Drawing on years of collaboration with business and IT executives, and hosted by experienced BI professionals active in the field, this two-day product agnostic course is aimed at those who have been working on BI projects for a while and have some scars. Focusing less on technology and more on the vital skills and techniques needed for successful BI projects, the course is packed with relevant content and hands-on learning opportunities – ensuring that every delegate walks away not only inspired, but empowered to make Business Intelligence a useful reality in their company.

Target Audience

• Business Analysts
• BI Managers
• BI Architects
• BI Analysts

Prerequisites

• Business Experience
• BI BA Experience is an advantage

Course Delivery

This course combines instructor-led seminars and group work built around a comprehensive case study, enabling delegates to practice the tools and techniques covered.

Course Assessment

There is no formal assessment but delegates are required to attend all course days and actively participate in the exercises, discussions and feedback. Instructor assesses assignment solutions presented.

Agenda

Introduction

• Position BI with a Strategy  
• We dig deeper into current buzzwords, and understand the real meaning behind BI, analytics, predictive, cloud and big data, and look for practical value-add that they could bring to your organisation.

Components of Analytics

Requirements Analysis

• This is the start of everything. If we miss the real need, and build expensive solutions that don't improve business or can't adapt, then no-one wins.
• We will learn how to guide the conversation to get the information we need from the users and how to get them to ask the right questions.
• We practice how to listen, confirm and interpret, to make sure we deliver what the business needs, and not merely what they think they want.
• Requirements analysis is 80% discussion and discovery and only 20% documentation. We learn how to swing the focus.

Dimensional Data Modeling 

• The ability to consistently, quickly and accurately query the data is a fundamental crux of BI. We will revisit the core principles around dimensional data modelling, and do a few exercises. These exercises will be personalized to challenge you, depending on your knowledge level (from beginner to expert).

Visualization and dashboard design

• We will cover some important do's and don'ts when it comes to presenting figures. Whether via a snazzy mobile dashboard or standard financial reporting, there are important rules to follow.
• Get this right, and your users will feel happy using your hard-earned delivery. The ability for users to find 'the right report' in the mire of BI output can be solved. We show you how.

Wrap up

• Understanding the inter-connectedness of BI