Agile Business Analytics: How a new “Generation BI” is Reducing Risk and Increasing AdoptionAndrew Marks, Vice President Professional Services

Agenda

• Today’s Agile Business Environment

• Getting The Right Start With Your BI Solution

• The Agile & Flexible Deployment

• Demonstrating Progress Regularly

• Other Things To Remember

• Summary

• Q&A

TODAY’S AGILE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

“You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.”

– Charles de Gaulle

Business Agility

• “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” - Jack Welch

• “Today, business is more like chess. Customer priorities change continually, and the signals given by these changes are vital clues to the next cycle of growth... “ – Adrian Slywotzky, author of The Profit Zone

Business Agility & Agile BI

• Agile businesses need the right data at the right time to make business decisions

• Ensuring that the data is actionable is critical• What’s important to know today, may not be tomorrow• Agile BI drives the Agile business

The Agile Manifesto

• Individuals and interactions – self-organization and motivation are important, as are interactions

• Working software – working software will be more useful and welcome than just presenting documents in meetings.

• Customer collaboration – Continuous customer or stakeholder involvement is very important.

• Responding to change – agile development is focused on quick responses to change and continuous development

Agility & Technology

• A single toolset for delivery reducing the need for product experts in specific disciplines

• A framework to handle the inevitable changes that accompany an ever changing business landscape

• Enablement of an iterative and adaptable deployment approach

GETTING THE RIGHT START WITH YOUR BI SOLUTION

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”

– Peter Drucker

Begin With The End In Mind

• Brainstorming to identify data needs• Stakeholders “What I need to know” (WINK) business questions • Develop a matrix of Measures & Dimensions• BI Blueprint documents the matrix for answering the WINKs• Focus on initial “WINK Wins”

Involve Your Stakeholders Throughout

• Stakeholder involvement is required early and often• They own and should know the data• Active stakeholder participation drives user adoption • As program evolves so does Stakeholder knowledge and buy-in

Take an Evolutionary Approach

• Requirements, Understanding & Focus Will Change• Today’s focus may not be tomorrow’s focus• Don’t over analyze early and don’t try to boil the ocean• Development should be incremental and iterative• Envision at a high level to start but model using JIT approach

THE AGILE & FLEXIBLE DEPLOYMENT

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.”

– Everett Dirksen

Model Just In Time (JIT)

• Detailed modeling is an iterative process• Requirements will change throughout the project• Discovery will occur as reports are developed and data is exposed• Engaged Stakeholders will give you better answers to your data questions

as the project progresses• This is a core concept of the Agile method

Organize Based on Priorities

• Perform work based on priorities• Every iteration should focus on fulfilling the highest priority stakeholder requirements• Each iteration increases the amount of data you extract and extends your data model• Delivering measurable and demonstrable value to your stakeholders on a regular

basis

Quick Wins Significant

Fill In’sReally?

Seriously?Are you sure?

Priority Matrix

Effort

Value

Low

Low

High

High

Embrace Change

• Adapt a more agile approach to change management• It’s called “change management” not “change avoidance”

• Stakeholders should be able to change their minds as the project progresses

• Drivers of user adoption include ease of use and solution value• Therefore, constantly be validating and adjusting to assure adoption

Limit the Iteration Time

• Limit iterations ideally to 2-4 weeks in length• Provides more opportunity to govern the project effectively• Facilitates greater feedback and delivery of working solutions• Maintains focus on high value deliverables • Allows for adjustments in focus more quickly as requirements and

priorities are attuned

DEMONSTRATING PROGRESS REGULARLY

“Make measurable progress in reasonable time.” - Jim Rohn

Prove and Demonstrate your Approach Early

• Everything looks good, sounds great and works flawlessly on whiteboard & PowerPoint

• Develop working prototypes with real data from source systems• Build a couple of sample visualizations to demonstrate system usage

Deliver Working Software Regularly

• Stakeholders will be much more interested and engaged• Team members will look forward to the next iteration of the

deployment• Being Agile is all about collaborating• Encourages rapid and flexible response to change and delivery

ITERATION

OTHER THINGS TO REMEMBER

“Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.” - Albert Einstein

Don’t Overlook Usage

• Understand how the stakeholders will use the system to support business objectives

• Leverage use cases or usage scenarios• Solution needs to not only deliver the information but be available

to do it when users need it

Validation is Critical (test, test, test)

• Make sure to validate throughout the lifecycle of the project• Ensure you are validating the right data in the right way• What’s easy for the team to understand may not be for all users• Validate:• The User Experience – Should be easy to understand & navigate• The Data - Nothing worse than invalid data to tarnish a user’s faith in a BI

solution

Training

• Delivering the right solution is only half the battle• Adoption is critical• Once the right solution is deployed you need to ensure the

end-users are trained• End-User adoption is often overlooked

“If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.” - John D. Rockefeller

Summary / Key Takeaways

• Be Agile: Today’s rapidly changing business environment mandates agility, especially with your BI solution

• Iterate: Begin with the end in mind, but don’t try and boil the ocean• Collaborate: Take an evolutionary approach and make sure you involve your

stakeholders throughout and demonstrate progress• Integrate: Information from many different source systems into a holistic view

and make sure to validate• End User Experience: Be open to adjust based on greater awareness and

changing business needs• Educate & Train: Enable your end-users to drive adoption and mitigate risk

The Agile Manifesto

The Birst Agile BI Platform

Questions?