by Diann Daniel

Three Obstacles to Getting Business Intelligence Right

News
Nov 29, 20072 mins
Business IntelligenceIT Leadership

Companies think business intelligence is a priority, but most still struggle to use BI well. Here are a few things to watch out for.

An IDC (a sister company of CIO) survey, sponsored by Teradata, of 1,072 companies found that although 73 percent of companies have executive-level support for business intelligence, only 11 percent of think they are “excellent” at using it.

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Like most IT projects, resistance to business intelligence or an inability to optimize it must be overcome. Here are three problem areas you must tackle for a successful business intelligence implementation.

  • User resistance. Loan officers, purchasing agents and other experts within the company may feel threatened by automated decision-making tools, and business units may be reluctant to share data.
  • Feeling replaced. IT staff may feel replaced by business intelligence systems that allow for self-service and direct connections, obviating the need to run reports and other services.
  • Failing to deliver. Organizations may use business intelligence for analysis, but fail to use it for taking action. Poring over historical data without also using that data to determine what interest rate to charge a customer on a car loan in the next 15 minutes, for example, does not take full advantage of business intelligence.