Description
Business Intelligence in an Educational Landscape
Business Intelligence in an Educational Landscape
Marcio Rodrigo Teixeira
Instituto Superior Tupy
Educational Society of Santa Catarina (SOCIESC)
Joinville, Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]
Mehran Misaghi
Instituto Superior Tupy
Educational Society of Santa Catarina (SOCIESC)
Joinville, Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract—This paper reports a work in progress about the
effectiveness of Business Intelligence in the academic
environment. Business management, competitiveness, excess of
information and dispersion of data in the organizational
environment have proven to be important barriers that need to
be overcome by managers today, both in process improvement
and decision making. This paper presents an initial study on
this topic and shows the benefits of Business Intelligence
application to assist private educational institutions to achieve
better academic results in their whole process of management.
Our preliminary results indicate that BI is a great differential
to promote a successful management.
Keywords-academic environment; business intelligence; data
warehouse; knowledge
I. INTRODUCTION
With the development of management models and
society, information and knowledge have to be considered
the main assets of an organization, contributing to its success
and differentiation. However, the over-dispersion of data and
information end up becoming barriers that need to be
overcome in order to improve processes and decision
making.
We can say that control and management of information
play an important role in strategic planning and decision
making in all sectors of society, including education.
The fast transformation of the contemporary world has
given organizations, including educational ones, a great
challenge to overcome. How to get passed them and monitor
changes effectively, seeking to maintain competitive
advantages are the issues of management today.
According to Tachizawa and Andrade [1], a new era in
terms of competition is emerging, not only from known
competitors in traditional markets (or other organizations
that enter in certain economic sectors), but also through the
disintegration of access barriers to markets previously
isolated and protected.
Educational institutions cannot feel excessively confident
by market slices and competitive positions already
conquered, instead, they should seek to reduce operational
costs, increase the profit margin and improve the quality of
services provided.
Many industries felt the shock of competition and
survived; now, the time has come to teach these institutions.
They can either adhere to a more contemporary and
responsive business model or accept that in the next years,
many private higher education institutions will be sold or
close doors [2].
In this context, it is necessary to use technological
information in order to accelerate the competitive
intelligence in private educational institutions.
Data analysis is very important for an efficient
management. Through Business Intelligence [13] it is
possible to take action and make more assertive decisions.
While someone deals with management information, others
can detect changes in the market. This way, it is possible not
only to obtain advantages but also to achieve goals
successfully.
This paper relates directly to this topic: knowledge
discovery and intelligent knowledge querying. It reports a
work in progress on business intelligence, its architecture
and components, and finally, the benefits of its application
applied in an educational landscape.
II. ANALYTICAL INTELLIGENCE AND BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE
Analytical intelligence consists in the use of data and
systemic reasoning in the process of decision making [3].
According to Pinheiro [4], analytical intelligence
constitutes the use of knowledge through practical
applications and markets that can generate competitiveness
to a company.
With the capacity expansion of data storage and
computerization of processes, the volume of data available in
organizations is increasing; however, these data contribute
very little to decision-making. It is necessary to transform
them to be used strategically, in a way that they can interact
in the process of making decisions according to the needs of
the institution. In this context, analytical intelligence is
essential.
This information allows a company to recognize their
strengths and weaknesses, making actions more substantial
and efficient [4].
A. History and Concept of BI
In the early 1980s, the concept of executive information
systems (EIS) appeared, increasing the computerized support
to managers and top-level executives. Some of the
introduced features were dynamic multidimensional
reporting (ad hoc or on demand), predictions and forecasts,
trend analysis, details, status and access to critical successful
factors. These features appeared in dozens of commercial
242 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
DBKDA 2013 : The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications
products in the middle of the 1990s. The same features and
some new ones appeared under the name BI.
According to Power [5], in 1989, Howard Dresner
proposed "business intelligence" as an umbrella term to
describe concepts and methods to improve business decision
making by using fact-based support systems.
According to Atre and Moss [6], BI is neither a product,
nor a system. It is an architecture and a collection of
integrated operational programs as well as decision-support
applications and databases that provide to the business
community an easy access to business data.
According to Kimball and Ross [7], Business Intelligence
is a term that has emerged and evolved over the past few
years and is now often used to describe all systems and
processes an enterprise uses to gather, process, provide
access to, and analyze business information. The term data
warehouse is now used to mean the platform for all forms of
business intelligence.
Business refers to a commercial activity for profit.
Intelligence is intelligence, refers to the ability of learning
and understanding.
The process of BI is based on transforming data into
information, decisions, and then, finally, into action.
B. Results of Surveys about IT and BI
2.335 chief information officers (CIO) responded to the
Gartner 2012 CIO Survey, the annual appraisal of CIO
priorities, including all major industries and geographies [8].
The survey result has identified that analytics and BI will be
the top technology priorities for CIOs this year.
According to Goasduff and Pettey [9], analytics/business
intelligence was the top-ranked technology for 2012, as CIOs
are combining analytics with other technologies to create
new capabilities. For example, analytics plus supply chain
for process management and improvement.
The research results reveal that Business Intelligence is
an essential tool for businesses because it allows making the
best choices while minimizing the risks of a wrong decision.
C. Architecture and Components of the BI
Figure 1 shows the flow of data, their transformation into
information, and finally, knowledge that serves as basis for
better decision making. Although this figure shows an
architecture with very high level (because it has all the
components of a BI tool), it can be used either as a model for
a new initiative (according to need of the institution), or as a
mean of assessing the current status of an existing
architecture in relation to all the components shown in the
figure, thus enabling those new components to be added over
time.
According to Dresner [10], BI tools and technologies
include query and reporting, OLAP (online analytical
processing), data mining and advanced analytics, end-user
tools for ad hoc query and analysis, enterprise-class query,
analysis and reporting, including dashboards for performance
monitoring, and production reporting against enterprise data
sources.
Figure 1. BI Architecture
A BI architecture typically contains the following
components:
? People (Business Users, Administrators, Developers,
Technical Support): People are fundamental in
Business Intelligence architecture, as well as the
processes and technologies involved. The
community of BI users is diverse, but the vast
majority focuses on the tactical and strategic levels
and their relation to each other.
? Metadata and Master Data Management: Metadata
can be defined as "data about data." The metadata is
stored and managed in a database and is used to
describe the definition of the structure, policies and
data management of a company. The objective of
Master Data Management is to provide processes to
collect, aggregate, combine and consolidate data,
ensuring quality to distribute these data across the
organization to ensure consistency and control
maintenance and use of this information.
? Data Sources: The data may have several shapes and
be obtained from various sources, such as CRM and
243 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
DBKDA 2013 : The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications
ERP. These many data sources make up the
landscape of business intelligence company.
? Data Integration Layer: This is where the data
gathered by the applications is refined into a
corporate structure [11]. Through components such
as Data Warehouse, Data Mart, ETL, Ad-Hoc Query
Application, it is possible to transform data into
quality information that can be useful for any
company, especially in decision-making process.
? Data Access Layer: The components as Cubes, Data
Mining, OLAP application, BI application allow
performing business analysis more efficiently and
effectively and are the basis for better decision
making.
III. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE APPLIED IN AN PRIVATE
ACADEMIC ENVIROMENT MANAGEMENT
Private educational institutions are making extensive use
of business intelligence and predictive modeling in
marketing, recruitment and retention [12]. To achieve these
goals, they develop the IT infrastructure with new software
and process, taking into account "operational efficiency" and
"customer intimacy". They understand the needs of students
and employers and adapt the curriculum and course offerings
in order to promote an alignment with the requirements of
the job. Many educational institutions are also deploying
academic analysis to create predictive models to improve the
retention of students in order to develop an individual
learning plan [12]. The assertiveness level in decision
making, planning and resource allocation and process
improvement have been observed. Some institutions have
developed specific analysis to accompany new students in
courses, mainly targeting disadvantaged students, and the
financial aspect of performance; therefore, making possible
to intervene early if a negative factor is identified, thereby
aiming to act as a responsible institution that cares about its
students. Analysis focused on issues related to access,
learning and students performance at all stages of their
academic life, allows them to take greater responsibility for
their success, in collaboration with parents, teachers and
employers. It is noteworthy that the application of Business
Intelligence effectively requires a cultural change where
decision making and action are based on evidence. This
cultural change in an educational institution requires the
support of managers in activities, emphasizing performance,
creating incentives to support innovation, promoting a
change in the traditional academic culture at all levels of the
institution [12].
IV. OUR RESEARCH
Aiming to verify the effectiveness of a Business
Intelligence tool deployed in an educational landscape, we
started a research project in 2012 with completion scheduled
for 2013 in an educational institution in Brazil. The scope of
the research and a summary of the information collected to
date are described below.
A. The Educational Institution
The Educational Society of Santa Catarina - SOCIESC is
an educational, cultural and technological institution in
Brazil that has existed for 53 years. It possesses 7 campus in
two states, and has more than 100 partnerships in E-
learning’s Centers. It currently has about 20,000 students
enrolled in classroom, 4,000 students enrolled in e-learning
mode and 1,200 employees that support this whole structure.
It operates in various levels as undergraduate, graduate,
business training. In addition, a differential of SOCIESC
over other educational institutions is that it offers
engineering services, consultancy and management for the
development of new technologies for national and
international companies. Services are offered from modern
infrastructure with laboratories in the areas of metrology,
chemical and mechanical, through the areas of Technology
Management & Research and Development, Tooling,
Foundry and Heat Treatment. SOCIESC is certified NBR
ISO9001.
B. Research Question
What are the benefits of using a BI tool in an educational
institution?
C. Proposal of Research
Analysis the contribution of the use of Business
Intelligence Tool in management processes and decision
making: A Case study in an educational institution
(SOCIESC).
D. Methodology
? Interview with employees of IT department in
SOCIESC who are responsible for the project and
support of BI in the institution.
? Analysis of the data collected.
E. Study Sample
3 interviews were conducted in the IT department,
including one manager and two system analysts who use the
BI tool.
F. The BI Tool
The SOCIESC has currently the TOTVS BI Version:
1.11.30. Some features of this tool are:
? Integration with LOGIX ERP [14], currently used in
SOCIESC.
? Online information access, using different browsers.
? Enables integration with various data sources, such
as Oracle database [15] and Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets [16].
? Developed in Java [17] and runs through a server
Apache Jakarta [18].
? Operates on Linux [19] and Microsoft OS [20].
? Simple and quick search of information and export
data to spreadsheets, analysis customization and
graphical views, schedule and automatic send of
information via e-mail and security access through
system access profiles and analysis access.
244 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
DBKDA 2013 : The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications
G. The BI Architecture
The current BI architecture comprises a data warehouse
created in Oracle 10G, which is loaded with data extracted
from tables of academic ERP (WAE) and business ERP
(Logix) that are also on Oracle 10G database.
H. User Profiles and Departments that use BI
Currently 84 employees distributed in 46 different
departments of SOCIESC make use of BI. The audience of
BI is: 14 directors representing 17% of audience, 23
managers representing 27% of audience, 38 analysts
representing 45% of audience and 9 technicians representing
11% of audience.
I. History of BI in SOCIESC
According to the interviews, the initiative to use a BI tool
in SOCIESC started in 2007 by the IT department that
developed some analysis in order to leverage and maximize
their management decision making. Once the results were
positive, the tool was adopted by other departments of the
institution contemplating the administrative area and also
teaching. Over time, new versions were released by TOTVS,
making it more agile and with new features which
contributed to a rapid deployment and user training.
J. Analysis Developed in BI
The BI tool of SOCIESC currently contains about 22
analysis developed over the years which help users make
better decisions about trade issues, costs, purchasing, human
resources, information technology and education. When it
comes to numbers, just education alone possesses 10
different types of analysis that allow monitoring of entries in
selection processes, enrollment, financial monitoring
organization, institutional research conducted by students
and teachers.
V. NEXT STEPS OF RESEARCH
The next steps of the research are (i) conduct more
interviews and apply questionnaires with users of other
departments that use the BI tool, (ii) analyze the data
collected, (iii) describe the analysis of BI, (iv) and describe a
case study pointing contributions of BI tool in the
management of processes and decision making in an
educational institution.
VI. CONCLUSION
Aiming to verify the effectiveness of a BI tool deployed
in an educational landscape, we started a research project in
2012 with completion scheduled for 2013 in an educational
institution (SOCIESC) in Brazil. So far, we have collected
various information through interviews about the profile of
institution, the BI tool, the architecture of BI, the profile of
users and departments that use the tool, history of BI in the
institution, and analysis developed.
Our work in progress has demonstrated so far that the
current global competitive environment has also impacted
the educational sector and that educational institutions are
seeking to adjust its strategic. Several educational institutions
are looking for the potential of BI, and, therefore, are
adopting BI architectures, applying mainly in predictive
modeling in marketing, recruitment and retention of students.
The architecture is accessible through the Internet, which
provides a greater analytical power, allowing users (parents,
students, teachers and analysts) to access and analyze data,
information, contextualize and interpret the results and then
make the best decisions.
REFERENCES
[1] T. Tachizawa and R. Andrade, “Gestão de instituições de ensino,”
Brazil, Editora FGV, pp. 21-23, 2006.
[2] L. Machado, “Gestão estratégica para instituições de ensino superior
privadas,” Brazil , Editora FGV, pp. 15-17, 2008.
[3] T. Davenport, et al., “Inteligência analítica nos negócios: Como usar a
análise de informações para obter resultados superiores,” Brazil,
Elsevier, pp. 1-3, 2010.
[4] C. Pinheiro, “Inteligência Analítica – Mineração de Dados e
Descoberta de Conhecimento,” Brazil, Editora Ciência Moderna ltd.,
Brazil, pp. 3-10, 2008.
[5] D.J Power, “A Brief History of Decision Support Systems,” 2007.http://dssresources.com/history/dsshistory.html [retrieved: October,
2012]
[6] S. Atre and L. T. Moss, “Business Intelligence Roadmap: the
complete project lifecycle for decision-support applications.” Pearson
Education, Boston, pp. 4-5, 2008.
[7] R. Kimball and M. Ross, “The Kimball Group Reader; Relentlessly
Practical Tools for Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence.”
Wiley Publishing, Indiana, pp. 103-105, 2010.
[8] Gartner, “CIO Agenda Report - Key Insights,” 2012.http://imagesrv.gartner.com/cio/pdf/cio_agenda_insights.pdf
[retrieved: October, 2012]
[9] L. Goasduff and C. Pettey, “Gartner Executive Programs Worldwide
Survey of More Than 2,300 CIOs Shows Flat IT Budgets in 2012, but
IT Organizations Must Deliver on Multiple Priorities,” 2012.http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1897514 [retrieved: October,
2012]
[10] H. Dresner, “The Performance Management Revolution: business
results through insight and action. John Wiley & Sons,” New Jersey,
pp. 12-14, 2008.
[11] W. H. Inmon, C. Imhoff and R. Sousa, “Corporate Information
Factory.” John Wiley & Sons, Canada, pp. 7-9, 2001.
[12] D. Norris, L. Baer, J. Leonard, L. Pugliese and P. Lefrere, “Action
Analytics: Measuring and Improving Performance That Matters,”
2008.http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0813.pdf [retrieved:
October, 2012]
[13] M. R. Teixeira and M. Misaghi, “Business Intelligence Aplicado a
Gestão de um Ambiente Acadêmico Privado,” 2012.http://www.sociesc.org.br/congressos/SearchCONEPRO/artigos/064_
2012_Publicacao.pdf [retrieved: October, 2012]
[14]http://www.totvs.com/software/erp [retrieved: December, 2012]
[15]http://www.oracle.com [retrieved: December, 2012]
[16]http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/ [retrieved: December, 2012]
[17]http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/java/overview/index.html
[retrieved: December, 2012]
[18]http://jakarta.apache.org [retrieved: December, 2012]
[19]http://www.linux.org [retrieved: December, 2012]
[20]http://windows.microsoft.com [retrieved: December, 2012]
245 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
DBKDA 2013 : The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications
doc_405120159.pdf
Business Intelligence in an Educational Landscape
Business Intelligence in an Educational Landscape
Marcio Rodrigo Teixeira
Instituto Superior Tupy
Educational Society of Santa Catarina (SOCIESC)
Joinville, Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]
Mehran Misaghi
Instituto Superior Tupy
Educational Society of Santa Catarina (SOCIESC)
Joinville, Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract—This paper reports a work in progress about the
effectiveness of Business Intelligence in the academic
environment. Business management, competitiveness, excess of
information and dispersion of data in the organizational
environment have proven to be important barriers that need to
be overcome by managers today, both in process improvement
and decision making. This paper presents an initial study on
this topic and shows the benefits of Business Intelligence
application to assist private educational institutions to achieve
better academic results in their whole process of management.
Our preliminary results indicate that BI is a great differential
to promote a successful management.
Keywords-academic environment; business intelligence; data
warehouse; knowledge
I. INTRODUCTION
With the development of management models and
society, information and knowledge have to be considered
the main assets of an organization, contributing to its success
and differentiation. However, the over-dispersion of data and
information end up becoming barriers that need to be
overcome in order to improve processes and decision
making.
We can say that control and management of information
play an important role in strategic planning and decision
making in all sectors of society, including education.
The fast transformation of the contemporary world has
given organizations, including educational ones, a great
challenge to overcome. How to get passed them and monitor
changes effectively, seeking to maintain competitive
advantages are the issues of management today.
According to Tachizawa and Andrade [1], a new era in
terms of competition is emerging, not only from known
competitors in traditional markets (or other organizations
that enter in certain economic sectors), but also through the
disintegration of access barriers to markets previously
isolated and protected.
Educational institutions cannot feel excessively confident
by market slices and competitive positions already
conquered, instead, they should seek to reduce operational
costs, increase the profit margin and improve the quality of
services provided.
Many industries felt the shock of competition and
survived; now, the time has come to teach these institutions.
They can either adhere to a more contemporary and
responsive business model or accept that in the next years,
many private higher education institutions will be sold or
close doors [2].
In this context, it is necessary to use technological
information in order to accelerate the competitive
intelligence in private educational institutions.
Data analysis is very important for an efficient
management. Through Business Intelligence [13] it is
possible to take action and make more assertive decisions.
While someone deals with management information, others
can detect changes in the market. This way, it is possible not
only to obtain advantages but also to achieve goals
successfully.
This paper relates directly to this topic: knowledge
discovery and intelligent knowledge querying. It reports a
work in progress on business intelligence, its architecture
and components, and finally, the benefits of its application
applied in an educational landscape.
II. ANALYTICAL INTELLIGENCE AND BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE
Analytical intelligence consists in the use of data and
systemic reasoning in the process of decision making [3].
According to Pinheiro [4], analytical intelligence
constitutes the use of knowledge through practical
applications and markets that can generate competitiveness
to a company.
With the capacity expansion of data storage and
computerization of processes, the volume of data available in
organizations is increasing; however, these data contribute
very little to decision-making. It is necessary to transform
them to be used strategically, in a way that they can interact
in the process of making decisions according to the needs of
the institution. In this context, analytical intelligence is
essential.
This information allows a company to recognize their
strengths and weaknesses, making actions more substantial
and efficient [4].
A. History and Concept of BI
In the early 1980s, the concept of executive information
systems (EIS) appeared, increasing the computerized support
to managers and top-level executives. Some of the
introduced features were dynamic multidimensional
reporting (ad hoc or on demand), predictions and forecasts,
trend analysis, details, status and access to critical successful
factors. These features appeared in dozens of commercial
242 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
DBKDA 2013 : The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications
products in the middle of the 1990s. The same features and
some new ones appeared under the name BI.
According to Power [5], in 1989, Howard Dresner
proposed "business intelligence" as an umbrella term to
describe concepts and methods to improve business decision
making by using fact-based support systems.
According to Atre and Moss [6], BI is neither a product,
nor a system. It is an architecture and a collection of
integrated operational programs as well as decision-support
applications and databases that provide to the business
community an easy access to business data.
According to Kimball and Ross [7], Business Intelligence
is a term that has emerged and evolved over the past few
years and is now often used to describe all systems and
processes an enterprise uses to gather, process, provide
access to, and analyze business information. The term data
warehouse is now used to mean the platform for all forms of
business intelligence.
Business refers to a commercial activity for profit.
Intelligence is intelligence, refers to the ability of learning
and understanding.
The process of BI is based on transforming data into
information, decisions, and then, finally, into action.
B. Results of Surveys about IT and BI
2.335 chief information officers (CIO) responded to the
Gartner 2012 CIO Survey, the annual appraisal of CIO
priorities, including all major industries and geographies [8].
The survey result has identified that analytics and BI will be
the top technology priorities for CIOs this year.
According to Goasduff and Pettey [9], analytics/business
intelligence was the top-ranked technology for 2012, as CIOs
are combining analytics with other technologies to create
new capabilities. For example, analytics plus supply chain
for process management and improvement.
The research results reveal that Business Intelligence is
an essential tool for businesses because it allows making the
best choices while minimizing the risks of a wrong decision.
C. Architecture and Components of the BI
Figure 1 shows the flow of data, their transformation into
information, and finally, knowledge that serves as basis for
better decision making. Although this figure shows an
architecture with very high level (because it has all the
components of a BI tool), it can be used either as a model for
a new initiative (according to need of the institution), or as a
mean of assessing the current status of an existing
architecture in relation to all the components shown in the
figure, thus enabling those new components to be added over
time.
According to Dresner [10], BI tools and technologies
include query and reporting, OLAP (online analytical
processing), data mining and advanced analytics, end-user
tools for ad hoc query and analysis, enterprise-class query,
analysis and reporting, including dashboards for performance
monitoring, and production reporting against enterprise data
sources.
Figure 1. BI Architecture
A BI architecture typically contains the following
components:
? People (Business Users, Administrators, Developers,
Technical Support): People are fundamental in
Business Intelligence architecture, as well as the
processes and technologies involved. The
community of BI users is diverse, but the vast
majority focuses on the tactical and strategic levels
and their relation to each other.
? Metadata and Master Data Management: Metadata
can be defined as "data about data." The metadata is
stored and managed in a database and is used to
describe the definition of the structure, policies and
data management of a company. The objective of
Master Data Management is to provide processes to
collect, aggregate, combine and consolidate data,
ensuring quality to distribute these data across the
organization to ensure consistency and control
maintenance and use of this information.
? Data Sources: The data may have several shapes and
be obtained from various sources, such as CRM and
243 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
DBKDA 2013 : The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications
ERP. These many data sources make up the
landscape of business intelligence company.
? Data Integration Layer: This is where the data
gathered by the applications is refined into a
corporate structure [11]. Through components such
as Data Warehouse, Data Mart, ETL, Ad-Hoc Query
Application, it is possible to transform data into
quality information that can be useful for any
company, especially in decision-making process.
? Data Access Layer: The components as Cubes, Data
Mining, OLAP application, BI application allow
performing business analysis more efficiently and
effectively and are the basis for better decision
making.
III. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE APPLIED IN AN PRIVATE
ACADEMIC ENVIROMENT MANAGEMENT
Private educational institutions are making extensive use
of business intelligence and predictive modeling in
marketing, recruitment and retention [12]. To achieve these
goals, they develop the IT infrastructure with new software
and process, taking into account "operational efficiency" and
"customer intimacy". They understand the needs of students
and employers and adapt the curriculum and course offerings
in order to promote an alignment with the requirements of
the job. Many educational institutions are also deploying
academic analysis to create predictive models to improve the
retention of students in order to develop an individual
learning plan [12]. The assertiveness level in decision
making, planning and resource allocation and process
improvement have been observed. Some institutions have
developed specific analysis to accompany new students in
courses, mainly targeting disadvantaged students, and the
financial aspect of performance; therefore, making possible
to intervene early if a negative factor is identified, thereby
aiming to act as a responsible institution that cares about its
students. Analysis focused on issues related to access,
learning and students performance at all stages of their
academic life, allows them to take greater responsibility for
their success, in collaboration with parents, teachers and
employers. It is noteworthy that the application of Business
Intelligence effectively requires a cultural change where
decision making and action are based on evidence. This
cultural change in an educational institution requires the
support of managers in activities, emphasizing performance,
creating incentives to support innovation, promoting a
change in the traditional academic culture at all levels of the
institution [12].
IV. OUR RESEARCH
Aiming to verify the effectiveness of a Business
Intelligence tool deployed in an educational landscape, we
started a research project in 2012 with completion scheduled
for 2013 in an educational institution in Brazil. The scope of
the research and a summary of the information collected to
date are described below.
A. The Educational Institution
The Educational Society of Santa Catarina - SOCIESC is
an educational, cultural and technological institution in
Brazil that has existed for 53 years. It possesses 7 campus in
two states, and has more than 100 partnerships in E-
learning’s Centers. It currently has about 20,000 students
enrolled in classroom, 4,000 students enrolled in e-learning
mode and 1,200 employees that support this whole structure.
It operates in various levels as undergraduate, graduate,
business training. In addition, a differential of SOCIESC
over other educational institutions is that it offers
engineering services, consultancy and management for the
development of new technologies for national and
international companies. Services are offered from modern
infrastructure with laboratories in the areas of metrology,
chemical and mechanical, through the areas of Technology
Management & Research and Development, Tooling,
Foundry and Heat Treatment. SOCIESC is certified NBR
ISO9001.
B. Research Question
What are the benefits of using a BI tool in an educational
institution?
C. Proposal of Research
Analysis the contribution of the use of Business
Intelligence Tool in management processes and decision
making: A Case study in an educational institution
(SOCIESC).
D. Methodology
? Interview with employees of IT department in
SOCIESC who are responsible for the project and
support of BI in the institution.
? Analysis of the data collected.
E. Study Sample
3 interviews were conducted in the IT department,
including one manager and two system analysts who use the
BI tool.
F. The BI Tool
The SOCIESC has currently the TOTVS BI Version:
1.11.30. Some features of this tool are:
? Integration with LOGIX ERP [14], currently used in
SOCIESC.
? Online information access, using different browsers.
? Enables integration with various data sources, such
as Oracle database [15] and Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets [16].
? Developed in Java [17] and runs through a server
Apache Jakarta [18].
? Operates on Linux [19] and Microsoft OS [20].
? Simple and quick search of information and export
data to spreadsheets, analysis customization and
graphical views, schedule and automatic send of
information via e-mail and security access through
system access profiles and analysis access.
244 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
DBKDA 2013 : The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications
G. The BI Architecture
The current BI architecture comprises a data warehouse
created in Oracle 10G, which is loaded with data extracted
from tables of academic ERP (WAE) and business ERP
(Logix) that are also on Oracle 10G database.
H. User Profiles and Departments that use BI
Currently 84 employees distributed in 46 different
departments of SOCIESC make use of BI. The audience of
BI is: 14 directors representing 17% of audience, 23
managers representing 27% of audience, 38 analysts
representing 45% of audience and 9 technicians representing
11% of audience.
I. History of BI in SOCIESC
According to the interviews, the initiative to use a BI tool
in SOCIESC started in 2007 by the IT department that
developed some analysis in order to leverage and maximize
their management decision making. Once the results were
positive, the tool was adopted by other departments of the
institution contemplating the administrative area and also
teaching. Over time, new versions were released by TOTVS,
making it more agile and with new features which
contributed to a rapid deployment and user training.
J. Analysis Developed in BI
The BI tool of SOCIESC currently contains about 22
analysis developed over the years which help users make
better decisions about trade issues, costs, purchasing, human
resources, information technology and education. When it
comes to numbers, just education alone possesses 10
different types of analysis that allow monitoring of entries in
selection processes, enrollment, financial monitoring
organization, institutional research conducted by students
and teachers.
V. NEXT STEPS OF RESEARCH
The next steps of the research are (i) conduct more
interviews and apply questionnaires with users of other
departments that use the BI tool, (ii) analyze the data
collected, (iii) describe the analysis of BI, (iv) and describe a
case study pointing contributions of BI tool in the
management of processes and decision making in an
educational institution.
VI. CONCLUSION
Aiming to verify the effectiveness of a BI tool deployed
in an educational landscape, we started a research project in
2012 with completion scheduled for 2013 in an educational
institution (SOCIESC) in Brazil. So far, we have collected
various information through interviews about the profile of
institution, the BI tool, the architecture of BI, the profile of
users and departments that use the tool, history of BI in the
institution, and analysis developed.
Our work in progress has demonstrated so far that the
current global competitive environment has also impacted
the educational sector and that educational institutions are
seeking to adjust its strategic. Several educational institutions
are looking for the potential of BI, and, therefore, are
adopting BI architectures, applying mainly in predictive
modeling in marketing, recruitment and retention of students.
The architecture is accessible through the Internet, which
provides a greater analytical power, allowing users (parents,
students, teachers and analysts) to access and analyze data,
information, contextualize and interpret the results and then
make the best decisions.
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245 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-247-9
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