Self-Service BI (SSBI) is for some and a mistake for others. Catherine Wilks lays out the critical success factors for effective SSBI.
I have an additional take on this- SSBI that remains a standalone answer to a short-term "insight gap" rarely gains a critical mass in an enterprise. Too many people are suspicious of the data, the analysis and that the parties involved are just advancing their big ideas.
Better if the SSBI is embedded in the enterprise's apps and workflows as described in:
The corollary is, of course, when SSBI is the right choice.
Perhaps the better question would be: Is SSBI right for your business? I think it can be, as long as it’s managed well. And that means not only having the right tools in place, and the right training for those end users who may not have the skills they need – it also means appropriate governance and controls, and a corporate culture that fully supports SSBI. It means a centralised and well-governed data regime (including a central team responsible for controlling the quality of your data) and a network of BI ‘champions’ throughout the organisation to help and support end users when they need it.
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