Business Intelligence--the real value 5 key measures

How do you capture true value in business intelligence?

You need to be open to changing how you think about business practices. Take a step back, assess your business processes, and implement new ideas to make your company a success.

5 Key ways to measure value using business intelligence:

1. Cash Flow--how does your cash position look, are your receivables coming in too slowly, can you extend your accounts payable.

2. Expenditures--are you spending money on worthwhile things? Plan and fund all expenses as you need them, and keep aside reserve money in case you hit rough times. I have heard several stories of companies going out of business or bankrupt because they paid too much money in rent. Clients do not care about your office space, they care about what you can bring to the table. Telecommuting saves companies money and can result in companies lowering rent, utilities, and other infrastructure costs.

3. Return on Investment for Projects--when you spend money, do you see the payback? Also, how do you measure payback? Is it productivity based, revenue generating based, analytically based, etc. Not every project is going to generate additional revenue for the company, but that does not mean that it is not worthwhile.

4. People management--turnover rates and employee satisfaction. People are the greatest asset to organizations and yet they are frequently underutilized. Seek out employee feedback then setup meetings to review and implement change.

5. Customer satisfaction--are you pleasing your customers? What could you do better? Does the customer come to you because you are the only choice or because of what you do? Ask the customer what they are looking for--you'll be surprised to what that can lead to.

So, how would you capture these in a business intelligence tool? That's where the technical knowledge and ability comes into play. It would not be hard to imagine a balanced scorecard/dashboard that had these key metrics available to senior executives, so that they could take action and correct issues when needed.

Blog Entry #1 02/2009

JS Business Intelligence, LLC has officially started now and I am going to make a concentrated effort to update the blog section of this site as frequently as possible.
I'll start off here with some thoughts on what makes Business Intelligence successful.
1. Backing of the Customer
If the client is not behind the solution then the system will not work because they have not invested themselves in the success of the system.
2. Support from up High
If Senior Executives don't make a push, then don't expect anyone to automatically embrace your system, just for the sake of it.
3. Good Data--or at least reasonable data
If your data is bad, then your system will usually be bad as well. Put another way, with garbage into a system, it is very difficult to have something useful come out.
4. Customers that will actually use the system
If at the end of the day a great system has been built, but no one wants to use it. It could be that the client is too focused on doing their transactional job and cannot take the time to look at the bigger picture. Or it could be that the company is not ready yet for it.
At this time, I recommend convincing the client that your system is valuable. Tell them that in time with their help and continued development it can become something that will help them be successful.