We recently interviewed BPM Partners’ John Colbert, who talked about five common attributes of failed business intelligence projects. One of these attributes is customization.
“We caution businesses against significant customization of business intelligence applications and tools,” advises John Colbert, vice president of research and analysis for BPM Partners.
While businesses all have unique issues and scenarios, there are many business intelligence applications that fit a certain level of uniqueness. Software vendors have put in the time and effort to develop applications that do a great deal of what users need them to do. Rather than customize that code, Colbert recommends businesses configure the software for their specific needs.
“It’s better to turn on the ‘bells and whistles’ of the business intelligence software package, than to go off and end up with what is essentially customized code,” cautions Colbert.
Customizing business intelligence applications is a risky proposition. Not only does it increase the time and costs related to the business intelligence project, but it also becomes a person-based initiative. Once a business intelligence application includes a significant amount of customization, the company is then reliant upon the individuals who developed the customized code. The risk ranges from poor documentation to staff turnover, to costs to change the customized code to adapt to changing business requirements.
Kelley Kassa
Spotfire Blogging Team
Image Credit: BPM Partners
