ABSTRACT
Changes within the technology sector of the insurance industry are occurring with unprecedented speed, travelling farther, and impacting companies more fully than ever expected. The Business Intelligence (BI) arena has been an area of confusion for the business executive as well as the technology manager. This chapter attempts to resolve the confusion over BI. Insurance companies are successfully justifying their BI investment in terms of increased productivity and lower costs. The chapter describes the key steps in developing a BI environment. It discusses the critical BI success factors. The chapter explains business impact of implementing a BI solution. A common concern when confronted with the decision to build a data warehouse, especially in a climate of tight profits and increasing costs, is that of the return on the investment in a BI project. The chapter provides a brief overview of the pros and cons of bottom-up and top-down development methods.
