Plan the Project 31
NOTE
In addition to ROI, sometimes outside pressures like competitive activity
or changing market conditions are also weighed in the justification process.
Project teams are most often asked to predict the return on investment
before the DW/BI system is built. Of course, it is easier and more believable
to retroactively assess the return on investment after the solution is imple-
mented. Even if a pre-project estimated ROI is required, we strongly encourage
post-implementation monitoring of ROI as a great tool for proactively docu-
menting the ongoing business benefits of the DW/BI environment.
Clearly, improved business decisions depend on people and processes, but
the DW/BI system is an enabler. As better decisions are made based on
DW/BI information and analyses, the project should take credit for at least a
portion of the financial impact of those decisions. But don’t get greedy; it’s not
necessary. We have found that consistently taking only 10 percent of the credit
for bottom line improvements eventually yields an enormous number that you
can ‘‘take to the bank.’’ For example, if the credit department decides to grant
more liberal credit to a group of customers after using the DW/BI system, the
financial implications of this decision should be claimed. Likewise the decision
should be claimed if the store operations group decides to merchandise the
stores differently as a result of using the DW/BI system. Once these kinds of
decisions are claimed, calculating the ROI is relatively straightforward. The
DW/BI project/program manager needs to be on alert for decisions that can be
legitimately claimed as enabled or impacted by the project. Finally, if over time
you’ve been putting the DW/BI system’s contributions ‘‘in the bank,’’ you’ll
gradually create a culture that understands the need for strategic investments
to support business decision making.
Plan the Project
Bravo, you have defined the initial project and gained approval and funding to
move forward! What next? You are now ready to do detailed project planning.
In this section, we describe key considerations for getting the project staffed
and building the overall project plan. But first, we deal with the project’s
identity crisis.
Establish the Project Identity
Your project needs a name. The name should be distinctive and memorable.
Like most systems initiatives, the name you select is often reduced to an
acronym, such as PAM for the Pricing Analysis for Marketing project; luckily
it wasn’t called the Strategic Pricing Analysis for Marketing project instead.

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