Description
Building The Business Intelligence Competency Center
Business white paper
Deliver the information
business users need
Building the Business Intelligence Competency Center
Business white paper Page 2
Table of contents
3 Overview
3 Components of the BICC
4 Typical scenarios
8 Approach to building the BICC
12 Best practices and keys to success
Business white paper Page 3
Overview
Today’s volatile marketplace demands quick
business decisions based on analysis and
facts, not intuition. Executives, managers, and
analysts demand more information faster, with
less tolerance for ambiguity or errors. The
problem, however, is that many organizations
do not have information organized properly
or the analytic competencies and disciplines
necessary to meet these information delivery
requirements efectively.
Users spend most of their time integrating
the data to a point where they can report
and analyze it efectively—and time spent
organizing the data means time lost in
analysis. Who can aford to spend days
resolving diferences in the data from various
departments?
Companies need to organize their data in
an intuitive and integrated way where users
can get to the business answers quickly.
Building an enterprise data warehouse (EDW)
to deliver data in a more eficient manner
resolves part of the problem. The other part
involves aligning the organization in a more
eficient manner to achieve fast, consistent
enterprise answers to business questions.
A Business Intelligence Competency Center
(BICC) delivers this alignment. This paper
outlines how a BICC can help organizations
better leverage their investment in technology
and improve the efectiveness of knowledge
workers, transition analysts from technical
data gatherers to solution providers, and
enhance fact- based business processes.
Components of the BICC
The BICC interacts in many ways with
technology and the business departments
within an organization. A common
philosophical discussion surrounding the BICC
concept asks: Should a BICC only address
information delivery, or should it also address
the components of information management
that include data acquisition and integration?
We do not believe there is a single right
answer to this question and have seen both
models work. Culture, capabilities, and other
factors within an organization vary greatly
across organizations and help determine
which approach represents a better starting
point.
Our experience shows that the challenges
and complexity associated with establishing
a BICC are more closely related to the
information delivery capabilities and
components. Also, the combined information
delivery and information acquisition models
are implemented more frequently than an
information acquisition-only model. This
paper focuses on the information delivery
aspects of the BICC for these reasons.
Components of the BICC may be defined in a
governance framework, as shown in Figure 1.
The framework includes multiple components:
• Business objectives
• Technology
• Standards and guidelines
• Education and certification
• People
• Functional and technical support
• Information
• Analysis assistance
Each of these components are reviewed and
prioritized by the governance framework and
are described in the following subsections.
To execute, the BICC uses services spanning
many areas of the organization, including
shared services, core asset management,
corporate communications, project
management organization, subject-matter
experts (SMEs), corporate education, and
corporate strategy.
Business objectives
• Understanding of current, ongoing, and
future business requirements
• Understanding of the technical capabilities
of the users through continuous monitoring
of the business intelligence (BI) skill sets and
enhancing the skills as required
Technology
• Analytical functionality provided for users
through information- delivery capabilities
based on the integrated data in the EDW
system
• Operational reporting provided as close
to the source system as possible to
meet reporting service-level agreements
Standards and guidelines
• Standards and guidelines established and
enforced to facilitate eficient and consistent
operations
Governance
Framework
Analysis Support
People
Standards/Guidelines
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
SME
CAM
Corp.
Ed.
Shared
Serv.
Corp.
Comm .
PMO
Information
Education/
Certificatin
Technology
Business
Objectives
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• Service-level agreements established
and adhered to with enforcement by the
governance framework
• Continual communication with the business
to understand issues and modify as needed
Education and certification
• Verifying users and developers are fully
trained on tools, data, analytic techniques,
and problem-solving; the center requires
specialized skills in many information
delivery capabilities, including data and
process education
• Ongoing education where users are initially
trained and then updated periodically
through user sessions, demonstrations, and
additional hands-on training of additional
features
• Lab environment where users receive real-
time assistance with information delivery
People
• Business and technology need alignment on
the understanding and purpose of BI
• Incorporation of business SMEs and power-
user resources
• Governance by the steering committee to
resolve issues and set direction
Functional and technical support
• User support that can be transitioned
from an initial centralized approach to a
decentralized model as required
• Initial centralized support model with SMEs
identified throughout the business and
technical people available for support within
technology
• Frequent communication and user sessions
to understand current and long-term
issues and needs Information and analysis
assistance
• Self-service access to information with
assistance as required from BICC, SMEs, and
power users
• One-on-one analytical assistance to the
business
• Delivery in structured releases through
change and release management
Typical scenarios
The BICC is a critical component in solving
many of the information challenges
Figure 1. Components of the BICC
Budget and
Planning
Finance Medical Afairs
Sales and Marketing
Legal Afairs
Internal Operations
Government Programs
External
Data
Existing
Reporting
Environment
Access DB
SQL Server SQL Server
MASES EXP
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Multiview
Ingenix IA/I P
Access DB
Access DB
Envision
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Business white paper Page 5
companies face today. These situations can
include inadequate reporting systems that
spawn other manual processes, disparate
data, and poor or no training. Below we
outline several typical situations and how the
BICC can help.
Analytic and technology issues
Figure 2 outlines a typical current-state
reporting architecture. Data integration and
organizational issues force users to extract
data from the main reporting environment
and create of-line reporting areas using tools
such as Excel, Access, and SQL server. Users
then are required to spend excessive amounts
of time preparing and organizing the data to
resolve issues instead of performing analysis.
The impact to organizations is seen in many
ways, including:
• Inconsistent results, commonly referred to as
multiple versions of the truth
• Business analysts who are required to have
strong technical skills to resolve data issues
• Business analysts who are technically strong
but lack desired business analytic skill
(that is, framing and answering business
questions)
• Additional analytics staf that are required to
compensate for information ineficiencies
• Excessive timeframe to get an answer or
inability to assemble information at the level
of desired detail
• Varying quality of analytic techniques across
analysts, resulting in partial or incomplete
results
In addition to data issues, the many diferent
reporting systems required to meet reporting
needs add another layer of complexity. The
end result is lack of a centralized information
delivery architecture, which, in turn, creates
increased cost, support, and maintenance
issues for the company.
Often a larger concern is the impact data
issues have on business decisions based
on partial or inaccurate information, or data
issues that only permit a limited ability to
comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and other
regulatory requirements. Every organization
can cite situations where revenue or profits
were afected because decisions were based
on incomplete or misinterpreted information.
A few examples of this in the healthcare payer
industry include:
• Inflated medical costs resulting from a
contract change forecasted incorrectly
• Higher services costs resulting from an
incomplete analysis of new or changed
health benefits
Other examples in the insurance industry
include:
• Time and efort required to research
customer retention using a variety of
factors, including previous carrier, payment
frequency, behavior, and channel
Figure 2. Typical current-state reporting architecture
Business white paper Page 6
• Linkages established between business
profitability and a representative’s
experience and ability to sell insurance
initiatives
How can the BICC help?
Implementing an EDW can resolve many of
the data integration and organizational issues
that companies face today. The BICC extends
the value of the EDW by gathering business
requirements, providing them to SMEs who
understand the information and know how
to use it most efectively, and providing
resources to implement technical and soft skill
solutions to improve information efectiveness.
The governance framework can help set
architectural standards that control the
departmental purchasing of systems for the
company.
There may be times when a department
requires another application for reporting. The
BICC can provide the review and guidance to
verify that the systems are aligned with the
business intelligence technical direction and
architectural standards. Governance must go
a step further and actively involve business
users in the information- delivery processes.
These processes lead to the acceptance of
enterprise standards, with higher use of the
EDW, translating into greater business value.
Inadequate training
Another common issue is the lack of training
that exists for most reporting tools. When
users are not properly trained, they often
find alternative methods to analyze and
report information. For example, in one
client situation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
discovered that technology would download
information from a reporting tool and upload
it into an Excel spreadsheet where the client
would format it and then distribute it to
the user. This client could have avoided the
process of downloading and formatting in
Excel if the client only knew how to use the
tool properly.
We have found that more than 75 percent
of users either do not receive training or
receive inadequate training. It is important to
remember that training does not end after
system implementation but needs to continue
throughout the BI adoption lifecycle as
described in the HPE BI Maturity Model.
The type of training users typically receive
is inadequate. Some training programs are
limited to teaching the user how to use a
tool instead of learning how to leverage the
underlying data. Users should be able to
understand the information and be trained on
all aspects of information access and usage. A
description of the data elements or metadata
G
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F
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1. Support lab environment
Prepare and support lab
environment sessions
Assist business in what-if
modeling
Provide one-on-one assistance
with production data
7. Manage the change
control process
Collaborate with business on
BI application acquisition
Estimate and prioritize requests
Manage releases
Manage the product plan
Manage library functions
and compliance
5. Collaborate with users
Implement cross-divisional coordination
Automate complexity
Provide departmental assistance
Conduct comparative and root-cause analysis
Provide help desk and ad hoc support
4. Implement a BI
communication program
Communicate current state
and direction
Inform management of updates
and receive direction
Implement communication
Coordinate with corporate
communications
3. Validate and deploy
standard reports
Review automated reports for accuracy
Standardize enterprise metrics for
membership/utilization
Review and analyze user requests
Deliver business analysis
2. Provide custom and standard training
Prepare and execute training sessions
Update existing and create additional
advanced training sessions
Hold custom training for users
Administer BI credentialing program
user group sessions
Provide cross- divisional analysis
Prepare demonstrations and query
user for topics and issues
Hold sessions: communicate updates
and receive current feedback
Break out into additional user groups
Hold periodic meetings and online forums
Support lab environment
Provide custom and standard training
Validate and deploy standard reports
Implement a BI communication program
Collaborate with users
Prepare and run user group sessions
Manage the change control process
6. Prepare und run
Figure 3. Supporting the business—A day in the life of a BICC BI analyst
Business white paper Page 7
and how each data element relates to one
another is just the start. Efective information
usage training is critical to delivering the
benefits of an EDW. Data education and
process education must be part of the
education program.
How can the BICC help?
The BI Maturity Model shows how BI usage
matures as the company evolves its use
of business intelligence. As users receive
better access to information, they require
access to more information, faster—real-time
access. The BICC can develop education and
certification programs that provide the user
with the tools, data, and processes required
and then ofer a certification program to
enable the user to leverage the system
properly. The BICC can build a program to
monitor and continue to improve the methods
of information delivery and training on
systems throughout their maturity lifecycle.
Ineficient end-user support
Support comes in many forms for users. It
begins with the system and information being
aligned to meet business needs and the users
receiving proper training on how to use the
system and information. Often, users do not
receive one-on-one training and need to
resolve questions by calling the help desk and
requesting assistance.
If the request is for system improvements
or to remedy issues using a report, the help
desk logs a request with the technology
department; a developer looks at the request,
modifies the report, and distributes the new
report back to the end user. This process is
ineficient and time-consuming and generally
takes several attempts at resolution, as the
first adjustment generally does not satisfy the
user requirement. The above scenario and
process can improve, and it begins with the
assistance of the BICC.
How can the BICC help?
The fundamental problem with the support
model outlined above is that the user is not
adequately armed and able to report and
analyze information in a self-service mode.
The user does not have the understanding
and ability to modify the report, nor does the
user understand whom to go to for assistance.
Through the BICC, support can provide
proper data, training, and certification to the
organization, and can provide the user with
the capability to report and analyze data
independently. The BICC can also provide
a communication program to keep users
informed of changes and available support, as
well as provide updates to information.
It can be challenging to build a system,
teach the user, and then expect some level
of user autonomy, but this can be achieved
with the right support model. One-on-one
assistance, departmental and corporate
technical assistance, and subject-matter
expertise are several ways the BICC can assist
users with departmental and individual needs
or company-wide needs. The BICC team
becomes trusted advisers to the business and
blends business knowledge with technology
disciplines to remove complexity, automate
redundancy, and enable analysts to focus on
business solutions.
Manages stewardship
process
- Validates key decisions
- Provides strategic direction
- Provides alignment to strategic plans
- Detail design
- Provide subject-matter expertise
- Prepare and recommend
- First line of support for business units
- Global design
- Approve requirements and
functional designs
- Direct purchase/development
of BI application
- Business area adoption
Architecture and
standards
Provides insight
and direction
Business data
analyst team
Enterprise
BI senior
leadership team
Executive
sponsors
Data stewards
Information
stewards
committee
Advisory
committee
Committee framework overview
Figure 4. Example governance framework
Business white paper Page 8
Figure 3 represents a view of a BI analyst
within the BICC. Note that a large percentage
of the time is spent supporting users through
collaboration with users (5), supporting the
lab environment (1), preparing and running
user group sessions (6), and participating
in the BI communication program (4). The
additional outlined tasks assist in monitoring
change (7) and are discussed in the “Limited
governance” section of this paper. Custom
and standard training (2) is discussed in the
“Inadequate training” section. Additionally,
the support for standard reporting (3) is
discussed in the “Analytic and technology
issues” section of the paper. All are essential
functions of the BICC.
Limited governance
Reporting systems often lack the controls that
outline for users how to use the system, how
to make requests, and how to verify requests,
enabling all parties to adhere to the controls.
Often, there is no operating body that can
review and analyze needs efectively in an
eficient and structured manner. As a result, it
becomes dificult for users to satisfy additional
needs, complete report modifications, or
request integration of additional subject areas.
Governance is rarely driven by business
users and is often considered an impediment
to getting things done. Rarely is usage and
adoption of the data warehouse considered a
business issue and governance responsibility.
This is where governance as part of the BICC
can assist the company.
How can the BICC help?
As indicated in Figure 1, a governance
framework is a key part of the BICC. The
framework exists to understand and prioritize
business needs, review technology changes,
and assign resources for implementation.
The scope, objectives, and structure of
the governance need to be analyzed and
established based on each company’s
organization and goals. Governance generally
is created in several tiers, where each tier
has a responsibility to analyze the need and
situation and determine the resolution where
approval is then submitted to the next tier.
Figure 4 is an example of a framework that
has been successfully implemented in a
typical company environment. Information
stewards are typically business managers with
process responsibility who rely on data to get
their jobs done, who set direction, and make
decisions. Information stewards are directly
afected by information integration decisions.
Depending on the size of an organization,
they are typically senior manager to vice
president-level associates.
Data stewards are staf of the information
stewards and are focused on the details for
making recommendations and taking action.
One key to success is empowering stewards
to make appropriate decisions and holding
them accountable for the results. Efective
stewardship not only enables the eficient
delivery of information management solutions,
but it also drives business acceptance and
usage. The BICC provides the structure
and framework to administer a sustainable
stewardship program efectively.
Approach to building the BICC
The approach used in forming the BICC is
based on many factors outlined throughout
this document. Generally, there are several
key objectives of the BICC, including business
eficiencies and improvements, technology,
training, support, improved analytical
capabilities, and governance. All these aspects
must be taken into account when planning
and implementing the BICC.
Building the BICC is closely aligned to
developing the information delivery strategy,
because each interacts with the other in
many ways. The information delivery strategy
understands the curren and future needs and
outlines the information roadmap. The BICC
supports the direction of the strategy. Figure
5 outlines how the BICC and the information
delivery strategy interact. The high-level
approach to forming the BICC is outlined in
the following subsections.
Forming the BICC team
Typically, a team of key stakeholders from
across the organization is established and
tasked with defining the BICC and building
the initial charter and stafing models. Team
members from the business include high-
level decision-makers who rely on analytic
information. The team members become
sponsors of the initiative and change agents
who can drive the culture change associated
with these initiatives. Areas represented
include the key consumers of information,
such as finance, operations, and sales and
marketing. An often-overlooked resource is a
senior HR representative who can help with
stafing and culture-change issues.
Analyzing the environment
An analysis of the current environment should
be performed and a strategy outlined as to
the next steps. There are several areas that
should be investigated that are in line with the
main themes and discussed throughout this
paper:
Business objectives
What are the tactical and long-term goals of
the business, and how well are they currently
being met?
The BICC should focus on supporting the
highest-priority goals that deliver the most
value. It is common for organizations to find
that information delivery is often the largest
barrier that must be overcome to meet the
business objectives. The BICC provides
the infrastructure and a team with cross-
functional enterprise tools that can identify
and document specific information-delivery
needs of each goal and work to enable
appropriate solutions eficiently.
BICC objectives and desired outcomes
An often-overlooked component is defining
and building consensus of the outcomes the
BICC is expected to deliver. This step should
specifically identify:
• What are the current problems the BICC
should address?
• What are the current behaviors the BICC
should influence?
• What measures can demonstrate success?
• Where are the obstacles and how should
they be removed?
It is important to recognize and manage
the culture-change aspect associated with
implementing the BICC. A common mistake
is to assume there is alignment across the
cross-functional BICC formation team on
these topics or a common understanding of
core analytic functions and priorities. A good
analytic functions’ map that outlines functions
by department is a critical component to
completing this step. The analytic functions’
map should:
• Define key analytic functions and their
interdependencies
• Identify the relationship between high-level
business processes and analytic functions
• Show where the analytic functions are
used—that is, how pervasive they are across
the organization
Business white paper Page 9
A common mistake is to assume that the
BICC formation team shares a common
understanding of key analytics or of what the
BICC should be. The analytic function map
becomes a key tool to drive consensus and
build alignment across the team. It is also a
mechanism that can be used to lead fact-
based discussions and remove emotion from
some tough discussions that must occur. For
example, organizations often are looking for
the BICC to deliver centralized consistency
and eficiencies where it makes sense while
maintaining the entrepreneurial capabilities of
the functional business areas.
Identifying what falls into the centralized
category can be dificult, emotionally charged
conversations. On a recent project with an
insurance payer, during initial conversations,
there were strong sentiments expressed
that utilization analysis (what services are
performed by doctors) belonged to a specific
functional business area and should not
be changed. The building of an analytic
functions’ map demonstrated that utilization
analysis is:
• Used by most of the functional business
areas in the organization
• Embedded as subprocesses or as
prerequisites for many of the other analytic
functions in ways that are not always
obvious
• Not reported consistently across the
organization, meaning there are multiple
versions of the truth
• Not adequately supported in a manner
that can identify and address business
issues that impact financial results (For
example, radiology cost have increased by
15 percent—is there a problem that needs
to be addressed compared to change in
treatment protocols that may lower costs
somewhere else?)
In the insurance payer example above, a
fact-based discussion about centralizing
this process benefited the organization. The
business unit that declared ownership quickly
realized how it would benefit as a consumer
of a centralized service and realized what it
really owned was the medical business policy
supported by utilization analysis and other
analytic functions.
Successful BICCs aren’t just service areas
or report producers; they become hybrid
business or service organizations with
responsibility to execute identified business
processes and provide services to improve
analytics across the organization.
Information access
• How well are users receiving information?
• What is the current state of information
access?
• Does the information access look similar to
Figure 2?
• Are the users spending more time
organizing data into a final report instead of
performing analysis?
Information Delivery Strategy Business Intelligence
Competency Center
Understa nd current
inf orma tio n delivery
orga niza tion al state
Current
and ongoing
busi ness need
Future inf ormation
delive ry tech nica l state
Future state processes
Guiding prin ciples
Understand current
information delivery
tech nical state
Understand current
state processes
Road map of delivering
information delivery
Commu nicati on
strategy
Support
Education
Information delivery
strategy execution
Busi ness /
technology
orga niza tion
Figure 5. Information delivery strategy versus BICC
Business white paper Page 10
• How well are the users prepared to
perform detailed analysis?
These and other similar questions need
to be answered to properly determine the
current state of information access. Ideally,
self- service access should be a goal for the
BICC, because this provides the users with
the greatest ability to analyze information
and answer business questions quickly.
People
The resources that help to build the
technical infrastructure and support the
users must be aligned. Analyze the current
technology organization to determine how
well it is meeting user needs.
Analyze the users to determine their
analytical and technical ability to outline the
future education program. The appropriate
BICC organizational structure must be
identified.
• Who can the BICC report to?
• What is the level of the person running the
BICC?
This step identifies behaviors that the
organization needs to build, modify, or
eliminate, as well as skills and capabilities
resources required to be successful. It also
builds the plan to achieve them.
Technology
The current information delivery architecture
should be analyzed to determine how well it is
meeting users’ needs.
• What is the user perception of the system?
• What is working and what isn’t?
• What additional tools are needed to meet
users’ needs?
Governance
• What kind of data and information
governance is in place?
• How are users’ needs being determined,
reviewed, and prioritized?
• Is the information getting to the users at the
right time?
• Are the developers and users operating within
reasonable standards?
Project
Manager
Testing Lead
Test Analyst
Security
DBA
Operations
Web
Development
Business
Information
Delivery
Power Users
Information
Delivery Admin
Information
Delivery
Developer(s)
Information
Delivery Senior
Developer(s)
Information
Delivery
Architect
Information
Delivery
Team Lead
ETL Team
Lead
Data Architect
Manager
ETL Architect
Senior ETL
Developer(s)
Data
Modeler(s)
ETL
Developer(s)
ETL Admin
Business Data
Analyst Lead
Business Data
Analyst(s)
Business
Analyst Lead
Supply Chain
Management
Business Analyst
Sales &
Marketing
Business Analyst
Customer
Business
Analyst
Order
Processing
Business Analyst
Data SME
Trainer
Information
Delivery Trainer
Training Lead
Order
Processing SME
Customer
SME
Sales &
Marketing SME
Supply Chain
Management
SME
Business
Analyst
Process SME
BI Functional
Lead
BICC Lead
BI Technical
Architect
Project
Management/
Improvement
Shared Services
Business
Corporate
Training
Busines s
Core Asset
Management
Business Governance Body
Business Intelligence Competency Center
Configuration
Figure 6. Example BICC organization
Business white paper Page 11
• What changes are needed to get users the
answers they need quickly?
The existing support structure for the users
needs to be analyzed and determined as
to how well it is working. There are many
approaches that can be used to support users,
and the answer begins with understanding
how well support is working currently.
The BICC is not about centralizing all
reporting and analysis. It is about improving
the efectiveness of the knowledge workers
throughout the organization.
Information delivery strategy
After the current state is analyzed, an
information delivery strategy can be outlined.
Figure 5 outlines the key components of
the strategy, and the analysis performed in
the previous step serves as a key element
in determining the overall direction with
information delivery. The strategy sets
the tactical and strategic direction to align
technology, people, and processes to better
meet business needs. The BICC helps deliver
the strategy.
Information management strategy
Along with the information delivery strategy,
the alignment of information is essential
to implementing information delivery. This
strategy includes the way the data warehouse
is organized and managed to meet the
business needs through information delivery.
Senior level buy-in
Approval and support of the information
delivery strategy and the BICC is critical to the
success of forming the BICC. Support needs
to come from the top down to propagate the
objectives of the BICC efectively throughout
the organization. Obtaining senior-level
support is critical to the business accepting
the BICC. The business members of the BICC
team play a large role in this process.
Funding
The BICC funding model should be outlined
early to fill the positions. There are several
options for funding, including:
• Centralized funding: The BICC is fully
budgeted, and full-time resources are filled
and available. There are dedicated full-time
resources within the BICC.
• Partial funding with time and materials: The
BICC is partially funded with all changes
billed back to the departments on a time
and material basis. This allows for a cost-
efective approach to the BICC, but does not
allow for a set of full-time resources within
the BICC.
• Custom: A custom funding approach is
created for the specific situations that exist
within the company. It is not recommended
that a full-time, time and material model is
implemented since there are no dedicated
resources in the BICC, and this is a key
part of the success of the BICC. Dedicated
resources need to exist within the BICC to
meet the objectives of the BICC and to keep
an impartial view of the company while
analyzing and meeting objectives.
Implementation
After the strategy is outlined and approved,
resources need to be placed in the BICC. The
information delivery strategy continues to be
built during this time, as well—typically with
a strong technology implementation efort
followed by deployment and support. The
resources used to implement any technology
change are typically a part of the BICC,
but there must be a strong business focus,
because these resources take time to analyze
the situation, determine responsibilities, and
fill positions.
Determining responsibility
As the strategy is implemented and the BICC
organization resources are filled, the technical
and functional resources within the BICC need
to be determined. Figure 6 is an example of
a BICC organization chart. Notice that it has
technical and functional branches, and there
are many dependencies with BICC and other
departments.
The responsibility of each resource needs
to be determined. The functional resources
should be filled by the business, with the
business responsibility of the BICC determined
before the resource responsibilities are filled.
Establishing governance
A review and control process should be
developed before the BICC is put in place. The
business continues to communicate additional
needs to the BICC, and a process and
organization need to be put in place to review
and prioritize changes. Verify that governance
is built as an integral part of the processes,
executed to define and build solutions and
not isolated committees.
• Is the business a full partner, accountable
for the solutions, use, and adherence to
standards and policy?
All these questions play a part in analyzing
governance. Governance is a key component
of empowering the business to take
ownership of its information needs. As we
have discussed, in a typical current state,
the way information is delivered is often
the key barrier to implementing business
objectives, and the business must be an active
partner in owning and solving these issues.
The flip side of ownership is accountability,
because the business then becomes willing
to accept responsibility for adoption, use,
and adherence to technical and business
standards and best practices. Efective
governance delivers alignment between the
business and technology.
Education
• How well are the users educated?
• Can they use the system efectively?
• What are the future education goals?
• Do they know who to go to for help or to
escalate business problems (for example,
if gross margin for a product line seems
wrong, who needs to be involved to
determine the extent and cause of the
potential problem)?
• Can users frame and answer the right
business questions?
• Do they understand what the data means
and make recommendations for action
based on the facts?
• Do they understand how to ask requirement
questions to make certain that analysis can
meet the intent of the question?
• What additional training is needed for the
current users to meet objectives?
An education strategy should be outlined
as part of the BICC, and the current state of
education needs to be determined. Technical
and tool training is only a small piece of the
answer. The BICC provides a centralized area
that not only has the technical skills but also
the required business knowledge to address
the broader educational challenges.
Support
• Are the users getting the right kind of
support?
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© Copyright 2012, 2015 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change without
notice. The only warranties for HPE products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products
and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HPE shall not be liable for technical or editorial
errors or omissions contained herein.
4AA3-3088ENW, November 2015, Rev. 1
Business white paper
Learn more at
hp.com/services/advisory
BICC formation approach
A thorough, consensus-based approach to planning for the BICC is the best way to avoid false starts, deliver real value, and obtain
acceptance across the organization. Defining the BICC based on capabilities required can deliver agreed-to, actionable
outcomes. This approach often delivers outcomes that are quite diferent than what was anticipated at the start of the process.
The ability to fund and sustain the project increases when there is a clear understanding not only of what benefits can be
achieved, but also of what cannot be addressed without this type of initiative.
Senior-management support
There may be inherent resistance to the BICC, because there generally are several ongoing initiatives to drive business change
with technology. Many of these may be solid initiatives that involve direction and support from senior-level management.
Executive-level support is required to enable all of these initiatives to be pulled together and coordinated with the BICC, following
the guiding principles and scope of the BICC.
Executive support is required to promote and communicate the BICC to the C-level management and throughout the organization.
Executive support can also help guide and move the organization along the maturity model. These executives also need to be
providing credibility to the organization so that it can more efectively accomplish the scope and guiding principles.
Enterprise-wide communication of the
BICC
The purpose, competencies, and implementation plan of the BICC need to be communicated to the business. An ongoing two-way
communication should be established to continually gather business needs from all levels. The BICC interacts with the business
through training, the lab environment, user groups, and also through the support model. The governance framework also serves
as a mechanism for senior management to communicate business direction to the BICC.
The BICC is part of the business
The BICC is part of and contains members of the business. It should not be a technology organization, but a functional/technical
organization within the business, run by the business, and working for the business.
Funding support
The BICC should be funded and contain resources that work for the business. The overall funding model should be determined,
but having funding is critical to having the proper resources available to meet business needs.
Governance framework enforced
The governance framework model should be enforced and parties held accountable. This allows for user needs to be addressed
and implemented based on the greatest value to the business.
Implementation of immediate needs
The BICC is established to resolve issues with users’ access to and use of information. All issues should be prioritized with the
“high business value with low efort” implemented first to demonstrate immediate success. This is critical for the BICC to gain the
confidence of the business.
Better understanding of future
business needs
Following the initial implementation of the flow of information and abilities to the users, change should rapidly flow through the
business, and the BICC should continue to assist the business as needed.
Enterprise alignment of business needs
Certain widely used and high-value business needs should be implemented and supported by the BICC. The BICC supports many
other business functions, but the BICC is responsible to implement identified business functions.
Improving the analytical capabilities of
the business
One of the most important required competencies of the BICC is understanding and improving the business’ analytic capabilities.
This is the primary and most critical objective of the BICC and can be accomplished through improved training, support, and
understanding of business issues and current needs.
Communicating the plan
Communicate the BICC early and often to
the business. It is important for the company
to understand the BICC’s goals and purpose
so acceptance and input by all people can
be included into the BICC. Communication
of the status of forming the BICC should
be analyzed. Determine what needs to be
communicated, because forming the BICC can
be a huge culture change, and senior-level
buy- in is critical to the BICC’s success.
Assigning resources
After the responsibilities of the BICC resources
are determined and a governance framework
is put in place, the positions can be filled. The
governance framework can help determine
the best approach to filling the positions.
Typically, a BICC formation committee is
organized to analyze and prioritize the overall
required competencies of the BICC, which
determines the roles and responsibilities of
the BICC and the BI analyst within the BICC.
Best practices and keys to success
doc_330207655.pdf
Building The Business Intelligence Competency Center
Business white paper
Deliver the information
business users need
Building the Business Intelligence Competency Center
Business white paper Page 2
Table of contents
3 Overview
3 Components of the BICC
4 Typical scenarios
8 Approach to building the BICC
12 Best practices and keys to success
Business white paper Page 3
Overview
Today’s volatile marketplace demands quick
business decisions based on analysis and
facts, not intuition. Executives, managers, and
analysts demand more information faster, with
less tolerance for ambiguity or errors. The
problem, however, is that many organizations
do not have information organized properly
or the analytic competencies and disciplines
necessary to meet these information delivery
requirements efectively.
Users spend most of their time integrating
the data to a point where they can report
and analyze it efectively—and time spent
organizing the data means time lost in
analysis. Who can aford to spend days
resolving diferences in the data from various
departments?
Companies need to organize their data in
an intuitive and integrated way where users
can get to the business answers quickly.
Building an enterprise data warehouse (EDW)
to deliver data in a more eficient manner
resolves part of the problem. The other part
involves aligning the organization in a more
eficient manner to achieve fast, consistent
enterprise answers to business questions.
A Business Intelligence Competency Center
(BICC) delivers this alignment. This paper
outlines how a BICC can help organizations
better leverage their investment in technology
and improve the efectiveness of knowledge
workers, transition analysts from technical
data gatherers to solution providers, and
enhance fact- based business processes.
Components of the BICC
The BICC interacts in many ways with
technology and the business departments
within an organization. A common
philosophical discussion surrounding the BICC
concept asks: Should a BICC only address
information delivery, or should it also address
the components of information management
that include data acquisition and integration?
We do not believe there is a single right
answer to this question and have seen both
models work. Culture, capabilities, and other
factors within an organization vary greatly
across organizations and help determine
which approach represents a better starting
point.
Our experience shows that the challenges
and complexity associated with establishing
a BICC are more closely related to the
information delivery capabilities and
components. Also, the combined information
delivery and information acquisition models
are implemented more frequently than an
information acquisition-only model. This
paper focuses on the information delivery
aspects of the BICC for these reasons.
Components of the BICC may be defined in a
governance framework, as shown in Figure 1.
The framework includes multiple components:
• Business objectives
• Technology
• Standards and guidelines
• Education and certification
• People
• Functional and technical support
• Information
• Analysis assistance
Each of these components are reviewed and
prioritized by the governance framework and
are described in the following subsections.
To execute, the BICC uses services spanning
many areas of the organization, including
shared services, core asset management,
corporate communications, project
management organization, subject-matter
experts (SMEs), corporate education, and
corporate strategy.
Business objectives
• Understanding of current, ongoing, and
future business requirements
• Understanding of the technical capabilities
of the users through continuous monitoring
of the business intelligence (BI) skill sets and
enhancing the skills as required
Technology
• Analytical functionality provided for users
through information- delivery capabilities
based on the integrated data in the EDW
system
• Operational reporting provided as close
to the source system as possible to
meet reporting service-level agreements
Standards and guidelines
• Standards and guidelines established and
enforced to facilitate eficient and consistent
operations
Governance
Framework
Analysis Support
People
Standards/Guidelines
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
Departments
SME
CAM
Corp.
Ed.
Shared
Serv.
Corp.
Comm .
PMO
Information
Education/
Certificatin
Technology
Business
Objectives
Business white paper Page 4
• Service-level agreements established
and adhered to with enforcement by the
governance framework
• Continual communication with the business
to understand issues and modify as needed
Education and certification
• Verifying users and developers are fully
trained on tools, data, analytic techniques,
and problem-solving; the center requires
specialized skills in many information
delivery capabilities, including data and
process education
• Ongoing education where users are initially
trained and then updated periodically
through user sessions, demonstrations, and
additional hands-on training of additional
features
• Lab environment where users receive real-
time assistance with information delivery
People
• Business and technology need alignment on
the understanding and purpose of BI
• Incorporation of business SMEs and power-
user resources
• Governance by the steering committee to
resolve issues and set direction
Functional and technical support
• User support that can be transitioned
from an initial centralized approach to a
decentralized model as required
• Initial centralized support model with SMEs
identified throughout the business and
technical people available for support within
technology
• Frequent communication and user sessions
to understand current and long-term
issues and needs Information and analysis
assistance
• Self-service access to information with
assistance as required from BICC, SMEs, and
power users
• One-on-one analytical assistance to the
business
• Delivery in structured releases through
change and release management
Typical scenarios
The BICC is a critical component in solving
many of the information challenges
Figure 1. Components of the BICC
Budget and
Planning
Finance Medical Afairs
Sales and Marketing
Legal Afairs
Internal Operations
Government Programs
External
Data
Existing
Reporting
Environment
Access DB
SQL Server SQL Server
MASES EXP
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Multiview
Ingenix IA/I P
Access DB
Access DB
Envision
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Access DB
Business white paper Page 5
companies face today. These situations can
include inadequate reporting systems that
spawn other manual processes, disparate
data, and poor or no training. Below we
outline several typical situations and how the
BICC can help.
Analytic and technology issues
Figure 2 outlines a typical current-state
reporting architecture. Data integration and
organizational issues force users to extract
data from the main reporting environment
and create of-line reporting areas using tools
such as Excel, Access, and SQL server. Users
then are required to spend excessive amounts
of time preparing and organizing the data to
resolve issues instead of performing analysis.
The impact to organizations is seen in many
ways, including:
• Inconsistent results, commonly referred to as
multiple versions of the truth
• Business analysts who are required to have
strong technical skills to resolve data issues
• Business analysts who are technically strong
but lack desired business analytic skill
(that is, framing and answering business
questions)
• Additional analytics staf that are required to
compensate for information ineficiencies
• Excessive timeframe to get an answer or
inability to assemble information at the level
of desired detail
• Varying quality of analytic techniques across
analysts, resulting in partial or incomplete
results
In addition to data issues, the many diferent
reporting systems required to meet reporting
needs add another layer of complexity. The
end result is lack of a centralized information
delivery architecture, which, in turn, creates
increased cost, support, and maintenance
issues for the company.
Often a larger concern is the impact data
issues have on business decisions based
on partial or inaccurate information, or data
issues that only permit a limited ability to
comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and other
regulatory requirements. Every organization
can cite situations where revenue or profits
were afected because decisions were based
on incomplete or misinterpreted information.
A few examples of this in the healthcare payer
industry include:
• Inflated medical costs resulting from a
contract change forecasted incorrectly
• Higher services costs resulting from an
incomplete analysis of new or changed
health benefits
Other examples in the insurance industry
include:
• Time and efort required to research
customer retention using a variety of
factors, including previous carrier, payment
frequency, behavior, and channel
Figure 2. Typical current-state reporting architecture
Business white paper Page 6
• Linkages established between business
profitability and a representative’s
experience and ability to sell insurance
initiatives
How can the BICC help?
Implementing an EDW can resolve many of
the data integration and organizational issues
that companies face today. The BICC extends
the value of the EDW by gathering business
requirements, providing them to SMEs who
understand the information and know how
to use it most efectively, and providing
resources to implement technical and soft skill
solutions to improve information efectiveness.
The governance framework can help set
architectural standards that control the
departmental purchasing of systems for the
company.
There may be times when a department
requires another application for reporting. The
BICC can provide the review and guidance to
verify that the systems are aligned with the
business intelligence technical direction and
architectural standards. Governance must go
a step further and actively involve business
users in the information- delivery processes.
These processes lead to the acceptance of
enterprise standards, with higher use of the
EDW, translating into greater business value.
Inadequate training
Another common issue is the lack of training
that exists for most reporting tools. When
users are not properly trained, they often
find alternative methods to analyze and
report information. For example, in one
client situation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
discovered that technology would download
information from a reporting tool and upload
it into an Excel spreadsheet where the client
would format it and then distribute it to
the user. This client could have avoided the
process of downloading and formatting in
Excel if the client only knew how to use the
tool properly.
We have found that more than 75 percent
of users either do not receive training or
receive inadequate training. It is important to
remember that training does not end after
system implementation but needs to continue
throughout the BI adoption lifecycle as
described in the HPE BI Maturity Model.
The type of training users typically receive
is inadequate. Some training programs are
limited to teaching the user how to use a
tool instead of learning how to leverage the
underlying data. Users should be able to
understand the information and be trained on
all aspects of information access and usage. A
description of the data elements or metadata
G
o
v
e
r n
a
n
c
e
F
r
a
m
e w
o
r
k
1. Support lab environment
Prepare and support lab
environment sessions
Assist business in what-if
modeling
Provide one-on-one assistance
with production data
7. Manage the change
control process
Collaborate with business on
BI application acquisition
Estimate and prioritize requests
Manage releases
Manage the product plan
Manage library functions
and compliance
5. Collaborate with users
Implement cross-divisional coordination
Automate complexity
Provide departmental assistance
Conduct comparative and root-cause analysis
Provide help desk and ad hoc support
4. Implement a BI
communication program
Communicate current state
and direction
Inform management of updates
and receive direction
Implement communication
Coordinate with corporate
communications
3. Validate and deploy
standard reports
Review automated reports for accuracy
Standardize enterprise metrics for
membership/utilization
Review and analyze user requests
Deliver business analysis
2. Provide custom and standard training
Prepare and execute training sessions
Update existing and create additional
advanced training sessions
Hold custom training for users
Administer BI credentialing program
user group sessions
Provide cross- divisional analysis
Prepare demonstrations and query
user for topics and issues
Hold sessions: communicate updates
and receive current feedback
Break out into additional user groups
Hold periodic meetings and online forums
Support lab environment
Provide custom and standard training
Validate and deploy standard reports
Implement a BI communication program
Collaborate with users
Prepare and run user group sessions
Manage the change control process
6. Prepare und run
Figure 3. Supporting the business—A day in the life of a BICC BI analyst
Business white paper Page 7
and how each data element relates to one
another is just the start. Efective information
usage training is critical to delivering the
benefits of an EDW. Data education and
process education must be part of the
education program.
How can the BICC help?
The BI Maturity Model shows how BI usage
matures as the company evolves its use
of business intelligence. As users receive
better access to information, they require
access to more information, faster—real-time
access. The BICC can develop education and
certification programs that provide the user
with the tools, data, and processes required
and then ofer a certification program to
enable the user to leverage the system
properly. The BICC can build a program to
monitor and continue to improve the methods
of information delivery and training on
systems throughout their maturity lifecycle.
Ineficient end-user support
Support comes in many forms for users. It
begins with the system and information being
aligned to meet business needs and the users
receiving proper training on how to use the
system and information. Often, users do not
receive one-on-one training and need to
resolve questions by calling the help desk and
requesting assistance.
If the request is for system improvements
or to remedy issues using a report, the help
desk logs a request with the technology
department; a developer looks at the request,
modifies the report, and distributes the new
report back to the end user. This process is
ineficient and time-consuming and generally
takes several attempts at resolution, as the
first adjustment generally does not satisfy the
user requirement. The above scenario and
process can improve, and it begins with the
assistance of the BICC.
How can the BICC help?
The fundamental problem with the support
model outlined above is that the user is not
adequately armed and able to report and
analyze information in a self-service mode.
The user does not have the understanding
and ability to modify the report, nor does the
user understand whom to go to for assistance.
Through the BICC, support can provide
proper data, training, and certification to the
organization, and can provide the user with
the capability to report and analyze data
independently. The BICC can also provide
a communication program to keep users
informed of changes and available support, as
well as provide updates to information.
It can be challenging to build a system,
teach the user, and then expect some level
of user autonomy, but this can be achieved
with the right support model. One-on-one
assistance, departmental and corporate
technical assistance, and subject-matter
expertise are several ways the BICC can assist
users with departmental and individual needs
or company-wide needs. The BICC team
becomes trusted advisers to the business and
blends business knowledge with technology
disciplines to remove complexity, automate
redundancy, and enable analysts to focus on
business solutions.
Manages stewardship
process
- Validates key decisions
- Provides strategic direction
- Provides alignment to strategic plans
- Detail design
- Provide subject-matter expertise
- Prepare and recommend
- First line of support for business units
- Global design
- Approve requirements and
functional designs
- Direct purchase/development
of BI application
- Business area adoption
Architecture and
standards
Provides insight
and direction
Business data
analyst team
Enterprise
BI senior
leadership team
Executive
sponsors
Data stewards
Information
stewards
committee
Advisory
committee
Committee framework overview
Figure 4. Example governance framework
Business white paper Page 8
Figure 3 represents a view of a BI analyst
within the BICC. Note that a large percentage
of the time is spent supporting users through
collaboration with users (5), supporting the
lab environment (1), preparing and running
user group sessions (6), and participating
in the BI communication program (4). The
additional outlined tasks assist in monitoring
change (7) and are discussed in the “Limited
governance” section of this paper. Custom
and standard training (2) is discussed in the
“Inadequate training” section. Additionally,
the support for standard reporting (3) is
discussed in the “Analytic and technology
issues” section of the paper. All are essential
functions of the BICC.
Limited governance
Reporting systems often lack the controls that
outline for users how to use the system, how
to make requests, and how to verify requests,
enabling all parties to adhere to the controls.
Often, there is no operating body that can
review and analyze needs efectively in an
eficient and structured manner. As a result, it
becomes dificult for users to satisfy additional
needs, complete report modifications, or
request integration of additional subject areas.
Governance is rarely driven by business
users and is often considered an impediment
to getting things done. Rarely is usage and
adoption of the data warehouse considered a
business issue and governance responsibility.
This is where governance as part of the BICC
can assist the company.
How can the BICC help?
As indicated in Figure 1, a governance
framework is a key part of the BICC. The
framework exists to understand and prioritize
business needs, review technology changes,
and assign resources for implementation.
The scope, objectives, and structure of
the governance need to be analyzed and
established based on each company’s
organization and goals. Governance generally
is created in several tiers, where each tier
has a responsibility to analyze the need and
situation and determine the resolution where
approval is then submitted to the next tier.
Figure 4 is an example of a framework that
has been successfully implemented in a
typical company environment. Information
stewards are typically business managers with
process responsibility who rely on data to get
their jobs done, who set direction, and make
decisions. Information stewards are directly
afected by information integration decisions.
Depending on the size of an organization,
they are typically senior manager to vice
president-level associates.
Data stewards are staf of the information
stewards and are focused on the details for
making recommendations and taking action.
One key to success is empowering stewards
to make appropriate decisions and holding
them accountable for the results. Efective
stewardship not only enables the eficient
delivery of information management solutions,
but it also drives business acceptance and
usage. The BICC provides the structure
and framework to administer a sustainable
stewardship program efectively.
Approach to building the BICC
The approach used in forming the BICC is
based on many factors outlined throughout
this document. Generally, there are several
key objectives of the BICC, including business
eficiencies and improvements, technology,
training, support, improved analytical
capabilities, and governance. All these aspects
must be taken into account when planning
and implementing the BICC.
Building the BICC is closely aligned to
developing the information delivery strategy,
because each interacts with the other in
many ways. The information delivery strategy
understands the curren and future needs and
outlines the information roadmap. The BICC
supports the direction of the strategy. Figure
5 outlines how the BICC and the information
delivery strategy interact. The high-level
approach to forming the BICC is outlined in
the following subsections.
Forming the BICC team
Typically, a team of key stakeholders from
across the organization is established and
tasked with defining the BICC and building
the initial charter and stafing models. Team
members from the business include high-
level decision-makers who rely on analytic
information. The team members become
sponsors of the initiative and change agents
who can drive the culture change associated
with these initiatives. Areas represented
include the key consumers of information,
such as finance, operations, and sales and
marketing. An often-overlooked resource is a
senior HR representative who can help with
stafing and culture-change issues.
Analyzing the environment
An analysis of the current environment should
be performed and a strategy outlined as to
the next steps. There are several areas that
should be investigated that are in line with the
main themes and discussed throughout this
paper:
Business objectives
What are the tactical and long-term goals of
the business, and how well are they currently
being met?
The BICC should focus on supporting the
highest-priority goals that deliver the most
value. It is common for organizations to find
that information delivery is often the largest
barrier that must be overcome to meet the
business objectives. The BICC provides
the infrastructure and a team with cross-
functional enterprise tools that can identify
and document specific information-delivery
needs of each goal and work to enable
appropriate solutions eficiently.
BICC objectives and desired outcomes
An often-overlooked component is defining
and building consensus of the outcomes the
BICC is expected to deliver. This step should
specifically identify:
• What are the current problems the BICC
should address?
• What are the current behaviors the BICC
should influence?
• What measures can demonstrate success?
• Where are the obstacles and how should
they be removed?
It is important to recognize and manage
the culture-change aspect associated with
implementing the BICC. A common mistake
is to assume there is alignment across the
cross-functional BICC formation team on
these topics or a common understanding of
core analytic functions and priorities. A good
analytic functions’ map that outlines functions
by department is a critical component to
completing this step. The analytic functions’
map should:
• Define key analytic functions and their
interdependencies
• Identify the relationship between high-level
business processes and analytic functions
• Show where the analytic functions are
used—that is, how pervasive they are across
the organization
Business white paper Page 9
A common mistake is to assume that the
BICC formation team shares a common
understanding of key analytics or of what the
BICC should be. The analytic function map
becomes a key tool to drive consensus and
build alignment across the team. It is also a
mechanism that can be used to lead fact-
based discussions and remove emotion from
some tough discussions that must occur. For
example, organizations often are looking for
the BICC to deliver centralized consistency
and eficiencies where it makes sense while
maintaining the entrepreneurial capabilities of
the functional business areas.
Identifying what falls into the centralized
category can be dificult, emotionally charged
conversations. On a recent project with an
insurance payer, during initial conversations,
there were strong sentiments expressed
that utilization analysis (what services are
performed by doctors) belonged to a specific
functional business area and should not
be changed. The building of an analytic
functions’ map demonstrated that utilization
analysis is:
• Used by most of the functional business
areas in the organization
• Embedded as subprocesses or as
prerequisites for many of the other analytic
functions in ways that are not always
obvious
• Not reported consistently across the
organization, meaning there are multiple
versions of the truth
• Not adequately supported in a manner
that can identify and address business
issues that impact financial results (For
example, radiology cost have increased by
15 percent—is there a problem that needs
to be addressed compared to change in
treatment protocols that may lower costs
somewhere else?)
In the insurance payer example above, a
fact-based discussion about centralizing
this process benefited the organization. The
business unit that declared ownership quickly
realized how it would benefit as a consumer
of a centralized service and realized what it
really owned was the medical business policy
supported by utilization analysis and other
analytic functions.
Successful BICCs aren’t just service areas
or report producers; they become hybrid
business or service organizations with
responsibility to execute identified business
processes and provide services to improve
analytics across the organization.
Information access
• How well are users receiving information?
• What is the current state of information
access?
• Does the information access look similar to
Figure 2?
• Are the users spending more time
organizing data into a final report instead of
performing analysis?
Information Delivery Strategy Business Intelligence
Competency Center
Understa nd current
inf orma tio n delivery
orga niza tion al state
Current
and ongoing
busi ness need
Future inf ormation
delive ry tech nica l state
Future state processes
Guiding prin ciples
Understand current
information delivery
tech nical state
Understand current
state processes
Road map of delivering
information delivery
Commu nicati on
strategy
Support
Education
Information delivery
strategy execution
Busi ness /
technology
orga niza tion
Figure 5. Information delivery strategy versus BICC
Business white paper Page 10
• How well are the users prepared to
perform detailed analysis?
These and other similar questions need
to be answered to properly determine the
current state of information access. Ideally,
self- service access should be a goal for the
BICC, because this provides the users with
the greatest ability to analyze information
and answer business questions quickly.
People
The resources that help to build the
technical infrastructure and support the
users must be aligned. Analyze the current
technology organization to determine how
well it is meeting user needs.
Analyze the users to determine their
analytical and technical ability to outline the
future education program. The appropriate
BICC organizational structure must be
identified.
• Who can the BICC report to?
• What is the level of the person running the
BICC?
This step identifies behaviors that the
organization needs to build, modify, or
eliminate, as well as skills and capabilities
resources required to be successful. It also
builds the plan to achieve them.
Technology
The current information delivery architecture
should be analyzed to determine how well it is
meeting users’ needs.
• What is the user perception of the system?
• What is working and what isn’t?
• What additional tools are needed to meet
users’ needs?
Governance
• What kind of data and information
governance is in place?
• How are users’ needs being determined,
reviewed, and prioritized?
• Is the information getting to the users at the
right time?
• Are the developers and users operating within
reasonable standards?
Project
Manager
Testing Lead
Test Analyst
Security
DBA
Operations
Web
Development
Business
Information
Delivery
Power Users
Information
Delivery Admin
Information
Delivery
Developer(s)
Information
Delivery Senior
Developer(s)
Information
Delivery
Architect
Information
Delivery
Team Lead
ETL Team
Lead
Data Architect
Manager
ETL Architect
Senior ETL
Developer(s)
Data
Modeler(s)
ETL
Developer(s)
ETL Admin
Business Data
Analyst Lead
Business Data
Analyst(s)
Business
Analyst Lead
Supply Chain
Management
Business Analyst
Sales &
Marketing
Business Analyst
Customer
Business
Analyst
Order
Processing
Business Analyst
Data SME
Trainer
Information
Delivery Trainer
Training Lead
Order
Processing SME
Customer
SME
Sales &
Marketing SME
Supply Chain
Management
SME
Business
Analyst
Process SME
BI Functional
Lead
BICC Lead
BI Technical
Architect
Project
Management/
Improvement
Shared Services
Business
Corporate
Training
Busines s
Core Asset
Management
Business Governance Body
Business Intelligence Competency Center
Configuration
Figure 6. Example BICC organization
Business white paper Page 11
• What changes are needed to get users the
answers they need quickly?
The existing support structure for the users
needs to be analyzed and determined as
to how well it is working. There are many
approaches that can be used to support users,
and the answer begins with understanding
how well support is working currently.
The BICC is not about centralizing all
reporting and analysis. It is about improving
the efectiveness of the knowledge workers
throughout the organization.
Information delivery strategy
After the current state is analyzed, an
information delivery strategy can be outlined.
Figure 5 outlines the key components of
the strategy, and the analysis performed in
the previous step serves as a key element
in determining the overall direction with
information delivery. The strategy sets
the tactical and strategic direction to align
technology, people, and processes to better
meet business needs. The BICC helps deliver
the strategy.
Information management strategy
Along with the information delivery strategy,
the alignment of information is essential
to implementing information delivery. This
strategy includes the way the data warehouse
is organized and managed to meet the
business needs through information delivery.
Senior level buy-in
Approval and support of the information
delivery strategy and the BICC is critical to the
success of forming the BICC. Support needs
to come from the top down to propagate the
objectives of the BICC efectively throughout
the organization. Obtaining senior-level
support is critical to the business accepting
the BICC. The business members of the BICC
team play a large role in this process.
Funding
The BICC funding model should be outlined
early to fill the positions. There are several
options for funding, including:
• Centralized funding: The BICC is fully
budgeted, and full-time resources are filled
and available. There are dedicated full-time
resources within the BICC.
• Partial funding with time and materials: The
BICC is partially funded with all changes
billed back to the departments on a time
and material basis. This allows for a cost-
efective approach to the BICC, but does not
allow for a set of full-time resources within
the BICC.
• Custom: A custom funding approach is
created for the specific situations that exist
within the company. It is not recommended
that a full-time, time and material model is
implemented since there are no dedicated
resources in the BICC, and this is a key
part of the success of the BICC. Dedicated
resources need to exist within the BICC to
meet the objectives of the BICC and to keep
an impartial view of the company while
analyzing and meeting objectives.
Implementation
After the strategy is outlined and approved,
resources need to be placed in the BICC. The
information delivery strategy continues to be
built during this time, as well—typically with
a strong technology implementation efort
followed by deployment and support. The
resources used to implement any technology
change are typically a part of the BICC,
but there must be a strong business focus,
because these resources take time to analyze
the situation, determine responsibilities, and
fill positions.
Determining responsibility
As the strategy is implemented and the BICC
organization resources are filled, the technical
and functional resources within the BICC need
to be determined. Figure 6 is an example of
a BICC organization chart. Notice that it has
technical and functional branches, and there
are many dependencies with BICC and other
departments.
The responsibility of each resource needs
to be determined. The functional resources
should be filled by the business, with the
business responsibility of the BICC determined
before the resource responsibilities are filled.
Establishing governance
A review and control process should be
developed before the BICC is put in place. The
business continues to communicate additional
needs to the BICC, and a process and
organization need to be put in place to review
and prioritize changes. Verify that governance
is built as an integral part of the processes,
executed to define and build solutions and
not isolated committees.
• Is the business a full partner, accountable
for the solutions, use, and adherence to
standards and policy?
All these questions play a part in analyzing
governance. Governance is a key component
of empowering the business to take
ownership of its information needs. As we
have discussed, in a typical current state,
the way information is delivered is often
the key barrier to implementing business
objectives, and the business must be an active
partner in owning and solving these issues.
The flip side of ownership is accountability,
because the business then becomes willing
to accept responsibility for adoption, use,
and adherence to technical and business
standards and best practices. Efective
governance delivers alignment between the
business and technology.
Education
• How well are the users educated?
• Can they use the system efectively?
• What are the future education goals?
• Do they know who to go to for help or to
escalate business problems (for example,
if gross margin for a product line seems
wrong, who needs to be involved to
determine the extent and cause of the
potential problem)?
• Can users frame and answer the right
business questions?
• Do they understand what the data means
and make recommendations for action
based on the facts?
• Do they understand how to ask requirement
questions to make certain that analysis can
meet the intent of the question?
• What additional training is needed for the
current users to meet objectives?
An education strategy should be outlined
as part of the BICC, and the current state of
education needs to be determined. Technical
and tool training is only a small piece of the
answer. The BICC provides a centralized area
that not only has the technical skills but also
the required business knowledge to address
the broader educational challenges.
Support
• Are the users getting the right kind of
support?
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© Copyright 2012, 2015 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change without
notice. The only warranties for HPE products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products
and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HPE shall not be liable for technical or editorial
errors or omissions contained herein.
4AA3-3088ENW, November 2015, Rev. 1
Business white paper
Learn more at
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BICC formation approach
A thorough, consensus-based approach to planning for the BICC is the best way to avoid false starts, deliver real value, and obtain
acceptance across the organization. Defining the BICC based on capabilities required can deliver agreed-to, actionable
outcomes. This approach often delivers outcomes that are quite diferent than what was anticipated at the start of the process.
The ability to fund and sustain the project increases when there is a clear understanding not only of what benefits can be
achieved, but also of what cannot be addressed without this type of initiative.
Senior-management support
There may be inherent resistance to the BICC, because there generally are several ongoing initiatives to drive business change
with technology. Many of these may be solid initiatives that involve direction and support from senior-level management.
Executive-level support is required to enable all of these initiatives to be pulled together and coordinated with the BICC, following
the guiding principles and scope of the BICC.
Executive support is required to promote and communicate the BICC to the C-level management and throughout the organization.
Executive support can also help guide and move the organization along the maturity model. These executives also need to be
providing credibility to the organization so that it can more efectively accomplish the scope and guiding principles.
Enterprise-wide communication of the
BICC
The purpose, competencies, and implementation plan of the BICC need to be communicated to the business. An ongoing two-way
communication should be established to continually gather business needs from all levels. The BICC interacts with the business
through training, the lab environment, user groups, and also through the support model. The governance framework also serves
as a mechanism for senior management to communicate business direction to the BICC.
The BICC is part of the business
The BICC is part of and contains members of the business. It should not be a technology organization, but a functional/technical
organization within the business, run by the business, and working for the business.
Funding support
The BICC should be funded and contain resources that work for the business. The overall funding model should be determined,
but having funding is critical to having the proper resources available to meet business needs.
Governance framework enforced
The governance framework model should be enforced and parties held accountable. This allows for user needs to be addressed
and implemented based on the greatest value to the business.
Implementation of immediate needs
The BICC is established to resolve issues with users’ access to and use of information. All issues should be prioritized with the
“high business value with low efort” implemented first to demonstrate immediate success. This is critical for the BICC to gain the
confidence of the business.
Better understanding of future
business needs
Following the initial implementation of the flow of information and abilities to the users, change should rapidly flow through the
business, and the BICC should continue to assist the business as needed.
Enterprise alignment of business needs
Certain widely used and high-value business needs should be implemented and supported by the BICC. The BICC supports many
other business functions, but the BICC is responsible to implement identified business functions.
Improving the analytical capabilities of
the business
One of the most important required competencies of the BICC is understanding and improving the business’ analytic capabilities.
This is the primary and most critical objective of the BICC and can be accomplished through improved training, support, and
understanding of business issues and current needs.
Communicating the plan
Communicate the BICC early and often to
the business. It is important for the company
to understand the BICC’s goals and purpose
so acceptance and input by all people can
be included into the BICC. Communication
of the status of forming the BICC should
be analyzed. Determine what needs to be
communicated, because forming the BICC can
be a huge culture change, and senior-level
buy- in is critical to the BICC’s success.
Assigning resources
After the responsibilities of the BICC resources
are determined and a governance framework
is put in place, the positions can be filled. The
governance framework can help determine
the best approach to filling the positions.
Typically, a BICC formation committee is
organized to analyze and prioritize the overall
required competencies of the BICC, which
determines the roles and responsibilities of
the BICC and the BI analyst within the BICC.
Best practices and keys to success
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