Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
to drill down into more detail, but usually they are not allowed to make
any changes to reports. External users have a similar profile as regular
users, but because they are not employed by the organization, additional
security requirements must be in place.
Power users:
These may be a business analyst or a BI application devel-
oper who reports to the business itself. These users have often been writing
programs and complex spreadsheets for years to produce reports. They
are often the most knowledgeable people in the organization about the
strengths and pitfalls of the data. When power users are able to use the
data warehouse, they are likely to build reports from scratch. Power users
often have access to more capabilities and controls within the BI tool.
They may set up the business measure library or refine reports developed
by others so that they can be published with all of the other standard
templates. The power user's role on a project is that of a BI developer.
Once a project ends, their role in the business continues and they often
develop new analyses and reports. Power users are typically the only
people outside of IT who have the skills and interest to dig deeply into
the BI tool's raw power.
Construction of the BI Solution
Now that the basics of business intelligence have been discussed, let's take a
closer look at what this looks like on a project. The major tasks sound similar to
any other system construction effort, but the work itself is much different. The
development work is typically done using robust business intelligence tools.
As introduced in Chapter 4, there are two different types of BI developers. The
first type is responsible for the more technical aspects, including configuration
and setup of the BI tool itself. The second type of BI developer is responsible
for the design and development of BI reports and applications. Because most
of the development work is not programming, the resources to build the BI
application could be from IT or the business. The tasks that are done are the
same regardless of which group the BI developers report to. There are several
steps involved in the construction of a BI application, but first take a moment
to look at the bigger picture. What is the business really trying to accomplish?
Planning for Business Change
The ability to realize the full benefit of the data warehouse often means that the
business must change some processes. If business process change has not been
studied yet, then take the time to do so before designing the BI application.
Otherwise, it may simply automate existing processes or redirect where data
is pulled. While the data warehouse project team may be able to provide some
