FREE DM Review Site Registration!
Sign-up today and access DM Review on the Web!

Your FREE registration entitles you to:
FREE email newsletters

FREE access to all DM Review content

FREE access to web seminars, resource portals, our white paper library and more!

   

Survey Reveals Majority of U.S. Companies Have Not Conducted ROI Studies for Business Intelligence Investments

Noetix Corp. unveiled results from a market survey conducted to better understand the overall role of return on investment (ROI) analysis within IT, and more specifically the key metrics for measuring ROI for business intelligence. The survey revealed that although 95 percent of companies do conduct ROI studies for at least some of their IT projects, the majority do not perform an ROI analysis for BI implementations. The Web-based market survey was conducted on behalf of Noetix by Unisphere Research.

"Companies do not conduct ROI analysis for BI perhaps in part because a majority believe that the intangible benefits of BI are more important than the tangible benefits, which are easier to measure," said Dr. Elliot King, research director at Unisphere Research. "Our research indicates that the inability to measure ROI continues to be a significant hurdle for all companies."

According to survey results, while most enterprise companies do justify costs before implementing a BI application, less than half of that number formally calculate their ROI for the BI implementation and even fewer have ever calculated the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their BI applications.

Experts agree that in order to accurately assess ROI for BI, both direct and indirect costs must be measured. But assigning costs to a specific project often calls for personal judgment. For example, if more storage is not purchased specifically for a BI project, but will be required in the future to manage the data associated with BI, how should those costs be treated in terms of calculating ROI?

Survey respondents ranked the most important direct costs to take into consideration when determining ROI for BI is the initial costs of software and new servers required as well as the consulting services needed to actually implement the project.

The most important indirect cost to take into consideration, according to respondents, is the cost of upgrading related software and the time it takes to train end-users, both business analysts and other end-users. Respondents found that the calculation of indirect and related costs was less important than calculating direct costs.


This piece is brought to you by the DM Review editorial staff.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:



Industry Vendors