Project IV: Research Problem

Rory Coert: 208164987

Supervisor: T. Makhurane

Research Topic
How effective is Business Intelligence in helping decision makers make informed
decisions and how BI principles and data warehousing can be incorporated for
the use of Small to Medium Enterprises in a cost effective manner in the South
African Business Sector.

Problem Statement
Business Intelligence (or BI) is the integration of Business and Data
Warehousing principles for the purpose of helping a business organisations
decision makers make better informed strategic decisions. The concept revolves
around getting the correct information to the proper people at the right time.
BI is primarily incorporated in large enterprises and organisations. This is due to
the high cost involved with the procurement and maintenance of dedicated BI
solutions. BI solutions require highly effective and efficient infrastructure, capable
of analysing heavy loads of data in a timely manner. These solutions also require
extensive development to suit the specific business needs of the organisation it is
being used in, BI solutions for large organisations must be highly personalised
before they can be put into deployment.
Small to Medium Enterprises (or SMEs) in South Africa can see many benefits
from incorporating BI and Data Warehousing principles. These benefits primarily
involve improving the enterprises performance by better utilization of the
enterprises information. The problem with introducing BI to an SMEs
infrastructure lies in the heavy costs involved with a BI solution. Most
professional BI solutions are primarily geared towards use in large businesses.
A more generic and less personalised application of BI and Data Warehousing
principles, geared specifically towards use in SMEs, can be researched to
greatly reduce costs in the incorporation of a BI solution for SMEs.