Business Intelligence

The commitment and sponsorship of senior management is according to Kimball et al., the most important criteria for assessment. This is because having strong management backing helps overcome shortcomings elsewhere in the project. However, as Kimball et al. state: "even the most elegantly designed DW/BI system cannot overcome a lack of business [management] sponsorship".

It is important that personnel who participate in the project have a vision and an idea of the benefits and drawbacks of implementing a BI system. The best business sponsor should have organizational clout and should be well connected within the organization. It is ideal that the business sponsor is demanding but also able to be realistic and supportive if the implementation runs into delays or drawbacks. The management sponsor also needs to be able to assume accountability and to take responsibility for failures and setbacks on the project. Support from multiple members of the management ensures the project does not fail if one person leaves the steering group. However, having many managers work together on the project can also mean that there are several different interests that attempt to pull the project in different directions, such as if different departments want to put more emphasis on their usage. This issue can be countered by an early and specific analysis of the business areas that benefit the most from the implementation. All stakeholders in the project should participate in this analysis in order for them to feel invested in the project and to find common ground.

Another management problem that may be encountered before the start of an implementation is an overly aggressive business sponsor. Problems of scope creep occur when the sponsor requests data sets that were not specified in the original planning phase.