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The final problem with traditional BI projects is that the methodology used can compound the problems above and make them worse. Traditional development methodologies have phases with rigid transitions between them. In addition there are different people working on the different phases with 'hand-offs' between them. This makes adapting to change difficult and the later in the process that the change surfaces the harder it is to handle. This causes problems for the development of all software systems. BI's unique 'unfamiliar user' problem makes it hard to concretely define the requirements. Combining a requirements definition that cannot be reliably confirmed with a process that does not handle change well is a recipe for problems.

Problem 5: Inertia

A combination of the problems above means that it is not a trivial exercise to create an BI solution. This makes BI unsuitable for projects where a quick answer is needed to a one-time problem. For example let us assume that an organization is under a new competitive pressure and wants to adjust its pricing scheme for all of its many products in all of its markets. The new pricing scheme needs to be decided upon within 10 days. If it takes two or three months to assemble a BI solution to analyze the sales trends within each market there is no point even starting. Even if it only takes two weeks to create the solution it will be available too late.

Is there an alternative way to approach BI projects that helps alleviate these problems? Why, yes. The alternative is to use an agile approach.