Healthcare Performance - The single version of the truth

Nov. 12, 2010 - PRLog -- A Single Version of the Truth – an Introduction
The single version of the truth. That is the statement that defines the ultimate need for any organization when they look at the past, present and plan for the future. Business Intelligence and Data Integration solution providers leverage this statement as the core basis for selecting them as the solution provider. While they are totally correct in this assessment, the road to truth is not an easy one to travel. It is marked with under utilized tools, under funded projects and frustrated business users(not to mention the technology team).
Why is the road so bumpy? Simple. Integration is the #1 reason reporting and performance management initiatives fail in large organizations. How can you build a house to live in without plumbing? Conversely, the organizations that successfully deploy the same initiatives point to full integration of their information as the Top reason they were successful. Do you sense a pattern here? The cost of integration and subsequent reporting can be staggering – preventing many from leveraging enterprise information when strategically planning the next move the organization makes in the marketplace. How are smaller organizations going to be able to leverage technology that can access vital information inside of their own company if cost prevents consideration? Lets take a step back and put in easier terms what this means –

What is full integration anyway?
Here is a way to define it in layman terminology by leveraging the “facts” we all know:

Fact #1: Every healthcare entity, agency, campus or non-profit knows what software it utilizes for its success and/or survival. The applications may be in silos, not accessible by other groups or departments. If information were needed from groups across the enterprise, it would be requested, in business terminology, of each group, who would then go to the source of information (the aforementioned software), retrieve what is needed and submit it to the requestor – hopefully, in a format the can work with(i.e., excel for further analysis as opposed to a document or PDF).
Fact #2: Because business terminology can be different WITHIN an organization, there will be further “translating” required when incorporating information that is gathered from the different software packages. This can be a nightmare. The gathering of information, converting it into a different format, translating it into common business terminology and then preparing it for consumption is a lengthy, expensive process - which takes us to Fact #3.
Fact #3: The consumers of the gathered information(management, analysts, etc) could wind up changing the type of information required – one off report requests that are continuously revised so they can changed their dimensional view(like rotating the rows of a Rubik’s cube to only get one color grouped, then deciding instead of lining up red, they would really like green to be grouped first). In many cases, this starts the gathering process all over again. It also requires the attention of those that understand this information – typically a highly valued Subject Matter Expert from each silo.
Fact#4: While large organizations can cope with this costly method in order to gather  enough information to make effective and strategic business decisions, the sheer cost in time and money freezes out smaller, more agile organizations. This creates a “Glass Ceiling” – a divide across any vertical that separates the mega players from their future acquisitions and/or crushed opponents.

Integration (with cleansing the data, aka Data Quality) should not be a foreign concept to the mid size market. Price has been the overriding factor that prevents the tier from leveraging enterprise intelligence. A "glass ceiling" solely based on being limited from technology because of price tag. Business Intelligence, Performance Management and Data Integration have unknowingly created a class warfare between the large and SMB size competitors across all verticals. Data Integration is the main culprit in this situation. The cost of integration in the typical BI deployment is usually four times the cost of the BI portion. It is easy for the BI providers to tantalize their prospects with functionality and reasonable cost. But, when integration comes into play, reluctance on price introduces itself into the scenario.

Pricing isn’t the only factor. Integration solutions, in general, are perceived as difficult to manage, must less architect. In today’s economy, leveraging internal IT staff to administer a deployment is a given. If those resources do not feel comfortable in supporting the integration plan, then status quo will be justified. This is the “anti” approach to selling in this space: the sales leaders in the industry want their sales people in front of the business side of the organization and to stop selling to IT. It appears now, that IT has to at least validate their ability to administer as the prospect of long-term professional consulting engagements to follow post installation is much smaller.

What is the solution? Simply stated - smaller firms that have lower operating costs, deploying solutions that meet vertical needs for integration. The emphasis here is vertical. A small firm with subject matter expertise in an area such as retail can focus on the needs and drivers of the customers in that space. The industry associations, regulations, challenges and even their vernacular will be native to those firms. This also influences the design of the firm’s vertical solution, effectively targeting requirements inside as well as outside of the organization while eliminating unnecessary features.  The upper quadrant firms have their own SME groups, but they also support higher costs and smaller margins. Plus, at the close of the sale, the customer becomes a customer number to the support side of the upper quadrant. In the smaller firm, they typically are maintained with the same relationship approach they received during the sales cycle.

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E-Cuity Corporation, established in 2004, is the leading forensic data analysis and business intelligence competency center consulting group. Certified by the Enterprise Intelligence Symposium, we help organizations obtain total visibility internally.