The view from 10,000 metres
Why
Data ≠ Information
Organisations are accumulating data at an unprecedented rate and in many disparate systems. Unfortunately this data is often difficult to understand or difficult to access because data does not equal information.
If the June figure for widget sales is 100,000, it is impossible to determine whether this is good or bad, or if action required. To be useful, context must be added, such as time, geography and individual store results.
This new information can be provided to business users, however not all users want or need the same thing. Management and the executive team will need high-level views of the information in quick digestible bites.
What
An executive dashboard uses graphs, maps and other visual displays to show managers exactly what they need to know about organisation performance. Dashboards can be tailored to the requirements of individual users, reflecting their individual KPIs, and designed to best suit their visual style.
Dashboard information is constantly updated to provide the latest data available from a variety of internal and external sources. A dashboard can display all the information users need at a glance, in real-time. By providing KPI’s with indicators such as traffic lights, it is extremely easy for business users to understand what needs to be analysed. If something is Green, it’s not a priority at this stage, if it’s red, it needs action now.
The attention of the user is focused on critical information, and decisions can be made more accurately and more quickly.
Starting with a 10,000 metre view, users can click on relevant displays to drill down into detailed information that may be buried deep within the enterprise, and that may not otherwise be available to senior executives.
How
Knowledge workers want analysis tools which are a perfect fit for Excel Services, PowerPivot and SharePoint. Our Business Intelligence team is highly experienced in leveraging SharePoint’s powerful reporting and analysis features.
However, technology is rarely the biggest challenge to a dashboard/business intelligence project. Typically the main challenges arise from usability, understanding and user adoption. Many potential adoption issues can be mitigated through correct analysis and the gathering of requirements and implementation of a solid methodology.
We can design the right reporting solutions, delivered through familiar Microsoft interfaces that will make anyone feel comfortable slicing and dicing data. We’ll facilitate moving your decisions from intuition to fact-based, by using your data in new and smart ways.
We have the knowledge and experience to help your organisation with the design, setup and configuration of executive dashboards. We can help leverage your SharePoint investment to extend your existing business intelligence capability, or, we can create this capability for you from the right foundation.
We start by understanding your business objectives. We then look at your data and current business intelligence solution, identifying the gap between the current solution and your desired state.
Interested in taking Business Intelligence to the next level within your organisation? Want to keep it simple for your users? Let’s talk.
