ABSTRACT
A company who initiates a Business Intelligence project “because everybody is doing it” is of a rare species. From the less related projects competing with Business Intelligence (BI), remember market surveys and studies, audits of all sorts: finance, quality and Human Resources Management. Starting a BI project means charting existing but also uncharted areas in the organization and documenting these to produce a level of understanding between all parties concerned that builds trust and confidence the project will yield a useful product. The project charter’s first objective is to communicate clearly the boundaries, the risks, the opportunities, and the impact for the organization to the project sponsor and the steering committee. The importance of a BI system has to be demonstrated in the project charter, but that is not enough. The introduction of BI causes a change in the way people communicate, gather and exchange information, and how they make decisions.
