Conducting a Business Intelligence/Data Warehouse Assessment (the Smart Way)

Managemant wants the Business Intelligence/Data Warehouse Assessment done fast -- and with as little cost as possible. Still, there is a correct strategy. Denise Rogers details the issue.

You know what typically happens when constructing and deploying a data warehousing/business intelligence environment: The aggressive timelines are shortened, the budget is tightened and the team experiences turnover. These factors are the dynamic aspects of any project. So to compensate and still deliver, there almost certainly will be a deviation from the reference architecture and the initial charter and scope.

But how is the DW/BI platform brought into alignment to the original scope? Well, doing a current state assessment does just that. The primary goal of doing a DW/BI assessment is to examine all components of the DW/BI solution and make recommendations required to correct the path of the DW/BI program. It is basically done to get the DW/BI initiative back on track and re-aligned to the original scope. Most assessments have somewhat of an approach or template that is used to gather information from both the IT and business components. However, the approach taken to complete an assessment of this type has changed over the years.

A DW/BI assessment - the definition

So to make sure we're on the same page as to what a DW/BI assessment is, here is the working definition for this article. The assessment is an in-depth review of the DW/BI platform as currently implemented, with findings and recommendations related to its future direction and capability to address the organization's needs. It includes the following:

• The scope includes the analysis of the components of the DW/BI platform, the data sources, the data targets, and the infrastructure that support it.
• The findings and recommendations for both the IT and business components to stabilize the environment and to enable future growth.

Assessment with a purpose and scope, but no vision

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