The Battle of Business Intelligence: Traditional BI vs Data Discovery Presented by: Les Wright, CPA, CMA, CITP Senior Manager, Business Analytics Solutions lwright@bdo.ca https://ca.linkedin.com/in/leswrightcma
Changing Terminology from Gartner Traditional BI Data Discovery Is Now Modern BI & Analytics Is Now IT-Centric Reporting & Analysis
Plain Language Definition Traditional Business Intelligence The traditional approach to helping people make the right decision based on the right data, at the right time. Usually involved the development of a data warehouse and cubes which are used for both structured reporting and ad-hoc analysis. Usually the data sources were internal (i.e. ERP, CRM and other operational systems).
Plain Language Definition Data Discovery The new kid on the block. It helps people discover hidden patterns and trends through mashing of different data sources. Typically, a data warehouse is not required, cubes are not leveraged and the structure used to store and model data from disparate sources is proprietary. Most often both internal and external data is being mashed together.
Similarities Both technologies promise to make data usable for decision making. The data is also visualized in very similar looking ways.
Differences Business Intelligence is ideal for modelling and answering the questions that you are asking about things that you know. For instance, How much beer did I sell by location? Data Discovery is ideal for uncovering answers to questions that you are not currently asking and about things that you don t know. For instance, Does the weather or demographics of an area influence beer sales? The essential difference between them can be characterized by considering who typically does the development in each.
Summary & Implications Traditional BI Data Discovery (Mash Up) Pros Data Governance (i.e. Security) Rapid development time (i.e. days) Single Version of the Truth Sets do it yourself analysts free Easier for Executives, Managers & Business Users Enterprise BI capabilties Cons Development time (i.e. months) Data Governance (i.e. Security) Places constraints on do it yourself analysts Multiple Versions of the Truth Too difficult for Executives, Managers & Business Users Enterprise BI capabilties
Recommendations Embrace 100% of your organizational data (both internal and external) for decision making Start with an internal assessment of current needs and future vision Reach out to BDO to help guide you through a bimodal approach to your needs Finally, don t believe the hype! There are real differences between these technologies and the value that they deliver.
Any business user can use a modern BI solution to provide any ERP based reporting that they need by themselves in a very short time. This is the modern BI myth. Les Wright, Senior Manager of Business Analytics Solutions at BDO Canada!! WARNING!!!! WARNING!! "ERP databases like Dynamics, Salesforce, Oracle Financials or SAP are impossible to navigate even with the best self-service BI tools." - Jen Underwood, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft
Bimodal BI with BDO Pros Cons BDO Excel / Power BI Bimodal BI Data Governance (i.e. Security) Single Version of the Truth Easier for Executives, Managers & Business Users Sets do it yourself analysts free Rapid development time / Data Warehouse Automation (i.e. days) Enterprise BI capabilities
Enterprise Bimodal BI with BDO Pros Cons BDO Enterpries Bimodal BI Data Governance (i.e. Security) Single Version of the Truth Easier for Executives, Managers & Business Users Sets do it yourself analysts free Rapid development time / Data Warehouse Automation (i.e. days) Enterprise BI capabilities None