Melissa Dixon
Given the importance and urgency for business intelligence (BI) for the new ERP system, it is never to early to begin thinking about reporting.
As mentioned in “What data is needed to make key decisions?,” there are many steps in the preparation process including assessing current state, determining requirements, and creating a plan for BI tools. A critical step in planning is the prioritized list of reports and dashboards. Time and resources can be limited, and so working on the critical items first ensures that they are ready at go-live. Also, as mentioned in “How to validate that dashboards and reports are accurate, reliable, and repeatable?,” data validation prior to release of BI tools is essential.
The planning process may need to be iterative as processes evolve and the implementation team learns more about the out-of-the-box capabilities of the new system. This does not mean that early planning leads to rework. In fact, BI planning starting coincident with system planning ensures that you have the BI outcomes that you want defined early and consistently reconfirm as the system design and implementation progresses. It is a best practice to document the key decisions and vet them with leadership. This buy-in on BI decisions will help post-go-live if users voice concerns about BI tools and reports.
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