Business Intelligence/Data Management Capabilities

March 31, 2008

The Beauty of the Wheel!

Or is it the ‘Magic’ of the wheel….

Communicating an idea efficiently is challenging, especially when that idea covers many IT functions that can each by themselves stand alone. In an effort to communicate our Business Intelligence and Data Management capabilities in a way that takes less than a 7 day training, we put together this graphic. Of course, the colors were selected by IT guys and not by our marketing department, but we feel that we have captured the essence of our complete capabilities within the BI/DM space - the stages and relationships of our capabilities as well as the breadth of our talent.

Internally, we call this model the FABI Wheel. Why FABI? It stands for the (Henry) Ford Approach to Business Intelligence, and was inspired by our smart guys (and gals) here at LUCRUM. This unique approach is important because it is an approach to thinking about business intelligence and data management in a way that is not driven by technology or bad habits. It is driven by the pursuit of delivering value quickly by unhiding data in a method that puts ownership in the hands of the business people. We know that BI is a journey, we have been there before and this is how we think. Let me explain…

First, the outer wheel has three sections; Strategic, Tactical and Operational. This communicates that LUCRUM has offerings in each of those areas. We have a mature strategy and can engage at these levels.

Strategic. This is the level that can set us apart from others. It is here that we help our customers set direction. If we engage here correctly, we will win a client for the long term. At this level, we are architects (helping to ‘plan the city’, where the city represents systems) - we build relationships and architect solutions here.

Tactical. This is where we are the builders. We deploy as warehouse architects and engage to carry out the plan. We are builders and implementers. Our unique collaborative and iterative approach sets apart from the rest. We focus all our energies on delivering value and doing it quickly!

Operational. This is where the results are seen. This is the 10% of the ice berg that is visible. We are deploying here, always listening and always understanding. We are working to bring the parts of the customer’s organization together - we are working as facilitators of change.

Second, the outer wheel is self-sustaining and self-connecting. It’s easy to see the transitions; but notice the transition from Operational to Strategic. Within the operational phase we are always listening and always understanding…so that we can complete the feedback loop and build ‘the next strategy’. As we deploy reports, cubes, dashboards, we are touching the area of the business that is strategic, they need the unhidden information to make the best decisions. Well, there is always that next round of unhidden information and it is here that we make relationships and bridge for the next opportunity - which naturally begins with strategy; we are either building out the strategy to the next level or developing game changing strategy with the customer. It’s how we provide extra value to our clients and mature our relationships.

Third, the inner wheel does have connections to each of the arrows both before and after. These connections are fuzzy, but real. As we operate within one arrow, we have direct opportunity to grow our business in both the next one and the previous one. For example, if we are building a warehouse, we will have visibility in to the next effort, reporting. But don’t forget the previous arrow’s opportunities ‘data integration’. If we get tasked with the data integration portion, don’t forget the previous opportunity ‘MDM and Metadata’. It’s not possible to integrate without a strategy for MDM and Metadata - how far we go with this depends upon our relationship with the customer. The magic of the inner wheel is to help us understand both where we are and where the opportunities come from (looking forwards and backwards at the same time) all to deliver value to the client so that they are successful.

Fourth, finally, putting it altogether, we are focused on getting the right information to the right people delivered the right way at the right time…so that our customers can engage their business and succeed. This is the heart of the wheel.

~Scott Felten

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