White Paper April 2006

Transcription

1 White Paper April 2006

2 Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary Scorecards Alerts Data Collection Agents Self Tuning Caching System Business Intelligence Model Scorecards Processes Measures Metrics Data Sources Dimensions Walkthrough Scorecard Overview Process Card Information Scrolling Ticker Information Process Details Process Details Target Modification / Creation Measure Details Target Details Measure Drill Down Data Collection Agents

3 4. Hosted Solution Development Process Business Objectives Data Availability Data Model Scorecard Design Implementation Fine Tuning Training & Support Infrastructure Guide Contact Information

4 1. Executive Summary Business Intelligence Scorecard (BIS) provides a secure, data independent business scorecarding, reporting and data mining solution delivered across an intranet or extranet environment. BIS enables anyone with a need to monitor business and process performance to instantly view the data that is most important to them through intuitive graphical scorecards. BIS is comprised of the following 4 components: 1.1 Scorecards Scorecards provide a secured list of business processes and the measures and targets that monitor them. Intuitive traffic light visualizations show the current status of any process at a glance. When more detailed information is required, these summaries can be explored thoroughly through their processes, measures and targets through charts and drill down queries. Scorecards can also be secured at the process level, meaning that data can only be viewed by those who need access to them. 1.2 Alerts In addition to being able to view Scorecards relating to business / process performance, BIS also includes alert functionality. This enables users to be notified almost instantly through , desktop popup, or even SMS when measures they are monitoring fall below certain thresholds. This system is highly customizable; enabling right-time notifications (eg, BIS may require that a process be under a certain threshold for a specified period of time before the notification is sent). 1.3 Data Collection Agents Data Collection Agents can be run on any windows machine with access to the various information repositories across the enterprise, be it SQL Server, Excel, Access, Oracle, Web Logs or even basic text files. Data Collection Agents can be configured to connect and collect data from sources as often as required, providing right-time reporting. Additional Data Collection Agents can be developed to connect to non-standard data sources as required, providing access to almost any data source imaginable. 1.4 Self Tuning Caching System Data Collection Agents pass their data through to a Self Tuning Caching System, which formats and caches data to provide extremely fast access to data as requested. This caching system also allows for measures to be defined across different data sources (e.g. it is possible to define measure such as Website Visits per Sale, which takes data from Website Logs and from the Sales database)

5 2. Business Intelligence Model The Business Intelligence Model used by BI Scorecard is made up of the following elements: 2.1 Scorecards Scorecards provide the entry point to the application, displaying the most highly summarized view of data. They are designed to bring together complex information from many disparate Data Sources to provide an intuitive, at-aglance view of a business area. Scorecards are usually made up of between two and four Processes in order to keep the Scorecard simple and easy to read. 2.2 Processes A Process is defined as a group of Measures in this model, providing a way of grouping Measures into a single, cohesive business theme. A process is usually made up of between two and fifteen Measures, depending on the organization. 2.3 Measures Measures provide a data independent, business oriented method of tracking performance. Measures are said to be data independent, as they can span multiple data sources, so for example, it is possible to define a business Measure such as Overtime per Sale which takes data from both a customer relationship management system (sales), and an enterprise resource planning system (overtime). 2.4 Metrics A Metric is a lower level version of a Measure, which is tied to a single data source. In the example shown above, both sales and overtime would be Metric s. Metrics are not shown on the front end of the system, but each time a Metric is created the system will also create a Measure which utilizes that Metric. 2.5 Data Sources Data Sources provide the data that is used to calculate Metrics, and is generally tabular in format. BI Scorecard is able to connect to a vast array of different types of Data Sources out of the box, however due to its modular design it is simple to add new functionality to connect to currently unsupported Data Source types Dimensions As a Data Source is generally tabular, the columns defined in it are generally either numeric columns containing data to be aggregated over (i.e., sales, cost, etc), or contain information describing the numeric data (i.e. age range, product, date, etc). BI Scorecard allows users to Drill Down through their Measures through the Dimensions that are included in the Data Sources that define them

6 3. Walkthrough 3.1 Scorecard Overview These Scorecards provide high level summary information about the Processes business users need to monitor. Each Scorecard is highly configurable, allowing for any number of Process Cards and Charts. Additionally, each Scorecard can be secured, to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive business data. There is no limit to how many Scorecard a system contain. Scorecard Navigation Navigate easily between different Scorecards and Processes Time Navigation Easily navigate between different time periods (eg Daily, Monthly, Yearly), and through time to see snapshots of organizational performance Charts Each Scorecard may contain Charts to visualize the how the Measure has performed over time, or in comparison to other Measures or Targets. Charts may also contain Calendar data to provide additional context for the Measure. Scrolling Ticker The dynamic Scrolling Ticker provides at-a-glance information for all Measures included in this Scorecard. Process Cards Easily view summary data for each of the Processes included in a Scorecard. The intuitive Red / Amber / Green indicator lights make it easy to see which Processes are over performing and under performing

7 3.1.1 Process Card Information Process Cards provide a summary view of the performance of business processes. Each Process Card may contain summary information of its measures. This too is highly configurable, allowing for specific measures to be included on the card, or for them to be selected dynamically according to performance (e.g. it is possible to only show the best and worst performing measures for a process). Indicator Light These Red / Amber / Green lights intuitively show the current status of this Process. Process Performance Summary Easily see how many of the Measures associated with this process have met their targets Measure Summary Provides summary information on a selection of the Measures associated with this process. Measure Summary Chart These small charts provide a quick way to see the relative performance of these measures over time Scrolling Ticker Information The Scrolling Ticker provides a stock ticker style dynamic view of the Measure s included within this scorecard. Process Label This label shows the process which the Measures displayed belong to. Clicking on this label will cause the ticker to roll over, showing the Measures for the next process Measure Summaries Shows the current Measure value and change for the current period. Clicking on a Measure will open its details

8 3.2 Process Details The Process Details page lists all the Measures associated with the selected Process. As with the Scorecard page, this page may contain charts in its header to highlight certain measures. Process Header Provides information on the Process, including a Description and its indicator light, providing at a glance information as to the status of this process Charts As with the Scorecard page, each Process page may also contain multiple charts to help emphasize the key Measures associated with this Process Target / Forecast Information View the targets /forecasts associated with each Measure. Each Measure may be associated with many Targets. There is more information on the creation of Targets on the next page Update Information Each measure contains information relating to how recently its underlying data source was last updated, ensuring users are always sure about the quality of the data they are viewing - 8 -

9 3.2.1 Process Details Target Modification / Creation Targets / Forecasts can be created easily by authorized users in the front end by clicking on the New or Edit links in the Target column. The following types of Targets can be created: Constant: Year on Year: Measure: Advanced: A constant value The same value as the Measure a year ago. The same value as the specified Measure. An aggregation calculated over a number of the previous measure values. This allows for Targets such as More than the 3 Month Rolling Average to be defined. Targets may also be defined to Scale with Time. This means that if we have a target to sell 100 widgets per month, but are only half way through the month, then our target will be 50. New / Edit Dialogue Box This dialogue box will open when the New / Edit Target Link is clicked. New / Edit Target Link Clicking on one of these links will open up the New / Edit Target Dialogue box seen in this image

10 3.3 Measure Details Clicking on the Label of a Measure will take users to its Measure Details page, providing them with detailed information regarding the Measure. Scaled Previous Shows the Previous value of this Measure scaled by the amount of time that has passed during this period. In this example, this is calculated by multiplying 17.54M (the previous value) by 12% (the progress we have made into this month). Previous Period Shows the actual raw value for this Measure for the Previous Period. The percentage change this represents between the current value and the previous value is shown in brackets

11 3.4 Target Details Clicking on the Label of a Target will take users to the Target Details page, which includes more information regarding the Target. In this screen there is an example of an Advanced Target, which the system calculates using a 3 month moving average of the actual Measure value. This value is calculated without any input from the user (once the Target has been defined). Target Information This section provides meta data relating to the Target. In this case we see that the Target is met when the Measure value is less than the Target Value Target Chart This chart displays the Measure value as the green line, with the Target being displayed as an Area chart, providing a visual cue as to the history of when this Measure has met its Target

12 3.5 Measure Drill Down The Magnifying Glass Icon ( ) allows users to Drill Down into a Measure. Once in this page, the user is able to select which Dimension they wish to drill down by from the Drill Down By drop down list. Once this has been selected, the Drill Down Values table will be populated, showing the user all the values for that measure, for each of the values of the Drill Down Dimension. Clicking on a row will limit the data shown to that value, but allow you to drill down by another dimension. For example, in the screen below, the user has first selected the AgeRange Dimension. When the table populated, they have then clicked on the row. Upon doing this, the data is limited to this age range. The user has then selected to drill down by Store Chain, which has created the Drill Down Values table shown below. Reading this table, we can see that of people aged between 55 and 59, there have been 1,402 purchases in the month of March 2006 (from the Drilled Down Dimensions Table). Furthermore, we can see that of these purchases, 613 have come from Dennys Discounts which is down 58 on the previous period. Drilled Down Dimensions Each time the user clicks on a row in the Drill Down Dimensions table, the selected row is added to this table, filtering further drill downs. Distribution These green bars provide an at-a-glance view of how the Measure value is distributed across the specified Dimension

13 3.6 Data Collection Agents Data is extracted from internal data sources through the use of Data Collection Agents. These agents can run on any Microsoft Windows PC, and are responsible for querying data repositories across the enterprise on regular intervals. Even though Data Collection Agents are able to connect to many types of data source (any source that supports ODBC or OLEDB) they are also are highly extensible, with custom development available to connect to just about any Data Source imaginable, including many proprietary systems. These Data Collection Agents are also responsible for deploying Desktop based Alerts as seen below. Data Sources Information relating to how and when Data Sources have been updated

14 4. Hosted Solution Business Intelligence Scorecard is currently available as a hosted solution, allowing organizations to minimize investment in hardware, server licensing, administration and support. The hosted solution we provide is a total service package, providing an end to end solution, from business objectives and initial requirements and all the way through implementation and to training and support. This process is briefly explained below. 4.1 Development Process Define Business Objectives Fine Tune Application Feedback Assess Data Availability Feedback Implement Application Create Data Model Design Scorecards

15 4.1.1 Business Objectives It is absolutely crucial that the objectives of the client organization are well defined as early as possible during the development process. It is also crucial to ensure that these business objectives fit inside the scope of the project. This step in the process is completed through meetings with management, data analysts and most importantly the end users of the application. Business objectives will be continually fine tuned collaboratively throughout the process as new information becomes available Data Availability It is important to ensure that the system is able to provide business users with up to date, accurate information. To do this we need to ensure that appropriate data sources across the enterprise are accessible by BI Scorecard. We also address data quality (Is the data set complete? Is it accurate?) and develop an update frequency model for each data source Data Model Once we are confident that the underlying data sources are available and accurate, we will work with business users to determine exactly what Measures, Targets and Processes are required for each user, and how these relate back to the underlying Data Sources, ensuring that these meet the Business Objectives previously defined Scorecard Design With the data model defined we determine how Measures, Targets, Processes and Scorecards should be displayed. Utilizing the ideas of business users, custom visualizations and mockups, we will ensure that each user is able to see the data that is most useful to them in the most effective manner Implementation Building the system according to the specifications collected Fine Tuning Once the system has been implemented, it will continue to evolve as business objectives change and new requirements are discovered Training & Support Training and Support provide a crucial aspect of the system, ensuring all users are able to get the maximum benefit from the system

16 4.2 Infrastructure Guide Internal Disparate Data Sources Internal Enterprise IT Resources BI Agents End Users Raw Data ` ` Compressed & Encrypted Data Internet (SSL Security) Internet (SSL Security) BI Scorecard Infrastructure ETL Server Secure Web Server Data Warehouse Cluster Cache Cluster

17 5. Contact Information Phone: Web: Mail: PO Box 450 Richmond Vic 3121 Australia