iDashboards is bringing the advantages of the very best in big business to “the little guy”. Nothing against the big companies of the world but consider the advantages large companies have regarding efficiencies, analysis, reporting, and straight up crunching the numbers. Now consider what small businesses face; working on their own, waiting weeks for an outside accountant to produce a P&L, reviewing “history” rather than proactively seeing what needs to be adjusted to correct and redirect. All while trying to actually work the business.

Often times small companies are thrown by the daily ups and downs of business…and analysis of the best way to make business decisions is pushed to the side and labeled as too time consuming, too cumbersome and too low a priority. What’s left is decision making based on “gut feel.”

The expression “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades” comes to mind. Driving by “gut feel” is just plain inefficient – with errors occurring on both sides of the decision making process. Imagine ordering too much inventory based on “gut feel” and watching it sit…equally damaging is not ordering enough and watching potential sales walk out the door because your ordering was not driven by actual metrics. Lost sales, inventory cost, spoilage, push through, employee scheduling, cost of money, competitive purchasing analysis; all of these metrics and 100’s more lead to real money loss for a small business.

Until now becoming a metrics driven company has been too prohibitive. There was no “right tool” for the job available. It required real labor hours to pull the data together every month and still more to understand the story the data was trying to tell.

All that has changed now.

Directly below is an example of a restaurant dashboard. It shows, in a single screen, data pulled from all of their various systems…and correlates it. Sales trends, profitability, labor metrics, per square foot revenues and analytics on their menu engineering (product cost) are available within this dashboard…all fed by their variety of systems already in place.

Imagine, what would it feel like to check your smart phone or tablet over a morning coffee and see exactly what you were looking for? Your daily results at the click of a button. Your inventory, labor, profitability and beyond. What’s more…aggregation of that data. A “techy” word that means you can pull and use all the information from across those 3, 4, 5 softwares you have in place. What does it take today to look at your labor, inventory, sales, and accounts receivable all at the same time?

If it’s a daunting thought…start thinking about iDashboards. Because it never needs to be again.

I have watched with a great deal of personal satisfaction as small businesses have pulled their existing data sources together within iDashboards, automated the upload of that information and from their smart phone reviewed dailies on a daily basis. The process that used to involve massive time consumption and employees ranging from bookkeepers, accountants, chefs, store managers, payroll companies and more is now seamlessly pulled together without changing the system….just visualizing the systems already in place. I’ve watched them make money and save money…and that makes it all worth it.

Bill Matthews – Account Manager, iDashboards

I have been working in the business intelligence field for about 6 months now and whenever I am at a client site the words “smart impact” come to my mind. These two words are actually acronyms used in the book “Enterprise Dashboards: Design and Best Practices for IT” by Shadan Malik. Even if someone has not read this book and is not familiar what those acronyms stand for, we can still all agree, that those two words are quite meaningful by themselves.

For me, a company that has made a decision to purchase a dashboard software product (independent from which vendor) is “smart” in doing so. It shows that the company’s management has realized that it is way more efficient and transparent, to visually present metrics and KPI’s. Using a “smart” dashboard development tool makes this task easier and faster. Now, even “non-IT” people could be creating dashboards and a broader audience within a company could be reached. Using a web-based dashboard development tool enables a company to incorporate those dashboards into their intranet, allowing everybody easy access to them.

Buying the right dashboards development tool does not automatically mean that one can create “impactful” dashboards. Preparation of the right data and more importantly, having the right data in the correct format is the key here. When working with Excel as a data source, most of the times the data has to be transposed. If the data source is a database, it might be necessary to create so-called “views” in order to have the KPI’s accessible in one “place”.  Another requirement for creating “impactful” dashboards is that the developing tool offers powerful functionalities like drilldowns, pivots, the ability to show dynamically related data and the ability to create/make changes to charts “on the fly”. Having the data prepared and accessible in combination with a “smart” development tool, allows the developer to create “impactful” dashboards for the intended audience.

I can’t say that developing “impactful” dashboards is so easy “that even a caveman can do it”, however, it starts with the selection of a “smart” development tool, the preparation and accessibility of the “KPI’s” and the commitment of the dashboard development team. The success and acceptance of a dashboard implementation depends on all those factors. What I can say though, is once the initial dashboard has been created the “right way” there will be a demand for more!

Aziz Sanal – Technical Consultant, iDashboards

“So what is this ‘Je Ne Sais Quai’ you speak of?” Well aside from being French, it also turns out, it’s a noun. Straight out of Wiktionary, we get:

Je ne sais quoi – Noun
1. An intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive.

And that’s exactly what iDashboards brings to the table. We are a platform that prides itself on its ability to separate itself from its competitors. As a solution, we bring a series of patented technologies to the table that frankly our competitors simply can’t compete with. That being said, a dashboard is only as good as the value it develops for an organization. Rather than fitting a square peg in a round hole, let’s theoretically round that hole out and use these tools to accomplish exactly what they’ve been designed for. The deliverables behind dashboards within an organization aren’t that far off from those expected out of the GPS in your car. A destination has been determined, but what we really need is the guidance to get there. Much like we don’t necessarily know all the streets we would need to travel down to get across the country, we don’t necessarily know all the decisions we will need to make on the path to success, as defined by leadership, within our organization. Like a GPS capable of calculating directions based on numerous variables, unforeseen circumstances, and even where we started from; dashboards can constantly feed us the guidance that enables us to make the decisions that will inevitably deliver us to our operational destination on schedule, as planned. It is dashboarding and business intelligence that are specifically designed to provide customers this BPS (“Business” Positioning System) they are looking for, and it is iDashboards that offers a certain Je Ne Sais Quai to it all.

Jason Wolan- Professional Services Team Lead, iDashboards

Working with colleges and universities throughout the country has allowed me to recognize several common themes as to how institutions typically wish to roll out their dashboards.  Often times, the dashboard initiative is driven by a need to provide the President’s Cabinet or Board of Trustees with confidential dashboards. These are often strategic plan, enrollment, accreditation, or student success based. 

Other institutions will choose to publish their fact book or strategic plan metrics on their external website, or behind their firewall in a Sharepoint or portal environment to provide transparency.  The initiatives mentioned above are fairly common (we can refer to them as the “usual suspects”). However, throughout the past year, I have noticed the following three departmental initiatives seem to be increasing in popularity within higher education:

1. Finance Dashboard Initiative: 

Recognizing that everything ties back to the general ledger, there has been significant interest from folks in administration and finance departments at institutions to have access to dynamic, interactive dashboards from which they consume key metrics associated with ratios, budget pieces, key financial drivers, etc.  This allows administrators to view their metrics at a high level, and then quickly drill down and interact in an effort to investigate any outliers or variances that they may be particularly interested in. The efficiencies gained, and the real-time insight into institutional costs, have represented a significant value for institutions.

2. Foundation Initiative:

The folks in advancement, development, or foundation will often see the value of utilizing dashboards for major key metrics and KPIs associated with fundraising campaigns, major gift donations, annual fund performance, development representative performance, etc.  The ability to visualize these metrics allows leadership to quickly and easily define trends, identify issues, and provide key stakeholders with an easy to consume state-of- the campaign in a dashboard format. I constantly hear feedback from folks that critical information is getting lost in the weeds, making it almost impossible to draw quick conclusions regarding critical metrics and KPIs.

3. Visualize Utility Consumption Initiative: 

Utility consumption often represents a significant portion of overall institutional costs on campus.  Often times I will hear that folks in facilities will get their gas, water, or electric consumption metrics numbers in heavy, Excel-like reports (and not always in real-time).  With the amount of buildings and line items to track on a typical campus, it can be very difficult to quickly pinpoint areas of concern regarding usage until it is too late to minimize these effects.  The ability to provide real-time utility consumption data in a high level, visual manner allows leadership the ability to have immediate insight to areas of concern, allowing these folks to immediately correct situations that otherwise would have been very costly to the institution.

Dashboards can be an effective tool in many situations and in many departments across campus not mentioned here. My focus on the areas mentioned above comes from significant levels of interest from many institutions.  What metrics could your department potentially utilize dashboards for?

Throughout my years I’ve worked at numerous Technology Companies. Each time I went to interview, I would hand them my resume; black text on a white sheet of paper (5 to be exact). The interviewer would gloss over the resume, search for key terms and dates and would ask me questions concerning the dull piece of paper I handed him.

During the Super Bowl last year Pepsi came out with a commercial staring Elton John as a king who refused to give Pepsi to the masses. A young lady approached and challenged the king, pulled the trap door lever and stated “no … Pepsi for all” and the King fell through the hole in the floor. I’m using this example to illustrate the message that dashboards are for everyone, not just businesses and organizations. We can use dashboards in every area of our lives on a day to day basis. I say, “Dashboards for all”.

I stumbled upon a website one day called “Visualize Me”. Visualize Me allows you to connect your Linkedin profile to their website and automatically generate a dashboard that reflects your work life. Certain factors are placed on your living dashboard, including: How many years you spent at a company, how skilled you are in an area, references left by your current and former colleagues, as well as your education background.

So I pose the question, what’s stopping you from revolutionizing the way we present our lives? Why do we continue to hand in boring two sided pieces of paper with our life story on it, when we could really show what we are made of? Don’t be afraid of colors, images, graphs and data visualization. Don’t allow Dashboards and data visualization to be for only businesses and organizations. Don’t be afraid to encompass the mantra of “Dashboards for all!”

Brett Karl- Technical Consultant, iDashboards

iDashboards just successfully finished its first annual user conference here in Detroit, Michigan.  I was fortunate enough to present a few topics, including the mystical ‘User Adoption’ topic.  I walked into the fully-packed auditorium, stood at the podium, and proclaimed with conviction “Just Use It!”  The audience burst into laughter and declared me as the industry leader for all technology on planet Earth…until eternity.

Okay, so maybe I’m just trying to solicit a nomination to become a speaker at the next TED conference.

Software adoption comes in many forms.  Maybe it’s a manufacturing company implementing new 3D CAD software, or a sales company implementing a new CRM system.  At a minimum, maybe it’s you trying to leverage new photo software to help manage personal pictures.

Highlights of the User Adoption topic include: defining a project manager and champion, communicating, designing, and integration into the business model.  <Imagine a 60-minute presentation goes here>.

It got me thinking; What if there was software that helped with software adoption?  What would it do?  How could it work?  How could I sell it?  So here we go; this is my software product roadmap for an amazing, futuristic, multi-million-dollar-idea, hereafter called “SAM” (Software Adoption Management).

1. Must be able to implement SAM before purchasing a new software
2. The first time SAM launches, it will require a name for the “PM” (Project Manager)
3. SAM requires PM to enter business metrics about current problems requiring a software solution
4. Before the PM signs the PO to purchase software, SAM will have to approve the purchase
5. During new software implementation, SAM continuously asks the PM “Is everything going okay?”
6. After implementation, SAM continuously asks the PM “Are you using it?”  “Are they using it?”  “Have your old problems been reduced?”  “Would you like some coffee?”
7. Finally, SAM automatically uninstalls once the new software is fully adopted

Until the day comes when I get around to hiring a programmer for this idea, we’ll have to ask the project manager to help with the entire process.

To help with managing an iDashboards implementation, please feel free to use this handy form: iDashboards Implementation Report

Ken Rose - Technical Consultant, iDashboards

My last three engagements proved the same point again and again, that dashboard technology cannot only deliver ROI but change the way people conduct business. During pre-engagement discussions, the leaders of each company revealed the same vision – to pioneer a change in their respective industries by providing customers with an enhanced understanding through visual intelligence. These business heads firmly believed that providing a visual representation of the data was critical to promoting increased accountability and transparency.

The benefit of visualizing data is far from a new concept amongst IT professionals or BI gurus – these individuals are long standing advocates of this type of technology. However, when a CPA, development manager, food processing manger, operations director or other members of management start to buy into these vast benefits, BI technology can change not only the way departments or organizations conduct business, but the way entire industries conduct business.

In most business environments there is a heightened emphasis on the importance of dashboards amongst decision makers, and many executives are already taking advantage of some sort of data visualization solution. Niche BI solutions, such as dashboard software, are becoming the trend. This type of solution is significantly more user friendly than large BI stacks and allows more business analysts, or even business users, to create dashboards on their own – without IT. This provides users with a more agile solution that is able to adapt to changing demands in a timely manner without placing a large strain on IT resources. In additional to easing the pull on resources, this type of solution also widens the playing field and allows companies of all sizes to recognize the benefits of dashboards – including small family owned operations.

Zahid Ansari - Technical Consultant, iDashboards

The following diagram shows a common security setup for a company that rolled out iDashboards for a small set of its employees. They have developed dashboards for their Sales and Human Resources departments and wish to control what users can do with them.

They wanted to implement the following list of requirements:

1. Sales users can only view Sales dashboards, except one Sales user that can also create and edit Sales dashboards for the department. Sales users cannot view HR dashboards.
2. HR users can only view HR dashboards, except one HR user that can also create and edit HR dashboards for the department. HR users cannot view Sales dashboards.
3. One IT user that can view, edit and create dashboards for Sales and HR, as well as administer the iDashboards application.
4. One CEO user that can view dashboards for Sales and HR.

The following diagram shows how this would be accomplished:

To fulfill their requirements, they configured the following Users, Groups and Categories via the iDashboards Administrator Application. They left the default group access to all Data Sources as “yes”.

Sales

• Created three Sales users. Sales-User1 and Sales-User2 are assigned the Business User role because they don’t need to create new charts from live data sources or edit data settings of existing charts. Sales-User3 is assigned the Analyst role because they need the ability to create new charts from live data sources.
• Created a “Sales” category where all Sales charts and dashboards are saved.
• Created a “Sales-Users” group that has View privileges to the “Sales” category and None privileges to the “HR” category. Assigned all Sales users to this group so they can view all Sales dashboards, but none of the HR dashboards.
• Created a “Sales-Analysts” group that has Save privileges to the “Sales” category and None privileges to the “HR” category. Assigned only Sales-User3 to this group so they can save to the “Sales“ category, thus giving them the ability to create new charts and modify existing ones in that category and save.

HR

• Created three HR users. HR-User1 and HR-User2 are assigned the Business User role because they don’t need to create new charts from live data sources or edit data settings of existing charts. HR-User3 is assigned the Analyst role because they need the ability to create new charts from live data sources.
• Created an “HR” category where all HR charts and dashboards are saved.
• Created an “HR-Users” group that has View privileges to the “HR” category and None privileges to the “Sales“ category. Assigned all HR users to this group so they can view all HR dashboards, but none of the Sales dashboards.
• Created an “HR-Analysts” group that has Save privileges to the “HR“ category and None privileges to the “Sales“ category. Assigned only HR-User3 to this group so they can save to the “HR” category, thus giving them the ability to create new charts and modify existing ones in that category and save.

IT

• Created one IT user called IT-User that is assigned the Admin role. This gives the user all Analyst permissions (notably, the ability to create new charts from live data sources and edit data settings of existing charts), as well as the ability to log into the iDashboards Administrator Application so they can manage the software.
• Created an “IT-Analysts” group that has Save privileges to the “Sales” and “HR” categories. Assigned only IT-User to this group so they can save to both categories, thus giving them the ability to create new charts and modify existing ones in both categories and save.

CEO

• Created one C-level user called CEO-User that is assigned the Business User role because they don’t need to create new charts from live data sources or edit data settings of existing charts.
• Created a “C-Users” group that has View privileges to the “Sales” and “HR” categories. Assigned only CEO-User to this group so they can view all Sales and HR dashboards.

Matt Crawford- Technical Consultant, iDashboards

What is the daily cost of your status quo? If you’ve never taken the time to add it up you’re not alone, but it is an important factor to review when you’re deciding when to move forward with a dashboard initiative. Sometimes a decision to wait is a forced necessity due to internal resource limitations, or budgetary hold-ups, but those with a choice should take some time to review their current reporting costs.

Recently, one of our prospects decided to shelf their dashboard initiative and ended up paying an additional $40,000 on internal costs just to continue the status-quo for a year before moving forward. In their case the actual cost of their proposed iDashboards solution would have been roughly a quarter of the cost, and they would have had dashboards up and running in just days!

Whether it’s the man hours you’re currently logging, or the decisions you’re missing because you don’t have easy access to your information, waiting on your dashboard initiative can cost you. To make sure you’re making the right decision you need to identify the true cost of standing still on your dashboard initiative and decide if it makes sense to postpone. Here are a few questions to ask yourself…

*How many hours are you currently spending each month compiling reports and presentations?
Monthly Total = Yearly Total =

*Have you recently made a bad decision, or missed the opportunity to make a good one, due to lack of access to the data?
Total Cost =

*What is the salary of the person compiling your current reports and what % of that salary is spent working on this project (ex: $40,000 salary @ 25% = $10,000)?
Total Cost =

Mark Bliss- Account Manager – Cloud Sales, iDashboards

I am writing this blog post sitting in an airplane headed to Alaska. A major part of my job is teaching customers how to use the iDashboards software, wherever they may be. It is always interesting to see the different ways that our software is used, since every customer is different and wants a unique view of their data. The common thread, however, is that every single customer has a mountain of data whose analysis is currently far too difficult and time-consuming for their employees to be responsive and effective at their jobs.

The idea behind a dashboard is that it should present key data points in an easily understood manner. If your organization is to become agile and efficient, so should your dashboard. Building dashboards does not mean that all of your legacy reports go away. Instead, it means that an employee can look at a “new way” dashboard and check the pulse of the organization in 10 seconds, rather than spending 10 hours sorting through all of the “old way” reports. If a problem is identified, then the team can dig deeper and find the source of the problem. It is a much better use of everyone’s time, and it truly is a win-win situation. Managers get answers faster, and employees can work on solving real problems instead of being stuck in “Excel hell”.

Careful planning of dashboards with the focus on key metrics is critical to the success of your dashboard project. Ensure that your dashboard tells a succinct story and you will be able to focus on the big picture without distractions.

While I may not literally be sitting on top of the world in Alaska, you can definitely be on top of your data today with iDashboards!

Warren Singh- Technical Consultant, iDashboards