1. Start with a clear strategy and roadmap

Before you start developing or purchasing anything, make a clear view on what you expect of the platform and what do you expect in the future.
Making the organization think about a strategy and future plans ensures that the solution has a better fit on the expectations the organizations has.
When you start implementing without a clear strategy it will increase the hazard the solution won’t fit these expectations with an expensive and unused system as a result.
Don’t forget to take in account the requirements that will come in the future.

2. Make sure there is enough support in the entire organization

A new system that cost time and money needs acceptation from the entire organization to succeed. Make sure the right stakeholders are backing up the project and are willing to invest time and money for a proper Information platform.
As enough stakeholders support the project, you’ll see the implementation can be done quite faster and thus less costly.

3. Choose the solution that fits your organizations requirements and future plans

With an overload of BI solutions and reporting tools it is hard to find the right fit for you organization. Take your time to investigate which solution has the best fit regarding your strategy and future plans.
Don’t be fooled by fancy sales pitches, instead keep track of your own requirements and feasibility and compare different solutions.

4. Involve the complete organization with the implementation of your information platform

When starting the implementation make sure enough stakeholders are involved during this process. The stakeholders are the customers and users of the new platform, so let them provide input on how they want to use the platform.
Think ‘business, and not too much ‘IT’ when developing. Having the end users involved in the project they get the feeling they are part of the solution and that creates more and faster acceptance in using the platform.

5. Provide continuous governance and maintenance of your platform to ‘keep it alive’

Building a platform is the first step. But perhaps the most important step is to make sure the organization keeps using the platform in the best way possible. This implies an organization has to put up some kind of governance and keep the platform updated as the requirements changes continuously. Not allowing your platform to keep track of the changing requirements will end up in a mismatch between tools and requirements and thus an unused environment.

Are you planning to (re) implement an information platform and struggling with the first steps to take? If you need more advice on this very important area do not hesitate to contact one of our experienced Business Intelligence consultants at info@foodware365.com.