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We recognise at Altimus that Business Intelligence can take on a different meaning for different people. What we hope to achieve through this website is clarity. We talk about Business intelligence being a broad term that pulls together a whole raft of processes and technologies. We have illustrated this throughout the website by writing overviews of these for those of you who just want to read a summary and quickly understand the benefits of a BI initiative and a more detailed, technical description of each process and technology for those who thrive on such detail. Altimus has created a Business Intelligence Cycle to enable you to coordinate and accelerate your BI initiative; the symbol as illustrated above will appear on every relevant page throughout the website. This BI Cycle is essentially a project management tool illustrating the various processes and technologies that create a truly pervasive BI initiative and where they fall within the BI cycle. The elements that make up the Altimus BI Cycle are:
 Design This phase includes the decisions on what to measure and how to measure them, the most appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other metrics. Taking the organisational culture behind the business in to account. Presentation of the information will be addressed during this phase, whether it will be graphics and pictures or numbers; and whether a specialist Dashboard will be appropriate or will lists of numbers in Excel suffice? (Further Detail)
 Implement Implementation of your BI initiative will include collecting and cleaning the data referred to as ETL (extract transfer and load), building your data warehouse or data mart if necessary using OLAP/MDX and implementing your chosen technology and methodology. Having already decided on your KPIs during this phase you will create your other metrics i.e. your scorecards and dashboards. This is a crucial phase as it is at this stage your BI initiative becomes truly pervasive, as the right people have access to the right information. (Further Detail)
 Utilise Incorporated into this phase is Performance Management, which encompasses the basic premise behind the strategic use of BI. Performance Management is a process for managing a business in a structured way using key performance indicators and other metrics to measure success. The performance management cycle is a three step process that repeats on a regular cycle. The steps are:
We refer to these processes as being part of a cycle as they just repeat ad-infinitum. The BI strategic loop can be entered at any point and continues as long as is required. (Further Detail)
 Refine As a company evolves it strategy alters, so must the elements of the BI initiative in particular the KPIs must evolve too. During this phase decisions will be made as a result of the analysis and adjustments will be made to KPIs and other metrics if required. A regular review of all the metrics and supporting processes must be undertaken. (Further Detail)
The BI cycle is then repeated to sustain the overall BI initiative. We have built this website in a way that we trust you will find easy to follow and which takes you through the steps of a BI programme. At any point on this website the BI Cycle symbol will, by magnifying the appropriate phase e.g. Utilise as in the illustration above, reflect the point at which the process or technology you are reading about falls within the BI program. The phases are also colour coded emphasising the affiliation.
To find out more about the Business Intelligence Cycle and how it can benefit you, call Altimus and speak to one of our experts on 0800 804 6442, or contact us through Information Request.
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