Frank Buytendijk Blog

I recently had a discussion about terms such as BI and EPM being so confusing with a BI consultant. He said it was hard within his organization to use the term BI because different people had different definitions. The business used the term as "business information", some IT people did mean a set of tools for query, analysis and reporting, and others immediately did expand the scope to include a data warehouse infrastructure. My discussion partner argued for a generic, single, independent framework, that everyone could use and see their requirements recognized.

I am all for a good framework. A framework helps to put different definitions into an overall context. When I was still at Gartner we defined a pretty useful BI framework consisting of four layers: an infrastructure layer, in which you discuss data warehouse, data quality, metadata management, ETL, etc. A technology/applications layer, in which you discuss BI tools and EPM applications. Then there is an organizational layer, where it needs to be discussed how to manage the environment, and which skills are needed, or in broader terms, how to define a BI competency center. And there is the strategic layer, where you discuss the business case, return on investment, and how BI impacts, changes or even transforms the business. This framework has helped me many times of driving conversations in a useful direction. And everyone knows how their particular point of view aligns with the other point of views.

Yet, I don't believe in generic single independent frameworks that everyone can use. First of all, what is independent, everyone who could come up with a framework, such as technology providers, consultants, academics and user organizations have their own point of view. There will be no independent framework. Second, I think there is value in understanding different points of view, to compare and contrast. It is useful to have to choose a point of view, and understanding different frameworks helps this process of undersdtanding. And I don't believe in generic frameworks at all. Frameworks are supposed to guide us, and that means making choices. Generic frameworks are most probably pretty useless in practice.

What you should do is to understand the various frameworks that there are. Vendor frameworks, consulting frameworks, academic frameworks. Based on that scan some kind of preference will develop, which is the first step in making the right choices. Then you pick one and adapt it to your own specific needs. And then... you stick with it. I can't count the times I have heard "Yeah, we tried the balanced scorecard for a while, it didn't work". It's like getting your driver's license. Only after getting it, you learn how to drive.

I don't think that any of the frameworks that are somewhat accepted is bad. There's only bad implementations. Or... in more positive terms: success is entirely in your own hands ;-).

frank