ACADEMIA

Despite ongoing focus on issue, unanticipated problems still lead to implementation delays, additional funding requests: A new survey of business intelligence and data warehousing (BI/DW) professionals reveals that despite multiple initiatives to eliminate time and cost overruns in the implementation of BI/DW projects, a clear majority still anticipates and experiences those overruns. The survey was conducted by Teksouth Corporation, a veteran provider of data management and analysis systems, at last week's Gartner Business Intelligence Summit in Chicago, where Teksouth was an exhibiting vendor. More than 50 data warehousing professionals were surveyed. 62 percent of those responding to the survey said they factored in time and cost overruns while budgeting for the cost of implementing a BI/DW system. In addition, two-thirds (68%) said that actual overruns forced them to either scale back their efforts, or request additional funding to complete the project, with more than half reporting either "moderate" or "major" delays. The survey also reported that more than one-third of the respondents (36%) said that, despite advances, planning and implementing a data warehouse is still "incredibly tough," saying it's a given that the project will take longer or cost more than anticipated. "Continued stories about cost and time overruns continue to be a gating factor for smaller firms that understand the benefits of data warehousing projects," said Brad Marshall, Teksouth's Director of Commercial Products. "They know the value that BI/DW systems can bring, but are scared by the prospects of the projects turning into a never-ending time and money pit, without clear deadlines in place that they know will be met." Marshall noted that Teksouth introduced a fixed-time, fixed-cost offering at Gartner's Business Intelligence Summit, aimed at providing mid-sized enterprises with the proven design and delivery of business intelligence capability, without the traditional scheduling and budgetary pitfalls associated with such projects. Two-thirds of those responding to the Teksouth survey said they have encountered "unanticipated" problems while designing and implementing their BI/DW system. 44 percent of them said those problems had caused delays. The survey also revealed that more data warehousing professionals consider Oracle to be their primary database, by an almost two-to-one margin, with Cognos as their primary business intelligence analysis tool. Teksouth is a Cognos Silver Technology Partner.