Sorting through massive volumes of data, separating out what's of value and delivering it to decision-makers at the right time in the right way are the ideas behind business intelligence. The way to turn those ideas into reality is by limiting yourself to "the power of three," according to Larry Bonfante, CIO at the United States Tennis Association.

Limit the information you give executives to three key elements. Giving them too much data isn't any better than giving them too little, Bonfante writes in a post at CIOInsight. Although many data points are relevant to your business, you won't do yourself any favors by providing all of them. The key is to work with executives to determine which three data points are the most useful.

Bonfante uses one of the USTA's strategic initiatives, the 10 and Under Tennis Program, to illustrate his point. The program emphasizes the need to give children the right-sized equipment, as well as balls and courts, to help ensure a successful tennis experience early on. While there are many metrics that show how well the program is working, Bonfante and the individual in charge of the program chose these three:

• How many facilities are providing 10 and Under Tennis programs?
• How many programs are there in the United States?
• How many kids are registered to participate in these programs?

Other metrics would have been interesting but not as useful because they are driven by the three that ultimately were selected.

"Before you decide that three is too small a number, ask yourself three questions," he writes. "Do your executives love to plow through reams of data? Do they have time on their hands to review countless data elements? Do they have endless patience to find the hidden treasures in the data?"

For more:
- see Larry Bonfante's post at CIOInsight

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