Implementing a Intelligence System - Business Plan Example

• Implementing a Business Intelligence System

Introduction

Airbnb is a site that people use to find a list and find lodgings for rent. The website has a huge following across the world. Since it was founded in 2007, the site has continued to expand globally. The site has over 1.5 million listings in over 190 countries across the globe. The company is privately owned and has offices in over 34,000 cities. Such statistic indicates that the business is doing well regarding marketing and implementations of its marketing strategies that will help it achieve its objectives. The report is about the application of business intelligence in Airbnb that will assist in carrying out its daily operations (Maté, et al. 2016). Such systems have been used by other companies and have emerged to be very effective. However, Airbnb needs to implement and intelligence system that will connect to all its servers and clients across the over 190 countries with utmost efficiency.

Background

The intelligence system aims at making management activities of the Airbnb easier and reliable. The system will help in gathering, storing and accessing information about business performance and market development (Olszak, et al. 2012). The system must have the capabilities of gathering information from all its subsequent servers in all its 34000 cities and be able to analyses the information and give a report on how business is performing. The system will also improve o communication between the sub-branches in the different cities and the head office in California. The intelligence system has all the necessary components that will aid in communication. It does not necessarily mean communication between the agents themselves but also between the servers installed in various locations. Since communication is enhanced, the management of the data and the company as a whole becomes easy and efficient. The business intelligence system will have with it the capabilities to install analytical and smarter applications that will help in analysing data and deducing messages and information from the compiled data (Anandarajan, at al. 2012). SAS applications will help the business grow and reduce the level of risks that are involved in transactions. The fact that most of these transactions are online, they are exposed to many risks. However, the intelligence system analytical capabilities will be able to pinpoint the risk areas and come up with solutions that will help in solving the issue. Efficiency comes with it an increase in market share and customer’s confidence.

With the intelligence system, more customers will want to deal and transact with Airbnb because of its efficiency in providing up to date information on vacant hotels and lodges. It will increase the number of customers because the system has improved the quality of products and services that meet consumer needs. Intelligence systems are installed in companies and in existing systems to help ran the systems much better and easier (Rubin, 2013). With an intelligence system, it will be easier for the company’s management to make decisions based on the analysis done by the system every month or weekly. Besides, the systems make work easier by showing instances of a security breach or system failure. Spotting this type of challenges can be difficult for an individual doing it manually whereas a business intelligence system will have the capability to note such challenges. The system will be very useful in seeing the company through its objectives

Implementing the BI via SAS system

Planning phase

It is the most critical phase in the implementation of the business intelligence system. Since the implementation is based on SAS tools and software, the right bundle of tools that suits the organisation needs to be selected (Işık, et al. 2013). The architecture of Airbnb has to be selected and mapped out. The architecture must support all activities in the organisation and must be scalable in the case of any future growth of the organisation. Enough data must be accommodated as well security implementation. Security is going to be maintained by the SAS administrator who will be responsible for managing all the passwords and login systems for Airbnb systems. Another important factor to consider would be the planning of change of data structure to SAS especially if the company was not using an inferior version of SAS software. The data has to match with SAS software for easier implementation of the system. Selecting the appropriate tools will involve a business professional who knows what the Airbnb needs and what areas needs attention the moment implementation begins. The BI system has to be in line with the SAS applications to assist in making resolutions based on the requirements of the industry. Every decision and step taken in this procedures have to be documented for future reference. Planning is critical, and it needs people who have experience and the right traits to come up with a strategy that is workable and valid.

Architecture phase

Once the appropriate BI SAS architecture has been selected, the right design for the Airbnb environment has to be chosen (Coronel, et al. 2016). The election of the environment based architecture will be based on a set of questionnaires provided by the SAS tools to help in figuring out the type of architecture that best suits the Airbnb business. The answers to the survey give the appropriate recommendations of the number of servers that will be needed, the number of personnel, the size of the processors and disc space for the systems. Before going ahead with the architecture that has been deduced from the question are, it is appropriate for the company to get a finical quote of the desired package. The SAS Institute should work along with the company to help it develop the right tools which are cheaper but efficient for the enterprise. It will help identify the best tools that are licensed and on which servers they should be installed. If the companies decide to distribute its servers across four cities, they should consider the harmful components that will come along with that decision. Such components are databases servers any other application that is hosted on the servers (Işık, et al. 2013). SAS tools will help in making the right decision on how to choose and implement the architecture of the Airbnb business intelligence system.

Separation of the metadata server from the other servers is essential for it helps in backing up of data. The server requires ample space and fast processors. Also, a fast drive such as RAID 5 should be used on the server (Maté, et al. 2016). Another method of making the architecture perform efficiently is by dedicating a certain server to a web tier to increase the overall performance of the server (Coronel, et al. 2016). Isolation makes the servers more scalable such that more components can be added to make as efficient as it can be for the company.

Security phase

Security for the business intelligence system requires a lot of planning. Security is essential for it will be responsible for securing all the security details of the system. Besides, operating an intelligence system is very sensitive because it has sensitive data that is secret to the company. The plan will map out the security requirements of authentication procedure and authorization in the SAS environment (Wixom, et al. 2012). The SAS Administrator should work hand in hand with the Airbnb managers so as to come up with a document that will have a list of the personnel who will be authorised in accessing the system. This document will also be updated as the business grows and expands into more countries. The authorization procedures will have to categorise the users into different levels from the top management to other employees. Each will have a different authorization level to the information in the BI systems (Maté, et al. 2016). The SAS management console will help in giving permissions to groups depending on their permission levels.

Optimization phase

At this stage, the software is installed, and all the security systems configured. The SAS Administrator will assist in installing the system and management of permissions to make sure that all the authentication procedures are working appropriately and efficiently. The SAS environment is done through check-up for any inconsistencies. The environment consists of the following: metadata server, OLAP server, stored process server and the application server. Balancing of the servers is dome to allow pooling which helps in enabling users of the Airbnb system in reusing the existing connections (Coronel, et al. 2016). At this stage, the OLAP server can be turned into alert performance serve to enhance the speed of accessibility and efficiency of the application systems.

Clients phase

When the server has been installed, it is essential to consider the clientele who will be suing the servers. The SAS system has been designed to accommodate all the clients that will be using the system. The fact that the organisation is based in over 191 countries requires strategic planning on how to manage the customers and at the same time meet their demands (Hitt, et al. 2015). The SAS software will assist in these areas because with it has the Map Studio, stored processes and web report studio. These applications need folders to be created so that information about clients and what type of transactions they have done may be retained. The folders created are managed by the SAS administrators via the different levels permissions given to customers. The SAS software will also be submitting a report whose access will be limited to the top level management. Such reports will be of help to Airbnb decision making. After all these factors and stages have been followed, the system is now ready for use. Airbnb can now use the BI system to carry on its activities across the globe efficiently (Maté, et al. 2016).

Skills needed by data analyst

To be able to manage the system the data analyst nest be capable of diagnosing problems and identifying the causing agents. He should be able to come up with solutions to make the use of the system much better and safer (Hitt, et al..2015). Predicting and forecasting are essential to help in making decisions. He should have the skills of being able to compare possible causes of action. After comparing, he should deduce the right cause of action. Communication is also a skill that the administrator should have to communicate with other employees and the top management effectively. Passing on the right information is essential for decision making. Furthermore, he should have the knowledge of the working capabilities of the BI system. He should be capable of setting goals and objective for employees and the system at large.

Some small skills such as identifying data that is unreliable come in handy when accessing and recognising contradictory data (Shukla, et al. 2016). Since the Airbnb system involves the booking of hotels and lodges across the globe, the administrator should have the skills of uploading the recent vacant hotels in various countries on time. He should be able to collect the relevant diagnostic information that will be used in coming up with several solutions. Knowing how the system operates will also help in identifying the areas that need maintenance and upgrading. He should also be able to advise the management on the right cause of action to take when it come to the BI system. Since it was developed via the SAS tools, general knowledge about how these tools are used and applied is essential in understanding the system much better (Wu, et al. 2015).

Conclusion

In implementing the BI system, it will help the company in making decisions that are dependent on the analysis and compilation of data done by the intelligence system. The process followed in implementing the information system is clear and articulate. First, the planning phase which is essential in determining how the system will be implemented. The architecture is chosen in relation to the SA environment and the requirements of the business. The architecture is composed of the physical components that are used in running the Intelligence system. Security is another factor that is put into consideration for it is used in protecting crucial data from the company. In the optimization phase, the system is installed, and all authentication protocols are put in place. Lastly, all aspects that relate to clients are implemented via the SAS tools. All protocols that will involve data access and recording of customer information that is accessed by managers in decision making are executed. However, for the system to work properly and serve as required, the technicians must have the required skills so run the system effectively and efficiently so as to satisfy the needs of the Airbnb Company as well as those of the customers.

Reference

Anandarajan, M., Anandarajan, A., & Srinivasan, C. A. (Eds.). (2012). Business intelligence techniques: a perspective from accounting and finance. Springer Science & Business Media.

Coronel, C., & Morris, S. (2016). Database Systems: Design, Implementation, & Management. Cengage Learning.

Hitt, L., Jin, F., & Wu, L. (2015). Data Skills and Value of Social Media: Evidence from Large-Sample Firm Value Analysis.

Işık, Ö., Jones, M. C., & Sidorova, A. (2013). Business intelligence success: The roles of BI capabilities and decision environments. Information & Management, 50(1), 13-23.

Maté, A., Trujillo, J., García, F., Serrano, M., & Piattini, M. (2016). Empowering Global Software Development with Business Intelligence.Information and Software Technology.

Olszak, C. M., & Ziemba, E. (2012). Critical success factors for implementing business intelligence systems in small and medium enterprises on the example of upper Silesia, Poland. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 7, 129-150.

Rubin, E., & Rubin, A. (2013). The impact of Business Intelligence systems on stock return volatility. Information & Management, 50(2), 67-75.

Shukla, A., & Dhir, S. (2016). Tools for Data Visualization in Business Intelligence: Case Study Using the Tool Qlikview. In Information Systems Design and Intelligent Applications (pp. 319-326). Springer India.

Wixom, B., & Watson, H. (2012). The BI-based organization. Organizational Applications of Business Intelligence Management: Emerging Trends, IGI Global, Hershey, 193-208.

Wu, L., & Hitt, L. (2015). How Do Data Skills Affect Firm Productivity: Evidence from Process-driven vs. Innovation-driven Practices.