For several months now, I have had the chance to work on a project at the French leader of the space industry: no, it is not SpaceX, and unlike Thomas Pesquet, I am not leaving for the International Space Station.
What I do is Business Intelligence and I am a Technical Expert.
My job
Some will think that my job consists of writing software, but my view of our profession is more complex.
My role is to play with thousands of pieces of data (not necessarily understood by everyone) which I have to orchestrate so that everyone can make sense of them.
Supporting users in building trends and creating performance indicators: that is my job.
But what is the connection between my skills and the space industry?
Every company needs BI to steer its activities, and that is the case for my client, a player in the defence and space industry.
What they need is visibility over the performance of their purchasing.
Knowing your suppliers, especially when you have thousands of them, knowing how much you spend, knowing your purchasing volume, knowing whether lead times are met and, above all, making sure the quality is there.
But why did they need me?
Aligning the existing dashboards with the new needs of this company's buyers is my main assignment.
Method before tools!
My method, split into 3 steps: analysing what already exists, iterative development, and user support.
The first step is listening to users : discovering their daily routine, identifying their problems, taking on their challenges. To do that, I get the users talking, not the data.
Running interviews where we discuss their difficulties and their wishes in complete transparency: that too is my job.
The second step is my technical expertise : analysing and proposing solutions. Building dashboards while staying agile, developing them through regular reviews and so avoiding the tunnel effect with the user.
It is normal for users to need time to make their dashboards their own; my added value is also being proactive.
My years of experience in BI and my expertise in SAP Analytics Cloud mean that I can implement solutions suited to every business context.
The third step is change management : developing a tool suited to its users is obviously not enough.
BI tools are like the indicator in a car: if you are not trained to use one, you soon forget what it is for.
I train and support users so that they can make the most of all the features of these new dashboards on their own.
Today, by applying these three steps, the dashboards I produce feed into the company's choices and decisions. Admittedly, transforming data is not as impressive as living in space, but one thing is certain: I too am doing my bit.
Michael R.
