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Despite the large collection of topic-specific BI material, we observed a strong need by project teams for a unified plan or method to follow. Therefore, we started this book with the notion of writing a complete development methodology for BI decision-support projects. We quickly realized that to meet such a goal we would have to produce a multivolume work ”something not feasible for most project managers and project team members to read. Our original plan quickly gave way to a general roadmap that would serve as an umbrella for all the major development steps, topics, considerations, and activities of a BI project. In addition, at the end of each chapter we provide a list of references that are most applicable to the topics of the chapter.

We also wanted to share with project managers, project teams, and business representatives our personal discoveries about what works and what doesn't work on BI projects. Therefore, the information we present in the matrices in Part II is an accumulation of our own personal observations, experiences, and judgments .

Finally, to enhance the readability of this complex technical material, we broke up the text with as many tables, graphs, pictures, and other visuals as possible. We hope these visual aids make this book easier to read in addition to clarifying the topics presented.