In the realm of corporate activity, business intelligence (BI) is THE utmost important aspects. Well, it is simply a vital aid to managerial decision-making in any organization and at any time. The need is further enhanced with the rapid change in the economy and technology. For instance, China produces 6 million graduates a year; this put pressure on the economy.

Economy has to grow and expand:
• Powerful customers
• Global workforce
• Intensified Competition – BRIC Giants (Britain, Russia, India, China)
• Increased Risk
• Disruptive Technology

But the current economic environment indicates:
• Lack of access to funds
• High cost of capital
• Plunging consumer confidence
• Spreading across industries
• Rising inflation risks
• Higher market volatility
• Wave of consolidation
• Govt re-regulation

These phenomena caused…slowing demands, rising costs and reduced credits.

Laying these out at the conference, Eric Sin, Senior Director of Business User of SAP South East Asia emphasized for Strategic Alignment in an organization to take place, Data Source is MEGA important – a trusted information. An organization is supposed to create a sort of `Enterprise Visibility.

However, till this day, I can hear top people in an organization screaming “We need information but what we have is simply data!” Users, as in this case decision-makers are not getting the information that they need. Grouses like “I have data everywhere, but I just do not know how to make sense of it!”

My thinking, BI is mostly associated with report delivery, a sort of news churned out to provide valuable information in an organization. It’s a form of tools – BI tools to be specific. Unfortunately, in an organization like MDeC for instance, few people within an organization who actually know how to make use of these tools. 

Sometimes, the tools used failed to communicate their needs. The result: solutions that fail to deliver expectations.

Do we actually factor in the value provided in managing and making sense of the information assets contained within an enterprise, like ours?

Changing the way things get done…

Users from across the organization, not just decision-makers want quality information on demand speedily.  Flexibility and ease of use are utmost in user experience. And we want our information delivered pronto and consistently.

I would like tools and solutions which not only can deliver information, but can manage information and produce information by integrating with the current systems.

Hence, to relate back to Sin’s points, user interfaces is EXTREME importante.  Users would want fast & speedy information using the simplest UI.
Sure sounds like a broken record here but that is what we need as users in order to maximise on these tools.

Management expert guru, Peter Drucker said there is nothing worse than doing the wrong thing well.

Why does this happen? Becoz people don’t understand the company plan or have the visibility into how we fare in an organization. The only way to maximise the value of BI is to focus on the total picture – information management, production and delivery that ensures consistent information and the ability for users to analyze data.