What is a Business Intelligence Dashboard?
As complicated as it may sound, a business intelligence dashboard is nothing but a simple and easy to use tool that helps you run your business effectively.
It works in three very basic steps :
- It collects your data
- Performs data analysis
- Reports and presents the collected data.
Folio3 is Your Custom Dynamics Business Intelligence Dashboard Partner
Folio3 is a Tech company that helps you and your business succeed with the help of technology such as business intelligence.
It is a certified Gold Microsoft Dynamics partner, which makes it the perfect choice for businesses globally. Three hundred-plus projects have been completed by the Folio3 team all across the world for various types of businesses. These projects were tailored to meet the specific set of requirements presented by each client.
Folio3 uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 Automated Intelligence to improve the business intelligence experience. The Folio3 team makes sure that Dynamics 365 BI is used to its full potential for all of its clients. To ensure this, the team uses Dynamics CORE FastTrack solution which is built on dynamics AX, 365, and Business Central. This provides time-efficient and cost-effective features that improve and speed up finance and operations. To encounter the full folio3 experience you can even request a free demo from their website.
Folio3’s Dynamics AX 2012 ( R1, R2, and R3 ) and Dynamics AX 2009 business Intelligence suites help the clients to easily comprehend the raw data. The powerful business intelligence dashboard combines graphs and charts with various business metrics to provide the client with a 360 view of the entire business. It also helps to identify various trends and provides accurate metrics to make the most impactful decisions every time.
Folio3’s versatile Dynamics AX business intelligence software offers a complete overview of your business across any device. Its multi-platform approach coupled with its phenomenal functionality will help you keep track of all areas of your business. It’s build on a lightweight framework that will ensure that it will have a minimum impact on your AX database while simultaneously providing maximum value. Availability of key metrics in real-time, plus its ability to integrate unlimited amounts of data,, will ensure that you deliver the best possible service every time and keep your customers and investors happy. More in-depth information is available here.
What are the 3 Types of Business Intelligence Dashboard Software?
The term “Business Intelligence” is an umbrella term that refers to a plethora of different types of business intelligence dashboard software. Broadly speaking business intelligence dashboard examples include the following 3 categories :
- Internal Intelligence
- Market Intelligence
- Comparative / Competitive Intelligence
Internal Intelligence :
The first business intelligence dashboard example is Internal Intelligence which refers to the business intelligence of the inner workings of the company. It gives a birds-eye view of the day to day operations within an organization. Furthermore, it also provides information about the internal systems of the business as well as the past performance. When executed correctly it lays out valuable information for managers to help them to improve overall performance and increase efficiency within the company.
Market Intelligence :
Market intelligence like the name suggests, analyses the market conditions. It identifies and analyzes the factors that could potentially bring changes within a certain market. It compiles all of these factors together and gives predictions accordingly, which offers a competitive advantage and provides opportunities for growth and expansion possibly increasing overall market share.
Comparative / Competitive Intelligence:
The last business intelligence dashboard example is comparative/competitive intelligence. This type of intelligence allows the user to know how his / her company is faring in relation to local markets. It also allows the user to compare their business against the competition. Furthermore, it also provides greater insight into the company’s marketing performance and allows them to make better fact-based decisions according to projections provided.
11 Best Business Intelligence Dashboard Practices to Follow in 2022
Business Intelligence is on the rise and companies are flocking left right and center to jump on the business intelligence train. Here are eleven business intelligence dashboard best practices that you can follow to get the most out of your business intelligence journey.
1) Starting Small
Integrating anything new within an already established system takes a lot of time and effort and often mistakes are made along the way. To reduce errors and limit the waste of resources it is often recommended to start smaller and then gradually scale up.
2) Proper Training
Every user that is expected to use business intelligence must be armed with the knowledge and the skill to operate and use it to its maximum potential. Hence, it is super important to provide hands-on training and then supplement it with things such as videos and booklets to help guide and educate the masses.
3) Supporting Self Service
The main objective of business intelligence is to pass the projects to the relevant departments. To realize this objective, training plans must be supported, and this practice should be employed at all times.
4) Defining the Extent of the Project
Implementing business intelligence should be done in various stages and should not be rolled out all at once. This helps in ironing out some kinks and helps to overcome pitfalls. Furthermore, it gives the company time to acclimate.
5) Hiring a business intelligence expert
When integrating business intelligence in the early phases, a company needs to have a dedicated employee who is an on-site expert. Having such a person will ensure that your team’s queries are resolved quickly, and any problems can be squashed before it becomes a company-wide issue.
6) Practicing data culture in the organization
Data collection is vital to the success of any organization; therefore, each individual in that organization must understand it when trying to meet targets. Hence, It is crucial to start fostering a data culture environment that will encompass all the divisions so that they can focus on one common goal.
7) Integrating business intelligence where it matters the most
Not only should the rollout of such software be made as painless as possible but while doing so it must be made sure that it is implemented in such a way that it compliments already existing systems that the employees are comfortable with.
8) Having an aim to work towards
Whenever implementing anything new you must have a clear goal in sight to gauge what exactly did you achieve and to decide whether your time and money were well spent and identify things to improve on.
9) Pay especially attention whilst designing dashboards
While designing dashboards it is crucial that you keep your goals and objectives in mind, and designing one that has maximum impact. You should design dashboards that offer the maximum value, are useful and easy to use. As a rule of thumb, dashboards should be designed in a manner that can convey the answers to the questions you want to ask.
10) Planning from the start
Getting into anything without having a solid strategy is financial suicide. Moreover, it will result in a loss of time and cause undue stress and anxiety. It is vital for any business planning to integrate business intelligence that they must do their relevant research beforehand whether that be looking for the best software or knowing their requirements etc. or simply consulting with all the relevant parties involved. Then setting a crystal clear objective for an efficient business intelligence integration
11) Be adaptable to change
Perhaps the most important out of all business intelligence dashboard best practices, this one is the most important. As a business owner, you must realize that data and tech are constantly changing and to be effective you must be versatile and need to keep up with the latest improvements and optimizations to keep reaping the benefits.
Business Intelligence Example and Templates for SMEs and Enterprises
Like mentioned above whether your business is small or large business intelligence has got you covered. Business intelligence examples are nearly innumerable and each one has its own unique set of functions and limitations.
Here is a list of a few business intelligence examples :
Online Marketing dashboards
This particular type of intelligence is used mainly by people whose main aim is expansion and boosting the overall sales. This usually includes managers, executives, etc who usually review enormous amounts of data and have decision-making power. Marketing dashboard provides a platform for these people to identify and visualize key business metrics and helps them make informed decisions
Patient health summary dashboards
These types of dashboards are usually used by the people involved in the healthcare industry. It not only helps in monitoring patients on the individual level but also helps to analyze the entire patient experience as a whole such as waiting times, tracking patient satisfaction and so forth
School management dashboards
Like the name suggests this particular type of dashboard helps in monitoring and keeping records of metrics like attendance, grades, staff salaries, etc which helps to not only better keep track of metrics but also to identify trends and make changes accordingly.
Business Intelligence Dashboards Advantages
Business intelligence dashboards have multiple advantages that make them a valuable asset for all kinds of businesses, whether large corporations or just a small company.
Ease of use
The best part about business intelligence dashboards is that they are no steep learning curve. They can be used not only by the most experienced business analysts but also by entry-level trainees.
Super Efficient
In today’s day and age, we all know that efficiency is king. This powerful tool can analyze massive amounts of raw data and present it to the user in real-time, saving a ton of time that can be invested elsewhere.
Multi-Platform Access
Not only are they simple to use, easily comprehensible, but they also can be used across multiple devices from your desktop pcs to your handheld devices, which makes them again an excellent choice for any kind of business.
Analysis Of Business Metrics
Key performance indicators displayed by business intelligence dashboard software are an extremely valuable asset because they allow the user to compare and contrast the analytics of the past and present and make informed decisive decisions. Furthermore, it helps to identify opportunities as well as areas of improvement which can help grow a business and cut down losses.
Customizable
Each business is unique and has its requirements. To meet this particular set of requirements, this versatile tool is made to adapt. It has tons of options to cater to any demand of the business and is highly customizable.
Reduces the need for business analysts
Long gone are the days when a team of highly qualified and experienced business analysts must conduct research analysis and present solutions to their clients; business intelligence is created to do this for you.
Competitive Advantage
It is common knowledge that in recent times profits are falling and costs are rising. Any business, large or small, is looking for ways to get that one up on the competition and business intelligence hits that nail right in the head. It makes organizations more competitive by offering them the opportunity to understand markets better and boost overall performance.
Conclusion
Gone are the days when data analysis seemed tedious and costly, business intelligence dashboards do that all for you and so much more. They are extremely versatile types of software that can be used in virtually any different kind of industry irrespective of the size of the business.
From healthcare to marketing business intelligence dashboard software paves the way for your business to stay ahead of the competition, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. What more can you ask for?
