Home > Ask the Data management / BI Experts > Data, systems and project management Questions & Answers > How to gather business intelligence reporting requirements from BI users
Ask The Data Management Expert: Questions & Answers
EMAIL THIS

How to gather business intelligence reporting requirements from BI users

Phil Simon EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Phil Simon

Pose a Question
Other Data Management Categories
Meet all Data Management Experts
Become an Expert for this site


Tips, expert advice and sample chapters
Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google


>
QUESTION POSED ON: 06 July 2009
Are there any readily available reporting requirement templates of questions to ask for gathering reporting requirements from end-users during the evaluation process for a new business intelligence (BI) initiative?


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google



RELATED CONTENT
Data, systems and project management
What is Enterprise 2.0?
How to design project management plan templates for large projects
Should we use traditional or agile software development processes?
Handling project management issues for a proprietary ownership conflict
Benefits of project management professional certification training
Project management tools and techniques for small business
How to design a project proposal draft and project management schedule
Should we consider a custom system architecture design?
Five key factors for successful management of a system implementation
Project management tips for a decision-support system implementation

Business intelligence best practices
Five technology trends for improved business intelligence performance
In-database analytics demystified
Choosing BI software: Use your ERP vendor or go with third-party BI?
Is in-database analytics an emerging business intelligence (BI) trend?
Understanding in-database analytics technology: Benefits, uses and ROI
Trends and tips for using business intelligence and analytics in retail
Trends and tips for using business intelligence in financial services
BT taps open source BI software, homegrown DW to unlock customer data
Data integration for Software as a Service business intelligence software evolves
The importance and benefits of operational decision making

Data management tutorials
How to design project management plan templates for large projects
Handling project management issues for a proprietary ownership conflict
Should we use traditional or agile software development processes?
Next steps for business intelligence: Video
Improving ODBC application performance and coding
Selecting ODBC functions for optimized SQL statements
Guidelines for managing data updates to optimize ODBC performance
Is it better to have a centralized or decentralized master data structure?
Can we leverage existing data quality tools for an MDM program?
Do we need business intelligence (BI) tools to be successful?

RELATED RESOURCES
2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary


I steer away from reporting requirement templates for BI projects and rely on fundamental questions such as the following:

  • What are you trying to measure?
  • How often do you measure this?
  • How good is the data being measured?
  • Why are you measuring this?
  • How is this measurement linked to employee, sales or organizational performance?
  • Is there a better way to measure this?

I find that choosing a new BI product is an excellent time to look at the basics. Merely replicating the old system with a new technology is a recipe for project management disaster.




Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
Search and browse more than 25,000 question and answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
Browse our Expert Advice

About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
SEARCH 
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2005 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy 		  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts