Context of Self-Service Business Intelligence : A case study of IT-enabled organizational transformation

Abstract: Fast evolving digital technologies lead to a rapidly changing environment where decisions have to be made in a short time. The promised solution is data-driven decision making and business intelligence. However, business intelligence has until now only been available to executives and managers whereas many of the workers' wishes for their own business analytics could not be fulfilled. The concept of self-service business intelligence (SSBI) opens the gates to democratized business intelligence for everybody. Yet the implementation of SSBI tools is proving to be extremely difficult and has led to the consequence that many SSBI projects remain unsuccessful. This thesis therefore examines the influence of self-service business intelligence on organizational structures and business processes. Furthermore, assumptions made by contemporary industry studies and best practice reports are evaluated. The case study of the Power BI implementation project at a German medical and safety technology manufacturer successfully identifies real-life challenges. Moreover, the thesis stresses the importance of data governance and data infrastructures in the context of SSBI.