Strategic Advantage

Is Business Intelligence just reporting? Pretty charts and tables? Is that all I get for my money?

If you look at information as a vital strategic asset for your business, you'll start to see how business intelligence is NOT just a cost. A lot of us talk about living in the "Information Age" and how we're all "information workers". But if all you're doing is recording transactions so you can pay your taxes, you're missing the point.

It's only data until you start to use it; then it becomes information.

And THAT is a strategic advantage.

What about...

How's your customer churn? How many customers do you 'fire' each year? Could you identify the ones that are costing you money to service??? Do you have the information to make an informed decision about replacing them?

What if...

What if implementing effective business intelligence gave you the tools to increase your volume from your top 10 percent of customers by 10 percent? What would that mean to your business bottom line?

Communitech - I'm a convert!

Many of you have likely never heard of Communitech. Here's how they describe themselves: "...the hub for the commercialization of innovation, creating economic prosperity by removing barriers to the creation and growth of tech companies. Our goal is to create more successful global tech businesses for Canada." For those of you not living in Southwestern Ontario, it's a shame, as you likely won't have much chance to get to know them. Anyway...

We (Dynamic Intelligence) were members of Communitech several years ago, and I was frankly a bit disappointed. But at the urging/recommendation of a business peer (Rick from Virtual Causeway - thanks!), I decided to reacquaint my self with Communitech. And in short, I am really happy I did!

I spent all day yesterday attending the Tech Leadership Conference organized by Communitech. Fantastic speakers! (Clay Christensen, Bill Taylor, Noel Biderman). Great breakouts! And great networking opportunities. All in all, a day well spent.

After leaving the event, I went back to my office and started exploring their resources more, and I have to say the Communitech blog is pretty good - already found out about a couple of things I hadn't heard before.

Anyway, just wanted to commend them on a job well done, and say I'm looking forward to being a member.

NB - This is not a paid commercial for Communitech! :)  I just think they're pretty cool!

Don't just take my word for it...

I've always enjoyed having the chance to stand on my soapbox and tell people what I think... about almost anything! I find that by being upfront with partners, clients, and prospects, there's far less risk of problems down the road. So thank you to those of you who have listened to my advice/opinions/rants in the past.

Obviously some (most) of my comments are about Business Intelligence - which kind of makes sense! But I think it is really important for people to have multiple sources for their information. So listed below are a few resources that I think are of great value for those currently using Business Intelligene in their businesses, or for those considering a step down that path. If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to forward them:

• The Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI): This organization is not affiliated with any particular vendor, and their site has lots of great content. In particular, Wayne Eckerson always has great comments/insight.
• TDWI on Linked-In: For ongoing, community-generated discussions about BI, this is a great place to go. Highly recommended.
• BOB - BusinessObjects Forum: If you are using BusinessObjects for your BI, as either a technical resource or an end-user, this site has lots of excellent content! It has lots of willing participation from around the world. And it is independent of SAP BusinessObjects, so there is definitely some honesty there!
• SDN - The SAP Software Developers Network: I know what you're thinking, but this is NOT a plug for SAP. (They do enough of that by themselves!) But the SDN is another well-maintained site open to public contribution, and with lots of helpful people involved.
• The Kimball Group: Ralph Kimball knows more about Data Warehouses than most of us can ever hope to learn, but I also find that hte information is readable - far more so than any technical manual I've ever seen. Check out their forums, too.

This should get you started! I'll add some more soon. Also, we'll be adding some video blog pieces to youtube.com soon. Hope it's useful.

Jim

Build a better dashboard...

I was speaking with a client yesterday, and he was asking about how they could start to use their BusinessObjects Edge deployment to deliver dashboards. This is generally best done using Xcelsius (though not exclusively). Here are a few tips:

• Xcelsius is a great tool for developing visually appealing and easily understandable data presentations, and it's pretty easy to use. If you have a 5 CAL license for Edge, you already own one Xcelsius designer license for use in that environment. (And if you didn't see my recent LinkedIn post SAP was giving away licenses for Xcelsius Present - the free version only works with Excel data sources, but it's a great place to begin learning Xcelsius)
• Xcelsius can use a few different data sources in an Edge deployment - Live Office, Query as a Web Service, and a custom Web Service. Each have their own pros & cons:
• Live Office  - Create a report using Crystal or Webi that gives you the data you want to visualize; then put Xcelsius in front of it. It's great when you need to present summarized data at a level that doesn't already exist in the data source. Be careful about performance of the report though - you may want to consider scheduling it.
• Query as a Web Service - QaaWS allows you to connect directly to a Universe to draw data into a report. It's fast and pretty simple to use, but it doesn't allow much flexibility - no ability to create summaries, so sometimes work needs to be done in Excel.
• Custom Web Service - A custom web service allows you to create the exact data source that you need, which is a big plus. On the other hand, you also need the technical skill to create the web service, so that's it's downfall. Can be great if you've got the skills, but most of our clients don't bother.
• Want to do some fancy things with Xcelsius? Her are a few tips
• G-Maps Plug-In from Centigon - Ryan Goodman's company has created a really neat tool to integrate Google Maps with Xcelsius visuals. It's not free, but if mapping is key to your requirements, it's worth a look.
• Xcomponents - Donald MacCormack originally made these Xcelsius Add-ins available (for free), adding a few new Xcelsius visuals to the mix. Some neat stuff here.
• XWIS from Antivia - Antivia has been doing great add-ons for BOBJ products for years, and XWIS is another great addition. Hard to explain well, but take a look at their video demo.
• Remember that you can now put Xcelsius content into Crystal Reports - we'll be testing it soon to verify that this now allows scheduled deliver of dashboards (by cheating - hide the Crystal Report detail and just show the Xcelsius widget)
• Keep in mind that a dashboard is NOT JUST about gauges and charts - the "Flashy" stuff! Sometimes a well designed report is a great way to present information; sometimes a simple chart works too. Pick the best tool for your requirement, not just the one closest at hand.
• And keep in mind that in an Edge dashboard, you can now link various pieces together for great interactivity. For example, clicking on an Xcelsius map could cause a Crystal Report, a crosstab, and a line chart all to update to reflect the customers on the map. Really cool stuff - requires some planning, but can deliver great benefit.

Anyway, hope that give you some ideas. If you have questions, feel free to contact me by email or phone.

jpayton@dynamicintelligence.ca
(519)745-0722 x111

Colour me Purple!

I was just doing a bit of reading - catching up on some blogs written by friends and experts in the BI space. And I came across an interesting post by Wayne Eckerson called 'Purple People'. In simple terms, Wayne uses the term 'purple people' to refer to those exceptional individuals who can harness all the required resources (Business, technical, etc) for a BI project and bridge the gaps between them to achieve amazing results.

What makes this interesting? Well one of my other favourite reads is the blog and books of Seth Godin, and one of his books is called Purple Cow. Seth talks about a purple cow as something exceptional and memorable... something you'll never forget. See where I'm going with this?

Let me just say that it should be the goal of every BI consultant (and for that matter, consultant of any type) to be PURPLE!!! Be exceptional!!! Go the proverbial 'Extra Mile!' Deliver beyond your clients expectations and give them an experience they'll never forget!

As for me - I have a new favourite colour. Hope to share it with you soon!!!

:)