How to define enterprise-level business requirements? Part5

Analytics Application

How to plan the initial business process dimensional model implementation and gather project-level business requirements:

• Define the basic requirements first, and then build on these basic requirements in subsequent phases.


• Logically integrated. "An analytic application is first and foremost an application. That means that some degree of business logic is embedded in the application that helps users navigate through a series of tasks, among other things. In the transactional world, an application steps users through a series of data entry screens and validates their inputs. In the analytical world, an application steps users through a series of interactive reports or views of dimensional data, ideally leading to the point of action—a decision, plan, or request for more information. While savvy power users may not need navigational logic, the bulk of users who view reports once or twice a week need guided analytics to help them effectively analyze data and take action. This navigational guidance can take many forms. In a custom-built application, users may push a button to move to the next report or logical view. Or they may traverse a hierarchical tree of reports, tabbed worksheets, or a briefing book; or they may select predefined filters in a parameterized report. In addition, some BI tools offer users context-sensitive recommendations for the next reports they should view or actions they should take. For example, dashboards and scorecards offer built-in navigational logic via graphical icons whose colors, shape, or direction inform users what metrics and data to examine in which order. " Pasted from http://www.tdwi.org/publications/display.aspx?id=7474


• A prototype can be used as a way to guide the user towards defining the business information they need