How Do You Sell BI To The Business Executives?

Taken from: http://www.information-management.com/blogs/business_intelligence_BI_ROI_data_quality_jobs_career-10021279-1.html

So ... how do you sell business intelligence to the executives?

The article says: "Business intelligence (BI) is an employee market right now; a key challenge for most BI employers is finding, recruiting, and retaining top — or actually any, for that matter — BI talent. Consider that IBM BAO alone added more than 4,000 (!) BI positions in just over a year! Every other major, midsize, and boutique BI consultancy I talk to is struggling to find BI resources. So if you have been fighting this uphill battle for a while, consider new channels for your noble efforts."

It seems that business intelligence systems are a mixed bag of results - some good successes - but ... also some failures. The article also notes: "And if you’re still standing after that and have suffered only a mild concussion, consider that many BI projects have been less than successful, and ROI on BI — one of the most expensive enterprise apps — is extremely difficult to show. So can you really blame your CEO?"

So, IT staff working on business intelligence needs to prove its value; and management needs to listen - and in-between, all need to make it work for the good of the company.