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How do other companies vet report requests from internal customers when rolling out the DW?

Question: My group develops Cognos ReportNet reports across our division, a fairly large concern with plenty of potential internal customers. We need to roll out the data warehouse to sales, operations and other customers. Our concern is that we will be overwhelmed by requests (primarily for ad hoc reporting) upon rollout. We are preparing to begin meeting to establish criteria and a process to request these reports. How do other companies vet report requests from internal customers?

Sid Adelman's Answer: One of the key roles of the data warehouse was empowering the users to create many of their own reports and queries. Sales, operations and the other departments have business analysts, many of whom would love to learn to use the Cognos product. Your group would continue to develop some of the more complicated reports but the majority of requests should be satisfied by business analysts within each group. The BI Competency Center you develop would provide appropriate training to the business analysts, support, and a well-documented query and report library that should eventually provide a vehicle for the vast majority of BI activity.

Adrienne Tannenbaum's Answer: Generally speaking, we have been exposed to what you might call "smart users." These people create their own reports based upon internal training in Cognos. If a very flexible and accurate data warehouse is there, the sky is the limit with what types of reports and "what ifs" a knowledgeable user can generate. We have seen even the most computer-naïve people become BI savvy ... and once that happens, we can't get them away from their PCs!

Chuck Kelley's Answer: I have two answers for this. First, I would get a product like Cognos 8 BI (formerly named PowerPlay and Impromptu) and allow users to create their own reports, and you only have to do the overly complex ones. Second, if there is no budget for the tool, I would establish a committee of users who determine the order in which requests are done. This committee needs to meet two or three times a week to make the determination.

Clay Rehm's Answer: It is safe to say that politics does have impact on your priorities. It is difficult to turn away customers who have a "this is a very hot request" or "this is a very small request, can't you make it happen right away?" type requests.

A project management methodology is needed to track each request, prioritize it and review the status and issues of these requests each week. You may look to the project management office (PMO) in your organization if you have one and ask them to help you out, since they will be an unbiased third party.

If someone comes along with a hot request, it would be placed in the ranking with all of the other requests, and this request would need to prove to all of the others why they need to cut in line.

Joe Oates' Answer: My suggestion would be to develop a plan to add each other division or group in a controlled iterative fashion. Having done that, work with each group as you normally would to understand what are the key metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each division or group.

This could take several months to do a complete job for each group or division. You may find that you must develop a partial solution for two groups or divisions at a time. That way you can keep each stakeholder at least somewhat happy.

I think that the plan for an iterative rollout to multiple new divisions or groups is very important because you'll probably find it necessary to modify your existing data model and database design in order to accommodate their needs. In most cases, a data warehouse or data mart designed for a specific division does not contain everything that other divisions are groups may need.


Joe Oates is an internationally known speaker, author and consultant on data warehousing. Oates has more than 30 years of experience in the successful management and technical development of business, real-time and data warehouse applications for industry and government clients. He has designed or helped design and implement more than 30 successful data warehouse projects.

Sid Adelman is a principal in Sid Adelman & Associates, an organization specializing in planning and implementing data warehouses, in data warehouse and BI assessments, and in establishing effective data architectures and strategies. He is a regular speaker at DW conferences. Adelman chairs the "Ask the Experts" column on www.dmreview.com. He is a frequent contributor to journals that focus on data warehousing. He co-authored Data Warehouse Project Management and is the principal author on Impossible Data Warehouse Situations with Solutions from the Experts and Data Strategy. He can be reached at (818) 783-9634 or visit his Web site at www.sidadelman.com.

Chuck Kelley is an internationally known expert in database and data warehousing technology. He has 30 years of experience in designing and implementing operational/production systems and data warehouses. Kelley has worked in some facet of the design and implementation phase of more than 50 data warehouses and data marts. He also teaches seminars, co-authored four books on data warehousing and has been published in many trade magazines on database technology, data warehousing and enterprise data strategies. He can be contacted at chuckkelley@usa.net.

Clay Rehm, CCP, PMP, is president of Rehm Technology (www.rehmtech.com), a consulting firm specializing in data integration solutions. Rehm provides hands-on expertise in project management, assessments, methodologies, data modeling, database design, metadata and systems analysis, design and development. He has worked in multiple platforms and his experience spans operational and data warehouse environments. Rehm is a technical book editor and is a co-author of the book, Impossible Data Warehouse Situations with Solutions from the Experts. In addition, he is a Certified Computing Professional (CCP), a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science and a Masters Degree in Software Engineering from Carroll College. He can be reached at clay.rehm@rehmtech.com.

Adrienne Tannenbaum is president of Database Design Solutions, Inc. (www.dbdsolutions.com), a New Jersey-based consulting firm specializing in the revitalization of corporate data. The firm focuses on data issues within large organizations and supports all data reconstruction efforts with a solid meta data backbone. Tannenbaum is the author of two popular meta data-focused books: Metadata Solutions: Using Metamodels, Repositories, XML, and Enterprise Portals to Generate Information on Demand (2001, Addison Wesley) and Implementing a Corporate Repository (1994, Wiley).

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