Business Intelligence and Information Technology

December 1, 2008 from CIO Today – “Business intelligence (BI) is all about improving decision-making -- as is the role of the management accountant. Yet most people who attend BI conferences are IT specialists. So far, there have been few converts from finance. Even if a chief information officer can persuade a firm to invest in BI, the benefits it offers cannot be delivered without engaging the organization to use it. BI could release many management accountants from the budgeting and reporting cycle and allow them to support decision-making more effectively. They have important roles to play in helping to realize BI's potential...

Most large organizations already have an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and database. These are the core, and usually the most costly, building blocks of the BI stack. BI reporting and analysis tools could give nontechnical business users access to the data already captured. An investment in BI could be seen as an incremental cost to release the potential in this data…”

180 View – The article offers insights into the business case and implementation of BI. In our opinion, ERP investment should include Business Intelligence.