In most companies, it is no longer a question today if they need to work with data, but how. Business Intelligence (BI) is therefore on the agenda of just about every management, from SMEs to multinationals. And for good reason. Because insight lead to better decisions and better decisions lead to stronger margins, smarter processes and less waste.
But still...
In practice, we often see things go wrong. Not a little bit. Not once in a while. But structurally.
A nice dashboard is not the same as a good dashboard.
When a BI project is being started, there will be a nice dashboard, and there will be even an internal “go-live”. And after that?
No one uses it. Or: people take a look at it, but they still continue to work in Excel. And a year later, it was found that, again, no real added value has been achieved.
What's wrong? And more importantly: how can it be better?
Three common mistakes
1. Putting technology first, not the problem
Many BI processes start from an internal or external “solution”. A certain tool, a certain supplier, a nice demo.
But what is missing?
A clear starting point: where is the pain?
- Does the planner have too little insight into working hours?
- Does the CFO have insufficient control over margins per customer?
- Does sales not know which products are actually making a loss?
Only when you understand the problem in detail you can formulate a data-driven answer to it. Technology is then only step 3, not step 1.
2. The business is not sufficiently involved
In many organizations, IT decides which BI tool to use, what the reports look like and how the project runs. Often with the best intentions, but without really involving the end user.
Consequence?
A solution that is technically perfect, but has no support.
The people in the workfloor, planners, sales people, project leaders, business controllers, have not been heard. They don't recognize their needs in the end product. And so they don't use it. Or they simply return to the tools they know.
3. Reporting is being confused with analysis
One of the biggest misunderstandings about BI is that a nice dashboard is the same as a good dashboard.
But design is not a goal. And numbers on themselves are not insight.
Business Intelligence is only truly intelligent when it starts from the business.
All too often, we see dashboards that are simply graphical versions of classic reports: revenue per month, cost per department, lists of top 10 customers.
But you won't learn anything new from that. There is no action in that. No 'why', just 'what'.
The alternative approach: start BI from the business
So what does work?
We see that BI really pays off when companies turn it around completely.
They start with the end user. Not with the tool.
A few guidelines that we use at InsightData:
1. Start small but hit where it hurts
We start each project with one simple question to the business:
What do you want to be able to see in 1 click that costs you hours today?
This can be a planner who always has to bet on the use of drivers.
Or a CFO who has no overview of the margin by project type.
Or a sales manager who wants to see the return rate per product group.
That one insight then becomes the starting point. That's what we're building around. Because if one user sees value immediately, the rest comes along.
2. Build iteratively and in co-creation
Not a 12-month BI project with a Gantt chart and a go-live at the end.
Instead: short cycles. Standard apps with first insights in 2 to 3 weeks. Get feedback. Adjust. Expand.
That way you keep the project agile and relevant. And get your buy-in, because people see that their input matters.
3. Choose technology tailored to demand
Only when the needs are clear do we look at which tools are suitable.
It's about: what works the smoothest, safest and most scalable in your context?
The tool follows demand, not vice versa.
What does this approach provide?
- Faster time-to-value: first insights after weeks, not months
- Higher adoption: people work with the dashboard because it's their dashboard
- Better ROI: you solve real problems instead of creating expensive reports that no one views
- More business impact: BI as daily decision support, not an annual “state of the business” exercise
Finally: BI is not an IT story
Business Intelligence is only truly intelligent when it starts from the business.
A good dashboard is not a collection of numbers. It is an interlocutor. Someone who points out an anomaly, an unexpected trend, an increasing margin of error.
And you only get that if you get do daily work at the table.
So dare to put technology aside for a while. First, ask: What do you want to know that you don't know right now?
And start there.
Do you want to discover where the BI opportunities lie in your company?
Or would you like to discuss where your dashboards fall short?
Feel free to send us a message, we'd love to understand your needs.
