The skills required for a business intelligence (BI) implementation are quite different from those required for other applications, so sourcing teams that are trying to hire BI services firms should use a tailored checklist to highlight those specialized areas. The factors that need to be considered and compared include the strategy and methodology for implementation and the partners' proven ability to execute, with a special focus around data governance, industry, horizontal, and software platform specialization. BI is never a project, but rather a journey, so pick the partners with extra care — you may be stuck with them for a long time!