BICC and Factoy approach

In order to operate such a “BI factory” sustainably and to ensure smooth processes, corresponding standards and processes for rules and methods must be adhered to and developed further in the long term. In this context, the BICC has the task of establishing this governance in a role model and mapping it.


Consolidation at all levels


The factory creates new synergy potentials through analytical methods and best practices, while the BICC is intended to provide this valuable know-how in the form of reusable functional modules and models as well as business intelligence expertise in the enterprise.


Three prerequisites for success


A re-design of the BI processes is the next step - on both hardware and software level. The focus is on a standardized development and the multiple use of components and interfaces as well as virtualization and grid computing to help reduce procurement and operating costs.


The effort is worth it


The factory approach provides for a centralized hardware environment consisting of servers and storage, with a central analytical platform integrated into it. On this platform, the various solutions, which are operated by the IT department in close coordination with the relevant departments, are set up.


A standardization of the systems in a factory has the advantage that operating costs can be saved and new solutions can be integrated quickly and without problems. The existing platform that already provides data quality and analytical tools can be extended at any time.


The set-up time for a new project is drastically reduced, and with an Analytics Factory it is two weeks, while it is four to six months without it. The implementation is simplified, since existing templates (for example, data models, data processes, reporting frameworks or analytical models) can be accessed and adapted only.


This time savings pays off: about 60 percent of the total savings generated by a factory are attributable to the value contribution generated for the specialist departments. About 30 to 40 percent of the total savings are attributable to IT cost optimization.


The absolute numbers differ greatly in each case. But an internal rate of return of up to 500% and savings of more than 60 million euros in five years are possible.


Once an architecture plan has been designed based on an accurate, individual analysis of the company's actual state and the company's objectives, the next steps are threefold

In order to build an enterprise platform, companies should generally record a timeframe of about one year. An agile action model ensures that the components of the factory can be implemented at an early stage by means of a step-by-step deployment of the factory and the migration can be carried out successively.


The initial expenditure may seem not insignificant - the bottom line is the factory approach. With the establishment and industrialization of a central, future-oriented enterprise platform for BI and Analytics, the technical systems are simultaneously consolidated and the efficiency of analytical processes is increased.


This is the basis for the business success of most companies, so that the industrialization of the BI and Analytics landscape should be high on the agenda in the near future.