Finding it difficult to start your project? In this post, I provide 5 tips for a quick start and more importantly to begin extracting the value from data in no time.
Let me start with a simple question, why are you embarking on such a big and risky project?
The reasons supporting a Data Warehouse or Business Intelligence project usually include:
- Improve performance of a specific business process or of the overall business
- Reduce cost, or at least understand what expenses can be controlled
- Open new markets or gain better positioning in the market
All of these reasons make perfect sense right? Then, why do you take so much time to start?
5 tips to fast track the start of your Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence Project
1. Start
This is probably the most difficult step to take given the usual scary size of the project (i.e. budget, the number of requirements, duration, etc.). You should avoid “Analysis – Paralysis”; your competition may be ahead in the game already and taking full advantage of data to make informed and timely decisions. Do you have a feeling of urgency now?
2. Take Small Steps
Start small, with a few requirements from one or two business units. By having a reduced scope, you will have the feeling of having better control of the project. And believe me, it is not just a feeling it is the reality.
Taking small steps also means, you can prove the approach such as the architecture or design for the solution to be. It means you can use shortcuts as long as you deliver results and show visibility of progress continuously.
3. Manage Expectations
This type of projects have diverse stakeholders, all of them with different priorities and wanting to be served first.
Don’t wait for common agreement on who goes first. Get their agreement on delivering the project following a prioritised list based on the value that will be created for the organisation.
4. Set a Good Foundation
A good foundation for technology-based projects usually involves the perfect alignment or at least a good balance between 3 forces: People, Business Process and Technology.
For People, get supporters and transform them in evangelists of the use of data. Once they recognised the value generated from data, they will be the first ones to tell others in the organisation about the benefits they can get by working efficiently with data.
For Business Process, get a good understanding of the process itself. Knowing the variables that impact the process’ performance is vital to determine the best analytical path when interrogating data. Your supporters must also be SME’s for their respective business units or knowledge domain areas.
For Technology, design a solution for current and future needs. Use an architecture and the tools that permit changes. In today’s very competitive and dynamic markets, people’s and organisation’s needs for data change constantly. Nowadays, requirements for data probably have a lifetime of 3 to 6 months, if not less. Your solution must be able to survive to these changes with minimal disruption.
5. Learn, Apply and Repeat
If you have read this far, you probably are already thinking an Agile approach is suggested for this type of projects. Well, you are right.
Traditionally, Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence Projects tend to fail and one of the top reasons is the use of a big bang or waterfall implementation approach.
If you use the three previous tips in a repetitive cycle, you will find yourself making consistent progress and generating business value from data more often.
Taking small steps, as explained in tip #2, allows you to develop an approach for the project. With every iteration, you have the opportunity to adjust the approach and to improve your implementation process. After repeating this process for a few times, you will realise you have developed a framework which can be used for any data related project.
6. (Bonus) Ask for Help
Given the importance of Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for an organisation, I have always thought the organisation must have dedicated internal resources working on supporting the data platform making sure it is available to the business when and where it is required.
But, always consider bringing external skills to accelerate an implementation or to develop a new capability. Consultants, like me, are exposed to many environments and always provide expert advice based on the experiences of solving different types of problems.
Supporting Ideas
- If you have many requirements with different priorities. Review their priority and align it to the business strategy.
- The Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence project is a journey, not a one-off initiative. Maybe call it “Program”, it will give you the feeling of an ongoing process.
- Deliver something that has a high probability of success.
- Do not worry about using the most sophisticated tools. Instead, focus on the foundation (i.e. people, business process and then technology)
- Prove your idea, strategy, plan, etc. by using Proof of Concepts or Prototypes. Try the approach and make the required corrections early in the process.
- People desires and needs change over time, embrace change and be prepared to handle it.
So, how are you embarking on this journey? what makes you different from your competition in the use of data? Let me know your thoughts and comments in the section below.