July 1, 2009
Self-service is the holy grail of BI—a mantra repeated incessantly by overworked BI managers who find it difficult to stay ahead of user requests for new reports and applications. With self-service BI, users create their own reports without having to rely on the IT department. Users get exactly the reports they want, when they want them, and the BI team no longer serves as an intermediary between users and the data. Users no longer have to wait days, weeks, or months for a report, only to discover that it is missing key functionality or is no longer relevant, and the BI team eliminates the backlog of reports that prevents it from focusing on more valuable activities.
If everybody wins with self-service BI, why isn’t it more pervasive? To make self-service BI a reality requires discipline and foresight. This report outlines several techniques that can help your organization successfully implement self-service BI.