Intelligence (BI)* struggles to prioritize its project portfolio, allocate resources, and reduce low value requests. Consequently, BI has to manage: A small staff relative to its large number of internal customers Variability in the importance and urgency of requests A disproportionate amount of time spent on reactive or ad hoc requests Redundant or repetitive project requests Solution: Business Intelligence develops a process that: Prioritizes ad hoc projects based on their business impact and resource requirements Establishes action steps commensurate with project s importance and available resources Creates a BI portal that allows self-service for low priority requests Business Results: 35% reduction in ad hoc requests 400% increase in daily visitors to BI portal Resources Required: Two months to develop and refine the prioritization system Six months to develop and roll out a self-service Web 2.0 portal. The process involved internal client focus groups Applicability of Best Practice to Executive Functions: Function Applicability Competitive Intelligence Market Research * In this Guidebook, Business Intelligence encompasses Competitive Intelligence and Market Intelligence.

3 best practice guidebook 2 Business Intelligence develops a system to prioritize requests and allocate resources accordingly Project Request Classification and Prioritization System Overview Evaluate Business Intelligence Request Objective: Determine if request is ad hoc or part of the year s baseline projects. Ad Hoc Project These unplanned projects need to be prioritized and placed in the BI project portfolio. Objective: Classify project requests as high- or lowpriority based on their potential business impact and required resources. Percentage of Projects in Pipeline: 80% Ad Hoc Baseline Knowledge Project These pre-planned projects include annual, monthly and weekly reports, white papers, or updates to previous or ongoing research. BI forecasts the number of these projects and resource needs in its annual planning. The projects topics are mostly determined through requests. Objective: Allocate pre-determined resources, place requests in project portfolio, and address as capacity permits. Percentage of Projects in Pipeline: 20% Baseline Knowledge High-Priority Low-Priority Low-Priority : 60% can be referred to the BI Portal 40% require less than 8 hours to complete Business impact: Has high revenue potential or supports a strategic initiative BI resources: Requires more than 40 hours to complete or has an immediate and inflexible due date Percentage of Projects in Pipeline: 30% Example Deliverable: War-gaming session High-Priority Business impact: Has low revenue potential and low strategic alignment BI resources: Can be addressed in less than eight hours or has a flexible due date Percentage of Projects in Pipeline: 50% Low- Priority Example Deliverable: Documents Library section of the BI Portal Source: EITS, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc; Growth Team Membership research.

4 best practice guidebook 3 key takeaway: Assess ad hoc requests through formal criteria that compare business value to resource investment BI uses a set of screening questions to make the evaluation criteria user-friendly Ad Hoc Request Evaluation Criteria Business Impact Criteria Resource Investment Criteria Strategic Fit Purpose: Determine the request s alignment with strategic initiatives Is the request high profile? Is the request related to a strategic objective? What impact will the answer have on the company s objectives? BI Time Requirement Purpose: Estimate the amount of time a request requires Can the answer be quickly researched and ed to the requestor? Will this request require more than eight hours to complete? Will this request require three to four weeks to complete? Tactical Value Purpose: Calculate the value that a request adds to a customer proposal What revenue could this project generate? What urgent problem is the request helping solve? What financial impact will the answer have on a current project, proposal, or acquisition? BI Resources Purpose: Quantify the request s external (secondary) and internal (primary) research costs What are the direct costs (e.g., travel, primary research)? What are the indirect costs (e.g., consultants, secondary research, conferences)? How will the request affect current projects and completion dates? Can the requestor cover the direct costs? Source: EITS, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc; Growth Team Membership research.

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