Acknowledgments

After a couple of decades in business, it becomes difficult to recall all the specific influences on one’s thinking, which makes it a challenge to properly acknowledge everyone who has influenced this book. That being said, we would certainly be remiss if we failed to mention how much we have learned from our opportunities to work with major organizations in a range of industries. Companies such as McCormick, Marriott, Legg Mason, and Principal Financial Group are each leaders in their industries, and we have gotten to see a range of challenges to BI success. Many of the business-driven methods and perspectives shared in the book are a direct result of what we have learned as we worked with these clients to overcome their specific challenges.

Our thinking has also been influenced by our colleagues at DecisionPath Consulting. As we have employed the BI Pathway Method on client engagements, our colleagues have proved to be a steady source of improvement ideas and innovative uses of tools to support project execution. The result is a better method, proven in practice, and readily taught to new BI teams. Among our colleagues, Dr. Jim Thomann warrants special recognition for his contribution to the development of the BI Pathway Method, the technical portions of which are based on data warehousing fundamentals that Jim has been teaching at TDWI conferences for years.

We have also enjoyed learning from our colleagues in the business intelligence and data warehousing industry. Most notably, we are indebted to Dave Wells at TDWI for his encouragement, insight, and constructive feedback as we developed the BI Pathway Method. Many of the data warehousing fundamentals that serve as the technical foundation of the BI Pathway have been taught in TDWI courses that Dave developed. We have also benefited from the lively conversations we’ve had with the leading practitioners who serve as faculty at TDWI conferences and who serve as fellow judges for TDWI best practices competitions.

Another source of the learning that is reflected in The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence is—perhaps ironically—our work with the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). While we speak in terms of “profit” and “business performance” throughout the book, public sector managers are increasingly embracing business performance management techniques, and SSA is a leader in this regard. Our work with Skip Hardy at the Social Security Administration has allowed us to see this in action, and, in the process, it has enriched our understanding of the complex tradeoffs involved in establishing a responsive BI environment in a world dominated by mission-critical transaction processing systems.

As to the book itself, it has been a challenge to juggle our commitments to our clients, our responsibilities as executives at DecisionPath Consulting, and the demands of writing a book. That challenge has been made much more manageable by our colleague Scott Palmer, whose experience as an author of technical books has enabled him to “show us the ropes.” Scott’s knowledge of the process and the publishing industry was instrumental to keeping us on schedule. The book has also benefited tremendously from the comments of our reviewers—Barron Penner of Principal Financial Group, Sid Adelman of Sid Adelman & Associates, Wayne Eckerson of TDWI, and Barb Wixom of the McIntire School at the University of Virginia. Last, but certainly not least, our editors at Elsevier—Diane Cerra and Asma Palmeiro—have provided excellent comments and suggestions throughout the project.

Thanks to everyone!