This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group.

een Group. Aberdeen Group's methodologies provide for objective fact-based research and
represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc.
and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by Aberdeen Group, Inc.




October 2013
Achieving Fast ROI for BI Projects
On average, organizations using business intelligence (BI) that responded to
Aberdeens May 2013 agile analytics survey spent over $5 million each on BI
last year. Naturally enough, some organizations get more for their money
than others. While closely managing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of
an analytics solution is important, the value liberated by the investment is
arguably more so. Consequently, this research is focused on how to
accelerate the return on investment (ROI) for BI projects. This Analyst
Insight found that those organizations that achieve a faster ROI (Leaders
see sidebar definition below) encourage close user involvement in analytics
projects. In addition, Leaders also favor the use of integrated BI tools and
cloud-based analytics solutions.
Corporate IT Cant Achieve Rapid ROI Alone
The implementation of BI solutions is still largely undertaken by skilled IT
staff. While some solutions may ultimately be easy to use, most
organizations still have thorny issues that they need to address. For
example, collecting the right raw data, integrating multiple streams of data,
transforming data into information, and distributing it to the right business
users in a timely way, typically requires some serious computer science
skills. However, the path to rapid ROI requires the deep involvement of
analytics users.
Figure 1: User Empowerment is one of the Keys

Source: Aberdeen Group, May 2013
As Figure 1 shows, compared to Followers, Leaders are 43% more likely to
allow users to tailor their BI environment to meet their own specific needs
(70% vs. 49%). On average, survey respondents have 11.6 full-time
49%
47%
70%
82%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Users can tailor BI
to their needs
Corporate IT supports
users initiating /
driving projects
Percentage of respondents, n=147
Leaders
Followers
Analyst Insight
Aberdeens Insights provide the
analysts perspective on the
research as drawn from an
aggregated view of research
surveys, interviews, and
data analysis.
Leaders Defined
Based on data collected from
147 organizations in April and
May 2013, the top performing
35% of organizations (Leaders)
were segmented from
Followers (the remaining 65%)
using two criteria that reflect
their ability to generate a rapid
return on their investment in
analytics. The relative
performance of Leaders and
Followers is also shown:
Average time to achieve
positive ROI on last
major BI project:
Leaders 6.7 months,
Followers 16.3 months
Average time required
to complete a major BI
project, from
requirements definition
through to completion of
presentation layer:
Leaders 3.5 months,
Followers 9.7 months
* All results were normalized to
allow for variations due to
company size



Achieving Fast ROI for BI Projects
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2013 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897
equivalents (FTEs) of skilled IT staff engaged in implementing new BI
projects. Overall, this is used to support an average user base in excess of
3,200 people. Or, to put it another way, there are 280 BI users on average
for every FTE devoted to BI implementation. Imagine for a moment that you
are that one FTE, responsible for getting exactly the information that 280
people need, exactly when they need it, and exactly the way they want to
see it. For example, some users may want filters applied, so that they see
the subset of the available information that is relevant to them. Others may
want additional columns in a tabular report, or different types of graphical
displays in a dashboard. Is it reasonable to expect one person to implement
all the different variations and nuances that those 280 people wish to see? In
practice, even with the best will in the world, that is unlikely to happen.
Such detailed customization can and should, for the sake of a rapid ROI
be delegated to the individual users themselves. Many modern analytics
tools allow such changes to be made relatively simply through configuration,
not coding. In this way, individual users could for example:
Add a column to an hours worked report to show each employees
accrued leave.
Add color coding to an existing gauge on a dashboard display. Such
color coding is often used to quickly show when performance in a
particular metric is acceptable and when it is not.
Add an entirely new chart to an existing dashboard. A manager may,
for example, have a relatively short-term interest in keeping a keen
eye on the sales of a new product line.
This approach, end-user customization of the last mile of analytics
delivery, is even more compelling in light of the pressures driving
organizations to adopt a more flexible approach to BI. Fifty percent (50%) of
overall survey respondents cite the increasing and changing demand for
information as the top pressure they face. Allowing end-users some
flexibility to customize the solution to better meet their needs can increase
their engagement, and also bolster their commitment to making the
analytics solution an enduring success. However, how does it help to deliver
a faster return on investment? It helps by freeing dedicated IT staff to work
on tasks that are far more demanding and appropriate for their skill
set.
Not only are Leaders more likely than Followers to enable analytics users to
tailor their solution, but they are also more likely to devolve some measure
of control to them in the early stages of the analytics development cycle.
While 82% of Leaders support business managers initiating projects and
driving solution selection, only 47% of Followers do so. The history of IT is
littered with the corpses of failed projects. In many cases, projects fail
because they simply dont meet the needs of the users. Involving analytics
users earlier and deeper in the lifecycle of BI projects can help to
avoid this. For example, 67% of Leaders use an incremental and iterative
approach to the development of analytics projects. This style of
development builds projects in small chunks, rather than trying to deliver a
How to spend $5m on BI
The breakdown of the average
annual cost for business
intelligence is as follows:
Licenses / subscriptions for
data integration tools: $241k
Licenses / subscriptions for
data warehouse tools: $391k
Licenses / subscriptions for
end-user tools: $231k
New BI hardware: $353k
Services: $562k
Internal BI implementation /
support staff: $3.6m
This equates to an average
annual cost per BI user of
$1,651.
* Internal implementation and
support staff costs are calculated
as an average annual cost of
$150,000 per FTE




Achieving Fast ROI for BI Projects
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2013 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897
monolithic project all in one go. In this way, for example, BI developers are
able to take an early, potentially vague, set of requirements and quickly build
a prototype dashboard. Reviewing this prototype with potential users drives
iteration, and the incremental refinement of both solution requirements and
finished BI content. An incremental approach can help to ensure that
requirements are not outdated before they are implemented. An iterative
approach helps to keeps requirements front and center.
Beyond this, deployment options such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) also
enable business managers to have more control over their analytics
solutions. Often, SaaS (or cloud-based) business intelligence solutions are
rented month-to-month, and require little or no upfront capital investment,
and little IT skill to implement. As a result, this type of solution can appeal
to business executives who feel that their analytics needs are not a priority
for their own corporate IT department.
Maximizing Corporate IT Leverage
In addition to the average of 11.6 full-time equivalents of skilled IT staff used
to implement new analytics projects, a further 12.5 FTEs are needed to
support existing implementations (on average). To many, that may sound
like a huge BI team but those 24.1 FTEs are supporting just over 3,200 BI
users. As a result, leveraging those skilled IT staff to the full is still the order
of the day. However, as Figure 2 shows, firms that liberate the fastest return
on their investment do so to a greater extent than others. First, Leaders are
69% more likely than Followers to use a single integrated tool to develop
their BI content (76% vs. 45).
Figure 2: Integrated Solution and Ease of Deployment

Source: Aberdeen Group, May 2013
This approach can lubricate the path to a fast ROI in several ways. For
example, all IT staff responsible for developing BI assets can be trained in
this single toolset. Once up to speed, each staff member can then be
productive on many different types of BI project. That may not be possible if
multiple tools are used within the business intelligence portfolio. For
16%
30%
45%
29%
57%
76%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
SaaS / Cloud BI
BI tools with
built-in data
connectors
Single integrated BI
development tool
Percentage of respondents, n=147
Leaders
Followers
Where Does the Time Go?
Which part of a new analytics
project is the black hole,
sucking in most of the projects
resources? In short, data
preparation. Overall, survey
respondents reported the
following average allocation of
resources for new BI projects:
Assessing data quality: 13%
Cleansing or enriching data:
15%
Data integration: 22%
Data warehousing: 23%
Presentation (creating
reports, dashboards, etc.):
27%
Notably, 50% of project
resources are devoted to data
preparation before a data
warehouse is constructed and
populated. Overall, compared
to Followers, Leaders expend
more resources on data
cleansing and enrichment, and
fewer on data warehousing.
Both Leaders and Followers
expend an average of 26% to
maintain and enhance existing
analytics projects.


Achieving Fast ROI for BI Projects
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2013 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897
example, if two distinct tools are used to develop reports and dashboards,
then not all technical staff may be trained in both tools. That may lead to
bottlenecks. For instance, there may be three dashboard projects awaiting
attention, but only two IT staff members trained in the dashboard tool. On
the other hand, if all staff are proficient in a single tool, managers have more
flexibility in how they allocate those staff to projects. Project delays may be
avoided and, when a single tool is used, staff naturally become more
proficient as time goes by, building and growing their skills with each
project.
Almost twice as many Leaders also use business intelligence tools that come
complete with connectors to commonly used data sources (57% vs. 30%).
While not completely solving all data integration problems, this can provide
significant help. For example, some data integration tasks require significant
work that can be quite complex. Multiple data streams may need to be
cleaned, transformed, and integrated in order to provide the comprehensive
picture of the business that a particular project demands. On the other
hand, many BI projects are very simple, requiring the connection of just one
or two data sources. By easing such simple integration tasks, projects can be
completed faster.
Lastly, Leaders are more avid adopters of SaaS (or cloud BI) solutions than
Followers. Prior research by Aberdeen clearly shows how this class of
solution can impact return on investment rates. For example, research
published in February 2012 (SaaS BI: The Compelling Economics of Cloud-Based
Analytics) found that organizations that used SaaS spent $404 per user per
year. In contrast, firms that did not use Software-as-a-Service for their BI
implementations spent $658 per user per year. Clearly, if the investment is
lower, then the return on invest accrues faster, all other factors being equal.
However, SaaS BI solutions are also associated with faster project
development. For example, Aberdeens September 2011 research (SaaS
Business Intelligence: Driving Agility through Self-Service) found that companies
using SaaS were able to develop a new dashboard in 15 days, on average.
Comparatively, organizations that just used conventional (i.e., on-premise)
business intelligence solutions required 24 days on average.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Successful analytics requires a marriage. Both business users and corporate
IT must work smartly and work together. In particular, organizations that
wish to accelerate the rate of return on analytics investments should
consider the following:
Engage business users early and often. Earlier Aberdeen
research (Visualization: Set Your Analytics Users Free and A Simple Cost
Justification for Self-Service Analytics) has extolled the virtues of self-
service business intelligence. Namely improved information access,
lower support costs and a more pervasive use of BI throughout the
organization. In addition, this Analyst Insight encourages companies
to stretch the boundaries of how and when analytics users are
On-Time, On-Budget BI
ROI Leaders are 74% more likely
than Followers to support
business managers initiating and
driving analytics projects. This
deep and early engagement with
projects can help to ensure that
the needs of business users are
addressed. As a result:
Leaders are 30% more likely
than Followers to deliver
projects on-time or early
Leaders are 27% more likely
than Followers to deliver
projects on-budget

Leaders Outperform Followers
In addition to achieving ROI
faster and completing projects
faster, Leaders outperform
Followers in a number of core BI
metrics:
Frequency of finding
information in the time
required to inform
decisions:
Leaders 73%,
Followers 66%
Percentage of employees
with access to BI:
Leaders 36%,
Followers 27%
Percentage of BI users that
are mostly self-sufficient:
Leaders 37%,
Followers 23%

Achieving Fast ROI for BI Projects
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2013 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897
involved in BI projects. Beyond simple manipulation of data by BI
users, 70% of ROI Leaders enable these users to tailor and
customize the BI solutions that they use. This can increase
managers engagement with the solution, improve their ability to
find timely information, and free rare IT skills for more challenging
tasks. Likewise, 82% of ROI Leaders encourage business users to
initiate projects and work actively in defining and driving the
solution. As a result, Leaders are 30% more likely than Followers to
deliver analytics projects on time (59% vs. 45%).
Leverage scarce technology skills with appropriate
technology choices. Even high performing teams need the right
tools to help them succeed. And those responsible for the deep
technicalities of implementing and deploying business intelligence
have clear choices to help them achieve a faster return on
investment. Standardizing on a single tool that can address as many
BI needs as possible is a strong first step. ROI Leaders are 69%
more likely to do this than Followers even when allowing for
company size. Similarly, solutions that facilitate easy integration (via
packaged data connectors, for example) are almost twice as popular
with Leaders as they are with Followers (57% vs. 30%). Finally,
Software-as-a-Service solutions can help deliver rapid ROI too. First,
large upfront capital costs can often be avoided there is no data
warehouse server to buy, and no BI licenses to purchase. Second,
dodging these large purchases and the accompanying installation
work can accelerate provision of the solution. Third, SaaS can be
implemented with relatively meager in-house IT skills. As a result,
SaaS can be a strong option for organizations with few IT resources,
or for overstretched IT departments that may want to outsource
part of their analytics portfolio.
For more information on this or other research topics, please visit
www.aberdeen.com











Survey Demographics
The demographics of the 147
survey respondents currently
using business intelligence
were:
Headquarters: North
America 58%; Europe
29%; Asia / Pacific 11%;
Latin America 1%; Middle
East 1%
Headcount: Large (more
than 1,000 employees)
47%; midsize (between 101
and 1,000 employees) 22%;
small (100 employees or
less) 31%
Annual Revenue: Large
(greater than $1bn ) 28%;
midsize (between $50m and
$1bn) 33%; small (Under
$50m) 39%
Industry: IT consulting /
services 20%; software
17%; financial services 7%;
insurance 7%; government
/ public sector 6%;
education 5%; retail 5%;
other 33%

Achieving Fast ROI for BI Projects
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2013 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897












Related Research
Mashup Your Way to Better BI;
September 2013
Visualization: Set Your Analytics Users
Free; August 2013
Self-Service Drives the Analytic SME;
August 2013
Agile Analytics: Staying Afloat on the
Rising Tide of Information Needs; June
2013
Software-as-a-Service Helps Deliver
Satisfied Analytics Users; May 2013
A Simple Cost Justification for Self-
Service Analytics; February 2013
Packaged Analytics: The Gift that Keeps
on Giving; January 2013
BI Without Tears: Analytics without
Coding; October 2012
The Grinning CFO: How to Get a Return
on BI Projects in Less Than 4 Months;
October 2012
Pervasive Cloud BI: Analyst, Advocate,
Problem-Solver - All in One; September
2012
SaaS BI: The Compelling Economics of
Cloud-based Analytics; February 2012
SaaS Business Intelligence: Driving Agility
through Self-Service; September 2011
Author: David White, Senior Research Analyst, Business Intelligence,
(david.white@aberdeen.com);
For more than two decades, Aberdeens research has been helping corporations worldwide become Best-in-Class.
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our research is relied on by more than 2.5 million readers in over 40 countries, 90% of the Fortune 1,000, and 93% of
the Technology 500.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeens research provides insight and analysis to the Harte-Hanks community of
local, regional, national and international marketing executives. Combined, we help our customers leverage the power
of insight to deliver innovative multichannel marketing programs that drive business-changing results. For additional
information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call
(800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.
This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Groups methodologies
provide for objective fact-based research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless
otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be
reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by
Aberdeen Group, Inc. (2013a)