Finally, end users are held accountable for what they enter into the data warehouse. Knowing that, for example, the vice president of enrollment will look at a dashboard of student demographic data and see that some students' ethnicities aren't coded is a powerful motivator for that vice president's staff, notes Fish.

Provide support for new behaviors.

It was clear that such big changes—no more reliance on shadow systems and the move to a new system—needed nurturing to take root, especially in an academic environment where many people pride themselves on individualism and freedom.

In addition, executives and faculty were given mandatory training on business intelligence tools, data models and operations. Beyond that, the data warehouse group offered study halls and other support sessions, as well as newsletters filled with tips. Project leaders also set up a web page of BI information, which outlines participants, committees, project presentations and includes user-friendly sections on data warehouse terms and functions.

An A+ for Rensselaer's Business Intelligence

Rensselaer initially invested $1.2 million in the enterprise data warehouse and business intelligence systems. Operating them costs approximately $537,000 annually.

In return, executives estimate conservatively that the better decision making that comes from improved data analysis saves the university $820,000 annually. Business intelligence has enabled Rensselaer to be more selective in awarding financial aid, resulting in a yearly savings of $500,000. It has also helped optimize expenses. For example, by automating the creation of financial reports, the BI tools have saved $320,000 in staff costs and reduced the time it takes to produce the reports from days to hours. Because financial information is available in near real-time, financial aid and budgets can be more closely monitored, improving budgetary management. And better historic data enables better forecasting.

"They're making some real strong decisions," says AMR's Hagerty. "Which applicants choose and what to reward them—that's bringing BI to life." All too often, he points out, what's missing from business intelligence efforts is moving from insight to action, and therefore failing to exploit BI's potential.

The Rensselaer team agrees. "True returns can only be achieved when the technology is adapted by the organizations and is penetrated into its processes," says Fish. That success requires fundamental changes at multiple levels, which is only possible, she says, with executive-level commitment and sponsorship and close collaboration between the IT and the business side.