BI Backup Breach

Computerworld - Mechanically, the backup of business intelligence data is easy. More arduous is the crafting of cohesive plans to protect strategic, analytical information that drives vital business decisions.

There's good news for executives worried about the preservation of BI data. Backup utilities are bundled into most BI products, and use of these functions seldom requires help from vendors or consultants.

But there's some not-so-good news as well: BI backup isn't automatic. Instead, corporate officials must devote energy to key data collection and retention decisions that will affect backup strategies mightily.

And while most companies that have embarked on BI projects perform at least some backup, the largest companies are doing less BI backup because their data warehouses are so big, according to Gartner Inc. analyst Donald Feinberg. For instance, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reportedly backs up almost no BI data because of the size of its warehouses, which contain terabytes of data.

"The trouble with the backup of BI data is that you are forced to think about it, whereas with transaction data, you aren't," notes Mayur Raichura, director of information systems at Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. in Fairfax, Va.

Raichura and his staff are now sharpening Long & Foster's BI data collection policies -- moving away from initial attempts to capture metadata about every search conducted against the company's site. If all that data were to be captured, Long & Foster would generate more than 30 million rows of data in a single year, says Raichura. "How fast you decide to delete -- or not to delete -- your BI data and how you collect this information will impact your backup strategy," he says.

The first issue to think through is whether particular BI data sets need backing up at all. Consider the company that loses strategic BI data that's factored only into high-level decisions made at quarterly or annual meetings. It might be fairly easy to reproduce that lost data, because the information is highly aggregated and not very detailed, according to Keith Gile, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.

On the other hand, tactical and operational data feeds more immediate decisions and likely requires more-hearty backup measures. "Tactical decisions are made over days or weeks and are more associated with specific business cycles. Under these circumstances, BI data backup is necessary," says Gile.

Having decided where to focus backup efforts, BI executives should then begin shaping BI data maintenance policies into sound backup strategies. It's an effort that can prove challenging for even the most seasoned organizations.

"We are pretty mature in this area," says Grant Felsing, decision support manager at Briggs & Stratton Corp., a Milwaukee-based engine manufacturer. "In a lot of the conversations I've had with other companies, I've come across a lot of blank looks."