Peer to Peer Magazine

24 business analysts – those who are responsible for creating the applications and reports decision makers will use. Armed with a clear understanding of the data they can make sure that it is appropriately presented and used. Higher quality data leads to better, faster decisions Lastly, the ODS initiative has helped us to establish a culture of rigorous data-based decision making throughout the firm. I do not mean to imply that decisions were made without data before, but that the consistency and rigor with which data was gathered and used was not always what it could have been. Perhaps someone was keeping their own spreadsheet of engagement outcomes, which was merged with an ad-hoc query of billings, and then merged again with a non-standard list of markets and industries. While the results might have been useful, at each stage the completeness and correctness of the data could have been improved. A better approach is to reach agreement on what engagement-outcome data is needed, how and where it will be maintained and by F I G U R E 2 : T H E F E N W I C K & W E S T D A T A D I C T I O N A R Y whom, and then to make that data available through the ODS for authorized users and uses. For example, billings data will be loaded into the ODS using agreed-upon SQL queries developed by the Finance systems team that reflect all appropriate considerations such as special discounts and billing periods. Markets and industries will be loaded from the CRM system, etc. This results in reports and analysis that tie back to the firm's accounting, CRM, and other LOB systems, reducing confusion and promoting consistent and reliable decision-making. As an example, when Fenwick's Marketing team needed to assess a new geographic market, the data upon which to base their analysis was readily available in the ODS. Instead of spending days (or even weeks) tracking down and combining the necessary data, charts such as the following can be created in minutes using data visualization tools such as PowerBI or Tableau. This frees up valuable time for strategizing, allowing the Marketing team consider many more scenarios. Mark Gerow has been involved in all aspects of business application development during his career; ranging from AI, business process automation and workflow, database design and implementation, business analysis, project methodologies and management, collaboration, and business intelligence. He has been a software engineer, consultant, and entrepreneur; he now directs application development and business process automation for Fenwick & West LLP. In addition Mark has published two books and numerous articles on AI, process automation, collaborative applications design, software engineering and project management. The success of an ODS initiative will not be determined primarily by technolo, but rather by the very human processes that lead to consensus as to what data is important.

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