Case Study:BIRS for TAFE QLD

Mark MacraeIntelligent Decisioning Ltd

mark@id-live.com@m_macraewww.id-live.com

Mark Macrae

Agenda

Project BackgroundCustomerExisting practicesExisting Reporting IssuesRequirements/Strategy

Why Microsoft?DesignPrototype DeliveryLessons LearnedWhat Next?

Questions…

Background

TAFE Queensland

Technical and Further EducationInstitutes across QLD provide tertiary education courses across business, hospitality, construction, IT, visual arts…Owned and financed by the QLD Government

Data and Reporting

DataStudent Enrolment dataCourse Delivery Hours (AHCs)Financial Data (SAP)

ReportingMonthly Financial ReportsPerformance ReportsFactual Reports e.g. How many students?

LevelsDepartment Level (Finance)ExecutiveExternal (Country wide)

Existing Practices

Reporting TechnologyMS ExcelReporting Services (Native)

Reporting PracticesVery technical report authorsDevelopers/Excel GurusLocal MachinesEmailed Delivery

Data SourcesCSV ExtractsComplex Database Structures

Requirements

Enterprise Data PlatformData WarehouseCore data sources – SAP, ISAS, CRMAdditional sources later

Enterprise Reporting PlatformFeature rich toolsetPower Users not DevelopersImproved delivery

Reduce Human ErrorSecureScalable

Strategy

Why SharePoint Technologies?

Microsoft’s VisionOverview

Delivered through a familiar environment

Integrated into business collaboration infrastructure

Built on a trusted and extensible platform

Improving organizations by providing business insights to all employees leading to

better, faster, more relevant decisions

Microsoft BI Stack - TodayOverview

Strategic• SQL Server 2008 R2 (SSAS, SSRS, SSIS)• PerformancePoint Services 2010• Excel Services 2010• Power Pivot• SharePoint 2010

Operational• MS Excel 2010, MS Visio 2010• SSRS Report Builder 3.0

Tactical• Chart Web Parts• Status Lists

Gartner Magic Quadrant (BI) - Jan 2011

Project Team

People

Domain Expert

Architect

Data Source Gurus

Evangelist

BI Solution – Users

Analysts/StatistitionsAnalyse current/trend data to forecast/adviseTechnical, can ‘browse’ data through cubes

Knowledge Workers / Information ManagersWrite queries, author reportsUse complete toolsetAccess DW and Cubes

ConsumersPublished reportsSimple views on cubesDashboards

ExecutivesSimplified dashboard

Design

Components

Data WarehouseData LoadOLAP CubesSecurityAuthenticationSharePoint

Logical Site StructureBI FeaturesDashboards

Self ServeTraining

Data Layer

SharePoint

Data Layer

Designed for OLAP (Cubes)Highly usable and accessibleDetached from transactional databasesDe-coupled from data sourcesAble to hold historical dataAble to react to business changeReporting should be easy!!

Data Load – High Level

Data Load - SSIS

SSIS Packages extract data from multiple data sources and formatsExtensive toolboxData validation and cleansingError reporting and handlingAutomate as SQL jobsPush data from Excel files via SharePoint

OLAP Cubes - Fundamentals

Multi-dimensional databaseAll queries pre-processed ready for extractionCan ‘explore’ the data as opposed to rely on what is givenDrill down into hierarchies and relationships

Data Layer- Walkthrough

SharePoint

Dashboards for ExecutivesLargely read onlyAt a glanceDrill down

Workspaces for Report AuthorsReport LibrariesPerformancePoint DesignerPublishing Features

BI ToolsetExcel (most familiar tool)PerformancePoint (intuitive)Others later

Delivery - Demo

Feedback So Far

Sample Feedback

“I just wanted to congratulate you on the presentation yesterday.  I think it left everyone in the room speechless.  Focused presentation to showcase the great features – I and everyone else in the room was impressed!!” (Data Expert) 

“The event this morning was like the proverbial “champagne cork out of the bottle” in terms of relief that it went so well and possibilities for the future” (Project Manager)

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

Never underestimate the complexity of data sources!Data quality testing!Expectations

Data QualityLook & Feel!

Plan for Authentication!!BI Projects are never easy!Specialist resources required

What Next?

Next Steps

ProductioniseSecurityOperational readinessData Quality testing and improvementsAdditional data sourcesTrainingClient machine improvementsMore server firepowerAdditional institutes….

Questions?