All participants in the business discovery effort including the executive sponsor and business area leadership should attend. Failure to explain and justify business discovery is the greatest reason for resentment and disinterest. Orientation lays the foundation for the data warehousing project. It helps manage expectations and introduces the participants. The orientation meeting should take no more than half a day.
Interviews provide valuable information and allow relationships to be built.
They are a good indicator of potential conflicts and individual concerns. Participants are generally more comfortable talking with one or two people than in a conference room with management and co-workers. Business discovery interviews should focus on job responsibilities, decision making power, and how the interviewee can benefit from data warehousing. Interviewees should include targeted users and information systems staff. The executive sponsor should be interviewed first and then again after the other interviews are complete.