Why Self Service BI isn't a tool problem

There are many success stories discussing the benefit of business intelligence. Increasing efficiency, fostering innovation and discovering new markets are just a few use cases for BI. Particularly, the ability for business stakeholders to easily use and analyze data for decision support is often cited as a catalyst for growth. This last phenomenon is best described as Self Service BI - an approach to data analytics that enables business users to access and work with data related to the organization's business, industry, customers, competitors, partners and external factors as well as benchmarks, KPIs and metrics.

Indeed, Self Service BI applications from Tableau, Birst, and DOMO, as well as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP - claim the ability to help even the world’s largest organizations unleash the power of their data. These same vendors, always keen to marketing opportunities, have coined "Self Service BI" as the next wave in business strategy. Vendors are quick to point out "user-friendly," "full cycle" analytics capabilities, from "one-click" data blending, to "drag-and-drop" interactive data visualization to "ad-hoc" advanced analytics capabilities - many with "no code." But what's being sold here is a data driven culture - something these applications at best only help enable.

Taking a step back, when you purchase a Self Service BI solution, what you can expect to gain is an agile, interactive, intuitive, visual reporting application. This should help solve the problem of "tools" by putting a sharp tool in your organization's toolbox. But as with any initiative, the tools are only part of the equation. Self Service BI is really an initiative enabled by the alignment of three factors: people, process and technology. It is an approach to data analytics that enables business users to tell effective data stories and drive innovation with factual information.

If you look at any 2 x 2 matrix analysis (Gartner's Magic Quadrant, Forrester's Wave) or an analyst firm's list of leading solutions (such as a Constellation Research Shortlist), there will be a variety of tools at your disposal, large or small business, non profit or otherwise. Frankly, these tools are only getting better and increased competition in this space means increased feature parity, a greater release cadence (more useful features) and downward price pressure. Vendors, Analysts and System Integrators will readily agree that while requirements and technology solutions are important, implementing anything without the right framework and foundation will lead to less than ideal outcomes.

Put another way, at large Self Service BI is typically not a tool problem. It's not even a problem to be solved. To take Self Service BI from interactive reporting to a cultural, business, or industry paradigm shift - it is important to actually step back and look at the functional factors that will enable an organization, not just the technology. True Self Service BI is a process that requires a culture of collaboration, access to data, measured performance, and continuous implementation. In sum, Self Service BI comes down to 2 functional factors, the first being the "Self" portion of the overall initiative. Look in the mirror and assess:

-The culture of your organization
-The abilities and culture of your people
-Are your people naturally curious and adept at analyzing datasets?
-Do your people understand your as well as industry data?
-Do your people understand how the data fits into the overall strategy of the business?
-Do people know what benchmarks they should be blending and comparing internal data to?
-Do people have adequate training and expertise to perform the technical work required to manipulate, understand and analyze data?

Indeed, the first part of Self Service BI requires self sufficiency and awareness: knowledge of the big picture, the goals of the organization, skill and ability (talent).

The next part of the word, "Service," is just as important. In order to deliver consistent, scalable value Self Service BI cannot be a constant or linear process. Continuous delivery has to be put at the forefront.

-Do you have robust processes for data discovery, cleansing and review?
-Do you differentiate between analytics and intelligence?
-How do you communicate information?
-How will you collaborate and review the data?
-From a technical perspective, how will you capture data?
-From a technical perspective, how will you analyze the data?
-How will you inform users on best uses for data?
-How will you provide data that is current and applicable by need?
-How will you get users to utilize the data?
-How will you measure adoption?
-How will you increase adoption throughout the enterprise?
-How will you build and orchestrate trust?
-How will you introduce new features and functionality?
-How will you train users to continually develop skills and expertise?
-What channels are best to deliver content?
-What cadence will insights be delivered?

To summarize, the people and processes you have around 5 focus areas will determine your success:

1. Gathering data
2. Analytics talent
3. Workflows and decision support
4. Outcome measurement
5. Continuous improvement

During the implementation phase, focus on the strategic factors - people and processes that will make your organization successful. Don't just rely on a tool or a vendor's professional services organization. Examine with scrutiny and cross functional teams the areas where Self Service BI can provide value. Wins should be non-abstract and easy to qualify and quantify. Companies tend to be most successful when they successfully identify a limited, but strong set of use cases. Look at:

-Ease
-Feasibility
-Financial impact
-Time

The idea of proving out value and then moving to scale is an adage that still applies. Barriers like deployment costs, talent and infrastructure can be more easily addressed and justified when business value is clearly demonstrated. Look to cloud applications which might provide a low total cost of ownership but quick time to value. Look for areas where insights can be a repeatable, self driving process. And drive adoption with change management (training, incentives, embedded processes). Some organizations create a team or teams that continuously identifies and reviews usage and use cases for further BI adoption. The best organizations allow all stakeholders "in" on this crucial feedback loop.

Winning organizations embrace data and win more because they continuously introduce, enable and embed analysis and intelligence into their people, processes - and business. This is the essence of Self Service BI.