Internaut: The time is now to build business intelligence

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Are government system consolidations as intelligent as they should be? Some are.

Are government system consolidations as intelligent as they should be? Some are.Government agencies are under considerable pressure from both the Office of Management and Budget and the Federal CIO Council to consolidate information systems, reduce application redundancies and improve the way they share data with other government agencies.It's a tall order, but also a golden opportunity for agencies to increase the level of business intelligence built into their computer systems.At most agencies, business practices (meaning the basic flow of information, decisions, transactions and associated reporting) usually include a mix of manual and automated processes. These processes support both technical and management practices across multiple locations. And they're sometimes overlooked in consolidation projects. The goal of merging multiple financial or human resources systems throughout an agency is admirable, but that alone doesn't streamline the various ways data flows in and out of these applications.A larger goal is to develop powerful business platforms capable of hosting cross-platform applications with built-in business intelligence.In the minds of some IT managers, however, adding business intelligence objectives to a system consolidation project has the potential to slow down work and increase costs. As a result, it's easy to postpone business intelligence integration until a later date.But consider this: System consolidation requires a lot of planning and considerable modification to existing applications. It's actually a perfect time to rethink the way business is conducted at a government agency, and to analyze the long-term return on investment that can be gained from integrating business intelligence.Here are some simple ideas for beginning to integrate business intelligence right now:The Food and Drug Administration took the business intelligence approach to recent system upgrades. For the past few years, the FDA has used a solution from Business Objects Inc. of San Jose, Calif., to do ad-hoc reporting. As FDA has plugged into the Health and Human Services Department's United Financial Management System, it has built its enterprise architecture to accommodate its reporting solution.The managers of the Defense Department's Standard Procurement System also are building a consolidated Web-based system that can, among other things, allow administrators to create real-time reports with an enterprise-level view.Also built using Business Objects, such reports can be automated and shared, and business logic can be triggered by certain events.Agencies facing substantial system consolidations would do well to look at their current data gathering and reporting requirements and try to automate those functions as they design their new systems. In the long run, the payoff is far greater than just reducing the number of applications hosted by an agency.

System consolidation requires planning and modification to existing applications. It's a perfect time to re-think the way business is conducted at an agency.

Shawn P. McCarthy









Larger goal









  • Start by looking at your current reporting functions. How are your reports built? Where does the data come from, and how is it integrated?
  • How can these reports be automated, and how close to real-time can you make them?
  • Are all fields tagged with the Extensible Markup Language?
  • Once such tagging and report automation is completed, can you build other applications around the associated data gathering and reporting functionality?

System upgrades









Shawn P. McCarthy is senior analyst and program manager for government IT opportunities at IDC of Framingham, Mass. E-mail him at smccarthy@idc.com.

NEXT STORY: SOUND OFF: Cartoon

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.