Find out how to meet the challenges facing your midsize company and benefit from the road map that takes you through the process of deploying a BI solution, enabling you to start small and then build incrementally on your initial success to make fact-based and BI-driven decision making pervasive in your company.
SAP Thought LeadershipBusiness Intelligence
Why Business Intelligence Makes
Sense for Midsize Companies
Following the Road Map to SuccessBusiness intelligence - also referred to as decision support - allows you to better understand, analyze, and even predict what's occurring within your company. Business intelligence helps you turn data from financial, manufacturing, and sales systems into useful and meaningful information and then distribute this information to those that need it, when they need it.Content
^ 4 Executive Summary
^ 5 Why Business Intelligence 5 Maintaining Growth 5 Achieving Speed 5 Staying Focused 6 Relying on Facts, Not Instinct 6 Taking the Next Step - Intelligently
^ 7 Deployment and Investment in Business Intelligence 7 Starting Small and Building on Success
^ 9 Use-Case Scenarios for the Three Phases 9 Phase 1 (Crawl) Scenario 10 Phase 2 (Walk) Scenario 10 Using Ad Hoc Query and Analysis 10 Accessing Data Across Multiple Sources 11 Phase 3 (Run) Scenario
^12 Critical Requirements for a BI Solution 12 Supporting the Pervasive Use of Business Intelligence 12 A Comprehensive Footprint 12 Ease of Use 12 Ability to Access Information Through Microsoft Excel 13 Low Cost of Ownership While Supporting Growth 13 How SAP Addresses These Requirements
^14 Summary 14 For More Information Executive Summary
Using Business Intelligence for Growth
and Profitability
Most large enterprises significantly improve their revenue and profitability by deploying business intelligence (BI) technology. But if you are a small or midsize enterprise (SME), does an investment in business intelligence make sense for you?
In this paper, we discuss how business intelligence can enable your SME organization to grow and profit by lever-aging its core strengths. Business intelligence should be a key component in your IT portfolio. However, once you decide to invest in business intelligence, you are confronted with the next decision - how should you deploy the various components of BI technology to achieve success? We share a road map that can help you start small, gain key learning and success, and then build upon this foundation to make fact-based and BI-driven decision making perva-sive within your company.
4 SAP Thought Leadership - Why Business Intelligence Makes Sense for Midsize CompaniesWhy Business Intelligence
Addressing Your Key Challenges
As an executive at a small or midsize Achieving Speed benefit of such information, you may enterprise (SME), you face a unique either take longer to make such decisions set of challenges in running the opera- As an SME, the ability to move faster and continue funding poor performers tions of your company. Your response than larger companies to take advan- or make incorrect decisions because to these challenges is the difference tage of a new market opportunity your intuition about the performance between a remarkable success and a is one of your biggest advantages. of such products may be influenced fight for survival. Some of the unique However, your organization has limited wrongly by a single data point.challenges you face involve growth, speed, and focus. Staying FocusedBusiness intelligence Maintaining Growth Unlike large companies, your organiza-enables a sharper focus tion sells a narrow range of products Profitable and sustained growth is by providing every manager and services and has a limited number critical for an SME. Otherwise you risk of resources. As a result, you don't either being made irrelevant by com- within your organization have much room for errors. This requires petitors or being swallowed by a larger with the same version of that your organization stays very close company. However, profitable growth to your customers, products, and the is a balancing act of multiple levers truth, so there is alignment market. Continued success lies in that you have at your disposal. Pulling between strategy and oper- getting everyone in the company on the right levers on a consistent basis the same page, using the same set requires clear insights into your busi- ations, and any disconnects of assumptions, and seeing the same ness, so that you can prioritize the can be eliminated. version of the truth.most important issues and then make diligent and informed decisions to For example, if employ... [download for more]
