BI For Operational PerformanceBI For Operational Performance

VentanaMonitor™

Summary

The Ventana Research study on BI for operational performance indicated widespread use of business intelligence for operations. The research found that deployments varied in size from small to over 10,000+ users and a large percentage of organizations accessed these applications on a daily or hourly basis, indicating that the applications were likely mission critical. There were a large range of application purposes but performance monitoring, issue management and customer/product 360 degree views were just a few of the common uses. The focus on improving operational performance and management of operations areas were key purposes found in the research. Ventana Research expects operational use of BI to accelerate and expand in ways previously unrealized and become a major focus in global organizations in 2005 and beyond.

Assessment

Early in 2004, Ventana Research researched the application of business intelligence technology to business operations and to operational performance enhancements. Based upon initial qualitative research, Ventana Research subsequently initiated a quantitative research program in this area to understand the maturity, adoption and key trends. This research was sponsored by Actuate, Business Objects, Cognos and Information Builders. Respondents from over 540 organizations participated in the study providing new insights into this topic.

The research examined respondent benefits and needed capabilities. Respondents rated their importance or prevalence and provided insight on best practices for IT departments and line-of-business managers. In addition, business needs, application justification practices, user needs, technical requirements, and project management practices were analyzed. Results indicated that deployment of business intelligence "applications" to line-of-business workers to enable/improve performance in business operations is widespread, as 73% of the respondents indicated that they were involved with deployments of BI for operations. Ventana Research believes that operational use of business intelligence is far more widespread than strategic management use of BI. This is not to say that the market is saturated — instead, we are at the beginning of a wave of significant deployments of BI for operations.

Ventana Research initially hypothesized that deployment of business intelligence for operations was an exclusively large-scale endeavor. However, respondents reported deployments of all sizes, ranging from 20 users to 10,000+ users. Many of the deployments were small in size (5-100 users). Adding users to existing applications was also a commonly cited future intention. Further, it was found that these applications were mission critical, as 48% of the respondents said that their applications were accessed by users one or more times per day, whereas only 28% said that their applications were used one or more times per week. Ventana Research believes that these applications are providing significant operational efficiency improvements.

The research found that organizations intending to deploy business intelligence applications for operations can expect to gain not only improved data access, efficiency and customer service, but also reduce costs. Respondents cited that analysis of performance against organizational and personal goals was a leading benefit from these applications. The research also found that other applications were used for issue investigation, enabling root cause analysis via drill down and comprehensive views of customers/products. Ventana Research believes that these two uses, measuring/monitoring operational performance and facilitating business operations are commonly found throughout the industry. This indicates that business intelligence in its many forms — not just dashboards — is a fundamental enabler for operational performance management.

View

Business intelligence technology should be viewed as having far greater value to organizations than just to support infrequent strategic decision-making. Ongoing performance assessments, tactical root cause analysis, and daily customer and product updates are examples of daily operational use of business intelligence. Many organizations today deliver these applications across their entire chain of command and across multiple departments or divisions. Not deploying information assets to business operations may limit efficiency and resulting effectiveness of the organization. Business intelligence and reporting technology platforms provide robust scalable platforms for delivering performance management applications to small and large-scale business operations. While the platforms support a variety of usage modes including basic reporting, they support single purpose applications that can host multiple applications simultaneously. Ventana Research recommends that organizations interested in deploying business intelligence and reporting applications for operational performance management assess existing approaches. Operational use of business intelligence technology should be a top line candidate for strategic IT investment.

Eric Rogge is VP & Research Director - Business Intelligence & Performance Management at Ventana Research (www.ventanaresearch.com), a research and advisory services firm.