📌 The 4 Layers of Data & BI Problems Most businesses approach data & BI problems by fixing symptoms instead of root causes. They have a problem-solving problem. They spend all their time fixing what’s visible without ever addressing what’s critical. → Dashboards break? They find a workaround. → KPIs are wrong? They update them on the go. → Reports load slowly? They try to optimize queries. But Business Intelligence problems live across four layers. You need to understand where problems really originate and how to solve them once and for all. 1️⃣ 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞-𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 These are the easiest to spot but the least impactful to solve in isolation: → Dashboards loading slowly → Incorrect KPIs → Data export errors Most teams mistakenly spend most of their time firefighting here. But fixing symptoms without addressing the root cause means these problems will resurface, again and again… 2️⃣ 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 This is generally the technical debt accumulated over time. You have to dig deeper. If your reports and visualizations frequently break, the issue lies in structural layers like: → Data pipelines failing silently → Unreliable ETL processes → Poor semantic models causing frequent manual adjustments Until you invest in solid data engineering practices and build reliable pipelines, your BI layer will remain unstable. 3️⃣ 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 Even with the best pipelines, your BI strategy will fail if the underlying business alignment is broken: ⤷ No standardized KPI definitions across teams (Finance defines “Revenue” differently from Sales). ⤷ Data silos block cross-department collaboration and create fragmented insights. ⤷ Critical systems aren’t integrated which leaves decision-makers blind to the full picture. This is where true data leadership comes in. Fixing this requires cross-functional alignment and establishing enterprise-wide data definitions. 4️⃣ 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 At the deepest level, problems always boil down to: → Weak or non-existent data governance → Unclear ownership and accountability → Missing a "single source of truth" The hard truth is: You can’t fix a broken BI strategy with more dashboards. 1) Fixing only surface-level problems means symptoms will reoccur. 2) Structural and strategic layers demand clear communication and cross-team collaboration. 3) Core data problems require a robust data governance strategy Addressing the root issues will transform your BI strategy from constant firefighting to true strategic enablement. Which layer does your organization struggle with most? Let’s discuss below 👇 #BusinessIntelligence #DataStrategy #DataGovernance | 23 comments on LinkedIn