I used to work with a guy that was the Roger Ebert of the Business Requirements Document (BRD) critique. In a sick way I think he really looked forward to receiving them and then proceeded to slowly dissect and disintegrate any life form that contributed to their existence. He was a connoisseur and the rest of us were cheap can drinkers. Every BRD he received fell far short of his expectations.
The truth is, the entire system and process was doomed from the start. He relied on those unfamiliar with the DW space to go talk to users about there "needs" while he waited patiently scheduling cron jobs and scripting his latest stored procedure. A somewhat common scenario in the world of corporate silos that maybe relies to heavily on the BSA and separation between tech team and the business. This is a flawed approach and, thankfully, slowly going by the wayside.
If you're part of building the DW, take part, contribute. Roll your sleeves up and get dirty. Ensure you're invited to those critical meetings. BI doesn't succeed with tech geeks that can't understand the problem their trying to solve. We only exist to support the business and need to remember that and ensure we take part in that process. Don't forget about the first word in Business Intelligence.
If you're role is to develop or architect a solution then don't rely on the person with the BSA title to do this work alone. Collaborate on the effort as a team. This seems like less of a problem in HE versus the corporate world, at least where I am at. Maybe I'm lucky.
We all have skin in the game.
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