For the past several years, a number of companies have done very well after implementing Enterprise Data Warehouses (EDW) or have moved to the newer focus of Business Intelligence (BI).

Reviews and analysis have led me to believe that there is a marked difference in what is transpiring in many companies when they provide detailed data closer to the customer contact person, enable managers and executives to view and manage data from across multiple organizations, and combine views of data that reflect multiple resources.

Using detailed customer behavior data, along with life-stages and lifecycle data, local economic data, and then focusing on multiple channel communications to introduce changes and availabilities may provide a much reduced amount of resources utilized with a firm and also reductions in the cost of doing business. This alignment has borne out in many firms in many industries.

In past recessionary times, many leaders have exploited BI in resource management, internal financial management, product and category management, supply-chain management, business performance management, analytical marketing, and sales actions along with customer loyalty and retention.

ACHIEVEMENTS IN RECESSIONARY TIMES ?

Well, what has been observed and learned? The closer the data is to the customer, the more effective the decisions are and much quicker action. When action is taken to manage resources directly, the results are highly positive, in both the short and long-term.

Examples abound across the many case histories of firms which have succeeded in managing through recessions while also positioning their management team for acceleration in business, revenues, profits, and shareholder value. Let’s take review examples from the recession of 2002-2003 and the subsequent five years to mid-to-late 2007. Leadership firms such as Federal Express, 3M, Royal Bank of Canada, National Australia Bank (NAB), WESCO, Nationwide Insurance, NCR Corporation, BNSF, Union Pacific, METRO Germany, WellPoint, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, YUM Brands, Harrah’s Entertainment, and so on….they had all double or triple stock price appreciation during the period following the last recession (2002 to 2007). Each of these firms also won many awards for excellence in Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence, and/or creative analytical investments.

WHAT COMMON ACTIONS HAVE CREATED THIS HIGH VALUE?

Almost all of these firms have several key factors in common. First, they all built or enhanced their data warehousing and business intelligence actions in the period before or during the recession. It might be called: Strategy and Positioning. Each firm also did not drastically lower human resources or their budgets in IT/DW/BI. Each firm brought their customer and financial data faster and faster into their DW/BI infrastructure: they all provided customer-centric information as close to the decision-makers (and/or the customer themselves — online); they focused on capital investments utilization; they invested in new local locations, to lead their industries. Each gave their own people advanced tools for BI, communications, workload management, reporting procedures, and measured on a more timely basis. These step-by-step evolutionary uses of DW and BI during the recessionary periods resulted in resounding success.

WHAT WE NEED TO DO NOW!

As we proceed further into this recession, financial readjustments and new rules of doing business, enhancements to risk management and capital investment resource utilization, and desire to maintain equilibrium ... there is an opportunity for firms to now invest more in DW and BI to ensure their success and leadership in the coming periods. Learning from the leaders, repeating successes of the past, and creating knowledgeable decision-making are the hallmarks of true success.

Firms should be investing in accelerating customer relationships, achieving greater loyalty and more effective marketing with sales alignment, and to enable focused decisions by better equipped managers and employees. The time to reconfigure, reinitiate, and re-accelerate BI is critical during any recessionary period.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going" brings to mind the strengthened continuous commitment of companies who understand the effects of re-investments in their people, their customers, their products or services, their channels, their informational tools, and their capabilities.

If your company has multiple systems performing BI or multiple sets of databases (or data marts) which are highly expensive, now may be the time to discuss consolidation and "The Business Value of Increasing the Investment in DW and BI during a recessionary period". This could fund an entire program with no additional expenses to your company. It may well be worth a factor of 3x-5x in value for your company’s stakeholders.

What are you thoughts on:

• What are real roadblocks to getting high-level executives to listen and understand?
• What techniques have you utilized to overcome each of these roadblocks?
• What are the proof points that you see necessary to get increased investment in BI?
• How do you get the CMO, CSO, COO, CFO and CIO into changing investments?
• What successful cases are available for discussion?

Do you agree? What are you thoughts on this?