Effective Business Intelligence Systems - Example

Project Charter for implementing a business intelligence system Version 1.0 approved Prepared by: Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley Date created: 23/7/2011 Table of Contents Table of Contents ii Project Description 1 Business Objectives and Success Criteria 2 Stakeholders 4 Vision 6 Project Scope 7 Assumptions and Dependencies 8 Constraints 8 Milestones 11 Business Risks 11 Budget 12 Reference 14 Project Description The purpose of this project is to implement a business intelligence system at Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley. Implementation of this system will offer the firm an opportunity to explore, integrate, aggregate and carry out a multidimensional analysis of data originating from various information resources (Thierauf, 2001). By implementing the business intelligence system Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley will be able to combine data from its internal information systems and integrate data coming from external databases. This will help the management at the firm to analyze data easily and make decisions in different areas of the firm including financial analysis, marketing analysis, customer analysis, production management analysis and logistic analysis. Thus, the business intelligent system will enable Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley to know its financial position, to have a clear business strategy, improve decision making process, improve customer service, compete in government grants, and increase its profits. Other benefits include carrying out comprehensive reporting of business performance, to streamline the supply chain and to have a better educated business which will imply that the community will be better educated. As consequence of these expected outcomes, Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley will be able to communicate its business strategy throughout the business more effectively. To plan and execute future art exhibitions, to analyze customer profitability; to focus on business performance; to reduce bottlenecks and delayed orders; to reduce overheads and to make decisions regarding the funds of the business (Kimball and Ross, 2010). As seen in the business case, implementation of a business intelligent system will provide an increase in revenue of 25% year on year in addition to allowing it to compete for government grants every year. The system will enable the firm to attain its strategy and goal of having the most up to date information that is relevant and reliable to make executive decisions regarding the business and its operations (Kimball and Ross, 2010). Business Objectives and Success Criteria The main objectives of implementing business intelligence system at Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley are: To attain competitive advantage To increase revenue by 25% To maintain their high profile and excellent reputation To enable the business carry out proper inventory and financial support To enable the business to better plan and execute future art exhibitions To enable the firm to make calculated and effective business decisions Implementing business intelligence system at Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley will allow owners to develop knowledge about customers, competitors and internal operations (Thierauf, 2001). This will allow for better decision making in regards to the funds of the business as well as improved planning and executing of future art exhibitions (Rasmussen, Goldy and Solli, 2002). The system will also enable the management to analyse profitability and to better focus on business performance. This will lead to reduced bottlenecks and delayed orders in additrion to reduction of overgheads. As a consequence the revenue of the firm is expected to increase by 25% year on tyear. Thus the success of the system will be measured by its ability to increase revenue by 25% every year. The ability of the firm to carry out extensive reporting as a result of implementing business intelligence system (BI system) will allow owners of the firm to be in a strategic position to compete in government grants. The success of the BI system at the firm will also be based on the ability of the firm to compete for government grants each year By implementing BI system, owners of Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley will be able to carry out extensive reporting functions across the business (Abraham, Koppen, and Franke, 2003). They will be able to clearly define their business strategy and communicate this throughout the business (Thierauf, 2001). The analytic components of BI system will enable the firm to have a precise overview of the performance of the firm in different areas such as finance, inventory, marketing and customer service. Thus, success of the system will also be based on its ability to provide precise overview of the performance of the firm in the above mentioned areas. The success of BI system to be implemented will depend on several factors. The first factor is the availability of funds to implement the project. The project is expensive to implement even though its benefits are bound to last for many years (Czemicki, 2009). Thus, for successful implementation of the project, funds must be made available for its implementation. Second factor is the ability of the management and employees to accept change. The project will significantly bring change in the organization since decision making will occur more frequent and may result in day to day processes and operations to change (Thierauf, 2001). Thus the willingness of the management and the employees to accept change will determine the successful implementation and execution of the project (Czemicki, 2009). Another factor that will influence the success of the project ability of the employees to acquire new technical skills that is required for running the system (Abraham, Koppen, and Franke, 2003). The management and all employees will need to undergo training to acquire the necessary skills needed for the execution of firm’s tasks using the system. Stakeholders Stakeholder Benefit Attitudes Win conditions Constraints Project sponsors (Owners) The owners will benefit from improved decision making process and efficient management of funds throughout the business; increased sales through customer knowledge; improved planning and execution of art exhibition and ability to receive government grants of up to $20,000. The owners are willing and determined to improve financial management, performance, planning and execution of art exhibition at the firm. The owners can only attain the benefits of the project if they provide necessary funding and other support services that may be required Lack of cooperation of employees or some owners during implementation process and lack of adequate funding Project manager Successful implementation of the project will enable the project manager to get a chance of implementing related projects aimed at increasing efficiency and performance of the firm. The project manager is determined to source for the best vendor of the system in the market and help in coordination of all activities that will be undertaken during the implementation process. Cooperation from sponsors and other employees; ability to choose appropriate BI system; availability of adequate funds and trainability of employers are the required win conditions for the project manager. The main constraints that the project manager may encounter include lack of adequate funds, lack of cooperation from both sponsors and employees and availability of appropriate BI system provider in the market Employees They will be able to learn new ways of managing finance, inventory and reporting business reports (Abraham, Koppen, and Franke, 2003). In addition, they will be able to carry out their tasks faster and provide information to decision making persons efficiently and on timely basis. Positive attitude towards impending change, ability to learn new techniques are tantamount for the employees to accrue these benefits Proper training and positive attitude toward new system will enable the employees to benefit from the BI system Improper training and inability to interpret the results from the system are some constraints that may affect employees while executing the BI system at the firm. Firm’s Customers Improved information flow and faster decision making will imply that the management will be able to understand the customers well and hence implement better ways of satisfying its customers. Proper planning and proper execution of exhibitions enabled by BI system will imply that customers will get the best from such exhibitions. Proper decision aimed at improving customer satisfaction as a result of BI system implementation may attract more customers and encourage repeat sales. Proper interpretation of the reports and appropriate utilization in decision making will determine whether the customers benefit from the BI system Inability of the management to utilize the information provided by BI system to make decisions faster may impede customer satisfaction. Vision The vision for implementing a Business intelligence system is for the owners of Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley to have the most up to date information. That is relevant and reliable to make executive decisions regarding the business and its operations that will enable the business to increase revenue by 25% and compete in government grants every year (Kimball and Ross, 2010). Thus the project will allow the firm to know its financial position, to have a clear strategy; to improve its decision making process; increase its profits; compete in government grants; streamline supply chain; report on performance of the business and to have a better educated business that will ensure the community is better educated (Thierauf, 2001). As a consequence of this, implementation of BI system project is expected to result in effective communication of the business strategy throughout the firm; planning and execution of future art exhibitions, analyzing customer profitability; having a better focus on business performance; reducing inventory; and improving decision making in regards to business funds. Project Scope Implementation of BI system at Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley is expected to deliver economic, technical and organizational products (Rasmussen, Goldy, and Solli, 2002). Economically, implementation of BI system is expected to provide an increase in revenue by 25% year on year and to allow the business to compete in government grants every year. This will be delivered once the system is able to provide extensive reporting functions across the firm for the owners to be abkle to define business strategy and communicate it throughout the business in addition to enabling the owners to have a precise overview of the business performance. Technical deliverable of implementing BI system at Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley will include upgrading of the current computer set; creation of database; transfer of inventory and financial information to new database; and training of employees at the gallery to properly use the system. Organizational deliverables will include change in the organization as a result of efficient decision making process and operational changes. However, implementation of the project will not provide a surety that government grants will be available every year. Assumptions and Dependencies Assumptions AS-1: The project assumes that government grants will be available every year. AS-2: It also assumes that an appropriate business intelligence system exists in the market and that appropriate system will be chosen. Dependencies DE-1: The success of the project will mainly depend on the vendor chosen to provide the BI system. His ability to install the required hardware and software and educate the staff on how to use the system will determine the success of the project (Eckerson, 2010). Constraints The main constraints of the project will entail reuse of current computer which may not be able to support many features of the BI system to be implemented (Thierauf, 2001). The project will also require identifying BI system vendor and acquiring appropriate BI system for the business. The business will also need to acquire an SQL server to support the Bi system (Sobh, 2010). The following table identifies the parameters around the project’s key drivers (top priority objectives), constraints to work within, and dimensions that can be balanced against each other to achieve the drivers within the known constraints (Kimball and Ross, 2010). Dimension Constraint Driver Degree of Freedom Features: The main features (in order of priority) that the BI system is expected to have include: Ability filter, sort and analyze data. Ability to formulate ad hoc, predefined reports and templates. Ability to provide drag and drop capabilities. Ability to produce drillable charts and graphs. Ability to generate alternative scenarios. Ability to support multi-languages. The main constraint here will be identification of appropriate vendor and acquisition of the required BI system with these features The main driver of having these features is to enable the firm to carry out financial analyses, marketing analyses, customer analyses, production management analyses and logistic analyses 70-80% of high priority features must be included in release 1.0 Quality: the quality of the system will be based on its ability to integrate data warehouses and analytical models directly into the decision making process. Constraints include the ability of users to use the system and to acquire necessary skills through training to use the system Drivers here entail the ability of the user to use and to interpret the reports generated for purposes of decision making. 90-95% of user acceptance tests must pass for release 1.0, 95-98% for release 1.1 Cost: This will include costs of acquiring BI software, SQL server, computer system upgrade, costs to transfer data from current systems to SQL server, training costs, maintenance costs and initial loss of productivity. Constraints here will include availability of funds Drivers here are to obtain and implement a BI system that meets the Temper Tinglary SOHO Art Gallery-Yarra Valley needs budget overrun up to 15% acceptable without executive review Schedule: Implementation process will entail: Case study Business case development Project charter development and acceptance Sourcing for BI system vendor Installation of the software Training of employees and other users Constraints will entail delayed approval process, acquisition and training process The release of 1.0 is expected to be available by 31/12/2011, release 1.1 by 30/3/2012 A delay of less than one month is acceptable Staff: Implementation will require BI developers and gallery employees Maximum team size is 6 developers + 4 testers (2 employers and 2 owners) This will ensure successful development and execution of the project An extra employee in testing process is acceptable. Milestones Event or Deliverable Target Date Project charter approved 31/7/2011 Project plan completed 15/8/2011 Project plan approved 31/8/2011 Project team assembled 15/9/2011 Project execution initiated 16/9/2011 Project execution completed 30/11/2011 Customer acceptance 15/12/2011 Project closed out 31/12/2011 Business Risks Risk Probability Impact Mitigation Marketplace competition The project may not be able to implement a sophisticated BI system like the one found in large gallery firms This may impact on quality and features of the system To mitigate this, a software with essential features that may result in realization of expected outcome of the project will be sourced Timing issues The project may not be completed on time due to delays in approval process and availability of required resources This may delay the realization of the benefits of the system To mitigate this the project manager will engage the concerned parties actively to ensure that approval process does not delay the implementation process User acceptance Users may take long to accept the system and to effectively use it. This may hinder the realization of expected benefits To mitigate this, training and frequent meetings will be held to sensitize users in the benefits of the system Budget Item Cost per item ($) No. of items Total costs ($) BI software 20,000 1 20,000 SQL server 6,000 1 6,000 Computer system upgrade 2,000 1 2,000 Training 500 1 500 Maintenance 1,000 1 1,000 Human resources 3,000 3 9,000 Total 38,500 Reference Sobh, T. 2010. Innovations and Advances in Computer Sciences and Engineering. New York: Springer Thierauf, R. 2001. Effective business intelligence systems. London: Greenwood Publishing Group. Rasmussen, N., Goldy, P., and Solli, P. 2002. Financial business intelligence: trends, technology, software selection, and implementation. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Abraham, A., Koppen, M., and Franke, K. 2003. Design and application of hybrid intelligent systems. London: IOS Press. Kimball, R., and Ross, M. 2010. The Kimball Group Reader: Relentlessly Practical Tools for Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Czemicki, B. 2009. Next-Generation Business Intelligence Software with Silverlight 3. New York: Apress. Eckerson, W. 2010. Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business, 2nd Ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Read More