Creating a BI Team
By 
I am late in posting this to my blog series. Truthfully, I have been working on it for a while, and each time I started it the content seemed un-genuine, lacking sincerity. I get asked this question with some frequency, and I often answer with something like: “You will need a BI report developer, a couple ETL developers, a BI architect, a few report consultants (folks that serve your end customer), and a BI leader. And, that’s all true, varying slightly on how large your budget and organization is. But what I have come to realize is that people generally aren’t asking me what roles, but what type of people, should fill these roles.
When I think of each of these roles I see the faces of the people I have worked with over the years that are the perfect fit for the role. My friend Rao, who is the best ETL developer I have ever known. Harold, an architect in every sense of the word; a whole team of creative developers that would tell me I was asking for the impossible and deliver it anyway. So, when I consider how to create a team I know that there is a fair amount of art to this task.
As you begin this task you have to determine the level of expertise you need for each role. Technical prowess, communication skills and innovativeness are always on my top three. It’s also important to consider a good organizational fit. If you have a very traditional, hierarchical organization then avoid the ‘maverick’ report developer that thinks standards are for wimps. If you have a small organization where everyone wears multiple hats then avoid the person that has honed their skill at a large organization where keeping in the confines of your job grade is rewarded. For those roles on the ‘softer’ side of BI, such as data governance and the ‘report consultants’ I mentioned earlier, my focus is excellent communication skills, the ability to navigate politically charged situations with charm and grace. I can teach them the ins and outs of BI; it’s harder to teach someone how to respond in a highly emotional situation. Another good blog post on this topic is from Wayne Eckerson at TDWI on ‘Purple People’ and it has nothing to do with the Vikings (Go Titans!).
Organizing your Team
I am a big proponent of keeping the Business in Business Intelligence. I highly recommend that a good chunk of your BI team resides in the business, preferably reporting directly to the executive sponsor. Your BI leader, report developers, data governance, and report consultants should all reside on the BI team. The folks that have more technical skills such as the ETL developers and architects should stay in IT, specifically Information Management. However you design your organization you need to make sure that there is alignment between IT and the Business. Any disconnect here allows for a misaligned incentives and increases the likelihood of failure. Even if you have the BI leader and IM leader serve two masters (CIO and executive sponsor) it’s better than having the first organizational connection at the CEO level.
A good team is the difference between success and failure. No pressure.
