Technology – a Pillar or a Rail?

The Third Pillar in establishing a Data Culture is of course “Technology”. This is the part of this series that I hate doing the most. I have little interest in selling a solution to you that will enable a Data Culture in fact it is my firm belief that the tool doesn’t exist that can do it for you. Instead like the other two pillars of People and Process, Technology must align with your vision. In my experience, Power BI does give the most flexibility to fit your Data Culture, but that does not mean it will be right for everyone! – Ross – Director of BI

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When you start the process of moving towards a Data Culture you must find a technology that will work with you and support your goals, it needs to align with your vision and plans for execution. Will it work with your governance model, can you manage self-service the way you want to? You need to be clear of these before it is even really possible to start what is often the most important part of the decision, cost. Will this be in budget? We do talk about budget and cost a lot when we look at solutions. Our advice would be to consider the upfront cost and the running costs. Be especially cautious of the “Anyone can do it” lines we hear more and more. Power BI is a platform that Intermediate and above Excel users can pick up, SQL DBA’s can get comfortable with M Script, however that is not to say they all want to. People, Process and Technology is a trifecta for a reason! So be prepared to factor in training costs, revisit job roles and generally do a lot of work to have “Anybody to it”, so make sure you have clear buy in from those you want to do things.

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