Business Intelligence services

Forward-thinking companies are leveraging their vital data assets in new ways to support business decisions and gain valuable insight. Business Intelligence (BI) is the practice of predicting, tracking, analyzing, and presenting quantitative measures as they relate to business performance and empowering decision-makers with critical insight at the right time and place. Business Intelligence is one of the key supporting disciplines of Information On Demand (IOD).

The ability to optimise performance within a company typically depends on a decision-makers' ability to sense and respond, or in other words, their ability to measure and understand business performance, and then their ability to act upon the information at the right time. When decision-makers are not able to sense correctly or respond quickly, their ability to manage performance deteriorates. This breakdown is typically characterised by not having the information they need at the time when critical business decisions are made.

In finance, leaders need insight to plan, forecast, and identify risk. For operational leaders, data is used to monitor operational effectiveness, such as manufacturing efficiency or inventory utilisation. For marketers, data is used to develop insight about customers, such as measuring their lifetime value or predicting possible purchasing events. Across the enterprise, the ability to use data to sense and respond is critical to drive success in decision-making and ultimately driving optimal performance.

Today, modern enterprises understand that using data to derive insight is more than operational reporting and financial roll-ups. Today, data is transformed into insight and delivered at the point of need. Information is delivered on demand in right-time, in formats that enable business leaders to act in ways that are beneficial to the business and optimise performance. In this environment, data transcends its transactional role to become a key strategic enabler of an enterprise's performance and success.

Solution: Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence (or BI) includes the practices of predicting, tracking, analyzing, and presenting quantitative measures as they relate to business performance for decision-making. BI is often defined by the practices and technologies that enable it, such as data analytics, business performance management, data warehousing, BPM dashboards, and key performance indicators (KPIs). More than a technology, Business Intelligence programs require new processes, resources, and competencies.

Listed below are a few of the many key BI applications and practices:

• Threat/fraud detection: Transactional and other data is analyzed against various models and triggers to identify threats to the enterprise. Applications can span from financial and credit fraud, to internal threats, market threats, and other risk events that companies can identify and often predict, mitigate or reduce their potentially destructive results.
• Risk/Compliance: Finance data, ERP data, and transactional data can be used to monitor regulatory compliance (e.g., SOX, Basel II, AML) and risk across the divisions and geographies. New models and techniques can be deployed to reduce the risk of non-compliance, as well as detect risk events that can result in accounting and other financial disasters.
• Operational Intelligence: The set of disciplines, technologies, and solutions to enable effective sensing, monitoring, management, and analysis of the business. It supports efficiency and effectiveness improvements to operational business processes through embedded Business Intelligence, and transforms the organisation into a proactive decision making engine with predictive analytics through role-based information delivery.
• Business Performance Management (BPM): Metrics, scorecards and key performance indicators are some of the tools that enable businesses to monitor performance on a cyclical basis to make critical decisions, both in monitoring business-as-usual as well as responding to risk events and opportunities.
• Workforce Productivity: Data can be used to measure and monitor workforce utilisation and effectiveness, affecting decisions from staffing strategies to optimising core processes. Business Intelligence can even be embedded into core processes and functions, enabling leaders to actively improve workforce productivity at the individual worker level as well as across the broader workforce.

IBM Global Business Services (GBS) enables enterprises to start Business Intelligence programs at the beginning: by understanding the information environment and building a comprehensive strategy. We understand that Business Intelligence is not just about data, but about the business processes and decisions it enables. IBM GBS helps companies define a path forward with content management via a strategic vision and blueprint. IBM helps companies create a case for change and a compelling ROI-driven business case. Most importantly, IBM understands what is necessary to bring all the elements together in a way that keeps the company engaged and motivated to change, including aligning stakeholders across the organisation and enabling a long-term, sustainable Business Intelligence governance model.

Companies begin their Business Intelligence journey with IBM with several valuable first steps:

• Business Intelligence Strategy and Roadmap: a systematic plan of action to leverage information to improve an organisation's value proposition to its customers, shareholders, and employees. BI Strategy identifies what needs to be done to utilise information as a strategic asset and includes the business benefits of implementing the strategy. It provides a guide to what types of technology implementations, solutions, and organisational changes are needed to achieve a client's business objectives. A BI Strategy can begin with a BI Assessment and an Information Capability Assessment.
• Business Intelligence Governance: analysis and development of a framework to ensure that BI initiatives are aligned with and driven by business priorities, connect throughout the enterprise and be aligned with the corporate strategy. BI Governance focuses on efficiency, effectiveness, and control.

IBM advantage in Business Intelligence

IBM delivers distinct advantages to our clients in delivering Business Intelligence solutions. We are recognised across industries as leaders in Business Intelligence (BI), and our expansive portfolio of successful threat/fraud, risk/compliance, operational intelligence and BPM engagements and successful client transformations is testament to our capabilities. IBM brings together the global expertise, services, software, hardware, research, and partner network to solve the most important and complex information intensive issues for our clients. Some of IBM's advantages include:

• Business Intelligence-experienced practice groups: Dedicated, experienced practitioners in Business Intelligence with deep industry and domain experience, with a robust, mature knowledge network and infrastructure representing over 20 years of combined experience.
• Business Intelligence integrated approach: IBM brings a holistic approach from strategy and value case definition, through implementation, ongoing management, and value realisation.
• Proven Business Intelligence methodologies: Our consultants bring proven strategy and transformation methodologies and industry best practices to our engagements.
• Dedicated IOD Centers of Excellence and Research: Three dedicated IOD COEs and ongoing research and investments in developing IOD solutions, with a significant focus on Business Intelligence solutions.
• Reference Architecture, Accelerators and Assets: Our existing accelerators and assets enable us to bring best practices to bear early and quickly, speeding the "time to value" in our engagements.
• Getting it done: IBM has the capabilities to implement, including software and hardware, infrastructure, technical expertise, and staff. IBM brings an extensive partner network and flexible delivery models, including outsourcing and on-demand solutions.