"Democratization
of Data" is the Business Intelligence (BI) catch phrase of the hour. The idea that data should be accessible at
every organizational level for faster and better decision making independent of
technical acumen appears desirable and should give companies an advantage in
the fast-paced world in which they compete.
Additionally, BI projects are notoriously long and expensive so
spreading that cost over as many employees as possible increases the return on
investment. That all sounds great in
theory but I question the feasibility of this scenario in the real world.
It has been my
experience that while middle management is quick to complain about their
information challenges and the speed at which they receive information, they still
don't want to be responsible for getting it for themselves. Who would be their scapegoat? Furthermore, if a pivot table in Excel
intimidates them (and you know it does!) they really don't think they can
understand how to use your new, simple, point and click analysis tool.
I realize I'm
generalizing A LOT. I'm sure there are
some who would love to have access to BI tools and be self-sufficient. I also don't mean to cast those who don't
feel this way in a totally negative light.
I guess I question why those who rely on analysts now don't do their own
reporting. Is it really because it takes
someone technical to compile this information for them? Is that really the only hurdle and the
'democratization of data' is going to solve the problem? I don’t think so.
I have worked with
many people over the years in different departments who dedicated hours upon
hours to printing reports from transactional systems then keying that
information into a spreadsheet so they could get the information they needed. Yes - when I discovered this I found ways to
automate or help them with the process but the point is they felt responsible for getting this information and
they were going to get it anyway they could.
These people will embrace self-service BI. Those others who hounded me for data and
couldn't even transpose a few columns in a spreadsheet without my help will
not. Frankly I would have loved to have
some of these tools available way-back-when just to make my life easier.
I also question if a
"report tool on every desktop" is right for business. Most businesses pay managers and above to
consume information not compile it.
Should businesses pay an executive $75-$100 per hour or more to build
reports? Don't get me wrong, I readily
see the benefit of decision makers being able to slice and dice on the fly but
it takes technical people and analysts working in the background to make that
doable in the seconds it should take.
Execs should be directing the company and making decisions.
Although this post
could be construed as a mini-rant, I do love the idea that our tools are getting
easier to use and hope that helps to expand true BI.
