Posts Tagged ‘business intelligence scorecard’

Assessing Your Information System Using the Business Intelligence BSC

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Business Intelligence is a key technology now used by many companies. While some companies still utilize the old and dependable transaction processing systems to gain business information, many companies now prefer the database and application design technology. A wide array of business information is beneficial to companies that cater to competitive markets. Business intelligence is not limited to gathering information. It includes proper channeling and dissemination of the information, and could even extend to analysis of the data gathered. The business intelligence BSC or balanced scorecard is an extensive guideline of evaluating your business intelligence capabilities and processes.

One of the most important aspects of business intelligence is data gathering. A scorecard will help you determine how effective the system you are employing is in gathering the necessary data for your business. Data gathered by means of the Internet and those coming from documentary research are of equal weight. The scorecard will not only determine how effective the methods you use are, but also how useful the data that you have gathered are.

How you manage the vast wealth of data you have accumulated is another story. Data management is a perspective included in the scorecard because it is important that information should be stored properly and is well protected. The data should be easily accessible by those authorized to view and use them but it should be secure from unauthorized people, too.

ETL is another important aspect graded by the scorecard. ETL is a series of processes in data warehousing. E stands for extracting information from outside sources. T is for transforming data to achieve certain quality that can be applied to your business needs. L is for loading the data into the warehouse which completes the whole cycle. These three processes are very vital in business intelligence.

Production Management and Support is another perspective graded by the scorecard. How your data will be used during production and how it will support management is an end product of business intelligence. Data is gathered for company use and production management and support should benefit from these data.

The scorecard also provides guidelines for rating organizational roles and responsibilities in the business intelligence. The whole process needs manpower. Every aspect is done by humans and those involved in gathering, transforming, loading and managing data should know their responsibilities. Each process should be assigned to different people to ensure efficiency and focus in their given organizational role.

The scorecard also gives premium on project management. Business intelligence is a whole company project in its own right and how the whole process and the staff involved are managed is an essential aspect of its success.

The business intelligence balance scorecard is designed in such a way that the results are easy to understand and interpret. The scorecard is unique in its structure because it will assess how a company’s business intelligence system and data warehousing compares with the best in the industry. It helps you establish IT standards, identifies what kind of data you need to gather, and evaluates the history of business intelligence within your company.

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What a Business Intelligence Scorecard Should Contain

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Everybody is aware of the buzzword regarding businesses nowadays. This is called business intelligence and this is the part of the business in which the men behind its wheels use critical thinking and analysis to take the business to a higher financial level. Everybody knows that there is competition everywhere and that technology has made it easier for people to gather information. What used to be information that can only be acquired in school is now easily accessed all over the Internet. Knowledge has become pretty accessible and this has led to a lot of emerging companies and competition—solely because information is free. Since this is regarded as a threat by many people, there has to be a certain business intelligence scorecard in place to allow business leaders to know how they are doing in terms of decisions and technology.

Many businessmen were able to manage their businesses without any formal schooling. Only experience and practical logic taught them how to manage the different aspects of their trade. However, this is more of a trial and error method that people cannot simply afford to commit nowadays. Making an error will make customers go away if the issue is service. Making a mistake in decisions can be very critical in losing sales or leading employees. Now that there are proven approaches to business solutions, one simply has to use them as deemed fit.

The essence of business intelligence is pretty much about business management. Almost everything—from logistics to process to data analysis—is about managing the business well. Business intelligence is not at all about spying on enemies or competitors—although at some point, it becomes necessary—but it is about deriving facts from valid sources. And from these facts, decisions should be made.

One important thing that any business scorecard should have is the dashboard. A dashboard is a tool that corporate management or executives use to manage information. This are designed to make it easy for managers to see the data they need in managing things, such as sales, employee retention, customer retention, etc. These numbers are critical in making decisions because numbers do not lie. The biggest mistake that a leader can do is base decisions on assumptions or hearsay. Every step undertaken should be based on factual figures that will show if the endeavor is going to earn revenue or not.

Another thing that a business scorecard should contain is accuracy of data. If the numbers are wrong, the decisions are also likely to be wrong. This is an important aspect of the scorecard and accuracy can be obtained by automation of tools. There is a lot of potential for human error if things are calculated manually.

And lastly, it is important for every business intelligence scorecard to measure business intelligence tools. This should show if the tools currently in place—including the processes—are up to date with what the current technology has to offer. Without keeping up to the ever changing and dynamic motions of technology, one will be left behind in the business rat race to corporate success.

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The Top Two Business Intelligence Metrics

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Business is always entailed with risks. Not only because there is economic inflation, but also because there is almost no certainty in terms of sales. As everyone knows, there is a lot of competition in business, and one of the key strategies is to apply business intelligence metrics as part of the overall business management approach. Business intelligence is not something like spying on competitors. It is a discipline that was founded in 1958.

Business intelligence is nothing more than analytics. People who run businesses should use numbers based on facts to be able to make good decisions. These decisions are actually what will take the business to the next level or advance in its field. Without numbers backing up a decision, everything will be based on assumption instead of objectivity. As such, there is a need to know through metrics if the business solutions and intelligence applied really fits the company. Otherwise, if the very method that is supposed to bring wise decisions is wrong, the entire business can collapse.

Other than analytics, business intelligence is also about technology. Many businesses seem to have been left behind because of poor technological applications. Every business has to keep up with the times. Services become faster with technology and this is a critical issue, especially with competitors around. All of these are translated into numerical data and from these data; the leader of the business can make a decision that is synonymous to success.

However, what data does one need? What metrics need to be measured to find out if the business intelligence approach of one company is right?

First off, there has to be an established baseline. A baseline is a calculation of numerical averages based on certain periods of time. In many Business Process-Outsourcing companies that take customer service calls, Forecasting Data is considered a baseline. People who are in the forecasting department know how many customers will calls (not precisely, but very close to it) based on historical data. Baseline is also a term used in determining the Process Capability of any business process. A process is an activity where inputs are converted into outputs for the end user or the customer. Without a baseline, the metrics of the business intelligence will not have a solid foundation.

The next metric is the business dashboard. This is a file that shows all important numerical figures to the leader—or even to the end users—that will make it easier for them to analyze data. This is as critical and important as the baseline. Just like in a car, a business dashboard is a report or a user interface system that will facilitate faster information dissemination and analysis. Many of this information may not come from the same source, but these numbers or figures will certainly help the user achieve what is desired.

There are many more business intelligence metrics that any company may use other than the ones mentioned earlier. Some may not actually be applicable for all since industries are different in several ways. However, the two mentioned are probably the most important of all.

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