Business Intelligence Guidebook
Templates
Chapter 18:
BI Project Plan Template
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
[Company Name]
BI Project Plan
[Project Name]
Date: [Select Date]
Author(s):
Sponsor(s):
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 1 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BI MILESTONE PLAN............................................................................................................................................................................5
MILESTONE PLAN.....................................................................................................................................................................................5
RESOURCE PLAN......................................................................................................................................................................................7
PROJECT (TASK) PLAN.............................................................................................................................................................................8
PROJECT ASSUMPTIONS..........................................................................................................................................................................12
APPROVALS...........................................................................................................................................................................................13
APPENDIX: BACKGROUND MATERIALS......................................................................................................................................14
AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS..............................................................................................................................................................14
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 2 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
The content of the template is what is important rather than how is presented or formatted.
Note: to delete any tip, such as this one, just click the tip text and then press the spacebar.
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 3 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
BI MILESTONE PLAN
See the section “Developing Scope, Preliminary Plan, and Budget” in Chapter 2 of the BI Guidebook for a discussion
of the use and content of a BI project milestone plan. More in-depth discussion on developing a detailed project plan
can be found in Chapter 18: “Project Management.”
Milestone Plan
Present a project milestone plan listing the project phase completion dates and key milestones
Table 1: BI Project Milestone Plan
Completion Person
Phases Milestones Date Responsible
BI Project Start
Scope & Plan
Business Justification Sign-Off
Project Plan Sign-off
Analysis &
Definition
Business Requirements Sign-off
Data Architecture Analysis Completed
Technical Architecture Analysis Completed
Software & Infrastructure Sign-Off
Architect & Design
Data Integration Architecture & Design Completed
BI Architecture & Design Completed
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 4 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
Completion Person
Phases Milestones Date Responsible
Pilot
DI Pilot Completed
BI Pilot/POC Application Completed
Build & Test
Data Integration Development & Testing Completed
BI Application Development & Testing Completed
Source Data Loaded
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Completed
Systems Testing Completed
Implement
User Training Completed
BI & DI Operations Verified
BI Applications Access & Verified
Deployment
BI & DI Production Monitoring & Controls Verified
BI Roll-Out Completed
BI Project Completed
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 5 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
Resource Plan
Provide the high-level resource plan or assumptions used to formulate the project milestone plan.
Notes:
Resource Type – examples are BI developers, project manager, business analysts
FTEs = Full-Time Equivalent Resources, such as 3.5 people needed.
Table 2: High-level Resource Plan
Resource Internal vs Resource’s FTEs Start Finis Approved
Type External Organization Resources Date h (Y/N/P)
Date
Totals
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 6 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
Project (Task) Plan
Present a project milestone plan listing the project phase completion dates and key milestones
Table 3: BI Project Milestone Plan
Phases Task Tasks & Start Finish Duratio Predecessors Resources Task
No Subtasks (this would become separate tasks) Date Date n Owner
0 BI Project Start
Scope &
Plan
1.100 Gather high-level project requirements
1.200 Develop Business Justification
1.300 Develop Project Plan, Resource Plan & Budget
Analysis &
Definition
2.100 Gather Business & Data Requirements & Priorities
Gather by business groups & individuals within groups
Gather by technology groups involved
Consolidate & refine requirements
Prioritize requirements
2.199 Business Requirements Sign-off
2.200 Perform Data Architecture Analysis
Source Systems Requirements
Data Profiling
Data Modeling
2.210 Gather Detailed Source Systems Requirements
Gather by source system & objects within SOR
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 7 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
Phases Task Tasks & Start Finish Duratio Predecessors Resources Task
No Subtasks (this would become separate tasks) Date Date n Owner
Consolidate & refine requirements
Prioritize requirements
2.220 Perform Data Profiling
Gather by source system & objects within SOR
Determine data gaps & identify data quality issues
Review above with business & SOR SMEs
Refine requirements based on review
2.230 Design Staging Data Model
Design by SOR
2.240 Design DW Integration Schema Data Model
Design by data subject & SOR
Design support for SCD & Hierarchy Mgt
2.250 Design DW Distribution Schema Data Model
Design by data subject & distribution target
2.260 Design BI Schemas Data Model
Design each data mart, OLAP cube, in-memory
columnar database or other BI-specific data store
2.299 Data Architecture Analysis Completed
2.300 Perform Technical Architecture Analysis
Design database & data architecture
Design data integration architecture
Design BI architecture
Design infrastructure & support architecture
Consolidate software (on-premise & cloud) &
infrastructure (on-premise & cloud) recommendations
Consolidate into an overall technology architecture
2.399 Software & Infrastructure Sign-Off
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 8 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
Phases Task Tasks & Start Finish Duratio Predecessors Resources Task
No Subtasks (this would become separate tasks) Date Date n Owner
Architect &
Design
3.100 Data Integration Architecture & Design
Refine details of data integration architecture
Design (or designate) common functionality &
standards
Design source-to-target mappings by source
Design DI workflow by targets – stage, DW
integration schema, DW distribution schema & BI
schemas
3.200 BI Architecture & Design
Refine details of BI architecture
Design (or designate) common functionality &
standards
Design preliminary storyboards for BI applications by
business requirements
Pilot
4.10 DI Pilot – for selected data sources
Create & unit test DI code for SOR to Stage
Create & unit test DI code for Stage to DW Integration
Schema
Create & unit test DI code for DW Integration Schema
to DW Distribution Schema
Create & unit test DI code for DW Integration Schema
to each BI Schema
Perform systems test of DI Pilot
Validate data for BI Pilot
4.20 BI Pilot/POC Application – for selected BI applications & data
Create & unit test each BI application
Create & unit test each BI storyboard with associated
BI applications
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 9 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
Phases Task Tasks & Start Finish Duratio Predecessors Resources Task
No Subtasks (this would become separate tasks) Date Date n Owner
Conduct user acceptance testing (UAT)
Validate BI applications & storyboards
Note: This may be conducted using an Agile methodology
Build &
Test
5.10 Data Integration Development & Testing
Create & unit test DI code for SOR to Stage
Create & unit test DI code for Stage to DW Integration
Schema
Create & unit test DI code for DW Integration Schema
to DW Distribution Schema
Create & unit test DI code for DW Integration Schema
to each BI Schema
5.20 BI Application Development & Testing
Create & unit test each BI application
Create & unit test each BI storyboard with associated
BI applications
Note: This may be conducted using an Agile methodology
5.30 Source Data Loaded
Load current data by source system
Load historical data by source system
Initiate ongoing data load by source system
5.40 Conduct User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
Conduct user acceptance testing (UAT) by business
requirements & business groups
Validate BI applications & storyboards
Validate data
5.50 Conduct Systems Testing
Conduct test of each subsystem
Conduct tests of each workflow & subsystem
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 10 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
Phases Task Tasks & Start Finish Duratio Predecessors Resources Task
No Subtasks (this would become separate tasks) Date Date n Owner
dependencies
Conduct test of overall system
Implement
6.10 Conduct User Training
Conduct testing by business groups or business
functions
6.20 BI & DI Operations Verified
Validate by each subsystem
6.30 BI Applications Access & Verified
Verify by business groups or business functions and by
business applications
Deployment
7.10 Test & Verify BI & DI Production Monitoring & Controls
Test by each subsystem
7.20 Conduct BI Roll-Out
Deploy by business group, geography or whatever
breakdown agreed upon
7.30 BI Project Completed
Project Assumptions
Provide a brief description of the assumptions that were made in project planning. These assumptions may include
business conditions, technical capabilities, resource availability, resource skills or deployment conditions.
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 11 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
APPROVALS
It is a best practice to obtain sign-off approval of each project milestone. An organization’s policies and culture will
dictate who the approvers will be, but typically the sponsors and key stakeholders are included.
Title Name Approval
Date
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 12 of 15
© 2016, Athena IT Solutions, All Rights Reserved
BI Plan, [Project Name] [Select Date]
APPENDIX: BACKGROUND MATERIALS
This section includes all background or supporting materials for the BI Milestone Plan. These materials may include:
The milestone plan assumptions such as resources, funding, etc.
A more detailed project plan, if defined
Authors and contributors
List all the people involved in obtaining and analyzing the requirements along with the authors of this deliverable.
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics Page 13 of 15
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