Hi Jennifer & all
Rebecca Mander passed this email on to me, and I thought I'd let you
know where we're at and also ask the group a related question.
I joined Brookes in 2009 with the task of developing a data mart plus
university wide reporting tool to support our MI for the strategic plan
(a subset of our KPIs around students). I started small with a a static
prototype based on one source only. I would recommend the prototype
route because it allows you to take the time needed to define the fields
properly, sorting out user requirements and getting a complete and
robust set of requirements and ETL definitions before you invest in
external expertise. The prototype was delivered in Nov 2009 and we're
now in the middle of an ITT to find a supplier who can
a) turn this into a 'live' data warehouse with data validation,
automated refresh, slowly changing dimensions etc., using industry
recognised ETL tools like BODI, OWB
b) provide a universally acceptable (!!!) reporting tool, again we've
played it safe, major players (OBIEE, SAP BO, Cognos) only
We are also considering an interim stage: buying just the reporting
software, and polishing up the prototype so that it's at least auto
refreshed. ie we would omit the super duper time trend data warehousing
development, and just have something up and running. Bearable in the
short term and much much cheaper. It would not be futureproof in the
long term as we bring in lots systems, but should be a cheap way to
start bringing some of the core systems together in the first year.
So. First - my attempts to answer your questions
a) What products do you use? --- see above, procurement not yet completed
b) What solutions have proven most cost effective? - well a staged
approach starting small has worked for us (sort of). Every other person
I've talked to who has got the full implementation to work from scratch
has spent £100-250K up front + lots ongoing. I do see that your top
priority is to bring several systems together (this is our long term
priority too) - but I would start getting the thing working just from
one system. Also, using a contractor for us was much better value for
money than a consultancy - but maybe we were just lucky.
In the long term, to have a robust workable system from many sources,
you should definitely go the full data warehousing route, but you can
get quite far in selling in the idea with something less formal.
c) Have there been many non-technical issues to resolve? -- some
absolutely key things to get in place, which I have picked up over the
years (iused to be a data mart project manager in the private sector):
--- commitment at the highest level, an evangelistic VC sorts the whole
project
--- internal technical resource - 2 seems to be the minimum although
possibly can work with 1 FTE, ongoing
--- internal business resource - a BI reporting team, strong user
representation
--- this one's important - get all the requirements &definitions really
pinned down to technical detail, as far as you can - this is where many
projects fall over because they usually need the busiest people in the
organisation to agree them, and no amount of time spent by IT or
external people can replace this.
--- I know lots of people have had issues with reporting tool licensing
structures, may not be relevant for you.
d) What would you do differently next time?
Um. Demand £250K up front? alternatively write a persuasive business
case to ensure sufficient in house IT resourcing for the project.
*****************Which leads me to my question to the
group:************************
-- I need to write a persuasive business case justifying additional
resource in a difficult climate, by demonstrating the direct financial
benefits of a Business Intelligence system. Any of you people with
existing well established systems have any thoughts and/or examples on
their benefits you could share, at the highest level? Anything at all
would be appreciated, however vague. and anonymised of course.
Thanks - hope the above helps you as well
Georgina
--
Georgina Spary
Business Intelligence Manager
SBPO, Corporate Affairs
Oxford Brookes University
+ 1865 484887
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Fwd: Re: Reporting from multiple systems]
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:49:21 +0000
From: Rebecca Mander <[log in to unmask]>
Organisation: Oxford Brookes University
To: Spary Georgina <[log in to unmask]>
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Reporting from multiple systems
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:53:29 +0000
From: Andrea Cheshire <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Academic, financial or space planning in UK universities
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
References:
<[log in to unmask]>
Dear Jennifer
We have invested in a data warehouse at UWE and have operated the system
over the last 2 years. Currently the warehouse holds data from our
student record and finance systems but we are expanding to bring in
admissions data. The warehouse has opened up completely new avenues for
business analyses which single systems can never provide . Although it
is quite an investment, it is paying off in terms of efficiency and
effectiveness of analysis and reporting. We are currently using it to
drive performance improvements across the institution.
As the reporting front end we have chosen Business Objects, although
there is very little difference to other systems like Cognos.
The key factor of success of our project was the quality of the data
warehouse design. You really need to get this right, as it determines
the avenues for future analysis. We used consultants as we don’t have
the knowledge in house. However we ensured significant know how transfer
in the first project and are now confident to do more ourselves.
The biggest non technical issue is the review of the quality of your
data. We have spent months cleaning our records and are still picking up
issues. But this is to be expected and I have had similar feedback from
other institutions that went down the warehouse route.
We are happy to give more in depths informaton if this is helpful.
Best wishes
Andrea
Andrea Cheshire
Director Business Intelligence and Planning
University of the West of England Bristol
[log in to unmask]
*From:* Academic, financial or space planning in UK universities
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Arkell J.H.
*Sent:* 21 January 2010 12:10
*To:* [log in to unmask]
*Subject:* Reporting from multiple systems
Dear all,
Here at Southampton, we're looking to improve our reporting from
multiple corporate systems (rather than the single system reporting
which makes up the majority of information at the moment).
I would welcome experience and advice from institutions who have been
down this route already on issues such as
What products do you use?
What solutions have proven most cost effective?
Have there been many non-technical issues to resolve?
What would you do differently next time?
We don't have a data warehouse system at the moment, and I would be
particularly interested in institutions who have found interim solutions
to this problem without investing in a data warehouse.
Jennifer
________________
Jennifer Arkell
Corporate Planning Manager
University of Southampton
www.soton.ac.uk
023 80594447
(internal 24447)
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