What is a Business Intelligence Strategy?Need
to review business intelligence strategy for an information management
strategic plan and want some practical timesaving suggestions?
Business intelligence strategy is the set of policies, standards and technology 
processes
and skills required to ensure that an organization obtains the
information needed to support information-based strategies and improve
competitive advantage.What does all this mean? Imagine you have applied to a bank for loan. You provide all the necessary information concerning your assets and liabilities. The loan manager has reviewed everything and has explained to you that you can have the loan. However, it’s at a higher interest-rate than you expected. You ask why? He explains that you have two outstanding loans at another bank and hence your credit rating has been reduced. In this case, the right information was in the loan manager’s hands at the right time to make the right decision. But wait! Suppose you say “I paid those loans last week and have the receipts to prove it” In this case, the right information was not available at the right time and the loan manager would have made a mistake by increasing your interest-rate. This example is easy. We have one loan manager and one person making a loan application. Suppose that applications for loans are now made online and credit decisions are made instantly. It is now important that a lot of information gets into the right hands at the right time. In this case, the right hands are the credit decision software that decides to approve or reject the loan and to approve the interest rate. All the process and procedures involved with getting this information into the decision-making software is part of information management. The use of the information (the credit decision) is based on business intelligence obtained by having the right information at the right time. Another example. You just made a credit card purchase at a store that you seldom visit. You get a call three hours later from your credit card fraud department asking about this suspicious purchase. You explain that you made the purchase for some legitimate reason and everything is OK. However, suppose you say, “I never made that purchase”. In this case, the right information at the right time came from a variety of different sources to tell the bank that they should call you to notify you of suspicious activity. This type of business intelligence cannot happen without a sound information management program. Business intelligence strategy can imply different thing to different people in the company.
Business intelligence strategy
checklist
Information management strategy analysis should look at some of the following items to help formulate a business intelligence strategy:  Is there a
corporate
metrics
policy
that defines how key performance
indicators and corporate metrics are
managed?Is there an
analytics
process in place?Are there unexploited
data within the
organization that could be integrated into an expanded business
intelligence program?Is
there a consistent
way of providing information
or
does everybody have
their own spreadsheets and keep track of information as they see fit? Does the organization have a
defined business intelligence strategy?
Is business
intelligence software
selected and available?Are business
intelligence tools used?Are business
intelligence consulting firms or business intelligence consultants used by the organization?Are business
intelligence systems or
business intelligence reporting used?Does the organization have a
center for business intelligence?Are business
intelligence services e.g.
software development or business intelligence analysis services used?Does the business
intelligence strategy include adaptive business intelligence?Is business
intelligence data mining
included in the strategy?Are business
intelligence jobs defined?Is an enterprise
business intelligence
organization or center of excellence established?What business
intelligence resources are
available?Has a business
intelligence roadmap been
created?Are business
intelligence dashboards part
of the strategy?Is real time
business intelligence part
of the strategy?Are business
intelligence analysts
available and trained?Have open
source business intelligence
solutions been considered?Does the organization have a
list of business intelligence vendors?Does the organization have a
business intelligence advisor?Is a business
intelligence cycle included
in the project management framework?Does enterprise information
architecture include business intelligence architecture?Is a business
intelligence framework
established?What business
intelligence applications are
currently used?Is operational
business intelligence part
of the strategy?Are business
intelligence projects
included in the software development life cycle?Is e
business intelligence part of the
strategy?Is the organization ready to
handle business intelligence development?Is business
intelligence budgeting part
of the information management strategy?What business
intelligence management
experience is available?Does the organization have a
business intelligence guide?Is the business
intelligence process defined
and followed?Does the strategy include a business
intelligence road map?What is the quality of business
intelligence data?Are business
intelligence careers included
in the human resource strategy?Are business
intelligence benefits
considered for each business intelligence project?Is a business
intelligence practice
established?Are best
business intelligence practices
followed?Is a business
intelligence architect
trained and available for project work?Is strategic
business intelligence part
of the overall information management strategy?Has the organization defined
roles and responsibilities for a business intelligence developer?Are there any unexploited business
intelligence opportunities?Are business
intelligence concepts defined
and communicated to knowledge workers?Is business
intelligence implementation
considered as part of change management and release management?Has a business
intelligence center of
excellence been staffed and trained?Is the enterprise
business intelligence
vision clearly defined and communicated?Is enterprise business intelligence
software defined in an approved enterprise technology list?Is business
intelligence ROI considered
as part of business case analysis?Does the human resource
strategy consider business intelligence recruitment?What is the organization's
maturity level for delivering business intelligence
solutions?Are business
intelligence principles
defined and communicated to stake-holders?Does the human resource
strategy include business intelligence job
descriptions, business intelligence specialists or business
intelligence programmers?Does the human resource
policy include provision for business intelligence contract jobs?Have business
intelligence data warehousing
solutions been considered?Are business
intelligence needs included
as part of information management requirements analysis?Are business
intelligence project leaders
trained and available?Does the organization rely
on competitive
business intelligence?Are requirements
for business intelligence specified following information management best practices?Is the business
intelligence management
process clearly defined?Has a business
intelligence officer been
appointed?Is a business
intelligence solutions
architect on-site?Are business
intelligence best practices
documented and followed?Has business
intelligence outsourcing been
considered as part of the business intelligence strategy?Is this the first time the
organization has attempted to improve business intelligence?Is business
intelligence modelling
included in data modeling standards?Are business
intelligence tool
requirements specified in project management plans?Summary... Information management is all about getting the right information at the right time in the right hands to make the right decisions. Business intelligence strategy is all about making the right decisions and to do this requires a sound information management discipline. The information management strategy needs to carefully analyze the "as is" situation to provide adequate basis for developing an action plan.
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