Successful Business Intelligence: Secrets to Making BI a Killer...

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 244 pages
• Published by: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
• Edition: 1st Edition November 26, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0071498516
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0071498517
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Reader Reviews
Cindi Howson has impressed me as a thoughtful and knowledgeable professional who has contributed greatly to the BI field by living in the trenches, digging into the details, and teaching others about her experiences. It is hard to find a comprehensive book on BI that is written without an impenetrable cloud of technical concepts. Ten years ago, successful BI depended on the expert execution of those technical concepts. However, BI has matured, increasing the importance of nontechnical factors for successful BI. This book tracks this trend by clarifying the current success factors for successful BI projects. Oldies and goodies are covered, such as the necessity of executive support, data quality, and business-IT partnership. However, the real contribution lies in highlighting some of the new success factors, such as: - Measuring Success: If you can not measure BI, you will not be successful. The book suggests numerous ways to measuring your BI effort. - Role of Luck, Opportunity, Frustration and Threat: We hate to admit it, but BI projects are often successful (or not) for reasons beyond our control or even our imagination. Get over it! The book suggests ways of maximizing your success by making you aware of this dynamic. - Agile Development: Do not build BI systems in the old traditional way. We all know this. But do we know a good alternative? The book outlines the Agile Manifesto to deliver early and continuous versions, embrace requirements changes, intensify person interactions, etc. - Organizational Culture: Experienced BI professionals realize that some company cultures are so messed up that there is no way to have a successful BI project. Sad but true! This book suggests the essential cultural characteristics based on the research of Jim Collins. I highly recommend this book to both BI professionals who have some experience and business executives who are new to BI. The old timers can refocus and sync with the new trends. And, the executives can focus on the real business issues, avoiding paralysis over technical details. Comment | | (Report this)