What Is A Business Intelligence Roadmap?

To understand what a business intelligence roadmap is we must first understand what business intelligence (BI) is. After we understand what BI is, then we must understand what a roadmap is. We’ll put the two together to form a complete understanding of the term.

What Is Business Intelligence?

The truth is business intelligence means something different to different people. When a computer programmer thinks about business intelligence he is thinking about some sort of program or database that will capture data. When a business manager thinks about business intelligence (BI) he is thinking about a model that will help him make better strategic decisions. This article will start out by giving the dictionary definition of the term and will hopefully clear up some of the common misconceptions out there.

According to Wikipedia, “BI refers to skills, processes, technologies, applications, and practices used to support decision making.” Basically BI is the act of gathering information to make better decisions. We all do this to some extent.

For example, if you set out to buy a guitar, you probably go through some sort of information gathering mode. You have a process that you go through before purchasing something that is important to you. You gather information on sound quality, pricing, and longevity of the guitar. You may form a pros and cons list. You might even put all this information into a spreadsheet and organize it in a way that will help you make a good decision. 

Businesses do the same thing, but in a more structured way. They have technological systems in place set up to capture important information. They have an outlined process. They have practices and a system in place. This system for gathering information to help make decisions is the business intelligence system.

Programmer VS Business Manager

The computer scientist (or programmer) sees BI as a computer program that he or she creates. In truth, this program is only one part of the business intelligence strategy or system. The programmer himself is actually part of the system. Remember that business intelligence refers to any person, computer program, or practice that can be used to help make decisions.

The business manager sees BI as a brief spreadsheet report or a PowerPoint presentation. The business manager often doesn’t care how the information is generated. He just wants the information placed clearly in front of him so that he can make a decision.

Understanding BI Roadmaps

Now that we have a clear idea of what BI is, we need to understand what a BI roadmap is. First of all, don’t get overwhelmed by the term roadmap. Technology people seem to like to make things more difficult than they are. A roadmap is simply a plan. If you really want to get technical, then it is something that helps you navigate to your destination. Since we don’t use roadmaps anymore we should start calling it a business intelligence GPS.

What’s Included in a BI Road Map?

Well, that’s completely up to you and your team. Some maps are more detailed than others. The basic idea is that you want to have something that will guide you as you develop systems, processes, and practices for gathering information. If you want everything that’s included in an operational business intelligence roadmap, then you aren’t going to find it on a website (you’ll honestly need to read a book on it). The best book out there is probably the book entitled, “Business Intelligence Roadmap: The Complete Project Lifecycle for Decision-Support Applications.” The Books is a bit old, but many experts in the area still find it useful today.