Question 1

What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

Accepted Answer

Turning raw data into decisions—via a governed data model, dashboards and alerts. We define KPIs, wire the data, and ship usable insights.

Question 2

Do we still need BI if we already have an ERP or CRM?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ERPs/CRMs capture data; BI makes it understandable and shareable with governed metrics and automated reporting.

Question 3

Can you integrate with our ERP/CRM?

Accepted Answer

We routinely connect Odoo, SAP, Salesforce and other SaaS/tools into one layer for dashboards and automations.

Question 4

Dashboards vs. traditional reports?

Accepted Answer

Dashboards are interactive and near-real-time; reports are static snapshots. We ship dashboards for daily decisions and keep reports for audits.

Question 5

How long does a first sprint take?

Accepted Answer

Typical v1 KPI or integration sprints run 2–4 weeks depending on sources and scope. We fix the v1 scope, then iterate.

Question 6

Which dashboard tools do you support?

Accepted Answer

Grafana, Looker Studio, Power BI, Tableau—plus a lightweight portal when you need role-based access and alerts.

Question 7

What’s included in a v1 sprint?

Accepted Answer

A small, fixed scope (e.g., KPI model, 1–2 sources, a role-based dashboard, and at least one alert), reviews, and handover.

Question 8

How do you scope work?

Accepted Answer

A 60–90 min discovery to confirm use-cases, KPIs and success metrics. You get a brief with timeline, price and fixed scope for v1.

Question 9

What do you need from us to start?

Accepted Answer

Stakeholders, sample exports/schemas, sandbox or read-only access, and agreement on KPIs and definitions.

Question 10

How do you handle change requests?

Accepted Answer

Minor tweaks that fit v1 go in; new asks land in the backlog and become the next sprint with clear cost/impact.

Question 11

Can we pause or split sprints?

Accepted Answer

Yes—pauses are fine, but we’ll re-confirm calendar and dependencies before resuming.

Question 12

What data sources can you connect?

Accepted Answer

ERPs/CRMs, POS/ecommerce, finance, spreadsheets, and databases. We use APIs, vendor connectors or batch pipelines.

Question 13

Can you connect on-prem systems securely?

Accepted Answer

Yes—via VPN/SSH tunnels or secure batch to S3/GCS/Azure. We follow least-privilege and don’t require broad inbound rules.

Question 14

How often do you sync data?

Accepted Answer

Near real-time via webhooks/streams where available; otherwise scheduled (e.g., every 5–15 min or nightly) agreed per KPI.

Question 15

What happens if a vendor changes their schema?

Accepted Answer

We monitor for schema drift and keep regression checks. Breakages are triaged and patched under your support plan.

Question 16

Who owns the data and models?

Accepted Answer

You do. We work under NDA and give you exportable assets, documentation and access.

Question 17

How do you choose the right BI tool?

Accepted Answer

Audience, governance needs, cost, and speed to value. We’ll recommend the best fit and won’t push vendor lock-in.

Question 18

Can we reuse our existing reports?

Accepted Answer

Yes—where sensible we map fields to a governed model and retire duplicate or conflicting reports.

Question 19

Do dashboards work on mobile?

Accepted Answer

Yes—we design mobile-friendly summaries and leverage vendor mobile apps where appropriate.

Question 20

Can execs get scheduled digests?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely—daily/weekly PDFs or HTML summaries, plus anomaly alerts via email/Teams/Slack (and WhatsApp where policy allows).

Question 21

How do you ensure one version of truth?

Accepted Answer

A semantic layer + metric catalog with clear, shared definitions and data lineage.

Question 22

What processes are best to automate first?

Accepted Answer

Repetitive, high-volume and rule-based flows like approvals, notifications, data quality checks and handoffs.

Question 23

Do you build private AI assistants?

Accepted Answer

Yes—retrieval-augmented, access-controlled assistants that run in your cloud tenant where possible.

Question 24

How do you control hallucinations?

Accepted Answer

Guardrails, grounding on curated sources, evaluation sets, and fallbacks to citations/search when confidence is low.

Question 25

Can we keep a human-in-the-loop?

Accepted Answer

Definitely—approvals and high-risk actions stay human-approved with clear audit trails.

Question 26

How do you manage AI costs?

Accepted Answer

Caching, prompt/response budgets, usage caps, and model selection tuned to the use-case.

Question 27

Where does the solution run?

Accepted Answer

Your cloud or ours. Single-tenant by default with regional hosting options to match your data-residency needs.

Question 28

How do you handle access control?

Accepted Answer

Role-based access (RBAC) and SSO where available. We follow least-privilege for service accounts and secrets.

Question 29

Do you keep backups and DR?

Accepted Answer

Yes—snapshots and configuration backups with agreed RPO/RTO. Details live in the SoW/MSA.

Question 30

Can we run a security review or pentest?

Accepted Answer

We support your vendor risk process and can accommodate testing windows against staging/production by agreement.

Question 31

Do you sign NDAs and DPAs?

Accepted Answer

Yes—standard NDAs and data-processing addenda aligned to your compliance requirements.

Question 32

What is the BDI portal?

Accepted Answer

A secure web portal that hosts your dashboards, alerts and simple tools—centralized for your teams.

Question 33

Can we bring SSO and manage users?

Accepted Answer

Yes—SSO/SAML where supported and an admin panel for roles, groups and invitations.

Question 34

Do you provide audit logs?

Accepted Answer

Yes—access and key actions are logged and can be exported for compliance.

Question 35

Can we use a custom domain?

Accepted Answer

We can provision a branded subdomain with TLS and optional IP restrictions.

Question 36

Is there a per-user fee?

Accepted Answer

We support per-seat or site-licensed models depending on scale—finalized in your SoW.

Question 37

How do you price projects?

Accepted Answer

Fixed-scope packs for v1 + time-and-materials for extensions. Retainers cover support and small ongoing changes.

Question 38

What are the payment terms?

Accepted Answer

Milestone-based (e.g., kickoff/acceptance) or 50/50—final terms in the SoW. Local currency options available.

Question 39

Do you work under an MSA?

Accepted Answer

Yes—MSA + project-level SoWs keeps procurement simple for future sprints.

Question 40

Do you work with procurement/legal?

Accepted Answer

We’re used to it—security questionnaires, vendor onboarding and compliance reviews are part of the process.

Question 41

Can we start small and scale?

Accepted Answer

That’s the idea—prove value with a small sprint, then iterate with clear ROI.

Question 42

How do we reach support?

Accepted Answer

Email info@bdicorporate.com or call +961 76 809 741 (Mon–Fri, 9:00–18:00 local). SLAs available.

Question 43

What counts as a bug vs. change request?

Accepted Answer

A bug breaks agreed behaviour or deliverables; new metrics, sources or flows are changes and become the next sprint.

Question 44

What response times do SLAs include?

Accepted Answer

Targets vary by tier (e.g., critical/major/minor). We’ll document response and resolution targets in your SLA.

Question 45

Do you provide training and handover?

Accepted Answer

Yes—live handover, admin notes, and short clips or docs so the team can operate confidently.

Question 46

How are upgrades handled?

Accepted Answer

Vendor version changes are planned windows; we regression-test and communicate user impact ahead of time.

Answers that get you shipping faster

General

Delivery & Scope

Data & Integrations

Dashboards & Analytics

Automation & AI

Security & Compliance

BDI SaaS Portal

Pricing & Contracts

Support & Maintenance

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