BI Platform Admin Tip: Clean Up to Improve User Adoption
By 
A cluttered BI environment challenges users and can deter adoption. Few users appreciate a screen cluttered with outdated and little-used objects. To improve the situation, make the user interface an organizational priority. We recommend creating a process to track and remove unused and obsolete objects. This can help to keep menus and navigation paths as concise as possible.
To de-clutter your user environment:
- Use the standard tools in your platform to regularly measure object usage.
- Create a process to track and organize objects.
- Assign an owner and a business steward to each object, empowering each with the ability to make decisions about which items to keep and which to remove.
- Tell stakeholders about unused or little-used items and get approval to remove them.
Once changes take effect, don’t forget to communicate them to your users. They’ll be happy you’ve made it simpler for them to navigate to the information they need.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Remove Unused and Obsolete Objects
As the BI environment evolves, so will its objects. New reports and applications will replace older versions. Organizational priorities will shift usage away from some functionality and toward others. As these changes occur, it’s critical to ensure that the system mirrors the business.
To make sure it’s quick and easy for users to access the right information, ask yourself these key questions:
• Are users overwhelmed by long lists of reports and functions?
• Do you know which objects are most and least used?
• Is a process in place to remove outdated objects?
Proactive measures can strengthen user adoption and engagement—after all, no one wants to wade through menus with multiple versions of a report.
Next up: Suggestions for de-cluttering your user environment.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Simple Steps to Plan for Growth
No one in IT wants to be the bearer of bad news, especially when the news is accompanied by a hefty—and unexpected—price tag. As your BI program expands, there are ways to avoid this headache by being proactive and strategic about your future software and hardware needs.
At least once a year, audit current usage and meet with business leaders to plan for future growth. We recommend reviewing the forecast against both software licenses and hardware to ensure proper resources will be available. And, if possible, time your meetings in advance of budget cycles to ensure funding revolves around mandatory compliance rather than after-the-fact crises.
Use these techniques to help plan for growth:
• Schedule a capacity planning session at least once a year.
• Plot usage statistics over time so everyone can see the big picture.
• Review current licensing agreements. Understand your model and set up a tracking system to anticipate its limit.
• Work with corporate procurement to proactively negotiate additional licenses or hardware purchases.
Bringing corporate procurement to the table creates another ally. Planning ahead allows purchasing ample time to negotiate vendor agreements and get the best possible terms.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Take Time for Capacity Planning
As your BI program grows in usage and complexity, we recommend making sure each system component has enough capacity to avoid becoming a bottleneck in the BI environment. For example, servers need adequate memory and CPU power; databases need enough storage. Though we’re all well-intentioned, it’s not uncommon for organizations to overlook licensing compliance, resulting in a scramble to add capacity and missed opportunities for savings.
When planning for growth, ask yourself these key questions:
• Do stakeholders understand your software licensing model?
• Are license counts and usage reviewed each year?
• Do growth plans allow adequate time to negotiate new purchases with vendors?
One of the most valuable exercises is to take time to audit your current usage and forecast growth. Then, you can move licensing from a last-minute organizational ordeal to a well-negotiated exercise in purchasing and compliance.
Next up: Suggestions you can use to plan for growth.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: How to Design for Expansion
The good news: your BI platform is growing. The bad news: setting up new users eats up more and more of your valuable time. If you’re experiencing this scenario, it’s time to develop a repeatable, scalable process to manage security administration.
Start by developing a standard architecture for security settings, including templates you can apply to manage user accounts.
If your environment is complex, or users need separate accounts to access multiple systems, consider application-provisioning tools that synchronize user capabilities and rights across multiple application platforms, including BI. Automating administration can add efficiency for IT and business users. Researching your options and business benefits can show you if an upfront investment makes sense for your organization.
Our work with dozens of BI programs show that these steps are pivotal as you plan for expansion:
• Work with business leaders to identify the key user roles, such as front-line associate, supervisor and manager.
• Create account templates that define the specific system privileges for each role. Apply these settings whenever a new account is requested.
• Develop a standard scheme for user names and passwords.
• Consider application-provisioning tools to streamline user access and privileges across multiple applications.
Streamlining administration reduces manual errors and frees up resources to apply to more strategic activities.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Be Prepared to Scale Up Security Administration
As your BI platform gains traction, creating and maintaining user accounts can take up more and more of an administrator’s valuable time — especially when each new account starts from scratch. Streamlining this task can reduce manual errors and free up resources you can apply to more strategic activities.
To assess the complexity of your security administration, ask yourself these key questions:
• How often do you create or change user account settings?
• Are standard role-based templates in use?
• Is your process easily repeatable and scalable?
Working with business leaders to establish standard role-based templates for BI platform users can help ease the situation, as well as being proactive about planning for growth.
Next up: How to design your process with expansion in mind.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Resolve Issues Faster with Support Network
No single organization ever has complete visibility to all known situations that can cause BI performance issues. That’s one reason it makes sense to be involved in the broader BI community. There will always be issues that require research, outreach and even the need to bring in a troubleshooter.
We recommend staying active in online forums, keeping track of tech tips from your BI vendor, following trade associations and identifying industry experts that you can call upon when and if the need arises. These sources can help you gather tips and techniques from others who may have experienced or solved similar issues.
Some best practices to consider:
• Log issues and set aside time to address their root causes. Don’t rely on workarounds.
• Be active in the BI community. Join online administrator forums and keep current with the troubleshooting tips from your vendor.
• Identify outside experts you can call on for tough issues. Consultants who work with dozens of companies typically bring broad experience with a fresh perspective and can quickly assist.
The more you are able to broaden your perspective, the faster you’ll be able to diagnose –and resolve—core problems at their root.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Address the Root Problem, Not Just the Symptoms
Issues happen. They’re a fact of life for any system. It’s how we respond to and resolve those issues, however, that differentiates a top-notch BI program from the rest. One of the biggest challenges we’ve seen for administrators is how to separate the symptoms of a performance problem from the true root cause of the issue.
In the short-term, an operational solution can keep the platform working and protect the business from adverse impact. Yet successful administration should not stop with a temporary workaround that enables the problem to persist. Identifying the root cause is a worthwhile investment that will create a more stable and efficient BI environment over time.
To measure how well you resolve issues at the root, ask yourself:
• Do the same issues tend to recur?
• Are workarounds in place for weeks or months?
• How often do you restart your servers in order to resolve an issue?
It’s fine to reboot the server or create a workaround as a short-term fix, provided diagnosis and remediation for a long-term solution stay on the radar.
Next up: Actions you can take when symptoms arise.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Improve User Perceptions with Feedback Channel
Effective BI is about technology and data, but it’s equally important for platform administrators to be adept at managing user expectations. Our work with companies of all sizes shows that the process starts with being as responsive as possible to any issues that users bring forward.
Make it easy for users to report concerns. We recommend keeping a log of issues and making it widely accessible within the company. Most important, be proactive in communicating progress directly to those affected by the problem, and avoid placing blame when tough issues arise.
Maintain continual contact with users until perceived issues are resolved:
• Publicize how business users can ask questions and report concerns. Use multiple channels, such as email and telephone.
• Track all user requests in an online file or physical issue log.
• Follow up immediately with new requests. Share estimated completion dates, and always communicate progress and final resolution.
• Report this critical information for every issue: issue description, short-term fix, root cause analysis and the permanent solution.
Remember, a failure to communicate can often be perceived by users as a failure to act. An issue isn’t truly resolved until both IT and the user believe it is resolved.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.
BI Platform Admin Tip: Manage Issues from the User’s Perspective
Most system users expect to run into issues from time to time. They don’t expect perfection—but they do expect response. How you respond to issues that arise, whether they’re major or minor, can go a long way toward maintaining positive user perception about the BI platform and about the IT team.
Soliciting feedback from the business offers one of the easiest ways to enhance the way your team is perceived by the organization.
To build user confidence in your service, ask yourself these key questions:
• Is user feedback welcome?
• Can users track the status of their issue and its resolution?
• Is the customer service process transparent to the organization?
Successfully resolving an issue is not enough; it’s just as important to take time to fully understand the problem, then give the user an idea of what needs to happen and how long the process may take.
Next up: Suggestions for making the feedback loop easy for your users.
Get more tips like this one in our Platform Administration Field Guide, or contact a BI specialist to learn more about LancetCare, our full suite of managed care services to support your MicroStrategy platform.