Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Overcoming BI challenges and barriers
Self-Service BI is a good, and still improving answer for bridging the Business
Intelligence technology and business gap. More than just tools and technology,
Self-Service BI involves a commitment to cooperation and continu-
ous—organic—improvement. With the right tools and cooperation between IT and
business, it's now possible to provide long-term and high-quality managed data while
also giving businesses the capability to meet their information needs in their needed
time frame.
The Self-Service tools, such as Power Pivot, Power View, and the Analysis Services
Tabular Model introduced with the SQL Server 2012, allow business resources to ac-
quire, analyze, and share information relatively independent of IT and with a relatively
low requirement for technical skill—the emphasis is on "relatively". It is possible for a
business person to acquire data from a variety of resources through the use of tools
provided by wizards and graphical interfaces. However, there remains the need for a
higher than average technical capability—not a developer level but an analyst level
resource is the typical profile. Also, though there is no requirement to involve IT or the
managed data environment, these resources remain a source of considerable capab-
ility and information, and Self-Service users should look to them first to check if their
needs may be met.
Traditional managed data and emerging Self-Service BI are, therefore, not compet-
itive nor alternative technologies but rather complimentary technologies that togeth-
er are a comprehensive, robust, and nimble information environment. Self-Service BI
is the
pointed end of the spear
in which analysts self-serving information are in dir-
ect contact with the business and are tasked with responding quickly to information
requests. As such, these analysts are the first to be aware of emerging and recur-
ring questions and the information needs that answer those questions. By regularly
harvesting this knowledge, those in charge of maintaining the managed data environ-
ment have a clear direction as to how their environment should evolve. Incorporating
the newly identified, and vetted by Self-Service, sources and business rules for ana-
lysis into the data warehouse continuously improves the quality and depth of the still
very valuable managed data environment.
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