Executive Dashboards – It’s Not Technical, It’s About the Business
If you were asked to describe an executive dashboard, your thoughts might include words like: colorful, graphical, charts, and panels. Generally, these descriptions are correct. However, all of these “flashy” attributes accomplished with the latest technology are not what make a dashboard successful. A dashboard is a tool for presenting business intelligence clearly and concisely so that managers can quickly assess the health of the business and make timely decisions for improvement. 
An executive dashboard can look good, provide accurate information, and still fail. That may be disconcerting to many IT people because these two attributes have historically been good measures of success. After all, what more can they want? We provided them with accurate information and presented it in a nice format. However, with executive dashboards, an additional attribute is required. Since the purpose of the dashboard is monitoring, the critical question becomes, “Does it clearly and quickly deliver valuable information for monitoring (the pulse of the business or area)?” Stated another way, can the person viewing the executive dashboard simply and quickly answer the question: “How is my business doing today?” (or “How is my area doing today?”).
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The Case for a Workflow Solution
If you talk to any C-Level executive they are concerned with how to effectively and efficiently deliver their products or services to their customers. IT is seen as one of the key components to improve business efficiency and effectiveness. The most successful IT solutions are technologies that meet these criteria. They are pragmatic solutions where the business solution is the focal point, not the technology.
Effective implementation of a Workflow solution meets these criteria. Workflow automation can improve operational efficiencies and automate manual tasks, driving cost savings and improving customer service. As a Services Manager with LANSA, I have been involved with some significant projects involving Workflow automation for our customers. During my nearly 30 years in the IT business, my focus has always been first and foremost to solve the business problem or need regardless of the technology employed. What solution will meet the requirements at a reasonable cost or have an acceptable ROI? That is what attracted me to LANSA in the first place. The LANSA tool set is focused on delivering to IT departments the vehicle to reduce development complexity and cost and ultimately to improve IT delivery time to the business. Continue reading “The Case for a Workflow Solution” »