Why business intelligence projects fail

Only a minority of organisations are getting the most out of their investment in business intelligence tools.

And most of the problems holding these projects back have little to do with IT and lots to do with internal company politics.

Just 15 per cent of users have actually made it to the 'adult phase' of business intelligence, while many users are stuck in the 'child' or 'teenage' stages of developing their plans, according to Wayne Eckerson, research director at The Datawarehousing Institute.

Danger signs in the early stages of a project include a proliferation of spreadsheets and poor data quality, while as a system matures issues of internal politics and control over information creep in too.

Speaking at the Information Builders Summit user conference in Orlando, Florida, Eckerson said: "The real problem is not a technological one. It is important to have exquisite technology but the real problem is one of change management.

"You are asking the organisation to change the way it approaches information and makes decisions and change is not easy."

Eckerson said CIOs in charge of such projects need to marshal a range of skills: "You need to excel at selling the vision of business intelligence and once it is in, you have to evangelise it to the users - not just once but continuously."

He added: "When you roll out a new addition and usage levels drop you need to send in a SWAT team to find out why. You have to be consummate technologists and savvy sales people and top-notch marketers and persistent investigators."

The analyst said another key factor was getting high level support: "You need a highly committed sponsor to have a chance at succeeding with business intelligence."

Kirk Hewitt, director of reporting and financial systems at oil refiner Valero Energy, agreed: "It's crucial that you talk to your business people. If you don't have a need then you don't have an application or a project."