Background
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) plays a critical role in delivering weather, climate, and water information to support safety, sustainability, and economic prosperity across Australia. With the growing demand for timely, data-driven insights, BoM recognised the need to scale its business intelligence capabilities across the organisation without compromising on governance or compliance.
To meet this challenge, BoM partnered with Exco Partners to establish a Business Intelligence Centre of Excellence (BI CoE) and a supporting operational model that would enable self-service analytics, promote best practices, and manage risk effectively.
The Challenge
BoM’s decentralised structure and growing demand for data access led to several challenges, including inconsistent business intelligence (BI) practices across teams, limited governance over data usage and reporting standards, and difficulty implementing policy in ways that still supported innovation. These issues also introduced the risk of non-compliance with legal and regulatory obligations. Recognising the opportunity, BoM aimed to create a scalable, policy-aligned BI model that empowers users while maintaining control and oversight.
Our Approach
Exco Partners collaborated closely with the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) to co-design and implement a Business Intelligence Centre of Excellence, along with a lightweight governance framework. This initiative was designed to support a Community of Practice across the organisation, applying policy in a pragmatic way that ensures real-world usability. It also focused on building capability in a sequential manner to promote sustainable adoption, while establishing clear guardrails that balance innovation with effective risk management. Through this approach, BoM was able to cultivate a culture of self-service analytics that remains aligned with both strategic goals and regulatory requirements.
