What? So what? Then what? … Why not?

One of the problems with business intelligence (BI) information is that it does not always complete the task, e.g. solve a problem or move to the next step of creating and realizing value. I refer to this syndrome as “What? So what? Then what?” My concern is that many organizations use BI to answer only the first question. Then they are stymied when it comes to answering the next two questions.

The power of converting raw data into info…

One of the problems with business intelligence (BI) information is that it does not always complete the task, e.g. solve a problem or move to the next step of creating and realizing value. I refer to this syndrome as “What? So what? Then what?” My concern is that many organizations use BI to answer only the first question. Then they are stymied when it comes to answering the next two questions.

The power of converting raw data into information, which BI does so well, is in answering the next two questions. That is where you increasingly add value for decision making with each subsequent answer. The “what? information is useful for managers and employees to more clearly observe and understand outcomes that may have never seen before. It reports the reality of what has happened. Predictive analytics reports the possibility of what will happen.

However, an obvious follow-up question should be “So what?” What do I mean by this?
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