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July 10, 2008
BI Service Providers- Big may not be the Best
Dear Readers! I have many links to my portal here, as I am struggling to cover a big subject in a single post.
As BI has picked-up pace, many IT service providers who have grown big through OLTP systems business, have started their 'BI practice'. Many a times, the 'OLTP' and 'ERP' DNA becomes a significant barrier in building a true-blue BI capability. Therefore, 'Big' may not be 'Best' here.
I have mentioned at some places in my portal www.bipminstitute.com , BI and Data Warehouse (as a key part of BI) require a different mind-set and capability-set to manage. Some of the reasons are as follows:
- Business requirements are fluid and constantly changing.
- Business Requirements are difficult to articulate and capture.
- Dimensional Model is pretty different from OLTP data modeling
- Needs in-depth domain expertise to model and design.
- Load Management is unpredictable.
- Testing is vastly different
- The DW modeling has to be extensible and flexible , even if business does not ask for it.
- Short attention span from stakeholders, as life can go on without BI (unlike an ERP).
- Storage space and infrastructure needs are less predictable.
- BI is 80% business and 20% IT (disclaimer- I am not short-changing IT, but emphasizing upon the criticality of business stake-holding)
- Etc... Etc..
An OLTP-based Vendor has to understand these unique aspects, and bring that fundamental shift (as an economist will say 'macro-economic restructuring') in the skills and mind-sets.
I have had to struggle to find a service provider which can provide a mix of business, IT, Process and Modeling skills under one roof. The few which I was able to find were too exhorbitant to afford. Finally I had to resort to a combination of 2 to 3 service providers to complete the skill-basket.
You can refer Data Warehouse has unique challenges and Business Intelligence Vendor Evaluation to complete the picture.
Posted by Rajan Gupta at July 10, 2008 1:15 PM
