Many dashboards have limitations that can make it difficult for businesses to provide value beyond the executive level. But with IBM portals, you can create a foundation to build more effective active dashboards. This executive brief shows how next-generation dashboards can provide a competitive advantage by helping improve flexibility and decision-making.
Dashboard solutionsExecutive brief April 2007
Capitalize on the value of active
dashboards to improve business
flexibility and decision making. Capitalize on the value of active dashboards.Page
Executive summaryContents Known in the 1980s and 1990s as executive information systems, dashboards have been around for a long time. When they were first introduced, dashboards 2 Executive summary provided users with information culled from numerous disparate systems and 2 Dashboard trends and presented it in one location. Although useful, the data were static and often challenges became outdated quickly.4 Importance of active versus static dashboards Today, businesses are realizing that many dashboards still have limitations such 7 Reap the benefits of active as static data and an inability to react to and update information in a timely dashboards manner. It can be difficult for businesses to find and consolidate information 9 Leverage proven technology to from disparate sources within their organizations and to enable dashboards generate business value to provide value beyond the executive level.10 A trusted provider of effective dashboard solutions Yet even with the current limitations of many dashboards, few doubt their effec-tiveness, as they can help businesses integrate multiple data sources to facilitate improved decision making and eliminate time-consuming, manual work, boosting efficiency and productivity. This executive brief will share how the next genera-tion of dashboards-active dashboards built on a service-oriented architecture (SOA)-provides an optimal environment to help businesses improve corporate performance and gain a competitive advantage.
Dashboard trends and challengesBusinesses are showing a renewed interest in dashboards. According to a study that surveyed 113 IT executives from large companies, ". 90 percent of the companies using dashboards in their organization had over 200 users. And, this number is expected to grow over the next 18 months. In fact, over 50 1percent of the respondents plan to add 500 or more users in this time period." Companies are looking to dashboards not only to help improve decision making company wide, but also to reduce costs associated with time-consuming, manual, information-gathering methods. Capitalize on the value of active dashboards.Page
The trouble is, many of today's existing dashboards are nothing more than electronic versions of static reports. All too often, these static dashboards display outdated information pulled from historical sources or data warehouses. And when static dashboards don't provide users with consolidated access to the most current information, a company's ability to improve decision making and business performance is limited. To access and act on the latest information, users must resort to time- and labor-intensive methods, such as consulting spreadsheets and disparate databases.
In addition to the issues presented by static dashboards, companies face other obstacles in deploying successful dashboard solutions, including a lack of techni-cal resources and skills. After all, specific knowledge and skill sets are required to build, integrate and maintain dashboards. Many companies don't have enough resources or the right skill sets to deploy the dashboards and personalize them according to the roles and preferences of each user. As a result, companies may be forced to default to a one-size-fits-all dashboard environment, where everyone sees the same information. This can overwhelm users and make it more difficult for them to obtain the data they need to do their jobs effectively.
Realizing value from dashboard initiatives can also be challenging for compa-nies. Organizations that build their dashboards on a proprietary architecture and platform can face complexities in integrating data from external systems. Problems may also arise when organizations try to alter their dashboards as key performance indicators (KPIs) and the businesses evolve. To ensure integration with existing systems and new data sources, as well as to adapt as their busi-nesses change, companies are starting to build their dashboards on an open technology platform. Capitalize on the value of active dashboards.Page
Importance of active versus static dashboardsFor dashboards to have a positive impact on a business, companies should make them active-so the dashboard can empower the business t... [download for more]
