How do you design a reporting and BI strategy?

Question

Accepted Answer

**BI strategy** — framework for data-driven decision making.

**Components:**
- **Data sources:** Operational, analytical, external.
- **Data warehouse:** Centralized analytics data.
- **ETL/ELT:** Data pipelines.
- **BI tools:** Dashboards, reports, self-service.

**Reporting tiers:**
- **Operational:** Real-time dashboards, alerts.
- **Tactical:** Weekly/monthly KPI reports.
- **Strategic:** Executive dashboards, forecasting.

**Self-service BI:**
- Enable business users to create reports.
- Governed data models (semantic layer).
- Training and data literacy programs.

**Tools:**
- Tableau, Power BI, Looker, Metabase.
- Semantic layer: dbt metrics, Cube.js.

**Best practices:**
- Define KPIs with business stakeholders.
- Single source of truth (data warehouse).
- Layered architecture (raw → curated → aggregate).
- Access control and data security.
- Performance optimization (caching, indexing).

**Governance:**
- Report ownership and review cycles.
- Deprecation of unused reports.
- Data dictionary for metrics definitions.

Systems Analyst: How do you design a reporting and BI strategy?