Conduct the Business intelligence and analytics design workshop
The Business intelligence and analytics design workshop will be facilitated by the solution architect, but the expectation is that the implementation team will present the information. An owner within the implementation team should be assigned for this workshop. At the beginning of the session, that owner should present an overview of the scope and plans, including designs that apply to that aspect of the solution. The team should plan for that summary to take between 25-50 percent of the allotted time, but no more. The remainder of the time should be reserved for questions and answers with the solution architect.
Tip
The implementation team leadership should work with the solution architect ahead of the workshop to shape the agenda and timings for the session.
Business intelligence and analytics design outputs
The output of the Business intelligence and analytics design workshop is a findings document. This document is a response to information that has been provided as preparation for this workshop or during the workshop. These findings will generally be one of three types:
Assertions - These findings relate to specific aspects of the solution that the solution architect wants to call out as architecturally significant. These assertions might not represent a specific risk or issue but might be foundational to the solution; therefore, they should be noted because, if they change, they will have significant impact. These assertions might relate to specific scope items, design aspects of the solution architecture, or implementation approach or technique.
Risks - These findings represent an aspect of the solution or implementation approach that constitutes a risk that should be tracked on the project. These risks could relate to existing plans, approaches, or designs that have an observed potential for negative outcomes. They could also be related to areas of the solution that simply have not been adequately explored yet, and as such, represent a risk that something unexpected could come up. These findings will be accompanied by a statement of what is viewed as a risk along with recommended mitigation steps.
Issues - These findings represent an aspect of the solution or implementation approach that constitute an issue that is negatively impacting the implementation or, if not corrected, will have a negative impact. These findings will be accompanied by a statement of what the impact is or will be, along with recommended resolution steps.
The findings document will be distributed to all stakeholders, and a meeting will be held to review the findings in detail. The document will go to the implementation leadership and executive sponsors in both organizations. Occasionally, these finding documents can be lengthy, in which case, an executive summary that highlights key and critical findings is provided for better consumption by executives.