Most of the time mandates from above initiate the investigation of a BI solution. Some managers have heard about scorecards and dashboards and others have read a book on the emergence of data-driven decision making or performance management. On occasion there are some intelligent, IT champions that see valuable data, the kind that drives better, more efficient decisions for the organization, that begin looking for ways to get this data to the people that can use it -normally in the form of spreadsheets and reports.
The Microsoft BI site provides a great description of how how BI works with the following steps.
Step 1: Provide Quality Data (data warehousing)
Step 2: Gain Deeper Insight and Facilitate Better Decision Making (reporting and analysis)
Step 3: Align Decisions with Corporate Goals (performance management)
Step 1: Provide Quality Data (data warehousing)
Step 2: Gain Deeper Insight and Facilitate Better Decision Making (reporting and analysis)
Step 3: Align Decisions with Corporate Goals (performance management)
read more at Norm’s PerformancePoint Server Blog about the view MS has about BI.