Ten Questions to Ask Before Implementing a Dashboard or Reporting System
Implementing an enterprise dashboard, a balanced scorecard, or another reporting solution is a big step and a big investment for any size of organization. We've put together the following ten questions for use in fleshing out project plans, avoiding common challenges, and maximizing the success of your project.
1. What are your needs?
Before starting any project, it's important to know what you want to get out of it and how that will help your organization. Many projects go awry when technology is implemented for technology's sake or when the focus is on the latest bells and whistles rather than what's needed to meet the project requirements.
There are many companies that sell dashboard systems. Choosing a vendor that is not only familiar with your industry but that also focuses specifically on your industry will give you more assurance that certain pitfalls are avoided as the project moves along.
2. What do you have in place already?
Many organizations have some sort of reporting in place already. Sometimes it's from a third party, and sometimes it is a piecemeal solution that's been developed internally over time. Often different departments will have had put together their own reports without much communication with others.
Whatever the case, the next question to ask is what the relationship will be between the new solution and the old. One option is for the new product to exist along side the other services, with each one generating their own reports. Another option is to integrate all of the packages so that they feed data into one central reporting platform. And the third option is for the new solution to replace all of the others.
