Dashboards are the most common access point for enterprises using analytics. They make decision-making faster and easier while enabling a wide variety of business users to interpret and interact with them. Users are immediately able to see whether targets are being met, understand performance discrepancies, identify opportunities and threats, and drill-down on issues that require further analysis. Thus enterprises consider dashboard as one of their key indicators to constantly improve their performance. Hence it’s high time for software vendors to incorporate real-time dashboards into their products. This blog discusses some of the vital characteristics of a dashboard that a software vendor should be aware of.

Planning and Forecasting Competence

Planning requires access to easily dissected information that is not available unless data is consolidated and connections can be identified. And although many forms of analytics and BI delivery methods can accomplish this, dashboards appear to be the most effective way of doing so on a regular basis. Organizations often use spreadsheets to create forecasting models with only high-level information, but this can be problematic as users make changes and there are multiple versions floating around. It can also be difficult to digest large tables of information, so dashboards help visualize the data and make it easier for your customer to understand.

Visibility into Operations

The importance of identifying the data requirements and looking at which data sources need to be joined to get a broader view of the organization cannot be overstated. Without this, companies may be flying blind. An incomplete view of information will provide an incomplete view into operations and lead to less than accurate visibility and insight. With a centralized data access point, information can be delivered in a way that is easy to digest and interact with.

Performance Management

Marketing, sales, finance, and customer service are just some of the areas that require accurate performance management. A dashboard can help management evaluate performance over time, identify discrepancies, and take advantage of opportunities.

Today dashboards have become a core component of business intelligence strategy for all enterprises. Hence it’s time for you to create relevant and compelling dashboards to your products so your users can make more informed decisions – your competitors already have!