BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE COMPETENCY CENTER (BICC) HELPING ORGANIZATIONS EFFECTIVELY MANAGE ENTERPRISE DATA

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE COMPETENCY CENTER (BICC) HELPING ORGANIZATIONS EFFECTIVELY MANAGE ENTERPRISE DATA

Executive Summary Companies continue to remain challenged in deriving meaningful insights from the humongous amount of data despite using advanced Business Intelligence (BI)solutions. The primary reason being companies have approached BI solutions without much thought or planning at the enterprise level. This fragmented BI implementation has hindered companies from getting the desired business benefits out of BI. Most organizations fail to consolidate disparate enterprise data and refine it for business strategies. To realize the full potential of BI, it is necessary that implementation happen in a strategic and comprehensive manner at the departmental level, at the enterprise level, and at the IT level. There are many approaches for doing this, but the most effective approach is to establish a Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) that promotes uniform best practices for BI within the organization. BICC works as a catalyst with IT and Management to facilitate relevant information flow by consolidating people, processes, and technologies as a single cohesive unit. Challenges faced in managing Enterprise Data (EDM) Synchronizing disparate information across multiple departments and disciplines within and outside the enterprise calls for an effective data management platform. Companies have multiple systems of records that run on different data sources. And often, there is no proper mechanism to sort out discrepancies. EDM platforms are built to meet data consolidation challenges and verify data accuracies. However, before considering these data solutions, there are two data related scenarios that need serious attention in the first place:! When users know what they want from the data at their disposal goals of the enterprise! High Revenue Impact The assets that have the closest link to the revenue goals! Significant Expense Reduction The assets that provide the best opportunities to improve efficiency and achieve direct cost savings! High Information Gap The assets where poor information inhibits decision making! Quick-Win Opportunities Correlations between already available assets where there are opportunities for a quick win To address these challenges, companies need! When users don t know what they want from to invest in infrastructure that can support data the data at their disposal management in a streamlined process allowing quick access to information for different! What should be the way forward for business purposes. It s not about just investing companies when they are confronted with in technology to automate operations but more either of these scenarios? How to deal with the challenges of data collection from multiple sources? How to ensure data integrity? And most importantly, how to derive business value out of enterprise data? about getting the competitive edge wherein a company can utilize enterprise data to scale up growth.! How secure is data, are there any information security leaks, compliance challenges?! How good is the performance with respect to data load, data visualization?! How does the current system architecture scale up to the new generation architectures?! How to optimize my Licensing revenue across multiple tools?! Optimally manage the BI portfolio management of BI? These are some of the many questions enterprise IT has to answer on a regular basis. A BICC helps companies build a clear road map on all these fronts and then move towards the consolidation of corporate information with Single Source of Truth by establishing the BICC on these fronts:! Key Corporate Priority Relation to the top 2 Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data 3

Effectively addressing data challenges through a Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) A Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) addresses the business, organizational, and IT requirements associated with maximizing a company's investment in BI and optimizing its competitive advantage. The key is to lift the responsibility for BI out of IT and provide a supporting organizational unit that will give the BI systems the required visibility, attention, and support needed to connect effectively with the organization as a whole. The Business Intelligence Competency Center will help in consolidating the skills, resources, and experience of both Business and IT to achieve the common goal of the enterprise. It is a cross-functional team with specific tasks, roles, responsibilities, and processes for supporting and promoting the effective use of BI across the organization. The sign of a well-functioning BICC is the ability of an organization s BI systems to answer the questions business users are asking in a timely manner. Industry implementation of BICC and key deliverables Implementing and delivering information strategy requires a formal organization that will own the strategy and execution. The BICC develops the overall strategic plan and priorities for BI, defines the requirements (including data quality and governance), and helps the organization interpret and apply the insights derived to make key business decisions. Companies need to assess how BI projects and skills are organized and used within the organization and identify key resources and sponsorship towards establishing a BICC. A BICC needs a unique mix of basic and advanced business skills as well as shrewd communication skills. A BICC should also be able to meet advanced business needs particularly the ability to deliver return on investment (ROI) as the BICC gains momentum and becomes more firmly established in the company. 4 Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data 5

Enterprise adoption of BICC! Maximizes the efficiency, use, and quality of! Helps close the gap between what the BI across all lines of business through business needs and what IT delivers standards and reusability! Enables business agility and improved! Leads to BI deployments that have higher technology management, helping drive success and deliver more value at less cost overall business efficiency and in less time! Drives end user adoption to ensure success (simply providing BI to an increasing number of information consumers doesn t guarantee more people will use it) Approach to BICC There is no universal blueprint for building a BICC; it needs to be tailored to the size of every organization and their BI ambitions. Having said that, we can broadly consider three distinct phases of implementing a BICC within an organization. PHASE I - IDENTIFY PHASE II - ESTABLISH PHASE III - REALIZE Key deliverables for BICC! A clear framework on how a BICC implementation should be done, i.e. defines the knowledge, standards, and resources needed to make this happen! A Comprehensive BI strategy covering Short & Long term objectives, People, Processes, and Information Governance. Along with this companies should have a clear direction on what to do with their current BI & Analytics applications and derive the ROI out of the investments! Development Framework, best practice Guidelines, Estimation model, Governance, Policies for a better BI value realization Manage & Govern Programs IT landscape & System Architecture Data Governance & Management BICC Program BI Vision & Delivery Establish Best Practices & Standards Tool / Vendor Management! Conduct workshops to identify the current state and business process! Create a strategic plan, methodology, and direction! Conduct a Readiness Assessment! Establish Information Management framework ( Data Quality, Master data, Common metrics usage)! Determine internal skills required to support BICC! Identify gaps and provide recommendations! Blueprint overall vision for leveraging the organization s information assets! Determine organizational structure! Define BICC team structure, initial roles and enlist the team! Define best practice infrastructure, methodologies and standards! Establish and maintain a corporate knowledge base! Coaching to business users on how to use BI and interpret results! Communicate delivery methodology, operating model and preferences! Build a phased project plan including launch and communication! Assist in implementing the project through the established BICC office! Train and induct team! Project kick-off! Document lessons learnt! Post implementation review! Success showcase! Adjust, adapt, and apply the findings in the next project! Promote use of the BICC and its services within the organization! Define and monitor BICCrelated KPIs Resourcing - Enhance user skills 6 Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data 7

Activities involved in BICC implementation Phase I - Identify Phase III - Realize Objectives Activities! Blueprint of BICC program! Scope definition in terms of service offerings and tools covered! Define the team and a working model! Identify and publish the findings! Kick off meetings! Conduct workshop with relevant stake holders to understand the current business & technical process to identify gaps! Identify DW and BI initiatives, people, expertise, project details, infrastructure, vendor alliances, artifacts! Define Roles, Responsibilities and Communication plan! Identify and prioritize areas to focus in Phase 2 (Establish) - meet with the teams and seek suggestions Objectives Activities! Function efficiently as a one-stop shop for all DW and BI activities! Roll out services/solutions and artifacts within the DW and BI space! Monitor opportunities! Define analysis scope! Evaluate cost versus business benefit! Estimate effort for complex tasks! Common Methods & Processes! Help & Guide BICC team to implement the identified project till Go Live! Guide teams in creating WBS, define Roles, Responsibilities & Communication plan! Project delivery assistance! Execute project management, including technical change management! Establish development, testing, and promotion processes Deliverables! Current assessment, Challenges and Gaps! BICC Framework and structure to include process, resources and governance! Roles & responsibilities definition! BI Solution Multi year roadmap with clear demarcation of Short & Long term goals & Objectives! Information Governance Framework Covering Implementation methodology, Data Quality, Master Data, Common Meta data! Presentation of findings and sign-off Deliverables Overall assistance in helping BICC team in documenting! Project go-live and sign off! Lessons Learnt! Technical Review! Change Management and support process! Execute project review and evaluation! Publish documentation and usage guidelines Phase II - Establish Objectives Activities Deliverables! Improve branding in DW and BI and present a consistent picture to customers! Establish a team of DW and BI experts! Define and implement basic set of artifacts such as methodology, best practices, implementation approach for each service offering! Create and publish central repository! Build resource pipeline of key people including domain experts. Setup a steering committee for DW and BI projects! Define frameworks and methodologies for the services offerings! Conduct training on the uniform process, best practices, approach & guidelines >Review training needs in the BICC and for business users >Examine training needs in relation to specific projects! Conduct monthly internal project audits to monitor and control the progress of process-compliance! Conduct data quality improvements! Enable impact analysis and data tracking! BICC Framework and structure! Roles & responsibilities definition! BI Solution Multi year roadmap! Information Governance Framework Covering Implementation methodology, Data Quality, Master Data! Develop and implement organizational reporting standards 8 Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data 9

Client team involvement! Executive Involvement - The executive team! IT Team Involvement - The various IT representatives who will champion the representatives who will ensure that all initiative help define the business alignment technologies are integrated and strategy through prioritization and create the interconnected; they will apply technology to performance management culture enable the business strategy from! information integration to database Business Involvement - The line-of-business administration, security, and infrastructure representatives or subject matter experts who will define the business processes and metrics that are to be tied to corporate strategy and support and champion the management and execution Conclusion Companies can set up a successful BICC with proper planning and implementation. BICC implementation needs to be driven by a well governed process map that clearly details the roles and responsibilities of all utilized corporate resources.! BI Team Involvement - The BI team representatives who will innovate and define how different business metrics can be applied with data, systems, and processes to help create successful execution within a BI environment Benefits of BICC! A dedicated BICC helps companies realize! Improves decision making and sharing of several tangible business benefits: best practices within the enterprise by eliminate report duplication and report! Enables companies to deliver valued redundancy information on products and services to customers, staff, and regulators! Standardizes BI business processes, practices, and content by way of structured! Enables executive management to monitor process around data governance operational effectiveness and efficiency through availability and relevance of! Manages Master Data, key artifacts, information templates, processes, and standards in one! Reduces business risk through better centralized location information security and compliance with! Identifies key roles and responsibilities for industry standards monitoring processes and practices 10 Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) Helping Organizations Effectively Manage Enterprise Data 11

Author Kishan Venkat Narasiah, Consulting Lead DWBI & Analytics, ITC Infotech Co-Author Viros Sharma, Vice President & GlobalPractice Head DWBI & Analytics, ITC Infotech 14 years of Industry Experience, currently More than 20 Years in the DW/BI Consulting and working in the capacity of Senior Technical Practice-Building space. Worked for Architect level advising clients on BI road map, Multinational IT companies like Bearing Point Information Strategy, Value realization, Data and igate in India and USA. AMP from IIMB. Governance as well as managing and delivering Double Masters in Mathematics and Computer DWBI projects. Perform advisory role on Applications. complex Business Intelligence projects and act as subject matter expert in defining requirements of most complex business initiatives. About ITC Infotech ITC Infotech is a specialized global scale - full service provider of Domain, Data and Digital technology solutions, backed by a strong business and technology consulting focus. The company caters to enterprises in Supply Chain based industries (CPG, Retail, Manufacturing, Hi-Tech) and Services (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Airline, Hospitality) through a combination of traditional and newer business models, as a long term sustainable partner. ITC Infotech is a fully owned subsidiary of USD 8bn ITC Ltd one of India s most admired companies. www.itcinfotech.com contact.us@itcinfotech.com 2015 ITC Infotech. All rights reserved.