UNIT – III

Building the BI Project

The successful implementation of a business intelligence (BI) environment

or project in any company, with the required quality of product also
meeting time and budget requirements, is a highly complicated task and,
of course, a significant milestone in the company story. An understanding
of the different methodologies available in BI project management and
development is the key to success.
Business Intelligence Roadmap

The first part of any BI implementation is the definition of the project roadmap, which
will include all the steps necessary to implement BI in your company.

Below we can see an overview of the main methodologies and the advantages and
disadvantages of each:

Waterfall Approach

The Waterfall methodology is a traditional method, based on a sequential

development process in which progress flows through different phases (requirements
definition, analysis, design, build, etc.). This methodology is based on documenting
every step and executing every phase in advance, and each phase will have formal
exit criteria which all the players involved must sign off before starting the next
phase. The main consequence of this meth od is that the users can’t interact with the
solution until the final part of the project (delivery and acceptance).
Ad v a n ta g e s D is a d v a n t a g e s

Low participation of business users during

Easy to manage the process

Dependency on the requirements gathering

Scalable process phase

Delivery isn’t until the end of the project

Well-documented knowledge (long time to market)

Correct use of resources Expensive change management

Difficult to apply modifications in the final

Clear definition of project phases phases

Iterative and Agile Approach (Scrum)

Agile emphasizes a strong relationship between end -users and the development team,
increasing user adoption of the delivery and helping to limit scope to the most
important functionality. In particular, the Scrum methodology allows us to obtain BI
solutions faster, in smaller pieces, unlike an “all at once” deployment solution. The
method is based on defining a slot of time (iteration) with a clearly defined and
unalterable workplan at the beginning of every cycle. After every iteration the team
contributes with an increase in the value of the product. A demo session with the end -
users is required to obtain feedback, and then it’s passed to production if the results
meet the end-users’ expectations.

Ad van tages Di sad van tages

First delivery available sooner than the Total duration can be longer and more
Waterfall scenario expensive

Need to manage different workstreams in

Risk is spread across multiple releases parallel

Opportunity to apply changes and lessons

learned in previous releases Longer time to market

Allows the addition of decision points Expensive change management (but less so
(go/no go) between releases than the Waterfall approach)
 Temptation to pass pending items from the
Easy user adoption due to small, incremental previous release to the new release (thus
releases creating risk in these new releases)

Possible to work and manage releases with

overlap and dependencies

Focusing on Agile Business Intelligence

The Agile methodology was developed in 2001, defining four core values in
the Agile Manifesto:
 Value individuals and interactions over processes and tools
 Value working software over comprehensive documentation
 Value customer collaboration over contract negotiation
 Value responding to change over following a plan

Agile Business Intelligence is the application of the Agile approach specifically for
Business Intelligence projects. The main benefits are:
 Put the focus on the people creating the environment, motivating and supporting
the team to improve the results
 Encourage responsibility within the team and increase autonomy and
transparency
 Better project dimensioning, reducing associated risks
 Improve prioritization and decision-making processes
 Better user experience
 Reducing time to market
 Ensure that the product delivery meets the needs of the final users, which can
change dynamically, or respond quickly when scope and circumstances change

The Scrum framework is based on an iterative process, where the product evolves
across multiple and continued iterations, applying new functionalities or
modifications in the architecture, data models, ETL process, visualizations, reports,
dashboards, and other BI features that are added over time, depending on the users’
demands.

The method consists of following a very simple process (Stages), whose

steps are to be repeated across the iterations of the project:

 Initial Planning or Product Backlog: At this stage, before starting the following
N iterative phases, all the team in volved defines a big picture map of the future
project, without going into details. This phase helps us to:


o Understand the business questions that we want to answer by implementing the

BI system
o Identify the data sources involved
o Understand the expected artifacts to deliver the required end-user information
(layout and frequency)
o Train the team to understand the framework methodology
The purpose of this initial project backlog, defined with the customer, is to
understand the most important requirements in order to minimize reworking and to
define the basic approach for the product.

 Requirements & Planning: The initial phase of every iteration, consisting of

defining and planning all the work that we will try to achieve during the iteration,
prioritizing items to adapt to time and budget constraints. One of the most common
techniques here is to ask the users what functionalities they want to implement.

 Analysis & Design: When we have defined the iteration plan, we go to every
user’s history to analyses and design the technical solution.

 Development: Here the development teams deliver a prototype to comply with the
requirements of the stakeholders; this will be a cyclical incremental method.

 Testing & User Acceptance: After building the iterations, th e release is prepared
for testing and acceptance by the users. During this phase we will:
o Finalize testing scenarios
o Finalize all the documentation
o Demonstrate the prototype to a small group
o End-user training
o Preparation for deployment into production

 Deployment: This is the final stage, where the users start operating the system
with the valuable increments added with the last iteration. During this stage:
o End-users will operate the system, dashboard, and reports
o Identify defects in the system and potential areas for improvement; these
changes will be added to the product backlog to be tackled in subsequent
iterations.
Building the BI Project Stages

Stage 1. Definition of objectives and requirements

The initial stage consists of performing an analysis of requirements, both present and future,
of the organization. From these requirements, a set of specific objects can then to be defined,
focusing on their solution and satisfaction.

This is a key phase of the process and must be characterized by its precision, as well as the
definition of requirements and objectives. What concrete decisions they wish to take and
what type of information is required must be determined and on which variables the analysis
will be based.

Stage 2. The choice of methodology and the tools to be

used
Next, always keeping in mind the objectives and requirements, the specific methodology and
the BI tools to be used should be chosen. This also entails the training and implementation
of work teams.
The objectives of the project are what will decide if the methodology and tools used must be
focused, for example, on the detection of errors, the representation of work flows or, perhaps,
the generation of new ideas.

Stage 3. Establishment of a work programme

In a detailed, precise and clear manner, all the actions to be carried out should be defined, as
well as the necessary infrastructure and resources, to cover the chosen methodology for data
analysis, together with the deadlines.

Stage 4. Presentation actions

The next stage consists of creating and presenting bulletins, reports, dashboard flowcharts
and info graphs, in a highly visual, clear and schematic format, aimed at facilitating the work
of the professionals responsible for decision making.

This stage is equally important although, on occasion, it is unfairly underrated. This means
that, quite frequently, a very well-executed BI programme ends up losing points due to poor
presentation. Design experts should carry out this task.

Stage Implement the end-user interface:

5.
reporting tools and dashboards
Modern BI tools offer several ways to present the required data. In the past, business intelligence
could produce only static reports, based on future and past events. Today, BI is capable of
producing interactive dashboards with customizable portions of information. But template
reporting remains the most popular method of data presentation.

Stage 6. Training, system and support programme

implementation.
The execution of a BI process is only useful if the information, correctly analyzed, reaches
the people with decision-making capacity using the right support. Nevertheless, these people
can only take the fullest advantage of the process if they have previously received adequate
training and technical support, both with tools and with the correct data interpretation
techniques.
Project Resources
Project resources are components that are necessary for successful project implementation. They
include people, equipment, money, time, and knowledge – basically, anything that you may require
from the project planning to the project delivery phases. A lack of resources is therefore a
constraint on the completion of the project, that’s why resource management is the key project
management activity that defines a great part of the project success.

Resource Management in Project

Resource management is the process of planning, scheduling, and allocating resources necessary
for successful project delivery. Resource planning is an essential part of any project management
methodology that usually takes place at the early project stages.

For example, in Waterfall projects, resource planning is a part of the first Requirements phase
where all resources are allocated and scheduled very accurately because this methodology doesn’t
allow for changing project requirements. In contrast, in Agile projects, resource management takes
place every development cycle: after one cycle has been finished, a new cycle starts with a new
resource planning phase.

Types of Resources in Project Management

Let’s see what the main types of project resources are.

1. Human Resources
People are the most important resource in your project and your company. It’s the driving force
that carries out tasks moving the project towards its completion. To advance the project, your team
members should have enough knowledge resources: skills and expertise necessary to make the
right decisions and accomplish their assignments efficiently.

At the same time, human resources are the most complex ones because they involve individuals
with their own backgrounds, cultures and ways of work, which may cause conflicts and personality
clashes at the workplace. More than that, your company and you as a project manager are in charge
of empowering and motivating your team members to grow and drive your business forward.
Without taking all these aspects into account, your human resources won’t be effective even if
they possess the necessary competence and skills to carry out their work.

Another challenge of managing human resources is their allocation and availability. Your team
members can get sick, go on vacation, take a parental leave, get burnt out or even leave the team.
So, resource allocation and absence management are other important duties of yours and your
human resource team to ensure predictable team availability.
 Examples of human resources:

 Individual team members

 Project managers

 Team leads

 Project teams

 Outsourced teams

 Freelancers

Useful tools for human resource management:

 Attendance tracking software. Usually, these are team calendars where employees can request
time-offs and sick leaves without paper applications. Team calendars give an overview of who’s
available, who is absent and for how long, who shows absence patterns that might be signs
of absenteeism and more.

 2. Financial Resources

Financial resources are another building block of your project. Without them, you won’t be able
to finance human resources, purchase material resources and handle other project costs. Usually,
financial resources are planned and documented at the earliest stages of project development to
allocate them and include them in the project costs that must be approved by clients.

So, cost management is an important part of project management that involves estimating,
allocating, and controlling project costs to ensure the most accurate cost estimation and minimize
budget overruns.
 Examples of financial resources:

 Project budget

 Project grants

 Contingency funds

Useful tools for cost management:

 Budgeting tools. To build accurate project budgets you need a tool that’d track costs using custom
hourly rates and tailored financial fields.

 Time tracking software. If you hesitate about what project management tools to adopt, pick a time
tracker. Time tracking data combined with cost calculation tools, analytics and report tools, task
estimation and project budgeting will ensure your project health.

 Reporting and analytics tools. Usually, these are parts of time and project management tools, but
if you still use Excel sheets for calculations, you might need these to import and review your data
in charts and graphs. Seriously, we hope that you don’t use Excel – try active TIME timesheets for
free and calculate costs in a few clicks.

3. Material Resources

Material resources include those that the company already possesses, can purchase or lease if
necessary. Material resources include tools, equipment, software, machines and raw materials.

Material management includes planning, executing, directing, coordinating, monitoring and

controlling of all the processes that are associated with the project materials. Its main focus is
obtaining the right materials in the right quantity at the right time.

Examples of material resources:

 Personal computers

 Desks
 Industry software

 Property

4. Time Resources

Time is a non-renewable project resource that is used to schedule project activities, milestones and
deadlines, measure employee productivity and project costs. When planning a project, managers
set estimates for tasks and project phases to build accurate project schedules and use them to
calculate estimated project costs that require client approval. After the project or its stage is
completed, managers use time tracking data to review team performance, time and cost budgets
and learn from this data to plan future activities better.

The importance of time management in projects, teams and individual performance is

underestimated. This is a complex skill that takes time to master but pays off generously. Imagine
that you and your team could do much more in less time increasing productivity multifold while
growing skills and delivering better results faster. If you are not sure where to start – take a look
at these 20 most common time management problems and 100+ tips.

Examples of time resources:

 Project plan

 Project schedule

 Time invested

Useful tools for time management:

 Time tracking software. Assign tasks to your team members and get them to track time against
them. Set task deadlines, estimates, assign user rates and review project time and cost expenses in
the real time. Generate reports to see team performance and monitor project health.

 Timesheet software. Online weekly timesheets are a great alternative to many task management
systems. In the timesheet interface your team members can see their weekly workload and register
their working time, while you as a manager can review their performance, time expenses, time
distribution across projects and tasks and more.

Project Tasks
Task management is the process of monitoring your project's tasks through their various
stages from start to finish. This involves actively making decisions for your tasks to
accommodate changes that can occur real-time, with your end goal being the successful
completion of your tasks. Project task management also means managing all aspects of a
task like budget, time, scope, resources, recurrence and so on effectively.

Project management vs task management

Project management is the process of managing a project which has a fixed start and end
date through the various stages of planning, execution, monitoring and closing. A project
is aimed at executing a specific end goal by performing several manageable work items to
achieve it. These work items are called tasks.

Task management is the process of managing an individual task from conception to

closing. A task needn't necessarily have any goal or even specific deadlines. A group of
tasks together contribute towards the execution of a project. Therefore task management is
inherently a function of project management.

How to manage tasks?

The primary cause of failure [of projects in their organization] was a lack of clearly defined
objectives and milestones to measure progress" and "a lack of discipline when implementing
strategy." Keeping this study in mind, here are some key steps involved in task management:

Prioritization: Whatever tool you use to manage your tasks, whether a simple to-do list or a
comprehensive project task management tool, the most important aspect of task management is
prioritization. This helps in efficiently completing all the tasks involved while maintaining the
planned constraints.
Milestone tracking: The findings of this study also show that establishing clear goals is essential
to the successful completion of a project. Although for task management an end goal isn't
necessary, defining milestones helps motivate teams to execute tasks successfully.
Schedule management: Making sure your task gets completed on time is something that has an
impact on the overall project health. Attributing the right time frame by estimating the effort
involved is key here.
Resource allocation: Optimum resource management is the next step to ensure effective task
management. Depending on the budget and schedule, assign the right talent and amount of
resources to get work done.
Collaboration: For all the steps mentioned above, collaboration is key. While working in teams
usually means more work gets done, keeping team members in sync can be difficult. Task
management software for teams can help you keep your team connected.

How to implement task management?

Tools
 Simple to-do-list or checklist
 Kanban Boards
 Calendars
 Software

 Simple to-do-list or checklist

 Kanban Boards
  Calendars
Softaware

 Software Tool

 Scoro
 ProofHub
 Basecamp
 Asana
 Citrix Podio
 Workzone
 JIRA
 Notion
Risk

Definition:

“Risk is an uncertain future event with a probability of occurrence and potential for loss”

OR

"Tomorrow problems are today's risk." Hence, a clear definition of a "risk" is a problem
that could cause some loss or threaten the progress of the project, but which has not
happened yet.
A software project can be concerned with a large variety of risks. In order to be adept to
systematically identify the significant risks which might affect a software project, it is essential to
classify risks into different classes. The project manager can then check which risks from each
class are relevant to the project.

There are three main classifications of risks which can affect a software project:

1. Project risks
2. Technical risks
3. Business risks

1. Project risks: Project risks concern differ forms of budgetary, schedule, personnel, resource,
and customer-related problems. A vital project risk is schedule slippage. Since the software is
intangible, it is very tough to monitor and control a software project. It is very tough to control
something which cannot be identified. For any manufacturing program, such as the manufacturing
of cars, the plan executive can recognize the product taking shape.

2. Technical risks: Technical risks concern potential method, implementation, interfacing, testing,
and maintenance issue. It also consists of an ambiguous specification, incomplete specification,
changing specification, technical uncertainty, and technical obsolescence. Most technical risks
appear due to the development team's insufficient knowledge about the project.

3. Business risks: This type of risks contain risks of building an excellent product that no one
need, losing budgetary or personnel commitments, etc.

Other risk categories

1. 1. Known risks: Those risks that can be uncovered after careful assessment of the project
program, the business and technical environment in which the plan is being developed, and
more reliable data sources (e.g., unrealistic delivery date)
2. 2. Predictable risks: Those risks that are hypothesized from previous project experience
(e.g., past turnover)
3. 3. Unpredictable risks: Those risks that can and do occur, but are extremely tough to
identify in advance.
Risk Management
Risk management encompasses the identification, analysis, and response to risk factors
that form part of the life of a business. Effective risk management means attempting to
control, as much as possible, future outcomes by acting proactively rather than
reactively.

Risk Management Process:

 Risk management in BI is the process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks, and then
developing and implementing strategies to mitigate or avoid those risks. The risk management
process in BI typically involves the following steps:

1. Risk Identification: The first step is to identify potential risks that may impact the BI project. This
involves gathering information about the project scope, objectives, stakeholders, data sources, and
technology solutions, and then identifying potential risks based on that information.
2. Risk Assessment: Once potential risks have been identified, the next step is to assess the likelihood
and potential impact of each risk. This involves evaluating the probability of each risk occurring
and the potential consequences of that risk.
3. Risk Prioritization: After assessing the risks, it is important to prioritize them based on their
likelihood and potential impact. This involves assigning a risk level to each identified risk and
determining which risks require immediate attention.
4. Risk Mitigation: Once risks have been identified, assessed, and prioritized, the next step is to
develop strategies to mitigate or avoid those risks. This may involve implementing data quality
plans, developing security protocols, engaging stakeholders, implementing technology solutions,
or building in flexibility to adapt to changing business conditions.
5. Risk Monitoring: Risk management is an ongoing process, and it is important to continuously
monitor and adjust risk management strategies as needed. This involves monitoring the
effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies, revisiting risk assessments periodically, and updating
risk mitigation plans to reflect new risks or changes in the business environment.

Business Intelligence (BI) can help manage risks in projects by providing

insights into data and enabling organizations to make informed decisions.
Here are some ways in which BI can manage risks in projects:

1. Data quality management: BI tools can help identify data quality issues and allow organizations
to take corrective actions to improve data quality. This can help reduce the risk of incorrect or
incomplete data being used to make decisions.
2. Real-time data monitoring: BI tools can provide real-time monitoring of data to identify
anomalies and trends that may indicate potential risks. This can help organizations take proactive
measures to mitigate risks before they occur.
3. Predictive analytics: BI tools can use predictive analytics to identify potential risks and forecast
their impact on the project. This can help organizations take proactive measures to mitigate risks
before they occur.
4. Risk assessment and prioritization: BI tools can help organizations identify and prioritize risks
based on their likelihood and potential impact. This can help organizations allocate resources more
effectively and focus their efforts on the most critical risks.
5. Visualization and reporting: BI tools can provide visualizations and reports that help
stakeholders understand project risks and make informed decisions. This can help organizations
communicate risks effectively and ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the risks and the steps
being taken to mitigate them.

Overall, BI can help organizations manage risks in projects by providing insights into data,
enabling proactive risk management, and improving communication and decision-making.
 Cost-justifying BI solutions and measuring success in Business
Intelligence (BI) are critical components of any BI project. Here are some key

considerations for cost-justifying BI solutions and measuring success:

1. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs): It is important to identify KPIs that will be used to
measure the success of the BI project. KPIs may include metrics such as ROI, cost savings, revenue
growth, or customer satisfaction.
2. Estimate costs and benefits: It is important to estimate the costs and benefits of the BI project.
Costs may include software licensing fees, hardware costs, consulting fees, and personnel costs.
Benefits may include cost savings, revenue growth, or improved decision-making.
3. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis: A cost-benefit analysis can help determine whether the benefits
of the BI project outweigh the costs. This can help justify the investment in the BI project and
ensure that resources are allocated appropriately.
4. Establish a baseline: It is important to establish a baseline for the KPIs before the BI project is
implemented. This can help measure the impact of the BI project and determine whether the KPIs
have been achieved.
5. Monitor and measure progress: It is important to monitor and measure progress against the KPIs
throughout the project. This can help identify issues and opportunities for improvement and ensure
that the project stays on track.
6. Communicate results: It is important to communicate the results of the BI project to stakeholders.
This can help build support for future BI projects and ensure that stakeholders understand the value
of the BI solution.

Overall, cost-justifying BI solutions and measuring success are critical to the success of any BI
project. By identifying KPIs, estimating costs and benefits, conducting a cost-benefit analysis,
establishing a baseline, monitoring progress, and communicating results, organizations can ensure
that their BI projects deliver maximum value and drive business success.