9 Fundamentals o 7 als of Bui ene Busi ; 9.5 DASHBOARDS are changing the way we look at information and the. erprise dashboards n ind the Comporate oF enterp J eorporate dashboard answers four basic questions, "7 "eam, Iyze our business. A well-constructed © Where? © What? + How? + Why? ¢ operational data, dashboards portray critical o Instead of wading through pages of disparate oper . satan sb n onpnaion sing» coleeon of power gap donee - Oe guid glance a the dashboard tells users the key performance indicators and metrics used w dd monitor the company's performance. Dashboards help in meas Better analysis. + Better tracking. # Proactive alerting. 9.5.1. What are Dashboards? What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “dashboard”? Yeyou guesed itright... It is indeed an automobile’s dashboard! ae re a 4 control panel in an automobile that provides the driver with all che informatia sen the pesaon and control of the vehicle. The dashboard used in Information Tech! ep Se but is more interactive than an automobile dashl information in away har eeu A dashboard is a graphical user incerface that organizes a PO i io an organization, Dashboards pany ae Provides at-a-glance insight to what is actually happe™™ lowing attributes: They display data elevan to their * They throw light on ke thro cy performance indi i organizations performs mane’ indicators and metrics used ro measure a * Since dashboards are conclusions that hel wn objectives, d moire Se designed to se p the orale wt™® & specific purpose, they inherently contin us f et analyze his or het own performance.Rasics of Enterprice Reporting 1m 9.5.2 Why Enterprises Need Dashboards? Figure 9.12 describes the benefits accruing to enterprises through dashboards aR RES Sy ee er 38 ge a eee ae ee Figure 9.12 Importance of dashboards for enterprises. 5.3 Types of Dashboard nterprise Performance Dashboards hese dashboards provide an overall view of the entire enterprise, rather than of specific business func- >ns/process. Typical portlets in an enterprise performance dashboard include: * Corporate financials. © Sales revenue. * Business Unit KPIs (key performance indicators). + Supply chain information. + Compliance or regulatory data. * Balanced scorecard information. ure 9.13 and 9.14 are samples of enterprise performance dashboards, Top Company Performance Dashboard Figure 9.13 A sample enterprise performance dashboard.Figure 9.14 Another sample enterprise performance dashboard. Customer Support Dashboards E Organizations provide this type of dashboard to its customers as a value-add service. A customer sup- port dashboard provides customers their personal account information pertaining to the business rela tionship, such as * Online trading. © Utility services. © Entertainment. + B2B SLA (business-to-business service-level agreement) monitoring. Divisional Dashboards These are one of the most popular dashboards used to provide at-a-glance actionable information to division heads, operational managers, and department managers. Each division has its own set of KPIs which can be visually displayed on the enterprise dashboard. Typical divisional dashboards include: * Purchasing dashboards. © Supply chain dashboards, * Operations dashboards. + Manufacturing dashboards, * Quality control dashboards * Marketing dashboards,of Enerprive Reporting - 1» Sales dashboards ance dashboards © Homan resources dashboards 6 HOW DO YOU CREATE DASHBOARDS? «are created around a set of measures or key performance indicators (KPIs). KPT is an toe apr the performance of a tack, and it reveal the performance tha is below the normal range so vi can be taken. It draws attention to problem areas. The measures used in the ash. Jevant and support the initial purpose of the dashboard. fost dashboard pat corrective acti ard should be rel 6.1. Steps for Creating Dashboards First Step Fret Se ens the data that will go into an enterprise dashboard. Entesprise dashboards can con- sin cither/both of the following mentioned daa: © Quantitative daca. = Non-quantitative data. Quantitative data is the data that gives an idea of what is currently going on. Examples of quantitative data for an Education dashboard: ‘= No. of student batches. ) + No. of learning programs. 2 Nov of students who have successfully qualified the internal certification. 2 No. of students being trained on the various learning programs. Examples of non-quantitative data for an Education dashboard: @ Salient features of the foundation learning program. Challenges faced by the instructor in classroom training. © Users comments on the effectiveness of the learning program. Second Step Decide on the timeframes. The various timeframes could be This month to date. This quarter to date. This year to date. Today so far. Third Step Decide on the comparative measures. The comparative measures could be The same measure at the same point in time in the past. * The same measure at some other point in time in the past.c evaluation can he performed as follows: bad m . Tt Decide on the evaluation mechanisms. Th sual obj fic lights. ' ae sf ce ae rl aor the measure co alert a serious condition, © Using visual attributes, 68: ting Dashboard 9.6.2. Tips For Crea ory: Avoid using additional and unwanted data reposit ashboard « date Ape much data makes the dashboard look clutered an} jashboard. Too m' ion you are eying presents io et anexte the actual information effectively through your da, 1 to present the data as simply as possible. It is important to focus on + Dont make your d Focus on the primary, dilutes the actual inform: + Avoid fancy formatting: board, it is very important (0 data rather than shiny graphics. Limit each dashboard to one P the key measures relevant to a particular 0 goal of d cintable page: Dashboards provide at-a-glance views nrg bjective. So, itis important to keep all the dita in fone page. It ensures better comparison between che different sections of the dashboard and process the cause and effect relationship more effectively. When the user has to scroll le, right, or down, these benefits are diminished. On the contrary, when dashboards bring all sere formation on one page chen one glance can give a complete insight into the organiza- tion's performance. It also helps in identifying the problems where corrective actions are required. Let us take one example. All organizations set certain goals that they wis tain criteria to evaluate their performance. Suppose they want to visually see what their margin percent is and monitor their performance against the defined goals. ‘One way to visually depict this is by using a gauge where the indicator can clearly indicate ifthe goal was achieved or not. Ifthe indicator is geen then it must have mer the goal, and if is in red or yellow then corrective actions have to be taken. Figure 9.15 depicts a sample gauge indicator. sh to achieve. They select cer- Normal Ci Warming Griical Figure 9.15 A sample gauge indicator,10 BI Road Ahead BRIEF CONTENTS _ ‘What's in Store Business Intelligence for ERP Systems Understanding BI and Mobilicy Social CRM and BI Bland Cloud Computing Unsolved Exercises —— een adi ths WHAT'S IN STORE By now you are already familiar with the concepts relating to Business Intelligence (BI), i.e., data warehousing and the fundamentals of business analytics. With this background it’s time to look ahead at various new possibilities in the field of BI, their applications and merits over the existing technologies. In this chapter we will look ahead at the evolution of BI with mobility, cloud computing, ERP, and Social CRM. This chapter is a “Must Read” for those interested to learn about BI in depth and about its new horizon of possibilities. ‘We suggest you refer to some of the learning resources suggested at the end of this chapter and also complete the “Test Me” exercises. You will get deeper knowledge by interacting with people who have shared their project experiences in blogs. We suggest you make your own notes/bookmarks while read- ing through the chapter. 10.1 UNDERSTANDING BI AND MOBILITY Business Intelligence (BI), as a concept, is not new. Nor is the practice of storing data in darabases, analyzing that data, and revealing useful information out of it in the form of reports or through morei Fundamentals of Busines est Analpiy 294 * has leveraged business extensively over the past emo degge advanced data visualization techniques. B nd hgh new technologies th topes m- through ever-improving data management a sice Fr a or bl tehnologes and meodologies continued rapid research ang innovations in mobile technology. Mobile technology offered a solu fo bel who wanted to qq, things on the move. Mobility had two major offerings that became its maj 6 points; to stay in contact with others (mobile phones, witless Interne, ym office/home. a of being able co work (using laptops, smartphones, re) © 24x7 connectivity: Ability etc.) even when travelling or away fro ‘+ Mobile workability: The convenience from anywhere. 10.1.1. The Need for Business Intelligence on the Move With the ever-increasing volumes of enterprise data (chat began to run into thousands of tera. bytes!) coupled with the fast-paced world of modern business, intelligent decisions needed to be taken much faster. This meant that there was a need for better and faster transfer of information extracted by decision support systems to the people who consumed that information, i.e, the managerial and administrative-level population. No longer did they want to be limited to their office-based desktops to access data and useful information through DSSs and applications designed only for PCs. : : Fortunately, the pioneers in the field of BI and analytics were people with good foresight. They saw the huge potential in the rapidly developing area of mobile technologies. What could be better than the power to be able to view performance metric reports, KPIs, etc. anywhere, anytime on your hand-held mobile device, and hence make quicker decisions for your business? As soon as this was thought up, research began in this area. Mobility gave business people an option to access real time data and make immedi s. Today, the enormous progress in the field of mobile BI and analytics can be seen Let us follow the gradual progress of BI mobility over the years. 10.1.2 BI Mobility Timeline The Antediluvian Era * Initially, BI was generally delivered to the end-users by a system that consisted of a wired local computer network. BI applications on a computer would connect to a database on the network and provide information through a channel, such as a web browser, or certain other software. * Later, as mobile devices such as pagers and mobile phones came into the picture, they could receive data that was pushed through SMS service. However, not only would such messages contain a very limited and minimal amount of information, they also would not give the uset any interactivity at all. * Bl applications designed for mobile devices were primitive, cumbersome to develop, and theit maintenance cost a lot. For the time and money spent on them, the information they delivered was 100 less.IRI Rewel Abend Taking Up the Challenge risers — small serene that couldn’ mobile browsers, poor connectivity, ete © Laptops were a better altemative to 4 wat concemed. However, the advant anal hence less cumbersome to catty a phones, history would be written, that they round. If data visualization could The Roadblocks + Small screen for viewing reports and KPIs; «Poor resolution. + Poor connectivity. + Poorly equipped browsers, + Information is sent to recipi # Small amount of transmitted data, + Limited user interactivity: no analysis capability; no drill-downs no drill-through to sub-reports; no freedom to query either. + Low on memory and processing power. + Very limited functionality on keyboard. hence lack of det recipient has no control over it. ..and many more like these. What docs one expect from mobile business intelligence technology? According to Catriona McGauchie, who wrote an arti cle on mobile BI at www.dashboardinsight, com, there are three major expectations frorh the adoptio 1 of mobile BI technology: + Device maturity ie. the extent of the quality of information that the mobile device can show the user. + End-wer expectations, ie, user-friendliness, user-interactivity, tions with desktop applications. * Connectivity should be robust and secure. compatibility of mobile applica- Overcoming the Shortcomings * In the 2000s, Blackberry smartphones began to establish their stronghold over the corporate and governmental market. Their key selling points were: © Wireless email. Larger screens, Advanced browser, Advanced MOS (mobile operating system). QWERTY keyboard and thumbwheel that provided better user-interactivity. A native application for the device that is specially designed for the mobile screen. This pro- vides superior interactivity.sper wowedash Fundamentals of Budi them way of approach’ jnore » netompurrs ale HEN a li laptop compute amartphones (small S75" the advantages © of laptops. rch and Efforts ee pos of as Sl “hale BI) generally speaks of three usage model hboardinsight.com> ‘At times 80! . + Exceptions and alert pe alerted about such events that may ham Except The concerned wet shout de ine veryshipment is delayed somehow, the sales execute ness prompt. : .¢ mobile for rea ae a a ore i rain other specific reports, are pushed to executi Push reporting? Sometime ermine schedule. Decision to push such repores mire a regular basis accor eae ‘could be daily (at EOD), weekly (e.g. every Friday), or monthly ror is taken at the eo morning (8:30 am to be precise), & report on the sales petformane fe te every Metered co the senior marketing and sles executives, sere t ening Here, che decision to pil/generate & repor’ sind by the ender Ti user gives inputs throug find can ask for information from a centeal sere h his mobile device k for ‘ aap sem: For example, an executive uses an applicaion £0 Bet the list of his top 5 sale as ? . executives. ime events may happen which Were unexpected gy Unac. Mobile Devices/Applications as of Today stems): Blackberry OS, Windows Phone, Symbian, Android, ec. «MOS (Mobile Operating Sy lows Ph ire today the most popular mobile operating systems available in the market. They are bex aown for their flexibility, operability, and compatibility with desktop OSs. Also, itis easy o develop mobile applications for these MOSs. Currently, the most popular MOS is Android. ‘Over 80,000 applications are available for mobile devices operating on Android OS. «+ Apple iPhone: iPhone is a revolutionary device that set a new standard and a greater level of expectation from mobile devices. iPhone became hugely popular and sold many units within the first few months of its release into the market. Apple released the software development kit for building apps that can run natively on iPhone and iPad. * Apple iPad: iPad came to be hailed as the harbinger of the future of mobile computing. It com- bines the portability ofa smartphone with the computational power and boasts ofa larger screen and more interactive display of a computer, iPhone and iPad have transformed the way datais viewed on mobile devices. BI applications can now generate reports that can be converted into mobile dashboards for delivery to an iPhone or iPad. iPad is virtually a laptop without a phys cal keyboard (though that functionality can be accessed he onescrcon viru post Besides, the iPad OS and applications ce highly Gs GH Cried cpio Nae” ing though Kenda eatin ate highly compatible with deskeop applications. Nev sea tds tsing touch seen is user-intitve and user-friendly, which s + Examples of small BI mobile apps dealing wi = A simple example of mobile a ig with local data analysis: Erickson callphone. The phone hen ee, tlorimeter and pedometer apps 00 YO" = as a motion sensor apparatus within it. When you g0 j0s8"®goad Ahead +297 : You cover through th ° -rate (if you are holding it in your fore ee PP ThE app then combines the data from the pedometer with the hogan Pan): The calorimeter a oaiae aemmbtcot cata eattrate data and ealculates the ‘ou have burnt duri ee The accuracy of the app is usually about 959%, which i aeeopeble enc fp ae ie ; for the purpose se i r. a that you use it for. In this example, the mobile phone collects teal time dae beg BI applications to deliver information to the user, So, the dann sta by itselfand uses are on the same device. source and application system ‘Another example would be the iPod touch’ “musi nee entire music collection, recognizes the genres of music yor ston vy anaionaly, Ie scans your to te Internet (through its Wi-Fi), ie can suggest you songs that you may fred eee Yer another cxuple wool be the iPhone. It provides a feature of map integration tha shows path you have taken for your jog/wall , = e nhy® Se your jog/walk and graphically provides the gradient/pace changes Various KPIs and dashboards are now designed specifically for the smartphone, iPad, and other mobile devices. They include user-interactivity features (like drill down) too. Ifthe dashboard is too wide for the screen, and you wish to view an individual sub-report on the dashboard in more detail, then you can do so using the drill-through functionality. Click. inglselecting a certain report on the dashboard will open up that report only over the entire screen, However, you can see the report up to a much greater level of detail. Blackberry smartphones are capable of displaying a variety of reports such as column chars, pie- chars, drillable tables, KPIs, trend graphs, et. that are custom-designed for smartphone displays. 0.1.3 Data Security Concerns for Mobile BI ccording to an article by Maribel D. Lopez on hetp://us.blackberry.com, data security must be pro- ded at three levels: + Device security: Best to let the source data stay on centralized servers rather than on individual mobile devices. That way, if the device is lose, the data is still secure. Also, access to the data center is only permitted within the network. Most mobile device manufacturers today provide encryption for email and phone memory, antivirus and firewall software, etc. ‘Transmission security: Since the information is transmitted wirelessly to mobile devices, and it alo generally involves third-party members in the network, data security during transmission becomes a top priority. Some measures taken to ensure this are SSL (secure sockets layer), VPN (vireual private network) connection, cryptographic encryption of data transmitted, etc. * Authorization, authentication, and network security: It refers to controlling which user can access which data by assigning access privileges to users through IDs and/or passwords, all stored in an encrypted database storing user credentials. 10.2 BI AND CLOUD COMPUTING 0.2.1 What is Cloud Computing? ‘tus consider the job of an executive, Mike, in a large organization. As an executive, he is responsible make sure that all the employees have the right hardware and software to do their jobs. Buying