5 Business Intelligence Project Mistakes to Avoid: Part 1 – Abandoning Spreadsheets

by | May 20, 2013 | Business Intelligence (BI), Ms Excel, PowerOLAP, Reporting

As a Business Intelligence (BI) provider we believe that data can be turned into intelligence that promotes growth. The bad news however is; according to Gartner’s prediction, by 2014 only 30% of Business Intelligence projects will deliver intended value that match with the organization’s overall goals. This indicates that; about 70% of Business Intelligence Projects FAIL. This is an overwhelmingly large number given all the benefits that Business Intelligence has to offer. To avoid falling into the 70% in this 5 part blog series we will look at the top 5 reasons why Business Intelligence projects fail.

Mistake #1: Forcing users to abandon spreadsheets or current reporting tool:

More likely than not, every computer in your organization has either Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet application installed. Businesses who implement Business Intelligence software solutions that replace Excel run the risk of having users who do not want change. While the fancy reporting tools and beautiful dashboards promise to replace the need to use Excel, when all ends fail: users run back to their ‘old companion’ aka spreadsheets. Whether it is how long it takes to run an ad-hoc report, or how unnecessarily complicated it is to enter and manipulate data, users stick to what they know in times of difficulties.

Solution:  

Just give up trying to force users to stop using spreadsheets. Find a Business Intelligence tool that offers flexibility and easy spreadsheet integration so that users can get the best of both worlds. A good example of this software solution is PowerOLAP dynamic integration with Excel and other reporting tools.

Read– Part 2: Long Business Intelligence Migrations Part3: Reports that Take Hours To Run 

~Blog Contributed by: Hellen Oti-Yeboah, Marketing Associate, PARIS Technologies

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