Business Intelligence Framework (BI Framework)

first, I'd like to brifing about BI Information Flow by below picture.
This is the basic BI flow diagram used in other education modules as well.

At the top is the production data being sent to the warehouse. It funnels through ETL Tools (Extract Tranform and Loading Tools) such as DB2 Warehouse Manager or Ascential DataStage where the data is consolidated and transformed before loading into the warehouse.
In the middle, data goes into Enterprise Data Warehose(EDW). Several RDBMS such as DB2, Oracle, SQLServe may be a good choice. Note the operational data store is inside the data warehouse, not in a separate database.
In the Line Of Business Data Mart Layer. EDW then feeds the dependent data marts with data. One of these marts will be OLAP Server -- a multidimensional OLAP cube.
In the user layer (Business Intelligence Front End),It's a presentation layer that we see the tools end users choose to aggregate and distill the data into its final business form. The predominant process here is query and reporting which is performed by business partner tools. Data Management Division has purposely chosen to not invest in building end user tools, instead relying on Cognos, Business Intelligence, MicroStrategy, Crystal Decisions, Business Objects, SAS, Hyperion, Information Builders and others for this capability.
Also in the user analytics layer are Intelligent Miner, Office Connect, and Query and Reporting Tools. While most of these tools are infrastructure components, they provide specific transforms to refine the data for its final use.

From BI Information Flow, we can summary components of BI Framework like this :
1. Operational System is a database from core application and the other application in organize.
2. Extract Transform Loading (ETL) is a ETL Tool for Extract the data from operation layer, Transform and Cleansing data become a usable format and Loading Informations to DataWarehouse.
3. Enterprise DataWarehouse is a huge database that consist of the whole data in multidimensional.
4. Line Of Business Data Mart is a part of information that we separate by business requirement such as sales datamart, financial datamart etc. (we use ETL Tools for loading)
5. Business Intelligence Front End is a presentation layer that communicate with end-user.

Beside a main component, We have some additional component to fullfill business requirement such as :
Data Quality, Integrity and cleansing Tools - process before ETL tool, It use for audit, verify the right information and eliminate gabage data.
Query and Reporting Tool - use for query and reporting a data in Enterprise Data Warehouse and Line of Business Data Mart
Analytic Application Tools - for specific function for analyze and making decision suchas budgeting and planning, performance management, balance scorecard (I'll say afterward)
Data Visulization - It's an interactive, graphical, and attractive presentation in front-end. such as Crystal Xcelcius, Visual Discovery etc.
Enterprise Portal and Business Dashboad - It's use for collaborative, control user right, personalize view and design for each business requirement

Next time, I'll suggest the products from key vendors in each component.

What is Business Intelligence (BI) ?

Gartner Group defines Business Intelligence (BI) as

“The analysis of quantitative data to deliver insight and perspective to the business”

In fact, it was Howard Dresner (of Gartner Group) who originally coined the phrase (business intelligence) and Howard today remains one of the most recognized experts in this area.

Let's me explain more about Business Intelligence.

Business Intelligence is a process to monitor key performance indicators (KPI) about business environment, customers, investors, partners, suppliers, regulators, competitors, industry trends, and their impact on business strategy to help define and improve profitable business model

Today, We have many source of data in organization. It's come from every business units. Main sources are come from core business application such as ERP systems. Some informations may be personal data source like as spreadsheet for budgeting, sales target include of financial consoliation sheets. Some is come from an internat informations such as market segment, competitor information. see below for sample of data source

Where does the data come from?
It's come from every process of operation in organization It' a Operational Data and/or transaction systems such as

External sources
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) : PeopleSoft, SAP, Oracle …
- Customer relationship management (CRM) : PeopleSoft, Siebel …
- Supply chain management (SCM) – i2, Manugistics …

External sources
- Worldwide web
- XML data interchange

Other databases anddata stores
- RDBMS: Oracle, DB2, Sybase …
- OLAP: MS Analysis Services, EssBase …

Personal Files: Excel,MS Access …
- In-house and departmental applications
- Mainframe applications
- UNIX and NT applications

Unstructure Data Contents
- Multi Media file (Video, Audio, Images Files)
- Electronic Document like a Portable Document Format (PDF) Files.

So, We have a huge data for making decision. The problem is "How can choose the right data in the right time from the right source for decision each of business issues"?

Business intelligence came about because of a problem. That problem is how to make the best decisions based on the growing mass of information available in an organization.

The Gartner Group calls this problem the BI Fact Gap. So what is the Fact Gap?

Since the 1980s we have been using and extending systems that automate and track processes (e.g., ERP applications and more recently clickstream data). These systems generate huge amounts of information.There is also an upward trend in the number of critical decisions that the average business person must make each week. As more and more people are empowered to make decisions, and as competitive markets force shorter and shorter decision cycles, the volume of critical decisions has risen steadily over the last few years.However, the overall ability of the workforce to use the mass of information to make decisions (the business intelligence aptitude, including the aptitude of each individual plus the total number of experts) has been growing far more slowly.That gap between the information available and the ability to use it to make decisions is the business intelligence Fact Gap.
Source: Howard Dresner PDF “Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2000” (and previous Gartner publications) SSP

Next time, I'll say about Business Intelligence Framework. Component of Business Intelligence and How Business Intelligence (BI) can help you make decision?

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a Service is a terms in the IT industry that difficult to definition. It's a model of software delivery where the software company provides maintenance, daily technical operation, and support for the software provided to their client.

So, It should be like a Application Service Provider (ASP), right? I don't know.

SaaS has been stretched this way and that as vendors compete to make marketing capital out their use of it. As the model evolves, some vendors on the leading edge are trying to redefine SaaS more narrowly in order to exclude their more laggardly brethren, but the tactic is doomed to failure. The more exclusive they try and make the bandwagon, the more appealing it becomes for others to leap onboard.

Phil Wainewright explain to the meaning of SaaS at ZDNet. (follow by below link)

Seeking the true meaning of SaaS by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- The key to making sense of SaaS is understanding the process of transformation that software goes through once you move it off the customer's premises and host it in the cloud.

finding more information about software-as-a-service at wikipidia

Welcome to AnyChannel Blog

Hello all,

Welcome you all,
This blog will provide any informations that i would like to share you across by industries, many subject areas, many business function and many business applications.

My career is presale consultant responsible to capture business requirements and do a proof of concept about Enterprise BI Tools (Enterprise Business Intelligence Tools) , Dashboard tool, Datawarehouse solution, Performance Management and Balance Score Cards as well.

I'd some experience to propose and implement business application such as MRPII, Document Management, Image Processing, Enterprise Workflow, Financial Application etc.

Beside Business Application, I'm intereting to internet marketing model and would like to work on internet business too.

Please, Come back to see more information which I proud to share you again

until next time and be well,