Turning data into knowledge

"You start with data," says Michael Corcoran, vice president of marketing for Information Builders, a New York City business intelligence developer. "And then with business intelligence tools you turn those data into information."

Business intelligence goes a step further, giving workers access to reports and historical trends. The software provides three functions: analytical processing, special data querying tools and reporting. The software can combine multiple forms of data into charts and graphs. OPM has created a Web site called www.Fedscope.opm.gov that uses business intelligence software to provide federal employment data to the public. "My mission is to disseminate workforce information to those customers who want it," says Kelly Croft, OPM's assistant director for workforce information.

On FedScope, users can create graphics that display trends such as salary disparities between male and female federal workers. That information can be broken down further to show what jobs they hold in large versus small agencies. Users also can track the number of computer specialists by federal office.

OPM developed FedScope in-house with PowerPlay software by Cognos Inc., an Ottawa business intelligence developer. The software extracts information from OPM databases such as the Central Personnel Data File, which contains statistics on 1.8 million federal employees. The site cost about $350,000 to develop.

Business intelligence software is one of the key technologies in the construction of an electronic government, according to the Gartner Group, a Stamford, Conn., research firm. The technology may not be new, but it has been revolutionized by the Internet. For years, old school IT administrators have been using business intelligence software on mainframe computers to process statistical queries and reports, which often took weeks to complete. Even then the data often were not a crosscutting view of an enterprise's actions.

"Business intelligence was a back office responsibility," says Tricia Iveson, a marketer for MicroStrategy Inc., a Vienna, Va., business intelligence software developer. "Now you've got a lot of users who want access to those data. Agencies want to roll solutions out to field offices or bureaus, citizens and suppliers. There has been a data explosion at the same time as a user explosion."

a higher intelligence

As computer-based operations become a core part of business operations, more and more agencies are developing data warehouses that are primed for harvesting by business intelligence software. A data warehouse stores information culled from systems across an enterprise. Data warehouses are large relational databases that organize related information for easier analysis.

Nearly all business intelligence software now is accessed via the Web, reaching users that never before had access to timely or accurate data. "It's easier to deploy business intelligence solutions, especially because they are now Web-based," says Steve Jones, a solutions specialist for data warehousing with Oracle Corp., a Redwood Shores, Calif., IT firm. "This means loading software on one server that everyone accesses." That's why business intelligence applications are becoming bigger and less expensive, he says.

Another reason for the popularity of business intelligence is user acceptance, says Jennifer Hill, manager of public sector strategy and support group for SAS Institute Inc., a Cary, N.C., company that specializes in business intelligence software. "More and more people are going to the Web because they are comfortable with that interface," she says.

The Gartner Group places a high value on business intelligence software because many other technologies that are key to e-government fall short in analysis and reporting. Business intelligence can enhance technologies already in use, such as enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, supply chain management and electronic commerce. FedScope allows users to maximize data already in the Central Personnel Data File. At HCFA, business intelligence is helping the agency analyze trends in medical treatment and billing in ways never before possible. Business intelligence helps agencies reach outside their enterprise to meet their customers' needs in this era of e-government. FedScope is a prime example. Its main customers include OPM program offices, the Office of Management and Budget, the General Accounting Office and congressional committees. But media, academia and citizens are also common users. In the past, Croft's customers had to go to OPM to request such data and wait there for the results. "Our customers wanted trend analysis and better explanations of what our data means," Croft says.

Croft and his team worked to determine what data most interested their customers. Cognos' PowerPlay software targets these elements. Yet the site can pose privacy problems. "We have a lot of information in our files that is private-Social Security numbers, dates of birth, disability data-that are not releasable," Croft says.

Users taking advantage of business intelligence software can hone in on information about individuals, especially in small offices. FedScope does not include certain data, such as racial statistics, on its site because the software could narrow that information to an even greater extent. Croft is working to see whether it is possible to include such data but block queries that jeopardize personal privacy.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

HCFA, the federal agency that manages Medicare and Medicaid, uses business intelligence software for multidimensional analysis that allows the agency to measure its profitability, costs by product and costs by customer. Like OPM, HCFA is concerned about customers' privacy. To protect Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, HCFA created a system that relies on multiple levels of user access. Not all HCFA employees using the data warehouse have access to personal information. Those with limited access see data in summary form-a conglomeration of vital statistics that does not identify specific citizens. Only "super users" with full access can drill down through all the layers of data, says Betty Jackson, director of enterprise databases. These are high-level users with the "right to know," says Jackson.

HCFA's business intelligence capability is an offshoot of the agency's data warehousing effort launched to get a handle on the agency's data. "We get a billion claims a year in both Medicaid and Medicare," Jackson says. "We're talking about terabytes of information. This project is very complex." The architecture is multi-tiered, starting with HCFA's vast data warehouse. Data are then moved into specific data marts. A data mart organizes segments of information stored in a data warehouse.

The summary data that reside in the data marts are what users "come in and slice and dice," Jackson says. "This will allow us to provide our users with instant information at the desktop." HCFA employees want graphical displays that help them spot trends. For example, HCFA might want to review specific cost areas such as the top 10 states that have the largest percentage of Medicare and Medicaid users with broken hipbones, Jackson says.

Thousands of HCFA employees are using the data warehouse and business intelligence tools. HCFA started the business intelligence phase of its data warehousing effort, led by IBM Corp., last fall. It includes products from Oracle, Cognos and MicroStrategy. For now, the software is set up at each desktop, allowing employees to tap into data on the mainframe. The agency is not yet ready to handle the security challenge of giving users access to personal data on the Web.

Managing Projects

Business intelligence software doesn't have to be deployed on a grand scale. NASA is using a tool from Information Builders to measure milestones and expenses on projects such as maintaining and upgrading the ground equipment that supports space shuttle launches.

NASA's program management software was spread over a number of sites. Information Builders helped NASA consolidate information into one site with a single access point, relying on multiple Microsoft Corp. project management tools and a relational database.

Besides consolidating its operations, NASA also wanted increased reporting power for its program managers. "At the point we are right now, we are using basic reporting capabilities," says Barry Braden, element manager for the shuttle and station project management office at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Braden feels such reporting is not detailed enough and hopes to take advantage of project management charts infused with financial data and staffing requirements.

Braden has 30 project managers using the system now and he expects that number to grow to 200. "If the systems proves out to be as beneficial as we hope it will be, then we can grow the system to hook into our legacy databases," Braden says.

Buyers Beware

The Gartner Group tracks more than 20 companies playing in the business intelligence market. From those options, the business intelligence tool managers choose must be able to process disparate agency data. Some agencies will gravitate toward tools that build on existing systems. Agencies with financial software from Oracle, for example, may find a business intelligence solution from that same company to be a good fit. Agencies with a data warehouse built by SAS might be better off with that company's business intelligence tools.

Not all business intelligence solutions are equal. Some excel at analysis but are limited when it comes to high numbers of users. Others can grow and expand to accommodate large numbers of users with average querying and analytic capabilities.

When the SAS' Hill talks about implementing a business intelligence solution, she focuses on alleviating specific agency problems. "We look at the actual pain our customer is having and how business intelligence can help solve that pain," Hill says.