2014/12/19 07:00:10

Implementations of BI in Russia: typical errors

Failures of BI systems in Russia, experts consider, are caused by the same typical errors at a preproject stage and at an implementation stage: it is illiterate project organization and also mismatch of functionality of the solution to business needs. There is also a number of specific BI errors.

The directory of BI solutions and projects is available on TAdviser.

Content

Lack of interest of management
Choice of incompetent integrator
Weak project team
Lack of uniform terminology
Badly worked requirements to a system
Trust problem to initial data
Resistance to innovations
Functional problems
Lack of trust and the overestimated expectations
See Also

Experts are solidary in opinion that mistakes at implementation of BI systems are often made same, as well as at implementation of any other business applications, whether it be a personnel management system or a resource management system of the enterprise. However, there are also specific factors which especially have negative effect on business analysis system implementation: for example, this low quality of initial data and insufficient system performance.

Lack of interest of management

The most frequent reason of failures – lack of "driver" of the project from the customer / If is "driver", ideally the top manager who is really interested in qualitatively new business the tool, then all other difficulties in the project progress – no more than working questions.

Choice of incompetent integrator

In addition to the traditional project risks connected with unplanned expansion of limits of the project, insufficient funding of a number of actions of the project, the insufficient involvement of the top management of the customer in support of key project solutions, often a serious problem is the conviction of the persons making decisions in omnipotence of BI platforms of the leading world vendors. Trusting in the platform with a big name, they occasionally underestimate value of competences of the company implementer, its industry experience. As a result the customer receives the excellent BI tool, but not adapted for the solution of specific objectives of business users.

Weak project team

It is worth drawing a close attention to selection of a command for implementation of the BI project. By that who implemented and supported mainly ERP systems, as a rule, difficult it will be rebuilt under the concept of BI. Professionals on a joint of sciences - the economists grounded in the IT sphere having knowledge of systems analysis should be such specialists.

Lack of uniform terminology

There are also features of design of the analytical systems which not accounting can also result in difficulties at the subsequent stages of the BI project. First of all, it is very important to carry out complex systematization of NSI, key indicators and metrics that there was a single system of coordinates for the solution of analytical tasks. When the same indicator in different forms is called differently, confusion begins and the efficiency of analytical work decreases.

Badly worked requirements to a system

The basic reason of failures of projects arises on the very first project stage, namely at a stage of requirements management of the customer. Modern BI- of a system often contain the blocked functionality and allow to select architecture of the project flexibly. However such ample opportunities of the choice of architecture demand from customers of formation of as much as possible full range of requirements to a system on whose formation time and desire (aspiration) of employees of the client is necessary. As shows experience, there is usually not enough both that, and another.

Trust problem to initial data

Other reason of failures of BI projects, and, at a stage of their end, the trust problem to initial data is. After completion of development on a test stage and delivery of a system to the customer, in BI reports are displayed all those problems of initial data which were cultivated at a stage of implementation of the accounting systems where special attention was not paid to assessment of adequacy of accounting process, control procedures of quality of data and maintenance of unity of the normative reference information. In this case customers are inclined to consider that such "incorrect" data are result of misoperation of a BI system and, as a result, refuse to approve the project. An exit from this situation is preventive informing the customer and formation of conditions of test stages and input of a system in commercial operation.

Resistance to innovations

Implementation of any IT system including BI, first of all is integrated to implementation of changes. If employees do not accept an innovation, and the management does not try to increase the level of the involvement of personnel, the BI project, most likely, will fail. However BI is technology really useful to business, and quite often happens so that at the first acquaintance to a suitable system at users "eyes burn".

Functional problems

Functional problems of the solution are most often pernicious for the BI project, belong to them: difficult interface of analytical applications; a tough analysis system, lack of flexibility in integration of sources; complexity and duration of development of new analytical applications; insufficient performance for data bulks.

Lack of trust and the overestimated expectations

Except traditional errors of implementation of BI connected with underestimation of a role of an implementation team, lack of debugged procedures of collecting and reconciliation of primary information, an important problem the excessive hope of customers for the boxed solutions announced by developers for the solution of a wide range of tasks of BI seems. Practice shows need long and difficult, often procedures of completion and modification of similar solutions.