12 Dangers to Avoid in your CI Project (Part 2)

We release today the second part of our blog post which is about the pitfalls to avoid with your CI project. After covering the absence of KPIs, the inadequate profile, a poor transition, we will be focusing today on the lack of internal promotion, a stronger focus on quantity than quality, and the wrong reasons pushing professionals to launch CI projects.

7. Lack of support

Lack of support can be problematic on two levels:

• Lack of training on the CI tool: CI project teams will not know how to fully access the platform, how to validate information, how to view that information, or how to modify the query of their project.
• Inability to help business units launch new CI projects resulting in a lack of understanding of needs, definition of KPIs and identification of sources, which does not bring the expected returns  

8. Investing in CI because your competitors are

It is not uncommon to hear organizations investing in CI because of the following reasons:

• Their competitors are doing it
• CI is the trend in the industry
• They have budget left over for it

Once again, without a real understanding of the objectives, the CI project is destined to fail. CI must be driven by a real need for information, because you’re keen on understanding your market, or want to anticipate tomorrow’s trends.

An organization lacking an understanding or need to use data to support its decisions should not feel compelled to invest in CI, because it will most certainly not bring the expected returns.

9. Focusing on quantity rather than quality

The success of a CI department should not be measured by the amount of information delivered, but rather by the relevance of that information and how they’re synthesized and used.
Again, It is not uncommon to hear CI experts proudly talking about the frequency of their communications, or the number of articles sent to their collaborators every week.
Yet, it is sometimes preferable to send a deliverable once every two weeks with two  relevant pieces of information rather than a daily deliverable with little qualified information.

Bear in mind that patience is a virtue in the CI context. Indeed, it might take weeks or months for a truly valuable piece of information to come through.
Cross-checking information / news over a long period is often required in order to analyze trends and contextualize data.

10. Launching too quickly and missing important steps

We have witnessed a number of CI projects’ failures within a few months, due to organizations missing vital steps in a bid to launch several complex ventures at the same time.

Why is it important to start with one line of business, with one topic?

This allows time to understand the methodology, fulfill every step of the CI cycle, and identify areas for improvement. This is essential for ensuring the success of the next CI project.

Another thing to take into consideration is the fact that CI teams are sometimes lean in manpower. Overloading them with multiple projects can result in them being unable to produce quality work for each one.

11. Not having a dedicated CI department

Not having a dedicated department for CI can be a challenge. Indeed, CI analysts are:

• Proficient when it comes to optimizing queries
• Advanced CI professional software users
• Centralize requests from the business lines
• Experts in synthesizing and analyzing data

All these factors are essential to the success of a CI project!

12. Not promoting the CI project internally

Promoting your CI projects internally is vital to ensure their sustainability.

Thus, your business expertise and added value will be recognized throughout your organization, which will enable you to identify new CI topics and maintain the virtuous circle.