Business intelligence survey reveals mixed satisfaction in its results

Rethink IT, Oct, 2004

ETL SUPPLIERS

Of the companies with ETL tools alongside their data warehouses, 62% used the products supplied with their warehouses or data marts. The remaining sites were spread between six specialist suppliers. The most commonly used ETL tools were from Ascential and BMC.

DATA MINING TOOLS

The companies with data mining tools but no data warehouse were using products from S1 and Elytics. Of those with data mining tools used alongside warehouses or data marts, 76% were using products supplied with those warehouses. The most commonly used separate mining product was from Micro Strategy.

NUMBER OF USERS

It was striking that all the installations were serving relatively small numbers of users. Almost 60% of the sites with business intelligence tools said that under 20 people were using these to ask questions about the business, suggesting that they are still used in the style of the original executive information systems, for senior management decision making. This percentage (59%) included all the sites that had data mining tools but no warehouse.

A further 23% said their warehouses were used by 21 to 40 people, and 18% by 41 to 100 people. No site had over 100 people accessing their data warehouse.

In the larger scale implementations, Business Objects was the dominant supplier, present in almost one-third of the sites that had warehouses in use by more than 20 people.

REASONS FOR INSTALLING DATA WAREHOUSES

Of eight common reasons suggested for choosing to install a data warehouse, by far the most popular was to improve profitability. This was selected as being one of the four top reasons for installing a warehouse or data mart by 64% of respondents, with 78% of those naming it as their top priority.

The next most important reason was to better target key customers or customer groups, one of the greatest promises made in the early days of data warehousing--the ability for retailers, manufacturers and other companies to analyze their customer bases in minute detail, track individual or group behaviour, and therefore understand the buying patterns of the client base. This motivation was also named by 64% of panellists as a top four reason, though fewer put it in the top spot--46% of these respondents rated it the second highest priority.

Next came the related reason, to identify special promotions or deals that would attract new customers or, more likely, persuade existing clients to spend more. This was named by 41% of respondents, though it was lower rated in terms of priority ratings, with a median position of third most important reason.

Close behind this factor came the identification and elimination of poorly performing products from the range. This was in the top four for 40% of the sample, with a median rating of third place.

It is unsurprising, perhaps, that the main reasons for adopting warehousing should revolve around profitability and customer understanding. Further down the priority list were the two reasons that related to relationships with suppliers rather than customers. These two were similarly assessed, with 29% putting improvement in the ordering process in their top four, on average in second place; and 28% selecting improved negotiations with suppliers, also with second place being the norm.