Empowering Users with Self-Service Analytics and Agile BI MicroStrategy World 2014 Cynthia Wagner BI Solution Architect, BMC Software
Agenda Setting the Stage: BMC and the Business Environment The BMC MicroStrategy Lab Business Success Stories: 3 real-world business cases Reflections
Setting the Stage BMC and the Business Environment
Who is BMC Software? Based in Houston, TX $2B in revenue 6,500 employees 10 th largest Independent Software Vendor 1,000 products Video: Who is BMC? 15,000 customers 95% of Fortune 500 companies 110 countries
The Evolution of Business Intelligence Business Intelligence in 2004 BI projects completed by large IT teams, with large budgets, and long timelines Kimball warehouses Goal: Gather data from disparate systems and make it talk to each other Business Intelligence in 2014 BI projects completed by power users, with small-to-no budget, and quick turnaround Desktop data marts + spreadsheets + databases Goal: Empower the end user to move at the speed of business Build it for me I can build it myself
BMC s Not-So-Unique Problem Business has more data sources available than ever before, and needs an integration tool in addition to a BI platform Smaller budgets available and quicker turnaround required Transition in Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence technology stack Oracle and Business Objects Netezza and MicroStrategy Does not meet evolving business needs Not yet complete with all enterprise data
The Wait
Bridging the Gap the Business Way Proliferation of departmental solutions
The BMC MicroStrategy Lab
Bridging the Gap MicroStrategy Lab The MicroStrategy Lab at BMC is a self-service environment where users can derive insights with or without the help of IS&T resources. The Lab: Allows for building and managing projects by power users that incorporate data that is not yet part of the new Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) Provides a platform for users to develop detailed requirements and proposed solutions to present to IS&T for incorporation into Enterprise Reporting delivery stream Provides business users with area to play with potential solutions without depending to heavily on IS&T for solutioning
The Lab is not Production Production Lab EDW Data EDW Data coming soon Sourced from enterprise databases Complete project lifecycle governance (DEV, QA) High availability, with disaster recovery Import your own data Self-service, with little IT intervention Standard availability, no disaster recovery
A Departmental Tool with Enterprise Capabilities Because it is not Production, the Lab offers the best of MicroStrategy's self-service features in a stable, enterprise environment. Departmental Flexibility No requirement to move and approve changes through the traditional Dev > QA > Prod development lifecycle Quick insights can be gained immediately rather than developed over weeks and months Enterprise Capabilities Enterprise objects from EDW can be reported alongside end-user data (near future) Bring data together from multiple sources and easily share it with colleagues Owned and operated by IT department
Lab Roadmap Q1 2013: First business wins in the Lab Q1 2014: Onboard more departments with upgrade to MicroStrategy 9.4.1 and the introduction of Cube Join Near future: End-user data reported alongside Enterprise Data Warehouse attributes and metrics, with appropriate security and governance Eventual State: Every BMC user given Lab access and training on Day Zero of employment Q4 2012: Stand up the Lab environment
Building the Lab Video: EDS Airplane in the Sky
Business Success 3 Real-World Business Cases
Business Case 1: Ideas Reporting Lab-to-Production evolution Data Source: Ideas community on bmc.com Notables: First Lab project to reach Production Business manager hired an experienced offshore contractor to build MicroStrategy project, reports and dashboards Now in cooperative maintenance with BI Support and Business 105 users
Business Case 2: Customer Support Dashboards QlikView to MicroStrategy Conversion Data Source: Imported data from Business Objects reports and other sources Notables: Built by power user with no formal MicroStrategy training Relatively seamless transition expected when current Business Objects reports are built into MicroStrategy 109 users
Business Case 3: Consulting Services Portal Dashboard access through BMC Intranet portal Data Source: Imported data from Business Objects reports and other sources Notables: Consulting services projects tracked through dashboards Access provided via Intranet portal with direct links to MicroStrategy reports and dashboards 232 users
Reflection
Third-party Solutions Challenge: Third-party solutions are already embedded into BMC. Recommendation: Embrace a right tool for the job mindset, rather than enterprise tool at all costs. Business users will reject being forced to use a tool.
Governance Challenge: Unpredictability of requirements can make governance difficult. Recommendation: Govern where you must: o o Processes for gaining access and sharing with others File import size limits and report execution row limits keep users safe from each other Where you cannot govern, provide visibility: o o Object owners and contacts Data sources
Mutual Support Challenge: Complete lack of IT involvement is a myth. Users need administration help, project setup, security changes, training, and support. Recommendation: Foster a mutually supportive environment, where o o IT provides the environment, support, and technical training Business provides funding and business insight
In summary BMC has empowered business users with a self-service MicroStrategy Lab environment, which: Embraces the best of both worlds between enterprise capabilities with departmental-level flexibility Enables power users to move at the speed of business Provides a path forward from proof-of-concept to Production solution