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Raise Your BI IQ

6/1/2007

How to evolve institutional business intelligence

Marco CestaroMarco Cestaro is the data warehouse administrator in Information Technology Services at Ithaca College (NY). During his six-year tenure at the college, he has been responsible for the design, implementation, and support of an institutional business intelligence (BI) suite, which includes Banner Performance Reporting and Analytics from SunGard Higher Education and the Oracle BI toolset. In addition to the administration of the underlying technology, Cestaro has overseen the development of a BI training program, taught classes, provided end-user support, and facilitated reporting groups. Here, he offers a 10-point checklist to guide your institution's BI strategy.

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[Editor's note: Business Intelligence sessions at the upcoming Campus Technology 2007 conference in Washington DC, July 30-August 2, focus specifically on BI in the higher education context. Be sure to check out M02 - BI and Data Warehousing: Powering Better Decisions in Higher Ed and T04 - Jump-Start Your BI and DW Initiatives: 60 Minutes of Solutions, both presented by the highly regarded BI expert Ora Fish of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Register online by June 22 for early bird savings.]

10

Start at the top.

  • Gain upper administration's support for BI as early as possible.
  • Remember: Grassroots efforts normally don't address institutional policies.
9

Create a well-defined strategy.

  • Keep it simple! Start with a single statement as your foundation.
  • Articulate what you are trying to accomplish.
8

Identify the target audience and its needs.



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