Last week ConradBI had the honor of providing the case study and data set for the Oklahoma State University Datathon.  The experience was challenging and fulfilling!  For us, the hardest part was creating a case study that could be worked by business students at all different analytical levels.

After many hours and multiple trial runs, we were able to produce a business challenge where a team with minimal BI experience could provide a good answer while a team with significant BI experience could provide a great answer.  Both levels of teams could compete because they were judged by their process, execution, and professionalism.  The students did awesome with this – each team approached their solution from a different perspective – all teams gained real-world experience in solving a business problem with analytics – it was super fulfilling.  One of my favorite parts was walking through the halls seeing the students working hard together with our data on their screens.  It was surreal.

While working with the students I was reminded of something in BI that is often overlooked – providing understandable usability of your analytical solution to the business unit.  You could have the greatest analytical model using the best technology but if it’s not understandable or usable by the business itself, then it is of no use.

The need for an easy-to-work-with solution starts from the initial delivery presentation and is then amplified when the model is put to the test with businesspeople using it.  As BI professionals we need to be able to clearly demonstrate and explain how we use business intelligence to better an organization.  We need to be able to share our complex processes in ways that can be consumed by non-techie intelligent businesspeople.  AND our visuals need to work in conjunction with this explanation.  Our mission is to provide continual actionable insights that can be understood and used by the business to make real decisions that better the organization.

Here at ConradBI, we have honed our skills on bridging the gap between complex BI approaches and smart businesspeople.  We’d love to have the opportunity to experience BI with you!