News from SAPPHIRE/ASUG

The show was tremendous and the focus razer sharp.
In 2008 ASUG alone had almost 2 times the attendance that both ASUG & SAPPHIRE had this year. time are bad, we need to assure BVA (Business Value Attainment), and wastage is no longer an option.

Gartner announced that 1,500 CEO's had made BI their #1 priority in the 2009-12 period in january and then again in February 2009.

Leo followed Suite at Sapphire/ASUG at Orlando. Bill McDermott and Hasso followed suite. Have released a paper 'Roadmap to Leo/Hasso vision, Sapphire 2009'

What was established by Leo was stabalized by Bill and then forecasted by Hasso. As one walked out of the keynote presentation there was little else on the screen other than polestar, Oh! sorry BO Explorer on 50% of hte screens.

The message is CLEAR 'BI is recession proof'.

What Sapphire forgot to mention and Gartner clearly stated is that 'Doing it right is important to derive value from your BI Investments' & that business must now take ownership and IT, and technology, must become but an internal service provider to business needs.

If you derived 90% expected BVA after your BW project went live, whenever, then raise your hand. I dont have to be there but there are very few hands being raised.

If you thing that BW has a 90% possibility, from a technology and functionality point of view, of meeting your initial goals then raise your hands.
I can see a lot of hands probably being raised, some hesitently.

I can assure you it is possible

The key is doing it right..

I wrote a paper in 1996 on doing it right with SAP, then in 2001 on doing it right with BW and now it is 'Back to the Past' (quote Hasso) for I am forced to write the same paper once again.
Just also released a 9+3 reasons BI Fails that has 9 reasons given by gartner in 2006 and 3 of mine from the war zone that I feel compliment the paper.

Things have not changed - but they must.
Lets do it right this time