by Angela Guess
In a new article, Francois Marais makes the business case for lean business intelligence. He writes, “In IT, the emphasis is always on cutting costs while maintaining responsiveness and quality of solutions. There is perhaps no more suitable approach than ‘lean thinking’ to help in this regard, especially in the area of BI. The aim of lean thinking is to maximise end-customer value while minimising waste. In BI, where tangible value can sometimes be elusive, the work leading up to and including project initiation is a crucial focus area for achieving these two objectives. This is because the decision to initiate a project can be made within a short period of time and will have a comparatively large impact on the allocation of resources and value-add to the business.”
Marais continues, “A misaligned project results in significant waste of resources. Conversely, a realistic project that makes a sound business case (especially to non-BI enthusiasts) at least ensures that waste is not already inherent in the initiative before it even gets under way. Fifteen years ago, an article in McKinsey Quarterly, entitled: ‘How otherwise good managers spend too much on IT’, highlighted the discrepancy between management approval of IT expenses and other areas of the business. The article pointed out that in most areas of businesses today, executives know what questions to ask before approving capital spend on new initiatives. They are not swayed by off-the-cuff, ready-made answers, but scrutinise the business cases before approval.”
photo credit: woodleywonderworks
