Implementation Activities

The activities for implementation do not need to be performed linearly. Figure 15.5 indicates which activities can be performed concurrently. The list below briefly describes the activities associated with Step 15, Implementation.

1. Plan the implementation.

   Set the implementation date and make sure that all the resources needed for the implementation will be available. Depending on the progress you have made, the lessons you have learned, and the difficulties you have encountered , you may want to roll out the BI application to the business community in phases. Start with a small group of business people, learn from the experience, and modify your approach if necessary (e.g., increase the time for training or change the security measures) before making the BI application available to more people.

   If the BI application has any organizational impact, prepare to make those organizational changes (e.g., business process improvement changes or shifted roles and responsibilities).

2. Set up the production environment.

   In most large organizations, strict procedures have to be followed to prepare the production environment.

   1. Set up the production program libraries (ETL, application, meta data repository).

   2. Create the production databases (BI target databases, meta data repository database).

   3. Grant appropriate access authority on the production databases.

   4. Grant appropriate access authority to developers, operations staff, and business people to execute programs from production program libraries.

   5. Write operating procedures for the operations staff with instructions for running the ETL process, as well as the regularly scheduled application report jobs.

   6. Prepare a reference guide for the help desk staff and the business people with instructions on how to use the BI application.

   7. Determine production security levels for all components of the BI application.

3. Install all the BI application components.

   Move all ETL programs, application programs, and meta data repository programs to their respective production libraries.

4. Set up the production schedule.

   All ETL programs, application report programs, and meta data repository programs that will run on a regular basis have to be set up on the job scheduler. The ETL job schedule has to include the meta data programs that are part of the ETL process (e.g., capture load statistics, reconciliation totals, data reliability factors).

5. Load the production databases.

   Load the BI target databases by running the initial load process, followed by the historical load process. Also load the meta data repository with meta data from your various meta data sources such as spreadsheets, computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tool, ETL tool, and online analytical processing (OLAP) tool.

6. Prepare for ongoing support.

   Establish a schedule for on-call emergency support. Schedule regular backups as well as occasional database reorganizations for all production databases. Plan to use the DBMS-provided utilities for these database maintenance activities. In addition, plan to monitor performance, growth, usage, and quality as part of the ongoing database maintenance activities. Periodically review and revise capacity plans for processors, disk storage, network, and bandwidth.

Figure 15.5. Implementation Activities