Bringing Your BI Architecture Into the New Millenium
A lot can change over the course of a century. How much has changed since you first designed your BI architecture? Maybe it's time for a little renovation.
Business Intelligence > BI Architecture
Unfocused Questions, Unfocused Answers
It is this writer's belief that business intelligence fails at the earliest and most important step in the BI process: planning. In order to answer the questions your company has, you will need to clearly understand what they are looking for--which is a lot easier than it sounds.
Exploring Business Intelligence
To understand BI, it is important to know the steps to take. And as our department takes off in a new direction, a fresh perspective offers some valuable insight.
Building Your Dream Team
BI isn't an official Olympic event (yet), but if you want to go for the gold on your next project, you're going to need some world-class players.
Application Architecture Assessment Checklist
Need some help assessing the architecture of your applications? Look no further.
In an age of tight budgets and global competition, businesses need IT to do more than complete on time, on budget and with the required functionality. Learn Why Spreadsheets No Longer Cut it for Strategic PMOs.
Client Server Architecture Selection Form
Designing a client/server architecture for a distributed application? Use this form to help you make intelligent decisions.
Architecture Services Review Form
This Architecture Services Review Form outlines major factors to consider when contracting architecture services.
Architecture Services Review Checklist
This Architecture Services Review Checklist helps you assess the completeness of and identify areas for improvement of the architecture.
Application Developer's Architecture Checklist
An important part of developing an application is designing its overall architecture. Use this checklist as a measure of insurance that your software architecture design is sound and will properly enable and support the application and its users.
Agile Architecture and Program Myths
Especially in agile programs, the program architect and the program manager work together to provide business value to the organization. It’s difficult, intense and fun...and full of some myths that need clearing up.
Data Warehouse Project Plan
Are you putting together a data warehouse? This Microsoft Project plan will help you keep tabs on all the complex stages and steps involved in building decision support systems and a knowledge-based applications architecture and environment.
Technical Architecture Components
Itemize the software and middleware tools, hardware components and communication components that comprise your technical architecture, with justification for choosing each.
The SOA Project Manager
Project managers usually tend to focus on the methodology for executing the technical part of the project. However, a good understanding of a practical SOA landscape and its associated challenges can help a technical PM make the SOA adoption on technology projects run even smoother.
Five Agile Pitfalls
Agile methods are powerful approaches that bring many benefits to how we undertake project work. However, they are not immune to misuse or failure. The following list of five common pitfalls is often seen in organizations switching to agile.
Generic Billing System Business Requirements Executive Summary
Are you developing a billing system for your client? You've defined your business requirements and information architecture and must now report back to Management on the project status. Here's a model executive summary report.
Project-Level Technical Architecture
It is important to define your project’s technical architecture early in the process, with input from the team. This includes all the hardware, software and other technologies your project requires. It will need to be flexible, but the sooner you get it right, the better off your budget and schedule will be.
Agile Program Management: Possible or a Pipe Dream?
Agile approaches help manage risk for projects. Is it possible to scale agile approaches to programs? Yes, and there are four areas to consider: backlog management, product architecture, managing risks across the program and explaining program state.
Project Analytics
New Business Intelligence offering from Oracle features role-based intelligence to track project performance.
Analyze This
In any business intelligence cycle, the analysis step is critical to providing value back to the organization. But don't confuse information with intelligence...
Vendor Selection Questionnaire Checklist
Choosing package vendors is never easy. Let this checklist guide you in making that all important first cut.
Agile Architecture
In an agile program, the architects are an integral part of the teams, locally guiding the architecture and using that knowledge to make global decisions about the program’s architecture as the program proceeds.
Risks and Rewards of SOA and SaaS
Time for an update on the state of SOA and SaaS in today's business environment. As with most technologies, there is good news and bad news. Read up to understand how to make the most of these business options without risking it all.
A Symbiotic Relationship
While the Lean Six Sigma approach is rarely linked with business intelligence, it is a concept that relies heavily on data, measures and analysis to support and encourage process improvement efforts. These can be provided by the BI function in the organization. The two disciplines can work together in a symbiotic relationship--one requiring data to solve problems, the other requiring problems for the data it can provide.
Data Warehouse Total Implementation Plan
Stolen from Real Life (a data warehouse development project for a waste water treatment management system), this Microsoft Project plan takes you through the construction of a complete data warehouse from start to finish.
System Architecture
You'll be able to see what interfaces with what by looking at these diagrams.
Left, Right, Left-Right-Left -- Building the Right BI Training Regimen
The Field of Dreams saying: "If you build it, they will come!" doesn't hold true in the world of BI. You need to provide the right training to the right users to have a successful BI implementation.
Test Case Checklist
Developing the necessary contingent of test cases to completely and accurately test the system you are building involves detailed thinking and can be a hit-or-miss activity if you improvise. Check off the items here to determine if your test cases will reveal all the hidden problems and ensure that all scenarios are addressed.
Information Strategy Plan
Information strategy planning is a useful approach to take if your business needs reevaluation and realignment with the current market and industry demands. Here's a high-level Microsoft Project plan for tackling the development of an information management strategy for your overall business.
Software Development: Controlled Introduction
Use this project plan fpr the development of a distributed application system that will eventually become generally available to an infinite list of customers.
IT Strategic Planning
Need help developing an IT strategic plan for an organization? Look no further than this project plan.
Data Warehouse Extraction Tool Recommendation
How do you select the best data extraction/transformation toolset for your data warehouse? Evaluate features, functionality, vendor reputation... the works. Follow the example set by this robust tool evaluation.
Data Warehouse Metadata Diagram
Your clients are probably curious about the elusive "metadata" and knows it only as "data about data". Show them via a simple diagram how metadata, the reference information about the business data in the warehouse, fits into the data warehouse structure.
Distributed Application Preliminary Design Review
Are you prepared to design? The end of the analysis phase is a milestone in an application development project, prime time to assess the accuracy and completeness of the business models and technical design thus far. Use this comprehensive review form to catch all the red flags and guide the development of design specs.
Client Server Architectures Final Report
A gantthead classic! Sure, this client server architectures final report, taken from real life, is not exactly state-of-the-art. Technology has changed a bit since it was written. What hasn't changed, however, is the excellent way this report is put together. Use its structure as a guide to putting together something awesome of your own.
Application Inventory Matrix Template
The purpose of this document is to develop a project inventory matrix which includes the major projects. The matrix would further help document the planned application architecture and facilitate the design of the future IT and application landscape.
Cost Estimating Procedure Form
Construction projects are notoriously complicated. Estimating construction costs is even more complicated. Before you turn to the deck of tarot cards or start reading tea leaves to put together your next cost estimate, check out this cost estimating procedure form to base your estimates solidly in reality.
Computer System Request
Use this form to justify and document requests for new or existing computer systems.
Frontiers of Strategic Decision Making
From Gartner PPM Summit 2007
This kickoff presentation, from Gartner Fellow and Research Vice President Bill Rosser, discusses how Portfolio Management has stimulated practices such as weighted business drivers, the efficient frontier, architecture as a criterion, and insightful ways to determine alignment.
Business Driven PMOs: Setting up a PMO
This webinar will discuss considerations and techniques for setting up or refreshing a PMO and will explain and provide examples of how PMO Architecture can ensure the success of your PMO.
Academia vs. PM Reality
A project management instructor shares why he uses the scenario of a Business Intelligence system implementation in order to go beyond the textbooks and explore the many ways that real-world projects get messy — and how solid project management practices can help sort it out.
Five Ways BPM Can Help PPM Boost Business Results
From Gartner PPM Summit
Research Vice President and Gartner Fellow Bill Rosser presents this session on how PPM can leverage its experience in the broad view of project selection, resource management and consistency of architecture, with added verification of delivered benefits.
Beyond the Business Case: Projects in the Enterprise Architecture
From Gartner PPM Summit
By identifying the common themes between PPM and EA, both have the opportunity to strengthen each other and do more with less. Failure to rationalize EA and PPM is negligence. In this presentation, Gartner V.P. Robert Handler will look at the theory, reality and opportunity behind a collaborative approach.
Distributed Application Architecture
Educate your client on how a distributed application system works and the benefits of building it with a three-tier architecture. Here's a presentation that illustrates it.
Project Schedule Control with Mindjet MindManager
One of the beneficial features of Mindjet MindManager is its ability to import and export to Microsoft Project. This feature is very useful when the project manager is managing project execution while trying to control the project schedule.
Rapid Application Development Project Plan
Rapid Application Development (RAD) is designed to deliver systems very quickly. Project scope, size and circumstances all determine the success of a RAD approach. Use this Microsoft Project plan for your RAD project.
Project Assessment
Use this project assessment plan to assess the health of a project and identify any symptoms that may indicate it is heading toward trouble.
How to Become a BI Jedi Knight
Looking for the path to BI enlightenment? Here's a start.
BA Trends for 2011
Today’s business realities demand a better balance of soft and technical skills from business analysts, according to a global panel of senior executives and consultants asked to identity the Top 10 Trends for the discipline.
Project by Numbers: What's Your Guess?
How many projects does your organization have underway right now? Join the conversation with our SME to help solve this surprisingly challenging question.
A New Paradigm for BI Development: Doing Your Development Offshore
BI is not cheap. Offshore development for BI is definitely a viable option. While many U.S. corporations are still hesitant with respect to the entire offshore paradigm, the value proposition can be significant.
