During such difficult and rapidly changing times, it would be hard to argue against the importance of business intelligence for providing executives, managers and front-line knowledge workers with the tools they need to use information effectively. While it has always been tough to measure the exact impact of BI and data warehousing on overall business performance, it is certain that in many organizations, implementation of BI and data warehouse tools and technologies has forever changed how users access, analyze, report and share data. Excellence in these activities is for many organizations as important as transaction or process efficiency, and essential to the cycle of improvement. In other words, no matter how bad things get, it is unlikely that organizations will turn away from BI and go back to more primitive tools and methods.
Yet, there is also little doubt that BI and data warehousing providers and professionals will have to adjust to a deflated world and refashioned expectations and objectives. There will be less patience with delays in the development and deployment of systems and promised returns on investment. The margin for error will be tighter, with fewer second chances. CIOs, CTOs and business analysts will be under pressure to manage costs associated with information analysis and reporting.
Source: Intelligent Enterprise