Business Intelligence (BI) - ERP - Dashboards

Business Intelligence

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by admin

A new technology can analyze data at amazing speeds. So why is higher ed slow to adopt?

Listen to higher ed futurists and you’ll be convinced that business intelligence is the wave of the future. It is the next “it” thing that will connect every part of the enterprise. Best yet, BI will link all data, allowing disparate software programs, provided by numerous and sometimes-competing vendors, to “talk” to each other.

Admissions files will connect to financial aid information will connect to student services files will connect to academic records, and so on. The end result will be data that can actually predict what that student might do next, and even calculate financial aid needs and shifting interests.

It sounds wonderful, and BI is already fulfilling its promise at some colleges and universities. Trouble is, the BI’s potential is so vast that it remains hard to get a simple understanding of it. Each vendor has its own definition of BI. Some claim that systems such as CRM (constituent/customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) are BI technology. Others say that data warehousing, decision support systems, online analytical processing, knowledge management, and web personalization are all part of BI.

“Everyone and their uncle is calling their solution ‘business intelligence.’ ” -Nicole Engelbert, Datamonitor
So, which is it? The answer may be a little bit of all of the above and then some.

“Everyone and their uncle is calling their solution ‘business intelligence,’ ” notes Nicole Engelbert, senior analyst, public sector technology, at Datamonitor. “Institutions are asking, ‘What does this all mean to me?’ “

Most BI systems have been around for about eight years, and most of the early adopters were in the retail sector.

Engelbert offers her own clarification. ERP, for example, provides transactional reports, she explains. “ERP will give you how many students enrolled on Tuesday, or will tell you if Organic Chemistry 101 is full.” A BI system will actually digest this information, and other data, and tell the user if Organic Chem is being offered at a good time, or if the class is losing students to the Biology 101 class offered at the same time, or if the college needs to offer additional course sections.

Comparatively, CRM systems are more about transaction and functions. They will manage recruitment campaigns, alumni appeals, and other processes. They capture the contacts of those who have visited online, and then drive the related mailing of the viewbook. But while CRM systems will certainly tally who replied and which part of the campaign delivered results, it is BI that will offer a deeper analysis. BI can predict which ZIP codes will be the most promising for a mailing, and which geographic areas will have students with the least or most need for financial aid.

Many ERP vendors in the higher education sector claim to have BI capabilities. Engelbert notes that some have formed partnerships with companies that offer true BI. Datatel’s new partnerships with Business Objects and SAS, both BI providers, are good examples. Similarly, Intelliworks, a CRM provider, has a partnership with Microstrategy.

In mid-2006, Campus Management added two BI modules, thanks to partnerships with iStrategy Solutions and Noetix. One, called CampusQuery, provides analysis at a glance. The other, CampusAnalytics, can do predictive modeling.

BI systems are most noted for their speed and convenience tools that display metrics with spotlight indicators, or dashboards. These dashboards provide quick peeks on trends in real time-and do so in a format the average user can read.