Are the topics really popular and, it would seem, what else to discuss? I propose to consider them through the prism of the practical application of these technologies. This is what is lacking in most of the publications I have reviewed, and which, perhaps, therefore, cause a heated debate among specialists. Let's remember that "practice is the criterion of truth."
In this post, I discuss Business Intelligence. Why? It's just that one of my clients, who have implemented an automated enterprise management system, a new deputy director suddenly expressed a desire to do business analysis at a “new level”. Until now, all the customer's analysis needs have been met by the means of the implemented system. I had to understand the means of "business analysis". Here's what came of it.
The main topic of this message is the answer to the question: is it possible for the director of an enterprise, his deputy, or, for example, an economist without a prompter to figure out whether they need additional tools for business analysis?
I think that my message will be useful for marketers and everyone involved in the sale of BI systems and services for their support, namely, they may want to adjust their advertising messages and program descriptions. If, of course, they read the text to the end and learn quotes from their texts. Quotes are accurate, but in order not to offend the authors, I did not always refer to sources.
Foreword to BI
I must say right away that until now I had no need for additional tools for analyzing the activities of enterprises. All such needs over the past 20-25 years have been solved by standard means of implemented automation systems and simple platform modifications for specific needs. Therefore, the technical details and comparisons of different business analysis programs will not be included here. For this, you can refer to numerous other sources, some of which I made references in the text.
Next:
- BI: adjective or noun?
- BI vacancies - BI
definitions - BI
advertising
- What do they write on Habré?
- BI or ERP III?
- Local BI Segments
- Summary.
BI: adjective or noun?
So, the first question that arose after reading the first publications - why? And the first association that came to my mind was the "Minor" by Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin from the course of Russian literature in high school. Remember:
“Pravdin. Door, for example, what's a noun or an adjective?
Mitrofan. Door? Which door?
Pravdin. Which door! This one.
Mitrofan. This? Adjective.
Pravdin. Why?
Mitrofan. Because it is attached to its place. There, at the closet of the pole, the door has not been hung for a week: so that is still a noun.
Starodum. So is that why you have the word fool as an adjective, because it is applied to a foolish person?
Mitrofan. And it is known. "
This is the case with BI systems. Well, that these systems are "nouns" is a medical fact. They exist because they are sold, or, as it is with V. Mayakovsky (well, almost at his place), they “light up”:
“Listen!
After all, if BI systems are lit,
then somebody needs it?
So - someone wants them to be?
So someone calls these little spitters a pearl? "
But are BI systems "adjectives"? Why should they be “applied” to make them a “pearl”? Not everything is so clear, it is necessary to understand.
BI jobs
He started with the labor market - he is the first to respond to all sorts of innovations. I came across a vacancy "BI developer". The text is as follows:
“We are looking for a BI developer to join our team. We have several unique products for the construction industry that need an analysis module. If you have experience in developing analytical systems (Qlik, Power BI, etc.), then be sure to apply to our vacancy! "
I thought that for the last thirty years, while automating enterprise management systems, I was also involved in the development of tools for business analysis. But no! Is this something else?
The vacancy description was somewhat alarming: what are these “unique products for the construction industry” that do not have analytical capabilities? I know more than one system for builders, and all of them in a standard delivery (i.e. ready-made) contain analytical modules, and, if necessary, can be supplemented with new capabilities without much difficulty by means of the platform of these systems.
BI definitions
Googled on the Internet. And I realized that the problem with Business Intelligence is the same as with Big Data or Artificial Intelligence (AI, artificial intelligence). They are "nouns" because they sell and even sell very well. But what would Mitrofanushka say about this? Where and where are they attached?
BI has received a lot of definitions, and for the most part, it is obvious that they are written by sellers as an advertisement for a product being sold. Those. Description authors are either programmers who know how programs work, or marketers who don't understand anything about these programs, but know how to sell a product. And the feeling that they are selling, paraphrasing the proverb, then - not knowing what, to that - not knowing who. The businessman is told that he cannot carry on his work without a BI-system! How did he live without this miracle? And what will change after buying it? But I wonder if the sellers themselves (they are also businessmen) use BI systems to automate their work? Not obvious!
The seemingly neutral Wikipedia defines it as follows:
“Business intelligence (abbreviated as BI) is a designation of computer methods and tools for organizations that provide translation of transactional business information into a human - readable form suitable for business analysis, as well as a means for mass work with such processed information. The goal of BI is to interpret a large amount of data, focusing only on key performance factors, modeling the outcome of various options for action, tracking the results of decision making. "
The first question that arises when reading this definition is why business analysis tools are missing from the "computer methods and tools"in the existing automation systems of these organizations? Why have you implemented a system that does not contain analytical capabilities, contains business information in an "inhuman" form that is not suitable for business analysis, and now you have to spend money on another system? Maybe just change this system? After all, I do not know automation systems, even for small businesses, let alone large ones, that would not contain modules for analyzing the company's economic activity.
Second question. These goals are, in general, the goals of any automation of management business processes. And "sharpening, modeling and tracking" is already a function of intelligence, i.e. human. Without it, no program can identify "key factors"without knowing the specifics of the industry, which is actually found out at the first stages of design by examining business processes.
Again, what is “big data” ?
BI advertising
And what about such a pearl in another article:
“Every large business and most medium-sized structures are faced with the problem of providing management with inaccurate data on the state of affairs of the company. The reasons may be different, but the consequences are always the same - wrong or untimely decisions that negatively affect the effectiveness of financial transactions. To exclude such situations, a professional business analytics or BI system is intended . "
It’s interesting how the management of these "large businesses and medium-sized structures" reacts to providing them with "inaccurate data on the state of affairs of the company."? Maybe you just need to change the specialists who provide such data? Obviously, even if such specialists are given a “professional business analytics system” (and what are “non-professional” systems?), They will still give inaccurate data. But any professional automation engineer knows that the main problems with the implementation of IT systems are problems with users. Humanity has not yet come up with a way to automatically program the brains of enterprise employees. And a professional who knows his business, with any tool, will provide accurate data on the state of affairs of the company! These employees support not only individual enterprises, but also civilizations.
It's all about time: how much should you spend for analysis?
How do you like this:
“The BI solution is useful for companies in most industries. For example, manufacturing, finance, retail and wholesale, insurance, telecommunications - where there is a need to understand what is happening in business . "
That is, the authors admit that there are areas in which there is NO "need to understand what is happening in business" , and there you can do without business analysis !!! For example, I don't know such areas. For example, for 30 years of automation of company management systems, I have not come across such companies and even teams. Not to mention the spheres - everywhere, everywhere and always, understanding is needed. Even “ happiness is when you are understood ” !
Okay, software vendors - they really may not understand something about the customers' business, but the developers have certainly examined some business processes, and must understand the purpose of their products. Here is a presentation of a fairly well-known product of a well-known domestic company, the name of which is further replaced with an asterisk:
"*. Business Analysis" - "a modern BI solution for analytics of large amounts of information. The system provides visual associative reports for making informed decisions about the business development strategy . A distinctive feature *. Business Analysis - providing analytical information in rich interactive visualizations, allowing in one window to get all the data of interest for making a decision . "
The most interesting thing is that the program is for acceptance"Informed" decisions! How, it turns out that without this program, unreasonable decisions are made! Moreover, not just a decision, but a business development strategy. No more and no less! And most importantly, everything is very simple: in one window - all the data of interest! And not just data, but again "big".
What's next? We are watching the webinar program for this product. Clause 3:
"Demonstration of several cases of BI-panels: analysis of accounts receivable, profit analysis, complex manager's workplace . "
We look at the magic "one window". It turned out that there are at least six of them: warehouse analysis, current transactions, gross profit, mutual settlements, analysis of delivery times and ABC analysis of suppliers, sales .
Listen guys, who is this propaganda for? I know for sure that all this was twenty years ago in "1C: Trade and Warehouse 7.7". However, he may have forgotten that, and that was 25 years ago in "1C: Trade and Warehouse.7.0". And I'm not talking about 1C8.
Okay, I think maybe Google found something wrong? Who knows how and what he looks for in the Big Data of the World Wide Web?
What do they write in Habré?
I think, let me see what they write on Habré?
There is, for example, " Comparison of BI systems (Tableau, Power BI, Oracle, Qlik) ". The author at the beginning declares that he leads the direction of BI and analytics of the St. Petersburg clinic. Compared different program parameters in tabular form. In general, it is interesting, but I did not bring a single episode from the life of the clinic where this program would be needed. What I didn’t write about: server capabilities, dashboard layout, community users, mailing options, and so on. And not a word about why all this is for the clinic? What tasks of enterprise management should these programs solve? What kind of automation at the enterprise and who and why, in general, has a question about additional software?
Finally found a good article"Technical differences in BI systems (Power BI, Qlik Sense, Tableau)" , in which the title reflects the content. The article is aimed at IT professionals, but the advanced end user has a lot to learn. At least I got an answer to the question of what a "BI system" is, although it is paradoxical that there is no definition of this term in it.
I hope that in the next article, which the author announced, it will be said about the cost of projects for the implementation of BI systems. As I understand it, professional versions (I think there is no point in talking about others) cost millions of rubles, plus the cost of implementation, staff training and support. Is it worth the candle? For that kind of money, any enterprise management automator will write the necessary reports, if suddenly they are not in the standard delivery of 1C, SUP, Oracle, etc. Moreover, all these platforms contain tools for appropriate programming and data visualization.
BI or ERP III?
And in general, all modern ISs contain all the necessary functionality, unless, of course, they are correctly designed: all user requirements are collected, all business processes that meet these requirements are examined, the terms of reference for automating these business processes has been written and the technical specification has been given to professional programmers.
Corporate ISs are developed according to the ERP concept and the ERP II standard, proposed in 1999 - the management of internal resources and external relations of the organization. In addition to the production areas traditional for ERP systems, they are used in the areas of infrastructure management (electric power, oil and gas industry, transport, communications, telecommunications, etc.) and service (consulting companies, financial sector organizations, etc.). And they are already comingERP III systems that will enroll their owners in the global marketplace will reach suppliers and customers through social media. Where can I find a place for BI systems here? Perhaps in some local segments?
Moreover, this applies to any information systems, even commercial, even state. Here, for example, is an excerpt from the report of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications dated April 20, 2020 . on the course of implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of the state program "Information Society". The report says about the creation of the IS "General scheme for the development of communication networks and infrastructure for storage and processing of data in the Russian Federation" (abbreviated as IS "General scheme"). Quote:
"IS" General Scheme "is an information system operating on the basis of information technologies and technical means that ensure the collection, processing, placement, storage, analysis, presentation, updating and use of information in order to obtain information necessary for making decisions on issues related to competence of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia " .
The functionality is highlighted in bold . Tell me where you can stick an additional BI system for making decisions here? But this is a typical functionality of any modern IP! If your system does not have at least one of these items, then change the developer!
Local BI segments
So in which local segments can BI systems be in demand? An excellent answer was given by Edward Snowden , who released documents on two top secret programs of the US National Security Agency (NSA) - PRISM and XKeyscore. According to the Kommersant newspaper, PRISM allows you to download classified information from the servers of the largest US Internet companies: Microsoft, Yahoo !, Google, Facebook, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple and PalTalk. With the help of PRISM, the US intelligence services (the CIA and the FBI have access to the system besides the NSA) collect personal information about users of social networks and search services, including email correspondence, audio and video files, as well as information about their location and contact list.
XKeyscore is even more advanced. The NSA calls this program "a tool for collecting information about almost everything that a user does on the Internet." The program works through 700 servers, most of which are located abroad at US embassies and consulates. One server, as follows from the presentation, is located in Moscow.
Naturally, these programs work without any connectors and do business analysis completely free of charge for the clients who are ripped off!
So the creation of a "sovereign Internet" is not an idle wishlist-puffs of the leadership of Russia or China. But is it possible in principle to protect ourselves from unplanned business analysis of our data? Unanswered question!
Summary
It turns out that the only advantage of BI systems are “built-in” data sources and connectors to them. As I understand it, the cost of these systems mainly depends on this property. Perhaps it is worth paying for it, if, of course, your business is connected with the global market. And if not? Is it worth paying a medical clinic for a BI-system and are there connectors to the corresponding databases and servers? Probably worth it if the clinic is engaged, for example, in analyzing the spread of COVID19 on a global scale. But how many such clinics do we have?
Another question that comes up when working with different data sources is the quality of the data? How to assess the relevance, reliability and accuracy of data on the Internet, even from a well-known company, and for a fee? The picture was received automatically, but who will sign it and, accordingly, take responsibility? That the consulting business, which until now supplied data with any certainty, is dead? I haven't heard of this. After all, a consulting firm can be required to correct the work, to return the money, finally. At the worst, you can go and give in the face to the director who signed the report on the work and the invoice for payment! What do you present to "big data"? Just shoot yourself!
And who will guarantee that you are not being manipulated through the available databases?
Thanks to the availability of data, especially free data, any opinion can be thrown into the public space and imposed. And, unfortunately, our entire information life is a confirmation of this thesis.
If you manage the data of an enterprise or, even more so, an intercontinental corporation, then to begin with, you do not need to bury the data so that later you do not have to extract it, or, as it is fashionable to say now, data mining. Put your database in order and then you won't have to use Data Mining, and even more so Data Science , to get something useful from "raw big data".
And the last thing.
Guys, “ I'll tell you one smart thing, but don't be offended". Before you write something, decide for which specialist you are writing: for an accountant, economist, enterprise director, marketer, business analyst, system administrator or programmer. Otherwise, you become like Mitrofanushka. Well, a manager doesn't need to know anything about servers and data transfer protocols! But the quality, reliability of the data obtained from even the most "big data", and even for a fee, must be known. Otherwise, how are you going to convince the project sponsor to pay the bill for the program, its configuration and support, and user training?
The business analysis system is an adjective. Those. it is designed to solve specific problems of the enterprise. Therefore, it is necessary to give specific examples of the application of the BI-System. In this case, the manager needs to say one thing, and the system administrator - another. But we must speak!
Well, that's why the BI-system of the St. Petersburg clinic?
“ We'll see you again. I think so . " Further - about "Big Data". Without them, no BI is needed.
Yuri Dushin, systems and business analyst ... and just an IP designer.