How do you manage complex BI problems?

1 Define the problem

The first step is to clearly define the problem you want to solve with BI. What is the business goal or question you want to answer? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics you want to measure? What are the data sources and requirements you need to access and analyze? Defining the problem will help you scope and prioritize your BI project and avoid wasting time and resources on irrelevant or redundant data.

2 Design the solution

The next step is to design the solution that will address the problem. This involves choosing the appropriate BI tools and techniques that will help you collect, clean, integrate, transform, model, and visualize the data. Depending on the complexity and scale of the problem, you may need to use different types of BI tools, such as data warehouses, data lakes, ETL tools, BI platforms, dashboards, reports, or analytics applications. You should also consider the best practices and standards for data quality, security, governance, and documentation.

3 Develop the solution

The third step is to develop the solution using the BI tools and techniques you selected. This involves writing code, scripts, queries, formulas, or functions to manipulate and analyze the data. You should also test and debug your code, check for errors, inconsistencies, or anomalies in the data, and ensure that the data meets the business requirements and expectations. You should also document your code and processes, and follow the agile or iterative methodology to deliver the solution in stages or increments.

4 Deploy the solution

The fourth step is to deploy the solution to the end-users or stakeholders who will use the BI insights to make decisions. This involves setting up the infrastructure, environment, and access rights for the solution, and ensuring that it runs smoothly and reliably. You should also provide training, support, and feedback mechanisms for the users, and monitor the performance, usage, and impact of the solution.

5 Evaluate the solution

The fifth step is to evaluate the solution and measure its effectiveness and value. This involves comparing the actual results and outcomes of the solution with the expected ones, and assessing whether the solution met the business goal or question. You should also collect and analyze feedback from the users and stakeholders, and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of the solution.

6 Enhance the solution

The final step is to enhance the solution and improve its quality and relevance. This involves updating, modifying, or adding new features, functionalities, or data sources to the solution, based on the evaluation and feedback. You should also maintain and optimize the solution, and fix any issues or bugs that may arise. You should also keep up with the latest trends and innovations in BI, and learn new skills and tools that can help you solve complex BI problems more effectively and efficiently.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?