BI systems are more difficult to specify than to build. The support available for determining the
information business executives need and want falls far short of the sophistication of the tools
available to implement BI query, reporting, modelling and data analysis.
The author has spent several years researching this issue. He has concluded that the main reason
specifications of BI reporting systems are inadequate is that the key questions "What is wrong with
your BI system" and "What information do you want?" are impossible to answer directly - they're too
big, conceptually. Answers are therefore unreliable. Adding structure to the requirements elicitation
process is essential if the resulting system is to be satisfying, effective and complete.
Successful instances of BI systems development rely on many interdependent factors
coming neatly together. Similarly, failure in BI systems can have many causes, including
any one of these factors. The issue for the developer is, of course, that it only takes
one significant shortcoming to condemn a BI project, but almost everything has to go well
to achieve success.
Through theory and case study, we address in this white paper five common barriers to
successful BI systems and their warning signs - the Red Flags - and consider how to
anticipate and address them effectively. We show how experience using BI Pathfinder to
avoid the Red Flags is consistent across both its earlier "paper based" implementation
and the new software driven platforms.
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