One Washington
Business Intelligence Strategy 2.0
March 2020
Table of Contents
Section 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Background, Purpose and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Guiding Principles ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Section 2 BI Strategy and Action Plan ......................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Overview of Initiatives ....................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1.1 Enterprise Reporting and Analytics .................................................................................................... 6
2.1.2 BI Governance .............................................................................................................................................. 9
2.1.3 Change Management ............................................................................................................................... 13
Section 3 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................................... 15
Appendix A ............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual model ................................................................................................................................................ 5
Figure 2: Deploy analytics foundation ............................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 3: Deploy advanced analytics ............................................................................................................................... 8
Figure 4: Align with data governance efforts ............................................................................................................. 10
Figure 5: Enable BI capabilities ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 6: Deploy and operate BI capabilities ............................................................................................................. 12
Figure 7: Deploy enhanced BI processes ..................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 8: Integrate change management with BI strategy ................................................................................... 14
SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
One Washington’s goal is to improve access to data that is accurate, readily available and useful to
decision makers. Business intelligence is a critical component of this commitment. BI consists of the
strategies and technologies used by enterprises for data analysis of business information. BI
technologies provide historical, current and predictive views of business operations. The BI strategy
provides an actionable plan for the tasks and tools required to deliver information efficiently and
effectively to meet the needs of business decision makers.
The BI strategy describes the initiatives that OneWa program will employ to achieve the
commitment for accurate, available and useful data. These initiatives are:
Enterprise reporting and analytics
BI governance
Change management
1.2 BACKGROUND, PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
OneWa is a comprehensive business transformation initiative to improve business processes and
modernize aging business systems through the implementation of an ERP solution. OneWa impacts
these statewide core business functions: finance, procurement, budget, human resources and payroll.
The BI strategy outlines how business reporting and analytics will be leveraged to enable enterprise,
data-driven insights and decision-making. The initiatives are intended to define and build required
capabilities, identify technology needs and ensure resources are identified, available and reliable for
BI implementation.
Note: Version 2 of the Business Intelligence Strategy was created to update and clarify the BI work
that will be done as part of the modernization of the state’s legacy enterprise systems. Previous
versions, while good for reference, should not be used for workload or timeline.
1.3 GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The guiding principles for the OneWa BI strategy have been set forth by the OneWa executive steering
committee and were utilized to guide the development of this strategy:
Synchronize the BI implementation with ERP: the BI capabilities for finance, procurement,
budget, and HR/payroll will be deployed incrementally in accordance with the ERP schedule.
This approach helps users learn, maximizes the use of new data as it becomes available and
provides increasingly-complex reports and analytics over time.
Procure BI software with the ERP software procurement: the software selection for the
ERP will include technical specifications and business capabilities for BI software to support
BI reporting needs across all finance, procurement, budget and HR/payroll business
functions.
Mature BI capabilities over time: BI capabilities, including the design and development of
a prioritized set of dashboards, reports and scorecards, will be established incrementally and
matured over time as additional data becomes available.
SECTION 2 BI STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN
To support the goal of accurate, available and useful data, this document describes an actionable
strategy including the activities, resources, people, process and technology considerations required
to support the state’s BI needs. A detailed work plan will be created once the software is chosen and
implementation begins.
2.1 OVERVIEW OF INITIATIVES
The following initiatives serve the purpose of deploying a successful BI future state solution as
outlined in the conceptual model as well as building BI capabilities in the enterprise in alignment
with the deployment of the ERP solution.
The state currently uses an on premise installation of SAP Web Intelligence and Microsoft Powerbase
for its BI needs. It is anticipated that these tools will continue to be utilized in the future along with
additional BI tools procured with the ERP solution. See figure 1 for a conceptual model.
Figure 1: Conceptual model
2.1.1 ENTERPRISE REPORTING AND ANALYTICS
IMPLEMENT FOUNDATIONAL AND ADVANCED ENTERPRISE REPORTING AND ANALYTICS
CAPABILITIES FOR BETTER, FASTER AND INFORMED DECISION-MAKING. FOCUS ON
IMPLEMENTATION OF A RATIONALIZED SET OF REPORTS, DASHBOARDS AND SCORECARDS FOR
STAKEHOLDERS IN A WELL-GOVERNED, BI ENVIRONMENT.
The enterprise reporting and analytics initiative will create common enterprise and reporting
capabilities across the five business functions in scope for the OneWa program in alignment with the
timeline for the ERP implementation activities. This is designed to establish the future state BI and
analytics capabilities and to consistently meet business needs.
The enterprise reporting and analytics initiative will be conducted in two stages:
1. Deployment of initial dashboards, score cards and reporting for foundational capabilities.
2. Deployment of advanced analytics and advanced capabilities as part of the ERP incremental
releases.
The anticipated outcomes are:
Reporting capabilities deployed.
Availability of dashboards and reports increased.
Self-service increased.
Use of analytics increased.
Executive style reports and dashboards.
The benefits include:
Improved insight-based decision-making.
Increased confidence in accuracy and quality of data.
Increased business operational efficiencies.
Increased auditing functionality.
Established culture for consistent and shared use of BI capabilities.
Decreased time to respond to BI requests.
The enterprise reporting and analytics initiative will be executed in stages in alignment with the
deployment of the ERP solution. Enterprise analytics and reporting will first focus on the initial
finance and purchase-to-pay business processes with additional enterprise reporting activities
planned with the implementation of expanded financial and procurement functions followed by
budget and HR/payroll function deployments.
During the initial deployment, the enterprise reporting and analytics initiative will focus on
establishing foundational BI capabilities including design and development of a prioritized set of
dashboards, reports and scorecards. During this time, it is imperative that the BI solution address
the needs of end users and decision makers.
Enterprise
Reporting and
Analytics
Reporting and data analytics will be enhanced with the release of additional functionality. As
additional data becomes available, gaps will be closed and BI functionalities will be expanded.
DEPLOY ANALYTICS FOUNDATION – DASHBOARDS, SCORECARDS AND REPORTING
Figure 2: Deploy analytics foundation
Objectives
Key Milestones
Anticipated Benefits
• Identify desired BI needs and
capabilities required for
procurement related activities
• Deliver user interface for
foundational reporting, dashboards
and analytics that encompasses
those dashboards and analytics
found in corresponding legacy
systems
• Intend to replace current reports
and meeting business needs
incrementally
• Define reporting business capabilities
and technical specifications.
• Integrate ETL data
• Develop semantic layer
• Develop UI layer
• Complete testing
• Deploy BI tool
• Establish report request management
process
• Reduced workload for the
reporting team by having
clarity on standards and
technology for reporting
Critical Success Factors
Organizational Impacts
• Availability of required BI capabilities to support BI activities
• Ability to prioritize and execute most critical reporting needs
• Change management activities to support BI adoption
• Train on the new BI
interface
• Change how reports are
requested, serviced and
delivered
• Implement a BI self-service
user interface
Key Activities
• Create inventory of specific use cases, business decisions or outcomes that need to be supported by the future state
BI solution
• Inventory existing reports, dashboards, scorecards and analytics that meet identified needs
• Identify gaps between existing reports, dashboards, scorecards and analytics and the desired future needs
• Deploy analytics foundation
• Identify data sourcing needs
• Develop ETL processes based on ERP data model
• Develop semantic layer
• Develop user interface
• Test solution
• Train solution
• Deploy solution
Potential Risks
• Availability of resources to build the needed reporting tools is limited due to current resource availability
• Unclear business capabilities and technical specification definitions leads to reports and outputs that don’t support the
actual needs of business users, driving business users back to use of shadow systems
• Insufficient requirements, analysis and testing lead to deployment of reports that don’t add business value
DEPLOY ADVANCED ANALYTICS
Figure 3: Deploy advanced analytics
Objectives
Key Milestones
Anticipated Benefits
• Establish capabilities for advanced
and predictive ad hoc reporting
• Identify and prioritize opportunities for
dashboards, scorecards and advanced
analytics
• Identify data sources to support
opportunity
• Complete modeling
• Deploy foundational capabilities
• Reduced costs for reporting
• Deeper insights by using
advanced analytical
techniques and devices
Critical Success Factors
Organizational Impacts
• Clear business processes in place for the identification and prioritization of
automation and report development initiatives
• Allocate resources to the implementation of each of the business functions
• Clear benefits defined
• New BI solution should support existing analytics and reports upon implementation
• New skill needed for
analytics
• New analytics process to be
designed and built
Key Activities
• Identify and prioritize advanced analytics opportunities
• Source external and internal data
• Conduct data mining
• Develop supporting models
• Gather lessons learned
Potential Risks
• Alignment on prioritization requires too much time
2.1.2 BI GOVERNANCE
ALIGN BI IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES WITH THE ONEWA DATA GOVERNANCE EFFORTS TO ENSURE
CONSISTENT SOURCING AND USE OF QUALITY AND RELIABLE DATA. FOCUS ON IMPROVING
COMMUNICATIONS, STANDARDIZATION, CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION AND TRUST OF DATA.
The goal of the BI governance initiative is to leverage common data governance processes across ERP
and the BI solution to enable common understanding of data across the OneWa program. A BI sub-
committee will set policies and standards across the enterprise to ensure best practices are followed.
The BI governance initiative will be conducted in four stages:
1. Alignment of BI governance with the OneWa data governance efforts.
2. Enabling BI capabilities.
3. Deployment and enhancement of BI capabilities.
4. Deployment of enhanced BI processes.
The anticipated outcomes are:
Enterprise BI model and organization aligned.
Enterprise BI implemented.
Enterprise collaboration increased.
The benefits include:
Consistent alignment of BI priorities and execution of activities.
Improved cross-functional BI reporting and analytics among business and technology
stakeholders across the business processes.
Increased transparency and common understanding of data across the business processes.
The BI governance initiative will be executed in alignment with the deployment of the ERP solution.
BI Governance
ALIGN BI GOVERNANCE WITH ONEWA DATA GOVERNANCE EFFORT
Figure 4: Align with data governance efforts
Objectives
Key Milestones
Anticipated Benefits
• Establish an enterprise-wide BI
governance subcommittee
• Identify common BI governance
processes
• Integrate BI Lead into existing data
governance advisory committee
• Identify governance roles and
responsibilities
• Adopt BI templates, policy, processes
and standards
• Program alignment around
resources and priorities
• Achieve the commitment to
accurate, available and
useful data
Critical Success Factors
Organizational Impacts
• Actively engaged executive sponsorship
• Leadership commitment across the enterprise
• Use of best practices for BI
• Business process changes
in managing and prioritizing
reporting
Key Activities
• Align BI and data governance activities
Potential Risks
• Time limitations of senior leaders and decision makers to support governance decisions
• Misalignment around BI governance standards
• Insufficient BI resources
• Scope of BI governance needs exceed the scope of this initiative
ENABLE BI CAPABILITIES
Figure 5: Enable BI capabilities
Objectives
Key Milestones
Anticipated Benefits
• Establish BI processes and tools
• Train BI team members
• Establish policies
• Establish processes
• Improved communications
between teams
Critical Success Factors
• Alignment of ERP and BI implementation activities
Key activities
• Train BI governance committee members
• Establish BI processes
• Execute and evolve BI processes
• Establish BI policies
Potential Risks
• Time constraints of key staff
DEPLOY AND OPERATE BI CAPABLITIES
Figure 6: Deploy and operate BI capabilities
Objectives
Key Milestones
Anticipated Benefits
• Drive training and employee
engagement on BI standards
• Develop employee communications plan
• Implement employee communications
plan
• Develop and deploy end user training
• Incorporate BI into new employee
training
• Improvement in BI reporting
processes
• Improved communication
between stakeholders
Critical Success Factors
Organizational Impacts
• Mandatory training on BI processes
• Effective and broad-reaching communications from senior leadership to staff
• Measures built into performance to focus on correct data usage
• Incorporate BI training into employee training regimens to reinforce BI capabilities
• Training of employees in
new BI standards and
procedures; role and
responsibility changes will
be required
• Workflow of BI and
reporting will change
Key activities
• Deliver end user training
• Incorporate training into on-boarding
• Refine and evolve end user training (ongoing)
Potential Risks
• Ineffective change management and leadership commitment may result in stakeholders not adopting to new
governance processes and standards
• Lack of understanding of the case for change
DEPLOY ENHANCED BI PROCESSES
Figure 7: Deploy enhanced BI processes
2.1.3 CHANGE MANAGEMENT
ENSURE TIMELY ADOPTION AND PROFICIENCY OF THE NEW TOOLS AND PROCESSES, AS WELL AS TO
REDUCE PRODUCTIVITY LOSS DURING THE TRANSITION. FOCUS ON MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE AND
AVOIDING DUPLICATE EFFORTS AND EXTRA COSTS BECAUSE OF THE BI IMPLEMENTATION
ACTIVITIES.
The change management initiative leverages the OneWa change management capabilities in support
of all BI initiatives.
The anticipated outcomes are:
BI change management needs identified.
BI related change management communication and training deployed.
The benefits include:
Minimize business disruptions due to uncommunicated change.
Increase adoption of new tools, technology and processes.
Avoid duplicate efforts and extra cost of managing BI related changes.
Objectives
Key Milestones
Anticipated Benefits
• Build and implement processes to
ensure standards are met for data
sourced from ERP system of record
• Identify and report on key BI KPIs
and metrics
• Define BI capabilities and technical
specifications
• Maximized business
outcomes, improved
usability and improved data
quality reporting and
analytics.
Critical Success Factors
Organizational Impacts
• Creation of a clear set of BI rules based on the defined standards
• Reporting and analysis
process will change
Key activities
• Identify BI processes using policies and standards based on business rules
Potential Risks
• There is lack of clarity in business capabilities and technical specification needs.
Change
Management
The change management initiative aligns BI activities with the change management activities of the
OneWa program.
INTEGRATE BI NEEDS WITH PROGRAM CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Figure 8: Integrate change management with BI strategy
Objectives
Key Milestones
Anticipated Benefits
• Integrate BI change management
into the change management
strategy
• Identify BI change management
approach
• Integrate change management strategy
• Deploy change management solutions
• Minimize the impacts of
changes resulting from the
BI initiatives and increase
adoption of new tools,
technology and processes
that are implemented.
Critical Success Factors
Organizational Impacts
• Key stakeholders’ participation and engagement
• Leadership support
• Solutions are implemented appropriately
• End user adoption of new solutions
• The change management
efforts will support the
adoption of new processes
Key Activities
• Identify BI change management needs
• Integrate BI needs with program change management strategy and plan
• Develop communication message and trainings
• Deploy communication and trainings
• Transfer to on-going maintenance
Potential Risks
• Inactive or ineffective executive sponsorship
• Late or insufficient change management efforts or resources
