Business Intelligence Roadmap

Business Intelligence Roadmap is a visual guide to developing an effective business intelligence (BI) decision-support application. This book outlines a methodology that takes into account the complexity of developing applications in an integrated BI environment. The authors walk readers through every step of the process-from strategic planning to the selection of new technologies and the evaluation of application releases. The book also serves as a single-source guide to the best practices of BI projects.

Part I steers readers through the six stages of a BI project: justification, planning, business analysis, design, construction, and deployment. Each chapter describes one of sixteen development steps and the major activities, deliverables, roles, and responsibilities. All technical material is clearly expressed in tables, graphs, and diagrams.

Part II provides five matrices that serve as references for the development process charted in Part I. Management tools, such as graphs illustrating the timing and coordination of activities, are included throughout the book. The authors conclude by crystallizing their many years of experience in a list of dos, don'ts, tips, and rules of thumb. The accompanying CD-ROM includes a complete, customizable work breakdown structure.

Both the book and the methodology it describes are designed to adapt to the specific needs of individual stakeholders and organizations. The book directs business representatives, business sponsors, project managers, and technicians to the chapters that address their distinct responsibilities. The framework of the book allows organizations to begin at any step and enables projects to be scheduled and managed in a variety of ways.

Business Intelligence Roadmap is a clear and comprehensive guide to negotiating the complexities inherent in the development of valuable business intelligence decision-support applications.

• Foreword
• Preface
• The Purpose of This Book
• How This Book Is Organized
• How to Use This Book
• Who Should Read This Book
• Comments
• Part I: Stages and Steps
• Chapter Zero. Guide to the Development Steps
• Business Intelligence Definition
• BI Decision-Support Initiatives
• Development Approaches
• Engineering Stages and the Development Steps
• Parallel Development Tracks
• BI Project Team Structure
• Justification for Using This Project Lifecycle Guide
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter One. Step 1: Business Case Assessment
• Business Justification
• Business Drivers
• Business Analysis Issues
• Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Risk Assessment
• Business Case Assessment Activities
• Deliverable Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 1
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Two. Step 2: Enterprise Infrastructure Evaluation
• Step 2, Section A: Technical Infrastructure Evaluation
• The Hardware Platform
• The Middleware Platform
• The DBMS Platform
• Technical Infrastructure Evaluation Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 2, Section A
• Step 2, Section B: Nontechnical Infrastructure Evaluation
• The Effects of Stovepipe Development
• The Need for Nontechnical Infrastructure
• Enterprise Architecture
• Enterprise Standards
• Nontechnical Infrastructure Evaluation Activities
• Deliverable Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 2, Section B
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Three. Step 3: Project Planning
• Managing the BI Project
• Defining the BI Project
• Planning the BI Project
• Project Planning Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 3
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Four. Step 4: Project Requirements Definition
• General Business Requirements
• Project-Specific Requirements
• The Interviewing Process
• Project Requirements Definition Activities
• Deliverable Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 4
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Five. Step 5: Data Analysis
• Business-Focused Data Analysis
• Top-Down Logical Data Modeling
• Bottom-Up Source Data Analysis
• Data Cleansing
• Data Analysis Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 5
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Six. Step 6: Application Prototyping
• Purposes of Prototyping
• Best Practices for Prototyping
• Types of Prototypes
• Building Successful Prototypes
• Application Prototyping Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 6
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Seven. Step 7: Meta Data Repository Analysis
• The Importance of Meta Data
• Meta Data Repository as Navigation Tool
• Meta Data Classifications
• Meta Data Repository Challenges
• The Logical Meta Model
• Meta Data Repository Analysis Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 7
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Eight. Step 8: Database Design
• Differences in Database Design Philosophies
• Logical Database Design
• Physical Database Design
• Database Design Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 8
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Nine. Step 9: Extract/Transform/Load Design
• Implementation Strategies
• Preparing for the ETL Process
• Designing the Extract Programs
• Designing the Transformation Programs
• Designing the Load Programs
• Designing the ETL Process Flow
• Evaluating ETL Tools
• ETL Design Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 9
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Ten. Step 10: Meta Data Repository Design
• Meta Data Silos
• Meta Data Repository Solutions
• Designing a Meta Data Repository
• Licensing (Buying) a Meta Data Repository
• Meta Data Repository Design Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 10
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Eleven. Step 11: Extract/Transform/Load Development
• Source Data Transformation
• Reconciliation
• Peer Reviews
• ETL Testing
• Formal Test Plan
• ETL Development Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 11
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Twelve. Step 12: Application Development
• Online Analytical Processing Tools
• Multidimensional Analysis Factors
• Online Analytical Processing Architecture
• Development Environments
• Application Development Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 12
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Thirteen. Step 13: Data Mining
• Defining Data Mining
• Data Mining Techniques
• Data Mining Operations
• Applications of Data Mining
• Data Mining Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 13
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Fourteen. Step 14: Meta Data Repository Development
• Populating the Meta Data Repository
• Meta Data Repository Interface Processes
• Meta Data Repository Testing
• Preparing for the Meta Data Repository Rollout
• Meta Data Repository Development Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 14
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Fifteen. Step 15: Implementation
• Incremental Rollout
• Security Management
• Data Backup and Recovery
• Monitoring the Utilization of Resources
• Growth Management
• Implementation Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 15
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Chapter Sixteen. Step 16: Release Evaluation
• The Application Release Concept
• Post-Implementation Reviews
• Release Evaluation Activities
• Deliverables Resulting from These Activities
• Roles Involved in These Activities
• Risks of Not Performing Step 16
• Bibliography and Additional Reading
• Part II: At a Glance
• Chapter Seventeen. Human Resource Allocation Matrix
• Chapter Eighteen. Entry & Exit Criteria and Deliverables Matrix
• Chapter Nineteen. Activity Dependency Matrix
• Chapter Twenty. Task/Subtask Matrix
• Chapter Twenty-One. Practical Guidelines Matrix
• Appendix Work Breakdown Structure
• Task_Data

This is a very good explanation of how to handle BI/DW projects, but be warned that you need to understand a lot of other basic stuff before you tackle this book (like OLAP, OLTP, ETL, etc.).

In fact, this book is so good, that if you disregard the DW-specific parts, it could be used to define and handle any major project within an organisation.

Very much recommended.