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06/03/2014, 17:20
... onefootinfront of the
other.
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Chapter2.VariationsinDashboardUsesand Data
Dashboardscanbeusedtomonitormanytypes of data andtosupportalmostanyset of objectivesbusiness
deemsimportant.Therearemanywaystocategorizedashbo ... Percentage of thisyear'sbudgetsofar
Apriorprediction of themeasure Forecast of whereweexpectedtobetoday
Relationshiptoafutureprediction of themeasure Percentage of thisquarter'sforecast
Somemeasure of thenormforthismeasure ... were
onceagainabletogrow.
Whatreallycausedheadstoturninrecognition of dashboardsasmuchmorethanyoureverydayfledgling
technology,however,wastheEnronscandalin2001.Theaftermathputnewpressureoncorporationsto
demonstratetheirabilitytocloselymonitorwhatwasgoingonintheir
midstandtotherebyassure
shareholdersthattheywereincontrol.Thisincreasedaccountability,combinedwiththeconcurrent
economicdownturn,sentChiefInformationOfficers(CIOs)onamissiontofindanythingthatcouldhelp
managersatalllevelsmoreeasilyandefficientlykeepaneyeonperformance.MostBIvendorsthat
hadn't
alreadystartedofferingadashboardproductsoonbegantodoso,sometimesbycleverlychangingthe
name of anexistingproduct,sometimesbyquicklypurchasingtherightstoanexistingproductfroma
smallervendor,andsometimesbycobblingtogetherpieces of productsthatalreadyexisted.The
marketplacesoon
offeredavastarray of dashboardsoftwarefromwhichtochoose.
1.3.DispellingtheConfusion
Likemanyproductsthathitthehigh‐techscenewithasplash,dashboardsareveiledinmarketinghype.
VirtuallyeveryvendorintheBIspaceclaimstoselldashboardsoftware,butfewclarifywhatdashboards
actuallyare.I'mreminded of theearlyyears of data warehousing,wheneagertolearnaboutthis
new
approachto data managementIaskedmyIBMaccountmanagerhowIBMdefinedtheterm.Hisresponse
wasclassicandrefreshinglycandid:"By data warehousingweatIBMmeanwhateverthecustomerthinksit
means."Irealizethatthiswasn'tIBM'sofficialdefinition,whichI'msureexistedsomewhereintheir
literature,butitwasmyblue‐suitedfriend'sway of sayingthatasasalesperson,itwasusefultoleavethe
termvagueandflexible.Aslongasaproductorserviceremainsundefinedorlooselydefined,itiseasyto
claimthatyourcompanysellsit.
Thoseraresoftwarevendors
thathavetakenthetimetodefinethetermintheirmarketingliteraturestart
withthespecificfeatures of theirproductsasthecore of thedefinition,ratherthanagenericdescription.
Asaresult,vendordefinitionstendtobeself‐validatinglists of technologiesandfeatures.Forexample,Dr.
GregoryL.Hovis,Director of ProductDeploymentforSnippetsSoftware,Inc.,asserts:
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Categorizingdashboards
Commonthreadsindashboard data
Non‐quantitativedashboard data
Dashboardsareusedtosupportabroadspectrum of informationneeds,spanningtheentirerange of
businesseffortsthatmightben...