Strategy that a consultant should follow

Though the topic mentions the strategy that a consultant should follow, in reality, there is no particular strategy which will work. Why is this so? Read on to find out.

Let’s again use an analogy. Consider that three obese people, who wish to lose weight, go to a dietitian. Will the dietitian prescribe the same diet plan for all the three? The probability of this happening is very remote. Why? Simply because the same plan will not work for all three!

The dietitian must look at several parameters before he/she can decide the plan. The factors he/she has to look at could be the age of the person, BMI, height, weight, ethnicity, medical history, diet preferences, the temperament of the person, food allergies, and so on.

Only after doing this study will the dietitian be able to make a diet plan which suits the patient. The plan may have to be fine-tuned a few times once the dietitian gets feedback from the patient. The diet plan may have to be coupled with exercise plans to meet the objective of weight loss in a scientific manner.

The BI consultant also faces similar situations when he/she has to plan the strategy. Every organization is different, and so the same strategy will not work every time. Let’s look at the parameters which can affect the strategy.

Size of the company

The size of company matters when deciding the BI strategy. A large organization is very different from a small organization. In a smaller organization, one person may perform multiple tasks. The C-level executives (CEO, CFO, COO, and CMO) can be accessed relatively easily. They will be willing to spend time with the consultant during the requirement gathering session, making the exercise simpler and faster.

Compare this to a large organization, and there is a huge level of hierarchy. The C-level executives are almost impossible to be reached. The people in the lower level of the hierarchy may have different thoughts, and hence, the consultant must spend a lot of time doing the requirement gathering sessions. The subsequent phases requiring user interaction will require a lot of detailing.

What system do they use currently?

How does this matter? It matters a lot because accordingly the approach and strategy of the consultant would vary. For example, a company which largely uses MS Excel would need a different approach; the users will be new to analytics, and hence the strategy for the roll-out would need to deliver a mix of analytics and reporting, and then gradually move to analytics.

The users of an organization who use a traditional BI system, like Business Objects, would already be exposed to some amount of Analytics, and so the excitement would be more towards data discovery and self-service. There could also be another category where the organizations are shifting from a new age BI solution, like Tableau or Power BI.

These will require different approaches and the users will largely be looking at bringing in multiple data sources and co-relations between different sources. The training for these different sets of users must be done according to the BI maturity levels.

Why do they want a new system?

This question is important, as the success of the project will depend on this. If the client is already using a BI system, there will be a strong reason to look for a change. The consultant needs to understand the bottlenecks faced by the end users and ensure that the new system overcomes them, and that it also delivers a lot of additional benefits.

What are the objectives and goals?

If the end user is not sure about the objectives and goals, the project is likely to suffer. Many a time, the users may not be able to express the requirements correctly. This is where the skill of a consultant will be tested thoroughly. The consultant has to ask the right questions and get the answers. It's best to proceed only when the objectives are clear.

Are the stakeholders identified?

No one likes to board a ship without a captain. Similarly, the stakeholders play an important role in the success of a project. There could be one stake holder or there could be multiple. The stake holder takes responsibility for a project from the client end and the consultant must work closely with the stake holder.

Is there a project champion?

A project champion is an important link in the BI cycle. The champion is usually the one who will get the credit for implementation of a project and who works very closely with the consultant to make the project successful. He/she helps the consultant to get interviews with the business users, helps to define the scope of the project, and plays an active part till the roll out. The champion becomes most valuable when the role of the consultant ends.

What are the data sources?

Though Qlik can connect to most of the data sources, this point is important. While planning a strategy for known data sources, such as SAP, Navision, or say, Oracle Business Suite, these being known data sources, there is a good amount of predictability. However, some customers have legacy applications or custom developed applications. The consultant needs to be aware of the potential challenges these systems may throw and plan the strategy accordingly.

Is the data clean?

Clean data is a consultant’s delight. This helps with implementation, and even the validation process gets easy. The challenge usually comes when the data is not clean and the consultant must also work on the strategy to clean the data.

Future road map

The consultant needs to know if the project will be extended to other functions in the future, whether external people will also be a part of it in the future, and whether any additional data sources are being planned. The solution design can be bettered once the consultant gets these details.