Today, more and more companies are trying to incorporate BI tools in their day-to-day workflows, and it’s no wonder why. Using BI systems integrated with data warehouses and business software like CRM and ERP, companies of all sizes can accurately identify business problems, get valuable insights, and make data-driven decisions. According to the survey by Harris Poll for Sisense, 92% of product decision-makers think that data and analytics are crucial to succeed in their collaboration business initiatives.
However, implementing BI software on your own is no easy task and can be fraught with many challenges like insufficient resources, lack of relevant skills, slow adoption pace, and high cost overruns. So, here are the top 7 reasons why companies should undertake the BI implementation journey with a reliable partner.
7 reasons to outsource BI implementation
Top skill
BI implementation is a complex though one-time transformation that requires specific knowledge and experience which only a few in-house IT team members can boast to have. In the meanwhile, third-party BI implementation partners are well-versed in their craft, as they invest much in their employees’ training and certification to always keep track of the latest BI innovations. Drawing on their experience accumulated from multiple completed projects and knowledge of various BI platforms, a dedicated team can help you create a solution in line with your business specifics and properly implement it.
What is more, a comprehensive BI implementation team should have specialists in data engineering and cloud services, which are important aspects of proper BI implementation, but are even more specific skills.
Finally, an experienced team can foresee potential BI implementation risks and come up with solutions to avoid them.
Access to technologies
Depending on your needs as well as the selected deployment model and platform, you may need additional configurations and customizations in your BI solution, which entails a separate development tech stack, including frameworks, APIs, testing tools, and more. Outsourcing BI implementation to a third-party provider, you will not only get access to all the necessary technologies, even advanced ones, but also eliminate the need to additionally invest in such tools.
Easy recruitment
When choosing to implement a BI system with your in-house resources, you need to either hire already certified experts or train your existing employees. While both options require time and money, recruitment and training can prove to be much more expensive, especially for smaller businesses, and are not done overnight.
It takes about a month on average to find a fitting candidate. What is more, the total cost to employ a new specialist can be three to four times the position’s salary according to SHRM, and the salary of a BI specialist reaches up to $100,000 per year. Partnering with a BI team, you forego these recruitment-related challenges. If you want every specialist to match your cultural and technical expectations, you can swiftly pre-vet candidates from a pool of the partner’s BI experts to work on your project.
Superior scalability
A BI company typically has a pool of specialists on board to add to the implementation team when needed. So, when for some reason your BI implementation requirements change or a specific task or complication arises, having a BI partner at your side saves you the trouble of finding new employees. Also, as soon as you have implemented the BI system and made all the necessary adjustments, you can easily scale down the team to the number of experts required for BI software support.
Objectivity
The fact that a third-party BI implementation company is not part of your company can also bring value to the project. Not being your subordinate makes your partner impartial and objective towards controversial matters that can emerge during BI implementation. This also gives them more freedom to suggest necessary changes or improvements even if they are contrary to your company’s established practices or C-suite’s opinions.
Better reliability
If your tech specialists resign during or after BI implementation due to various reasons, it can be challenging to keep up with the schedule, ensure project continuity, and secure proper knowledge transfer. Meanwhile, in case a tech specialist quits the partner’s team, the implementation process won’t be affected due to well-established knowledge transfer processes in companies providing BI services.
Reduced risks
Throughout multiple cases of successful (and perhaps not so successful) projects, service providers have amassed a wealth of BI implementation experience and knowledge and are well-acquainted with all the intricacies of efficient project management. This experience allows them to split the implementation process into optimal phases to reduce risks of budget overruns and project scope creep.
What is more, outsourced BI companies tend to have established risk management processes and are well-equipped to deal with any issue arising during the BI implementation process. They also have tried-and-true mitigation plans in place to eliminate the risks associated with BI implementation. So, when hiring a third-party team, you can rest assured your BI implementation project is in safe hands.
On a final note
Businesses of all sizes take advantage of modern BI solutions to make data-driven and effective decisions. Assisted by an experienced BI partner, companies can spend less time and effort on BI implementation and make data-powered decisions much faster. Delegating a part or full implementation process to a BI service provider is a great way to achieve actionable results with fewer investments.
