Criteria Catalog and Product Research<\/h2>\n
With the list of the researched features, we can develop a general criteria catalog with twelve possible values:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/192.168.178.139\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/bi-catalog_feature-catalog.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
In addition to the research and analysis of market requirements, we will look at the following currently offered BI solutions:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/192.168.178.139\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/bi-catalog_product-list.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
If we now apply our criteria catalog to the ten products we get the product catalog shown in the table below. The catalog lists the researched products and visualizes their capabilities regarding the general criteria catalog. Thereby the product catalog supplements the criteria catalog and facilitates the selection of the most suitable BI solution.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/192.168.178.139\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/bi-catalog_product-catalog.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
As can be seen in the product catalog, practically all of the software solutions natively support the researched features. Although some BI solutions do not have built-in support for features like deep learning and IoT analytics, these features can be added by leveraging third-party solutions, for example, Python.<\/p>\n
Selecting a BI Tool<\/h2>\n
BI initiatives are notoriously difficult to implement and often fail. The reason for failure is that often the implementation is only viewed from a technological perspective. To alleviate this issue, it is important to define a strategy that connects the technological and non-technological aspects of the BI initiative.<\/p>\n
A BI strategy consists of three distinct parts. The first element is the Vision, which is concerned with the reason why the BI initiative came to be in the first place. The second part is the people and processes part, which asks the question of who will execute the strategy and what are the processes. And for the last element, there are tools and architectures which determine the actual software solutions and how they will impact a certain part of the organization.<\/p>\n
To showcase the selection process with the help of our criteria catalog, we will look at the use case of a fictional logistics company. Logistics companies are generally suitable for demonstration, as the transportation industry is a common field for the application of BI software.<\/p>\n
Vision<\/h3>\n
As already explained, a BI strategy should be implemented with a clear vision in mind. In the case of the fictional logistics company, the vision could contain the following points:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Accurate representation of the current state of the company<\/li>\n
- Employing environmental data for optimizing operations<\/li>\n
- Easy access to company data and analytics from everywhere<\/li>\n
- Efficient handling of vast amounts of generated data<\/li>\n
- Visualization of the supply chain and key metrics<\/li>\n
- Access to the most recent data<\/li>\n
- Predictive analytics for every part of the organization<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Processes<\/h3>\n
In the case of the logistics company, a BI initiative that spans the whole organization encompasses a variety of different departments, executives, and processes. Following is a list of departments and their respective processes inside our logistics company that can be impacted by a BI solution.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Transportation Management:<\/strong> Transportation management is concerned with various analytics and planning tasks, with all of these tasks benefiting from a BI solution. Thereby processes include capacity planning, cycle time analysis, and optimization of routes.<\/li>\n
- Warehouse Management:<\/strong> Warehouse management is another integral part of a logistics company. Here possible processes encompass for example space utilization analysis and inventory analysis.<\/li>\n
- Value-Added Services:<\/strong> To supplement transportation and warehouse management logistics companies offer value-added services which can be optimized with BI solutions. There are reverse logistics that are concerned with handling returns, kitting, or cost-benefit analysis.<\/li>\n
- Information Technology Services:<\/strong> With BI solutions existing information infrastructure can be leveraged. Thereby a possible process is the development of supply and demand forecasting models for optimizing the logistics network<\/li>\n
- Corporate Management:<\/strong> Corporate management refers to the top management of a company. Here the use of dashboards to effectively communicate key performance indicators is one of the possible use cases for a BI solution.<\/li>\n
- Marketing and Sales:<\/strong> The marketing and sales department could benefit from various metrics which can be derived from processes like customer profitability analysis or customer service level analysis.<\/li>\n
- Human Resources:<\/strong> The employment of a BI initiative in this department allows for the optimized allocation of personnel and the generation of reports to get an overview of the workforce.<\/li>\n
- Financial Management:<\/strong> To aid financial management, processes like budgetary analysis and financial analysis, in general, can be supported by a suitable BI solution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Tools<\/h3>\n
The final part of the BI initiative is the selection of suitable tools. In our case, the selection of the appropriate tools can be made by comparing the individual points of the vision to the general criteria catalog. Now with the derived criteria, the next step is to choose a suitable tool from the product catalog which matches the criteria as closely as possible.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/192.168.178.139\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/bi-catalog_vision-features.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen we look at our product catalog, it becomes visible that practically all solutions are suitable. From these findings, it can be derived that all of the researched products satisfy modern requirements. Nonetheless in this particular use case, a product with built-in support for IoT analytics would be the best choice. Therefore possible products would be all but Tableau and Datapine.<\/p>\n
- Warehouse Management:<\/strong> Warehouse management is another integral part of a logistics company. Here possible processes encompass for example space utilization analysis and inventory analysis.<\/li>\n
- Transportation Management:<\/strong> Transportation management is concerned with various analytics and planning tasks, with all of these tasks benefiting from a BI solution. Thereby processes include capacity planning, cycle time analysis, and optimization of routes.<\/li>\n