Guess what happened next?
They had a few beers, started schmoozing, and then the marketing manager noticed cute cartoons playing on the big screen TV. That was her “Aha - how smart is that!” moment.
She declared to the group, “People pay more attention to a business message when it’s presented as ‘infotainment.’ Research even shows that we learn better while being entertained. Let’s collaborate and use this principle to distill BI basics and best practices into a set of short animated videos about how companies can leverage BI to attain new levels of success. Best of all, you can narrate the videos.”
The five BI experts agreed that this made perfect sense and actually sounded like fun (which is why they were at the bar). Each developed a storyboard about their area of BI expertise, describing step-by-step processes, strategies, and impacts. And the marketing manager did what she does best - managed the project. Their goal was to reach everyone who needs this knowledge, but is too busy to sit through a dry business course or a ho-hum webinar.
Now you can access their combined knowledge in BI and Your Success, a quintet of three-minute animated videos. Check it out yourself, then share the links
with others who will benefit.
Here's a sneak peek at what the series delivers:
- Deepa Sankar, Director for SAP Business Intelligence Product Marketing, addresses the basics about a BI strategy and why companies of all sizes absolutely need one. She notes, “BI has become a strategic initiative, not just for IT but also for the business. But first you need a good strategy in place to help align BI initiatives with the company’s initiatives and bring all resources together so everyone is working toward the same end goal.” She also covers the organizational benefit of creating a BI strategy and the fundamental building blocks of creating a BI strategy. Watch here.
- Pat Saporito, Senior Director of BI for the SAP Global Center of Excellence for Analytics, explains the concept of BI Competency Centers (BICCs), and how any company, small or large, can create one and reap the benefits. According to Pat, “BICCs are the central, cross-functional teams, with a formal organization structure, that ensure leading practices are used to support and promote the use of business intelligence. They’re all about knowledge transfer, and are very relevant in this day of Big Data.” How to create a BICC? “Start out by committing to establish one, getting corporate commitment to fund it, and engage an executive sponsor. Some organizations have created a title of Chief Analytic Officer or Chief Data Officer to lead this role.” Learn more here.
- Colin Dover, Senior Director, Platform and Analytics Center of Excellence at SAP, introduces the concept of the BI Maturity Curve and guides viewer to determine where they are on the curve and how to advance. Want a clue? Tying back to Pat Saporito’s video, Colin notes, “More often than not, the single biggest identifier of whether or not an organization will move to a higher state of maturity (on the curve) is the fact that they’ve established a BICC, a center of excellence or—as it can also be called—a community of practice.” To benefit from Colin’s full expertise, click here.
- Imran Siddiqi, Senior Principal, Big Data and Predictive Analytics at SAP, discusses the critical process of building a BI strategy business case. Remember the three keys to success in selling real estate – location, location, location? Imran offers similar advice when it comes to the components of a solid business case. “Story line, story line, and story line. Remember, you’re competing for funds with other projects in the organization. If you can weave the need for this investment into the right story line, you will succeed. Ideally it starts with the strategic goals of the organization or the organizational unit that you’re looking to make this improvement in from a BI perspective. Then it shows how this BI investment will enable those goals.” Ready for more? Click here.
- Laura Jamieson, Executive Director, Global Analytics at SAP, shares her expertise on how to forge a data-driven or information culture and the value it delivers. She observes, “Every company is looking for that special differentiator, that edge over the competition. Whatever it is, that competitive edge is often driven by information. In an information culture, employees start to use data alongside experience and intuition in decision making. These companies use information to maximize their performance. Their information enables them to be adaptive and tailor their products and services to the dynamics of their customers.” To start creating such a culture, Laura advises to first understand the work habits, locations, interactions and behaviors of your employees. Embrace the culture here.
Whether or not you believe this really started at the bar, you can believe in the results: BI & Your Success.
