Selecting the Best BI Tool “Recognize the importance of selecting the right vendor and solution to the overall success of your BI deployment. Ultimately, the more important question is not which tool, but rather: how will you use business intelligence to provide business value?” Cindi Howson, 2007

Selecting the Best BI Tool Why do we care? Because you can reduce processing time and save money if you have the right tool for you Gatorade went from 1-4 hours with MicroStrategy to 3 minutes with QlikView and saved $237 in employee time for each report generated!

Selecting the Best BI Tool How do we do it? (Howson, 2007) Form a selection committee Define target users and usage scenarios Refine information requirements Define and rank selection criteria Request for information Vendor scripted demos Determine best fit Proof of concept

Selecting the Best BI Tool Who should be in the committee? Information consumers View and interact with prebuilt applications, reports, and dashboards Power users Customize existing reports and dashboards, connect to new data sources, and create custom analyses and reports IT Report developers Use BI tools, scripting language, and APIs to create custom applications, embed BI functionality into other applications

Selecting the Best BI Tool How do we define target users and usage scenarios?

Selecting the Best BI Tool Dashboards (Executives & Managers) Reports (IT report developers, front-line workers, customers, suppliers, and regulators)

Selecting the Best BI Tool How do we refine information requirements? Develop a checklist of features and functionality Source: https://www.biscorecard.com/media/TOC/BIS_Summary_TOC.pdf

Selecting the Best BI Tool How do we do we define and rank selection criteria? Identify features and capabilities that are Must-haves Nice-to-haves Will not use

Selecting the Best BI Tool Typical must-haves Data sources Access to various databases and file types Data filters and drilldown Filter reports and visualizations Web-based user interface Visualizations Security

Selecting the Best BI Tool Typical must-haves Microsoft Office Data Exchange Export and Import with Microsoft Office products Print and Export Analysis Support Blend data Create measures Save queries

Selecting the Best BI Tool Typical nice-to-haves Storytelling Mobile BI Real-time data integration

Selecting the Best BI Tool How do we RFI? Call the vendor and ask if their product supports your operating system, ask for specific feature names, and explanations for how the requirement you want is fulfilled Keep RFI short, emphasizing the critical requirements on your list Complement vendor RFI responses with your own research (customer references, published product reviews, discussion groups)

Selecting the Best BI Tool Vendor scripted demos Create a consistent agenda Invite extended user base Allow time for discussion Consider supplying your own data

Selecting the Best BI Tool Determine best fit Proof of concept Test the tool in your own environment Stay focused on the critical requirements rather than just “playing” with the software Goal: To confirm if the product works as expected

Selecting the Best BI Tool How do we do it? (Howson, 2007) Form a selection committee Define target users and usage scenarios Refine information requirements Define and rank selection criteria Request for information Vendor scripted demos Determine best fit Proof of concept

Next Steps Negotiate contract Implement, deploy, leverage, and promote your new BI tool!

What does Gartner Say? 2015 2016

Information Week “The business intelligence (BI) market has reached an inflection point as organizations shift to agile workflows and self-service analytics driven by business leaders. This is a fundamental transformation from the centralized top-down BI platforms of IT organizations past. In this world, Microsoft, Qlik, and Tableau Software are big winners.”  Source: http://www.informationweek.com/big-data/software-platforms/gartner-bi-magic-quadrant-inflection-point-has-arrived/d/d-id/1324233

Conclusion Selecting the best BI tool 101 Involve the right people Understand your users and requirements Request information from vendors Schedule scripted demos Determine best fit Test if the product works as expected