Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
When a member of the data warehouse support team is embedded within
the business group, this sense of intensity and excitement represents an oppor-
tunity to help. The support representative can step forward to learn more about
what is needed. If the data is available through the data warehouse, then the
support person can offer to pull it for the business team. When this occurs, the
business analyst should observe to learn how this is done. Due to the pressure,
it is OK for the support person to do the driving. The next time, the business
analyst can drive, and the support person can provide step-by-step help.
Sometimes, business users are geographically dispersed across the country
or the world. Other support mechanisms must be explored to help ensure
success. This may mean that education and support are delivered via the
web, which might include an online library of frequently asked questions
(FAQs) and short video clips showing how to use certain functions of the BI
application. This also has implications for scheduling the support staff to ensure
that skilled resources are available to help anywhere (e.g., the offices located in
Asia). These issues are similar to what any other system implementation faces
with a global user base. Tap into any communication and support mechanisms
that are already in place to address these global challenges.
Themoretimesthatthedatawarehousecanbeusedtosupportdaily(as
well as last-minute) requests, the more the business gains confidence. Over
time, as users gain confidence in both the data and their own skills, they will
rely more and more on the data warehouse/BI application to do their work.
There must be a management commitment from both IT and the business to
ensure that the right people are allocated to provide this level of support.
NOTE
You have made a significant investment in time, personnel, and dollars.
Make the investment worthwhile by putting in place the education and support
needed to ensure success.
In Real Life
The two companies that we have been following continue to make classic
mistakes with their data warehouse projects. Let's take a look at how the data
deployment has been going.
BI at Giant Company
The project team's direction was set: Recreate all of the existing reports. There
are hundreds of reports. The highest-priority reports have been identified,
but there are still over 100 reports to recreate. The project team was able to
estimate an average development effort by report. Finish the reports and the
project will be done. This approach is endorsed by the representatives from
