The Nonsense of Application BI
By 
I read an article a couple of weeks ago that supported the idea of application BI (i.e. siloed BI). The reasons were many; it’s easier, faster, and cheaper and provides some value. I admit that my initial response was disdain. But, I felt that I shouldn’t dismiss the idea out of hand. After all, we are all looking for cheaper and easier ways to provide value. So, I processed it for a while, “noodled” on it if you will. I wanted to challenge my traditional BI practitioner ideals and try “application BI” on for size. After some serious consideration I have decided my initial reaction of disdain was spot on.
My dad always says “If you’re going to do something, do it right”. While I understand the appeal of application BI there is one fundamental flaw. The true value in BI is integration, a cohesive and systematic view of your business through data. You cannot do that if you only have BI isolated to one data source via an application. The value is limited and as an organization you will still have to invest in data storage, BI and ETL applications.
If you want cheap and easy with good value it’s possible that Enterprise BI isn’t for you. But, as my dad always says “Nothing worth having is ever easy.”
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