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Figure 2. BI-FIT framework (before validation)
while others wait for finished analysis and reports.
One is oriented to the analytics, while the other
just wants the resulting information (Biere, 2003).
Therefore, novice users are classified as informa-
tion consumers, and power and expert users are
as information producers.
authors (Haller, Jenichl, & Küng, 1998; Nemati
et al., 2002; Wong et al., 2002), the various ways
of processing information can separated into
two “modes”: Verification mode and Discovery
mode. In verification mode the user proposes a
hypothesis (e.g. business questions) and uses the
information to either confirm or reject it, whereas
in the discovery mode the end-user does not use
a predefined hypothesis, but desires to discover
new information, without preconceived notes
of what the results would indicate (Fayyad &
Uthurusamy, 1996). According to Azvine et al.
(2006), the analytical needs of business end-users
all come down to answering the following three
questions, sorted by ascending complexity:
task requirements
In addition to individual characteristics, as dis-
cussed above, an end-users decision to adopt
and use a system also depends on whether it
enhances or “fits” the end-users' task. Tasks have
been broadly defined as the action(s) carried out
by an individual for turning inputs into outputs
(Tremblay et al., 2007). End-users use BI-systems
to get relevant information which helps them to
reduce uncertainty when taking decisions, and
enables them to make decisions based on a solid
foundation of facts (Nemati et al, 2002). Since the
details of business decisions are quite different for
each organization, level (i.e. operational, tactical,
or strategic), process and user-task context, it is
not possible to investigate task requirements for
every specific decision task to be supported within
an organization.
However, it is possible to examine what BI
end-users expect to get out of BI applications,
not specifically looking at the content but by
examining how and in what way end-users want
to interact with information. According to several
What has happened?
Why did it happen?
What will happen?
Simple or routine analysis is conducted to an-
swer the often recurring “what happened” question
(verification mode) and if exceptions are found,
less frequent occurring ad-hoc analysis is con-
ducted to try to answer the more complex “why”
question (verification mode). Future oriented
analysis aims to figure out “what will happen”
(discovery mode) is considered to be the most
advanced type of analysis. In addition, data usage
and distribution seem to be influenced by the com-
plexity of the analytical question. For example:
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