7 Rules to Rolling Out BI

1. Make sure your data is clean.

2. Train users effectively.

3. Deploy quickly, then adjust as you go. Don’t spend a huge amount of time up front developing the “perfect” reports because needs will evolve as the business evolves. Deliver reports that provide the most value quickly, and then tweak them.

4. Take an integrated approach to building your data warehouse from the beginning. Make sure you’re not locking yourself into an unworkable data strategy further down the road.

5. Define ROI clearly before you start. Outline the specific benefits you expect to achieve, then do a reality check every quarter or six months.

6. Focus on the business objectives.

7. Don’t buy business intelligence software because you think you need it. Deploy BI with the idea that there are numbers out there that you need to find, and know roughly where they might be. “It can be a needle in a haystack,” says Wettemann. “But you should [at least] know what field it’s in.”