A Flexible BI Outsourcing Model

Earmark specific tasks, manage handoff points, and measure results step-by-step

BI Outsourcing offers a comprehensive plan to help you define the business intelligence or data warehouse (BI/DW) work to be outsourced, assess the risks of doing so, and follow through with a robust testing and measurement process to ensure that all tasks are executed according to your development standards.

The deliverable earmarks tasks for outsourcing, while being mindful to retain in-house the business skills requisite for BI development and key knowledge about data subject matter and database design.

» Your Challenges
» The Problem
» The Baseline Approach
» Your Value
» Why Baseline

Your Challenges

• Evaluating BI as a realistic candidate for outsourcing
• Identifying potential risks and rewards
• Maintaining BI as part of your strategic portfolio
• Determining which BI activities to outsource
• Ensuring outsource partner has right skills and experience
• Defining what “project completion” means
• Managing decentralized development while adhering to headquarters standards

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The Problem

How to decouple development tasks while keeping key knowledge in-house

Outsourcing is standard operating procedure in most IT departments today and business intelligence and data warehousing programs are candidates. While there are significant cost benefits to outsourcing, your information backbone is central to your business strategy and the competitiveness of your company. Should you outsource ownership of its design or maintenance? If so, which functions and how do you manage the process?

Knowing what to outsource is as important as choosing the appropriate outsourcing partner. Understanding how to decouple development tasks while leaving key knowledge and activities in-house is critical. Determining mission critical capabilities versus what is considered “routine” or “commodity” work can be subjective and based more on anecdote than on fact.

Complexity Increases as Outsourcer Responsibilities Grow

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The Baseline Approach

Structure service level agreements by scope of responsibility outsourced

We begin the BI Outsourcing activity by identifying the “as is” BI development process, critical success factors, and key development tasks. We work with you to determine a candidate list of outsourcing firms and to define the explicit expertise and skills required. We build a “transition roadmap” that outlines the processes and handoff points involved in both development and knowledge transfer. This includes identifying the in-house subject matter experts and the systems and processes they support, as well as planning for training sessions and job shadowing as appropriate.

The final phase of the BI Outsourcing service is a pilot project to test co-development between your company and your outsourcing partner. Baseline acts as the program management office (PMO) during this activity. We define key tasks like “design”, set development standards, and ensure that delivery is thorough and timely.

As the pilot progresses, Baseline provides specific recommendations for job handoffs, ongoing knowledge transfer, and tests and audits so you can measure success every step of the way.

During the BI Outsourcing engagement, Baseline performs the following tasks:

• Document the success metrics for outsourcing BI.
• Review IT infrastructure to ensure that external development can be supported.
  Verify that corporate policies, such as privacy and compliance, will allow external access to systems and data.
• Assist in developing contracts and service level agreements (SLA).
• Ramp up the PMO to support the outsourcer with appropriate SLA and management metrics.
• Evaluate existing code documentation and complete new standards for annotated code.
• Ensure that a robust testing process is available to support external development.
• Plan training curriculums for outsource partners.
• Arrange job shadowing and mentoring programs.
• Create a rigorous and bi-directional communications plan.

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Your Value

Retain critical knowledge assets and minimize disruption

Baseline’s BI Outsourcing service gives you a structured way to plan for and transition BI programs to your outsource partner.

If you are new to outsourcing, we offer a comparison of outsourcing alternatives. If you’ve already chosen an outsourcing partner, we provide an objective and structured perspective of success criteria and measurements.

Baseline helps you set up a BI outsourcing model which maximizes efficiencies while minimizing disruption and retaining critical intellectual property and knowledge assets in-house. You minimize your risks and secure adequate knowledge transfer by managing handoffs in a series of steps with assigned owners and timeframes.

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Why Baseline

Tailoring scope of outsourcing effort comparable to your project goals

Baseline understands that all outsourcing projects are not created equal. As the responsibilities assigned to outsourcers grows, the complexity of service level agreements (SLA) and delivery skills increases.

In our experience managing BI outsourcing programs on behalf of our clients, we have learned that the scope and objectives of an outsourcing effort can differ by company, department, and type of project. These differences manifest themselves in deliverables, timeframes, process handoff points, service level agreements, communications, and success measurement. Baseline specializes in creating clear and deliberate lists of your company’s expectations for the outsourcing firm.

When corporate objectives or project goals change, Baseline’s approach ensures that you maintain the flexibility to change direction without being completely dependent on the offshore company. Baseline is experienced in leveraging external resources while maintaining your overall strategic direction.

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