Meet BI Demand with Agile Business Intelligence

Why Consensus?

Because it advances BI:

  • From data-constrained to Business-Driven
  • From static report production to Self-Service-Enablement
  • From non-standard project dialects to a Common, Enterprise Language
  • From one-off tools for single-users to Reusable, Multi-User, Multi-Project Assets & Solutions

Barriers to Effective BI

Massive jumps in demand for accurate, actionable information. Lack of standard metrics. Difficult collaboration between IT and business stakeholders. Complex technology environments. Ballooning data volumes. Shrinking IT staffs and budgets.

These are the major barriers to effective BI today. And most data management teams and existing, last-generation tools and platforms tools simply aren't up to the challenges.

Consider that:

  • Only 20% of BI stakeholders believe their tools are flexible and agile enough (Forrester)
  • Static, or “canned” reports meet only 50% of information needs (Forrester).

Knowledge workers want — and need — easy access to reliable information and intuitive, “self-service” BI apps. But current delivery methods are fragmented, rigid, and manual. Translating the analytical needs of the business into BI apps in time to maximize business benefit is nearly impossible. And so the gap grows between the insights the business wants and the BI apps that can be delivered.

Agile BI to the Rescue

Balanced Insight Consensus is part of a new generation of applications driving Agile BI delivery that, according to Forrester, “1) get development done faster, and 2) react more quickly to changing business requirements.” Read the report.

Specifically that means,

  • Streamlining, simplifying and automating key development tasks — from requirements definition to build and deploy
  • Complementing and synchronizing existing BI assets — data marts/warehouses, business intelligence tools and major software packages — no time lost “ripping and replacing” existing solutions
  • Dramatically reducing resource requirements and timelines for BI projects — think more projects completed in the same time frames, with no additional resources.

Balanced Insight Consensus: Better Apps, Superior Delivery

Balanced Insight Consensus goes beyond conventional BI delivery and packages in several critical ways.

  • Business-driven BI: Because Consensus focuses first on the business needs rather than existing data sources, delivery of BI apps can be automated straight from the business model, hit the mark and eliminate rework, managing scope to business need.
  • User engagement: Through early and frequent prototyping, “test-driven development,” and continuous feedback, Consensus facilitates ongoing collaboration between end users, business stakeholders and BI developers to drive success.
  • Self-service focused: Consensus takes you beyond the report, with increased flexibility for ad-hoc analysis and queries based on changing information needs and cause & effect reporting
  • Clarity & consistency: Not a silo solution, Consensus extends across projects and user groups, leveraging existing assets and establishing corporate meaning and memory across BI projects and tools.
  • Repeatability: Because BI needs shift constantly, Consensus makes it easy to refine existing apps or generate new ones across platforms and projects. By defining key terminology and metrics, and establishing a central repository of proven and reusable BI Business Models, Consensus enables a repeatable process that can scale with the increasing demand for business insight.