Five key success factors outlined by Kelle O'Neal to which I must add a critical caveat.

What good are insights unless they result in effective action? 

Insights are not just about making better decisions they are for executing these effectively. In other words a central plank of the main functions of management to:-

  1. Plan
  2. Organise
  3. Direct
  4. Control
  5. Manage this loop continuously

To do this an Analytics Platform that is fully integrated (embedded) as part of the management and work processes of the organisation is vital.  Only this way can analytics help manage- not just "managers" but individual workers who need the Dashboards and Reports to do their jobs effectively.

A platform able to deliver the Visual Analytics to users across the enterprise from front-line operatives to those analysts locked away in "blue-sky thinking" isolation.

Both managed reporting, the day-to-day analytics lifeblood of  an enterprise to Self-Service BI to bridge the gap between BI and business/operational users