Blog: David Loshin

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Microsoft: BI for Everyone...

In an press release from a few days ago, Microsoft announced that in its next version of Office ("Office 12"), Business Intelligence capabilities would be built in and made available as part of the popular software suite. This development consists of incorporating additional BI capabilities within Excel, as well as a new component called "Business Scorecard manager," which will allow for managing and tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Microsoft's down-migration of BI componentry to the (potential) masses (potential because the new component has a price of $5000.00) is an encouraging step in creating value out of data. However, are the masses ready for it? For the most part, a large amount of "desktop BI activity" is currently done using Office (mostly Excel). But more challenging is the human factor - getting people to "buy into" the use of KPIs, scorecards, and analytics is more of a hurdle than getting a manager's signoff on a $5000 purchase. Heck, I have come across resistance when trying to sell the simple concept of tracking actual performance against stated objectives...

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