A good dashboard should inform users. Stripping away the onerous task of analysing data, insights should be clearly discernible with the users focus

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1 Before answering the question of why build a dashboard, we should first ask what is a dashboard?. In a well-structured solution, most likely with a Kimball Data Warehouse underneath it, a dashboard acts as a presentational layer for a number of different data sets all in one solution. A dashboard should be focused on data visualisations, rather than numeric tables. It will be made up of a number of component pieces, called widgets that are in themselves each a report. These widgets can be placed anywhere on the screen to suit the individual user s needs. Filtering and selections should be made from any one widget and this in turn is dynamically reflected in the others. Touchstone s approach to BI and CPM implementations is that Dashboards should be the primary User Interface, bringing clarity to data and allowing meaningful insight to be translated into changes in forecasts and plans. The first aim of Dashboards must be to give you great visibility of your data. No other platform can give quite such a rounded picture of a business. To be a truly successful dashboard it should allow you to quickly understand all facets of your business. Blending financial data with natural data (such as headcount or stock numbers) allows the dashboard to also present KPI s. As much as possible dashboards should present data visually, particularly on a time basis. This visualisation of data allows the user to comprehend rapidly a number of different metrics and, with the proper use of colours and icons, be drawn rapidly to issues that need examining. As part of any implementation Touchstone always define styles in advance to include a custom colour palette to ensure that visually the dashboard matches your brand and to draw the eye to areas of interest.

2 A good dashboard should inform users. Stripping away the onerous task of analysing data, insights should be clearly discernible with the users focus attracted purely to the data visualisations. Complexity in the interface can form a distraction, as can too much information on one dashboard. However most users tend to try and load up the display with too many widgets. Whilst we appreciate the desire to try and maximise the display area, TouchstoneBI s Best Practise dictates that there should be no more than six widgets upon any one dashboard. This is to ensure that the dashboard allows for clarity for the user. A business may need a number of dashboards. This should be embraced with each dashboard built to complement those others. Movement between dashboards should be seamless and intuitive.

3 Dashboards have the ability to allow companies to publish pre built dashboards, made up of logical sets of widgets, out to the user base. These widgets and the whole environment can be designed to meet the brand guidelines of the end user, with their graphics and imagery incorporated at all levels into the platform. A powerful dash boarding platform also allows the user to build their own dashboard of favourite widgets. This then allows them to focus on their areas of interest first. Infor BI, TouchstoneBI s premier Dash boarding platform, allows users the ability to store widgets as favourites and then use them to build their own home page. From rapid access of insight through to focusing on what matters to the individual user in the form of their own personalised dashboard, the whole environment is designed to empower the user to answer his questions from a single platform. No logging into multiple systems, no extracting different data sets into excel and blending them. Users are drawn to potential issue areas through strong design allowing them to take action quickly. Once fully deployed, Touchstone configures all users to each have their personalised dashboard presented to them upon login and should focus straight to points of potential issue. Users are able to start resolving issues in less time than it would have previously taken to extract data from the multiple business systems.

4 Dashboards allow you to get information spanning all business processes. This makes it fundamentally attuned to the planning process. Visualisations naturally lend themselves to the process of identifying trends or relationships. This then lends itself to more accurate planning. The most powerful dash-boarding platforms are combined with modelling software that allows for plans to be updated in real time in the solution and the instant reflection of these changes in the visualisations. This allows the user to reflect on whether the plan is realistic based on current actual data. The creation of a gallery of widgets allows the user to select from a series of pre-built components to integrate into their dashboard. It s not always possible though to pre-judge every requirement. It s therefore essential to have a mechanism that allows users to extract data in a way that reduces the risk of creating incorrect data sets. As such with every project, TouchstoneBI s dash-boarding solutions come with a pre-built self-service module. This allows the user to build their own cross tab reports and visualisations right within their browser. This functionality also allows users to undertake custom analysis right in their browser from any location with no complex IT infrastructure.

5 The consumerisation of data requires not just the freedom to access and interrogate data easily, but also to share with stakeholders in a secure, simple and effortless way. Users should be able to add comments or trigger tasks, share and annotate via or links. This sharing ability makes dashboards more than just a reporting tool for the individual but rather a collaborative tool so that findings can be discussed with the broader user community and beyond prompting action to be taken where necessary. With TouchstoneBI s dash-boarding solutions, we allow users to share their dashboards and annotate directly on screen before sending to colleagues. So what are the barriers to building useful dashboards? There are a number of challenges to overcome.

6 One of the greatest challenges when building Dashboards is making decisions over which metrics to make available as standard. One of the benefits of the Infor BI Dashboard solution is that it is what is deemed to be multi-measure. As such we can customise the solution to allow the user to see their visualisation layered with different measures that they can choose from within their widget. This allows the customer to have the flexibility to make available a great deal of pre-built metrics, without a need for a large gallery of widgets. With so many options with which to present data, users frequently need help with determining the correct visualisation to correctly display their dataset. Having an appreciation of when to use a Pie Chart rather than a Multi-Column Chart can be difficult for many. As such Touchstone provide within the self-service module a Chart Guide to help guide users to the correct visualisation. One of the most difficult challenges for the user can be understanding where to find his data. This can be overcome using OLAP environments, with data split into logical data sets held in cubes. The ability for a user to see such terms as Sales, Finance, Production etc. When looking for the required data makes the choice simpler. Combined with strong discipline in naming convention, as per Touchstone s Best Practise, any user should be able to quickly navigate their data structures without the need for extensive training.

7 Creating a flow in the User Interface can be incredibly difficult. Knowing when and where users want to click to see a different view of data requires some thought. The categories of transformation can normally be classified as: Drill down to more granular data Change report to report based upon selection Allow change of underlying variables/parameters Load a different dashboard The best approach to capture these use cases is to take an iterative approach to development. TouchstoneBI use a methodology commonly known as Unified Process to build all our BI and Dashboard solutions. This iterative approach allows for incremental build and testing and the ability to adapt and change the functionality and layout to be adjusted as the build progresses.