#businessintelligence Archives

December 12, 2024December 15, 2024

Have you ever built a pragmatic BI Roadmap?

A step-by-step guide to crafting a two-year BI plan that delivers results.

Have you ever wondered why your Business Intelligence (BI) efforts are not delivering the results you hoped for? Are your dashboards being ignored, or are your tools and processes falling short? The secret to success often lies in having a clear, pragmatic roadmap – a plan that tackles your organization’s challenges head-on and guides you toward measurable progress over the next two years.

But how do you build that roadmap? It starts with the right questions. Let us dive in…

Consult the slide deck…

December 5, 2024December 15, 2024

Are you living by these 5 core values as a freelancer?

How core values can transform your freelancing career and build lasting client partnerships…

Over 25 years ago, when I worked as a consultant at Price Waterhouse, I was introduced to five core values: Integrity, Impact, Care, Collaboration and Innovation. These principles not only shaped my approach to consulting but continue to guide my work as an independent Business Intelligence consultant today. In this article, I will explore how these timeless values have influenced my journey and how embracing them can help you excel as a freelancer, build trust with clients, and deliver lasting impact.

Consult the slide deck…

October 24, 2024December 15, 2024

Mastering metadata conversion: A strategic approach to BW/4HANA conversion

The transition from SAPBW to BW/4HANA represents a significant modernization of data warehousing systems, enabling enhanced performance, simplified architecture, and integration with next-generation technologies. However, the process of converting metadata and data models requires careful planning and strategic decision-making. This article focuses on the approach for selecting the right metadata (such as info objects) for conversion and determining an effective sequence for converting these objects to ensure a smooth transition.

Consult the slide deck…

October 15, 2024November 7, 2024

Crafting a winning SAP BI roadmap overcoming key challenges with a strategic 2-year plan

In today’s data-centric business landscape, organizations need to make informed decisions backed by accurate insights. However, to achieve this objective, companies must first overcome a variety of challenges within their Business Intelligence (BI) practices. Building a successful SAP BI roadmap requires a strategic approach, beginning with a clear identification of these challenges. Once these are understood, organizations can define actions and projects across 3 key dimensions – People & Organization, Processes, and Systems & Tools – spanning a two-year horizon. This article lists common BI challenges and how an SAP BI roadmap can address them effectively.

October 7, 2024November 7, 2024

Standards and templates for successful Business Intelligence projects and support activities

In today’s data-driven world, where accurate insights can make or break a business decision, successful Business Intelligence (BI) projects are the backbone of strategic growth. But achieving success in BI is not just about choosing the right technology – it is about having the right structure, standards, and templates in place to guide your team through complex processes. These standards not only streamline project execution but also play a crucial role in ongoing support activities, ensuring smooth operations and rapid response to any issues that may arise.

September 17, 2024November 7, 2024

Deduplication of info objects in SAP BW: The second step in metadata streamlining

After identifying and managing unused info objects as part of metadata cleansing in SAP BW, the next crucial step is the deduplication of info objects. In SAP BW systems, the presence of multiple info objects representing the same dimension is a common problem that leads to unnecessary complexity, confusion, and inefficiency. The goal of deduplication is to streamline the metadata by consolidating redundant objects, ensuring a cleaner and more efficient data model.

Consult the slide deck…

September 13, 2024November 7, 2024

Identifying and managing unused info objects in SAP BW: The first step in metadata cleansing

In the pursuit of metadata cleansing in SAP BW systems, the first crucial step is identifying and managing unused info objects. This task is essential in preventing unnecessary complexity, improving system performance, and preparing for a seamless migration to modern platforms like SAP BW/4HANA or Datasphere. Info objects are the building blocks of a data warehouse, representing dimensions used in reporting and analytics. Over time, unused info objects can accumulate in the system, creating confusion and inefficiency.

Rather than hastily deleting objects, organizations should adopt a structured approach to identify unused info objects based on specific metrics. These metrics provide a reliable, data-driven way to evaluate whether an info object can be safely deleted or flagged to prevent future use by developers.

Consult the slide deck…

September 4, 2024November 7, 2024

The importance of metadata cleansing in SAP BW: Avoiding duplication and ensuring consistency

In the realm of data management, much has been written about data cleansing – a crucial process to ensure that data is accurate, consistent, and usable. Companies invest heavily in cleaning up data to drive better analytics and decision-making. However, an equally important but often overlooked aspect is metadata cleansing, especially in complex data warehouses like SAP BW (Business Warehouse) systems.

While data cleansing focuses on the quality of the data itself, metadata cleansing is about ensuring that the underlying data structures – the building blocks of the data warehouse – are well-organized, consistent, and free from costly duplication. In data warehouses, these building blocks refer to dimensions, which, together with facts (events), help in constructing data marts. Ensuring the cleanliness of these dimensions is crucial for the integrity and performance of the entire system.

August 26, 2024November 7, 2024

Defining the daily rate for freelancers: A case study of a Senior SAP BI Expert

When transitioning from full-time employment to freelancing (or even when revaluating your freelancer daily rate), one of the most challenging tasks is determining your daily rate. This decision is crucial, as it affects your income, market competitiveness, and ability to secure contracts. In this article, we will explore how to define a daily rate for freelancers by examining a real-world case of a senior SAP BI expert transitioning from a salaried position to freelancing.

August 21, 2024November 7, 2024

Understanding ‘Business Intelligence’: Beyond the buzzword

Business Intelligence (BI) is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot in meetings, webinars, strategy sessions, and tech discussions. But what does it really mean? Often, BI is misunderstood, misused, or oversimplified, lumped in with other concepts like data analytics, data science, or even just plain old reporting. It is as if someone tried to innovate a new set of buzzwords by mixing terms like ‘data,’ ‘intelligence,’ ‘business,’ ‘analytics,’ ‘science,’ and maybe even ‘art.’ But BI is far more than just a mash-up of trendy phrases. Let us dive deeper to understand what Business Intelligence truly entails and why it is more than just another buzzword.