BABOK and DMBOK: The Frameworks for BI Report Requirements Gathering

Effective Business Intelligence (BI) reports are critical for organizations seeking to make informed decisions that positively impact their bottom line. However, before creating these reports, it is essential to follow established frameworks for requirements gathering, such as the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) and the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK). Here, we’ll explore how to properly collect requirements for a BI report using these frameworks and provide a list of 30 questions that can guide this process.

To start, it is important to identify the report’s primary stakeholders and their objectives through stakeholder analysis. Using various techniques such as surveys, questionnaires, observation, focus groups, and brainstorming sessions, business analysts can elicit the stakeholders’ requirements, priorities, and pain points. The BABOK defines requirements as “a condition or capability needed by a stakeholder to solve a problem or achieve an objective.” Hence, it’s vital to gather a clear understanding of the stakeholders’ needs.

In parallel, the DMBOK emphasizes the importance of data governance, including policies, procedures, and standards for managing data. It highlights the significance of ensuring the quality, accuracy, and consistency of data used in BI reports. Therefore, the requirements gathering process should consider data sources, security, usability, presentation, visualizations, design, delivery, accessibility, scalability, reliability, legal and regulatory compliance, cultural and language requirements, training and documentation, maintenance, testing, validation and verification, evaluation, change management, and governance.

To guide the process, we recommend answering the following 30 questions during requirements gathering:

1. What is the report’s purpose?
2. Who are the primary stakeholders?
3. What are the stakeholders’ goals?
4. What information do stakeholders need?
5. What business problems should the report solve?
6. How often will the report be created?
7. What is the timeline for report development?
8. What is the budget for report development?
9. What are the report’s data sources, and how do they relate to each other?
10. What are the report’s performance requirements?
11. What are the report’s security requirements?
12. What are the report’s usability requirements?
13. How should data be presented in the report?
14. What visualizations should be included in the report?
15. What are the report’s design requirements?
16. How will the report be delivered to stakeholders?
17. What are the report’s accessibility requirements?
18. What are the report’s scalability requirements?
19. What are the report’s reliability requirements?
20. What are the report’s legal and regulatory requirements?
21. What are the report’s cultural requirements?
22. What are the report’s language requirements?
23. What are the report’s training and documentation requirements?
24. What are the report’s maintenance requirements?
25. What are the report’s testing requirements?
26. How will the report be validated and verified?
27. How will the report be evaluated for its effectiveness?
28. What are the report’s change management requirements?
29. What are the report’s governance requirements?
30. How will the report be used in the organization’s overall BI strategy?

By answering these questions, business analysts can capture stakeholders’ requirements accurately and develop a successful BI solution. Following the BABOK and DMBOK frameworks for requirements gathering ensures that the resulting BI reports meet the needs of the stakeholders and provide valuable insights to the organization.