How to Prepare Your Business Users and IT Organizations for Dashboards

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How to Prepare Your Business Users and IT Organizations for Dashboards

Dr. Bjarne BergCOMERIT

The Low Rate of IT Project Success

• In a survey of 600 IT and business people, 75% of respondents believed that their projects are either always or usually “doomed” right from the start

• 41% of the business people surveyed have this view of IT projects: We spend at least half our time on avoidable project rework, much of this effort is wasted on preventable activities

• 78% think the business team “always” or “usually” lacks alignment on project objectives

Source: Michael Krigsman, "75% believe IT projects are 'doomed'.

You need to communicate early that dashboard projects are iterative and require multiple go-lives to be successful

Create a strategic dashboard release plan

What We’ll Cover …

• Stepping through a real-world SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards adaptation example

• Facilitating BI and dashboard stakeholder management• Developing a dashboard change management strategy• Looking at user training and the BI self-service model• Understanding the role of the BI support organization• Planning for online help and knowledge transfer• Using the Business Readiness Dashboard checklist• Wrap-up

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A Real-World SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Adaptation Example

• This project is for travel expense analysis

• The color codes communicate changes, year-over-year

• Graphs can be displayed many ways

• Navigation can be done and can get new query result sets

This dashboard is based only on BW query and BICS connector; the cube is in SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator and the dashboard therefore loads in less than 12 seconds

A Real-World SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Adaptation Example (cont.)

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• Dashboards are most useful when compared to something

• This dashboard is relative to a budget

• Notice that all graphs can be displayed in many ways and that color coding is consistent across the dashboards Make sure layout, buttons, and colors are consistently used


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• This dashboard groups six different categories and over 30 lines into an easily readable table using a few lines and mostly colors

• Too many lines and incorrect use of “bold” makes dashboards very hard to read Don’t cram too much into a single

dashboard. Plan on multiple dashboards for each business area.


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• Changes over time are typically tracked in the dashboards

• Don’t just present numbers, plan on only showing changes I.e., in

amounts and percentages

In this dashboard, the graphs are sometimes hard to read, so we added filter selections. Use these carefully, since they are slow and make the Flash files very large.


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What-if analysis can be embedded

Tables can fill as the time period progresses

The more functionality you include, even when not requested, the more likely users will leverage your dashboards

Don’t expect all requirements to come from your users. Be creative and suggest functionality that may be helpful.

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You Can Also Build Self-Service Dashboards

• When building dashboards, you can create dashboards that allow users to select measures and navigations, and save their views Thereby becoming more “self-service” with personalized

dashboards and a higher degree of flexibility• In the following step-by-step example from a real company, we will

look at some options on how to make this work in practice

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Step 1 – Provide a self service option to select a group of any 38 key figures available from the BEx Query

Step 3 – Self-service option to select any range of dates or selections. The dashboard is designed to limit to 13 characteristic key figures though.

Step 2 – Self-service to select any characteristic to filter on. Can select multiple characteristics to filter on, i.e., Month, Plant, Material Group, etc.

First We Build a Template with Selectors

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Step 4 – Select available key figures to display on chart

The Measures Can Now Be Selected to Be Displayed

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Step 5 – Select available key figures to display on chart

Step 6 – Update the Key Figures to add more key figures

The Next Step Is Just to Refresh the Display

Step 7 – Add Revenue to selected Key Figures

Step 8 – Move SNP Forecast (MT) to the top of the list for a higher priority

Then click update

Adding More Measures to the Display and Rearranging Them

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Step 9 – Notice SNP Forecast (MT) moved to the top and now has numbers on the chart

Step 10 – Revenue is now a selectable option

The Output

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Step 11 – Select Xref, a custom characteristic to describe a material hierarchy

Step 12 – Select MESH and click Apply

Controlling Characteristics

Key Figures Are Now Filtered Based on the Selection

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Step 14 – Enter name and save, and this becomes your personal self-service dashboard view!

Step 13 – Save this view as “Mesh and Mas Dashboard”

Saving a Personalized View

Overall Result — Dashboard “Self-Service” (An Idea)

• This is a template that allows analysts or managers to create their own dashboard in a controlled end user environment

• Fast and easy to roll out. For best results, the data set needs to sit in cache, SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator, or SAP HANA

• This template can utilize any BEx query. The limitations are that the charts can only display one characteristic but can be filtered by ANY available characteristic in the query.

• Another limitation is that the Save button is currently broken in SP4. It does not remember the filter selections or the chart’s saved state (will be fixed shortly).

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The Dashboard Scope Agreement

• For the first dashboard go-live, keep the scope as small as possible For example, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, G/L,

or COPA• You have only three dimensions to work with, so if one of these

dimensions changes, you have to adjust at least one of the others

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There is a limit to how far you can compress timelines: Brooks law states that “Nine women cannot make a baby in one month”*

Time

Scope

Resources(people, technology,

and money)

* Frederick Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month, Addison-Wesley, 1975).

Getting People to Use Your Dashboards• The organizational change process starts with FUD

FEAR – “How will the dashboards impact my job?” UNCERTAINTY – “Will my job still be needed?” DOUBT – “This is just temporary, it will never succeed”

• Gartner created a “hype cycle” that describes how new technologies are adopted in organizations and society1. Something makes the dashboard a

need-to-have tool: The Technology Trigger

2. Everyone has high expectations3. The first go-live was not that great4. We now know how to use it properly5. We reach the “plateau of productivity”

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Source: Wikipedia, "hype cycle", 2011

Managing expectations and realizing that you will need more than one “go-live” to get it right is critical to dashboard projects

Do You Have a Plan? The Six Dimensions of BI Management • There are six core dimensions you must consider before embarking on a

dashboard project• Project management is important, but it’s only one of these dimensions

Failure to account for the others may result in project failures

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Source: Peter Grottendieck, Siemens

For each dimension, articulate an approach, constraints, limitations, and assumptions before you start your project

The Strategic Dashboard Release Plan

The plan should clearly map out the vision for the next 24-36 months

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Make sure you add the “Phase-2” timeline for all areas, plan for enhancements, and communicate this early to all users

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Freight costs dashboardCost analysis dashboardProfitability dashboardProduct profitability dashboardPhase -2 enhancementsBilling overview dashboardBilling analysis dashboardBilling errors dashboardPhase -2 enhancementsOrder dashboardOrder trend dashboardPhase -2 enhancementsAR overview dashboardPast due dashboardAging dashboardPhase -2 enhancementsAP aging dashboardDiscounts taken dashboardTravel expense dashboardPhase -2 enhancements

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Six Ways to Organize your Dashboard Project Team(s)

Benefits Risks

1 Single site

2 Distributed analysis

3 Distributed analysis and design

4 Co-located analysis and design

5 Multiple co-located analysis and design

6 Fully distributed development

Option

The more distributed the development effort becomes, the more difficult it is to maintain communication and get cohesive requirements

How Tightly Should Multiple Dashboard Projects Be Controlled?

25Source: The Conference Board Survey

The relationship between control and success according to a conference Board Survey of 89 BI projects

88% Successful 30% Successful

Loose Cooperation(38%)

Independent(38%)

Tight Central Control(24%)

100% Successful

Coordination of Multiple Business Intelligence Projects

Dashboard Stakeholder Management — Today’s Situation

• In most companies, summarized data that is combined across many organizational units are only available to senior management

• The power therefore resides at the CxO and VP levels of the organization

• There is little incentive to share this information downwards in the company

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Traditionally organizations view information as “power” and only grant access on a need-to-know basis

Dashboard Stakeholder Management — Tomorrow’s Situation• When dashboard’s are employed to middle management, they can

combine this with operational details and start making sense of “why things are happening,” instead of looking at “what happened”

• This shifts power within the organization and often makes the senior management feel that they are not informed, or don’t have the time to look at all operational details

Some companies are afraid to share summarized and operational data and are simply employing a too tight “security” model, and therefore, see few dashboard benefits

Dashboard Stakeholder Management — Power Pockets

• If dashboard’s are given to only some key individuals withinan organization, you create “power pockets”

• In this case, the dashboards can be used to concentrate power regardless of position within the organization

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Deploying dashboards to select power users in companies can create significant incentives to withhold information and concentrate power

The Dashboard Deployment Layers

• The best way to deploy dashboards is to take an open security view Everyone has access to the data, unless there is a very good

reason to restrict it• Operational information is shared with the people who can make

the change on the daily operation — middle management • Financial information is shared only with the finance group and

senior management (VP and CxO)• Complex dashboards are given to power users that are

designated by the management, not the IT department or to all requesting it

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Create a dashboard deployment diagram and map it to security roles as part of the project planning

The Dashboard Deployment Diagram

• The dashboard deployment diagram provides an overview of who has access to each dashboard

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You should also provide a similar diagram that shows who can grant access to the dashboards. These are called “dashboard owners.”




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The SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard Adaptation CurveC

onfid

ence

Time

Kept in the dark: “I’m not sure what these dashboards

may do to me”

Heard about a dashboard project:

“I like the old reports just fine!”

Saw the PowerPoint: “You said it was easy!”

Heard a rumour: “You can’t do this. It won’t work. We’re not allowed.”

Saw the demo: “Actually, these dashboards may be better than

what I am using”

Talked to a co-worker: “My colleagues are using it, I guess I should too”

Went to training: “This way is more effective”

Went to a meeting: “My boss is using this, so I better start looking at the same numbers”

How will you move people along?

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How to Make People Use Your Dashboards

Increasing Commitment

Awarenessof desired change

Understandingof change direction

Translationto the work setting

Commitmentto using dashboards

Internalizationof Dashboard usage

“Yeah, I saw the email”

“I understand where we are

going with these dashboards”

“I know how we need to do our jobs differently”

“OK, I’m ready to start using these

dashboards”

“This is the way we do analysis and reporting

around here”

Information with some involvement is

sufficient here

Significant involvement

needed

You have to engage the users. Not only

provide logon passwords!

Source: Adapted by Dr. Berg from Piers Schreiber's “Change Management,“ 2011

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Do You Have Executive Sponsorship? What People Pay Attention To

1. Leader attention, measurement, rewards and controls2. Leader reaction to critical incidents3. Leader role modelling, coaching4. Criteria for recruitment, promotion, retirement and

excommunication5. Formal and informal socialisation6. Recurring systems and procedures7. Organisation design and structure8. Design of physical space9. Stories and myths about key people and events10.Formal statements, charters, creeds, codes of ethics, etc.

Between 80-90% of all user behavior is determined by the first three points

Source: Piers Schreiber "Change Management,”

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Getting the Right Dashboard Change Facilitators• Involve those most impacted by the changes• Develop an objective method for selecting candidates• Select staff of equivalent seniority

Ask them to identify opportunities and have a say in how the project funding is spent (e.g., prioritization)

Select staff who are: Well regarded by their peers Credible Reliable Eager to learn and be involved “Opinion leaders” Have time to spend on active feedback and engagement

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Do not select staff who are perceived to be management mouthpieces

The Long-Term Use of Dashboards Requires Organizational Acceptance

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Time

Leve

l of S

uppo

rt

New technology takes time to be used and accepted. Don’t be surprised when few dashboards are actually used.

Source: Piers Schreiber's “Change Management"

The Dashboard Change Management Process

Change Request form

Complete?No

ReviewRecom-

mended?

Submission

Change Request formNo

Yes

Approved?

No

Scheduled

Developed Unit TestedDev. Environment

System testedDev. Environment

Integration testedQA environment

Approved?

Approved?

Approved?

Moved to productionNo

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

IT responsible

Business responsible

Sr. mgmt. responsible

The Change Management Form — Page 1

• To make this process work, you need a formal instrument• The instrument can be online (e.g., a Web page), electronic (Word

document), or a paper-based system• The form should contain at least these fields

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The front page that the requestor fills out

Requestor Name:Department

Phone number / email

Describe the change requested, be detailed

Why is it needed

How important is it that the change occur? (how would you

manage if this is not done)

TBD When possible

Future release

Date Break-fix (right now)

When is the change needed

Change Request Form

The Change Management Form — Page 2

• This page is used by the system administrator or the project team• The purpose is to have controlled changes that are scheduled and

tested appropriately

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The back page that the system admin and approver fill out

Received date:Reviewed by:

Comments/recommendation

Pending Not-Approved Future release

Approved Break-fix (right now)

Approval status:

Approved by:Approved date:

Assigned to:Due date:

Pending Prototyped In QA Tested In Production

Development status:

For internal use only




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User Training Options

• There are four core options for the training strategy Classroom training

Best when users are similar and centrally located

Online training Best when users are dispersed, dashboards are simple, or go-

live over a long time period Train the trainer

Best when users reside in many locations, multiple languages are involved, and when there is a very high number of users

One-on-one training Best for executives and senior management Should be done at each user’s office

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Communicate and schedule training early in the project, so that everyone will be available

The BI Self-Service Model and Workspaces

This means that they can search content, create their own Web Intelligence reports, organize the layout of their displays, view Crystal Reports and other items at the same time

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The key concept of the BI self-service model is to let users become self-sufficient and able to create, access, organize, and modify their own content

Self-Service — The BI Launch Pad in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.x

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• The launchpad is intended to make accessing BI items much easier

• From here users can: Use multiple tabs to work on

several documents at the same time

Search for what they are looking for and filter results

Schedule and send items to users

The idea is to have a single launch item for all reports and analysis. Many call

this a “report center.”




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The BI Help Desk — Level-1 Support

• The first-level support should be done by power users in the organization

• You will have to train these resources, empower them to make changes, and leverage them as much as possible, even when it is easy to “jump to solutions”

Dashboard-related support tickets from a central location/Web site should be routed to the power users in each department. The power user can escalate the ticket to Level-2 support if he/she is unable to resolve it.

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The BI Help Desk — Level-2 Support

• The second-level support is used for issues that are not related to dashboards, queries, presentations, reports, and formatting

• This includes data loads, performance, security, availability, training schedules, etc.

• This is addressed by the central support team

• Some support-ticket types are always routed to Level-2 support

• It is important to have a generic email address for Level-2 support that is not related to an individual. Emails to this address should not be deleted.

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Support Turnover and Team Rotations

• 24% of IT application developers leave their jobs every year

• 4 years, 2 months is the average time spent in an IT job in the US and slightly longer in industrial Asian countries

• However, the IT support staff lasts only 25 months! * US Dept. of Labor statistics, Sept. 2009.

Source: NobScot,, 2011

The top reason for leaving an IT support job is the lack of personal growth opportunities!

SOLUTION: Create a formal plan for rotating each support role every six months

Provide a formal mentoring and training program that is communicated in writing to each employee annually

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Computer-Based Online Training (A Real Example)

Online training can be delivered on-demand

There are many companies that can develop customized, cost-effective, interactive training for your end users (starting around $8K to about $20K)

Over time, this is probably the best way of delivering casual user training

The trick to being successful here is to provide interactivity and common-task scenarios

Hint: Use a storyboard to develop your training

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Different Types of Training

You may want to use several types of training depending on your budget, audience, and complexity of your dashboards

Training Type Pros Cons When to useOnline Inexpensive and can

accommodate many people at their own time

Lack of interaction and ability to ask questions

Very high number of users and simple training (i.e. dashboards)

Instructor led - on site Highly interactive and questions can be answered directly

Expensive, requires setup and environment preparation

Limited number of users and more complex training required (i.e. complex dashboards, BPC, APO, WebI etc.)

Vendor led - off site No setup requirements and simple to manage

Expensive and scheduling conflicts may occur. Quality depends on vendor

Standardized training, or one-time training of technical staff.

One-on-One Focused and attentive to each user. Highly interactive and targeted

Expensive, slow to implement and not very scalable

Executives, senior managers, detailed analysis for controllers and planners.

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Plan for an Online Help System for Your Dashboard Go-Live

• Online help should be created for each dashboard• The online help system should

explain: How numbers are calculated How to read graphs What functionality is

embedded

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RECAP




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The Implementation Outcomes• There are four possible outcomes of your

dashboard project You can get the wrong requirements and have

an ineffective implementation (occurs only 10% of the time)

You can have the wrong requirements and do a great job implementing them (20%)

You can get the right requirements and implement it wrong (20%) — This is what Phase-2 is all about!

You can get the right requirements and implement it correctly (best of all worlds)

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Be prepared to work seriously on requirements gathering and user acceptance to avoid 30% of the project failures

DASHBOARD

REQUIREMENTS WRONG RIGHT

IMPL

EM

EN

TATI

ON

EFF

EC

TIV

EIN

EFF

EC

TIV

E

III

II

IV

I20% of

occurrences

50% of occurrences

20% of occurrences

10% of occurrences

The Business Readiness Dashboard Checklist

• The purpose of the business readiness dashboard checklist is to make sure that a project is not merely an afterthought with little visibility, zero real sponsorship, and has a lack of communication, support, training, and organizational commitment

There are reasons why many dashboard projects fail




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Where to Find More Information

• Boris Otto and Jörg Wolter, Implementing SAP Customer Competence Center (SAP PRESS, 2008).

• Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister, Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects (New York, NY: Dorset House, 2003).

• Harold Kerzner, Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2011).

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7 Key Points to Take Home

• Successful SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards projects require more than “finger power”

• Design is done interactively with the business, not in “solitary confinement”

• Getting users to change their behaviors requires significant organizational change and visible sponsorship

• Training, online help, and formal checklists can increase success rates

• BI self-services require substantial resources to implement short-term, but pays off in the long run

• If you can get executives to use your dashboards in their meetings, you are almost guaranteed success!

• Spend time planning how users will access your dashboards and plan for multiple iterations; you will not get it 100% correct the first time!

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Your Turn!

How to contact me:Dr. Bjarne Berg

[email protected]

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Continue the conversation! Post your questions in the BI-BW Forum on Insider Learning Network*

*bit.ly/BI-BWForum

http://bit.ly/BI-BWForum

http://bit.ly/BI-BWForum

http://bit.ly/yTZkvP

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How to Prepare Your Business Users and IT Organizations for Dashboards

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