Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence (BI) has been a popular, and sometimes misunderstood, term for at least ten years. An internet search on the subject reveals a variety of definitions, some of which have a technology focus and others that have a more general "business method" focus. Wikipedia, for example, says the term typically refers to "a set of business processes for collecting and analyzing business information. This includes the technology used in these processes, and the information obtained from these processes." All organizations can benefit from BI as defined here—i nformation collection and analysis is fundamental to becoming a learning organization. The challenge lies in taking the "idea" of business intelligence and making it yield benefits for your organization.

APCG experience shows that organizations are relatively adept at selecting and implementing business intelligence technologies. APCG has worked closely with many purveyors of these tools including Cognos, Business Objects, SAS, and many others. In addition, organizations can quickly create reams of data and information from these tools. An organization that accomplishes these two straightforward activities has created a BI capability according to BI definition, but will likely not realize the true benefits of an institutionalized, ongoing business intelligence program. To realize these benefits, the business intelligence must satisfy decisionmakers’ information needs in their ongoing management of the organization. The decisionmakers’ information needs are the focus of the APCG approach to business intelligence.

The APCG approach to business intelligence focuses on the "Demand Side" of the business intelligence equation. As mentioned above, the "Supply Side" of the business intelligence equation is relatively straightforward. The primary benefit of our approach is avoiding the almost inevitable "information overload" that results from technology-driven BI implementations. Information technology today has become "too good" at gathering and presenting information. The result is that BI programs tend to be self-defeating. They provide too much information to busy decisionmakers who can’t use the information because of time constraints. Rather than creating enhanced decisionmaking for organizations, organizations that succumb to this scenario see no improvements at all--despite the well-intentioned efforts of IT resources.

APCG develops BI programs with the same thorough planning and preparation that is built into our performance management program implementations. In fact, APCG considers BI to be a broader-focused application of its performance management approach. BI programs typically have a built-in ad hoc analysis capacity for the "one-off" reports that can be generated with sophisticated BI software. In addition, however, BI programs must satisfy the ongoing information needs that leaders require for fact-based decisionmaking—just like ongoing performance measure updates that provide the basis for any performance management program. By treating BI implementations in this way, APCG ensures that the supply of information is focused on the ongoing information demands of decisionmakers--leading to increased quality of decisions, as well as a high-payoff for the BI technology and program investment.