What is a Business Dashboard and why is it so important?

What is a Business Dashboard?

Another name for a Business Dashboard is a Business Intelligence (BI) Dashboard; as it provides you with the intelligence you need to run your business. It tracks your KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) or as we prefer to call them, Critical Numbers.

Why do you need a business dashboard when you can just pull some reports?

Sure, you can always pull some reports to get this information, but there are many reasons why a dashboard is so much better:

• Critical numbers or KPI's are shown in a visual context, not just a number.
• Unlike a report a dashboard is dynamic, always showing you current data; whereas a report ages and needs to be pulled again and again.
• Reports need to be pulled from your different platforms, whereas a dashboard pulls from all platforms.
• A dashboard can create critical numbers by combining data from multiple sources/platforms.
• A dashboard can be set up so it is visible to everyone who has an inmpact on the numbers, as soon as they walk in the door or open a computer.
• A dashboard can incorporate goals and targets so you know whether your critical number is good or bad.

The best way to think about a business dashboard is using a car as an example. In your car you have a dashboard to show you the critical numbers for your car to continue running. You know that if the engine temperature starts getting high or the oil pressure light comes on, that you have a problem and need to take action. This will involve further investigations where a mechanic will check other data points like manifold pressure, timing, oil levels, cylinder compression, air to fuel mix etc etc. Once they have all this data they can start to work out the best way to fix your car.