"Executives have their fingers on the pulse of the business. They know what to look out for and what information is critical," says Gary Cook, CEO of LeaderBoard, a developer of visual intelligence solutions.

"However, they do not have the time to search for this information using the slice and dice functionality of a BI system, and usually task their line managers (as many as five of them) with providing this information. Usually not compiled into presentable format with relevant targeting and history, this data is used to make decisions and answer questions from the board.

"A performance dashboard with all the relevant metrics or information touch points delivers the same information in a consistent format with regular frequency, increasing the executive's ability to instantly evaluate and further monitor the state of the business." Now incorporating balanced scorecards, these dashboards offer executives access to timely and relevant information that enables them to measure, monitor and manage their organisation more effectively, ultimately aligning execution with strategy.

"Dashboard technology will deliver similar value for managers reporting to executives, presenting them with company figures or other data on the status of the department or division," says Cook. "However, a dashboard does not replace a fully blown BI system, which collects and stores millions of records and offers many ways of displaying data - eg, sales by region, by product code, by gender, age group, etc. It will, nevertheless, allow managers to monitor sales by the indicators, say total sales by region and product code."

A dashboard would ideally display high level information, with perhaps a supporting dashboard illustrating further breakdown by cluster, etc.

Developing an effective dashboard/s can be done in a matter of hours or days compared to the weeks, months and sometimes years required for the development of a complex enterprise reporting system that caters to all role players in an organisation. An initial performance dashboard implementation can, for instance, be implemented for each division or department and be driven by a spreadsheet that updates periodically.

"The performance 'system' is designed and implemented within days, while enhancements and changes are easy to do and not expensive," says Cook.

Managers own the information and are responsible for updates and ensuring the accuracy of information. A data template is created into which data is extracted in a specific format, while regular updates can be scheduled and automated.

Explains Cook: "The exco may have an individual who assists in the collection of information (eg, from an Excel spreadsheet) if a dashboard is not linked live to data sources (eg, a database). This person would contact the relevant departments and send information to central person to compile, create and publish dashboards."

Dashboards are usually designed with the various role players involved. "It sometimes occurs that summary and drill-down dashboards are required to fulfil the requirements of all parties involved," adds Cook. "Leaderboard has, for instance, created navigation dashboards showing key performance indicators that link to supporting dashboards.

Corporate Performance Management is within reach of the smallest companies given the low cost of data visualisation software, its intuitive Windows and browser-based interface, and the ease of development or dashboard creation, which is wizard and template based, says Cook.

"As data continues to accumulate, the requirement for businesses that want to stay ahead of the game is to ensure intelligence based decision-making encompasses all facets of business. Dashboards bring clarity, ensuring timely, accurate decision-making and early exploitation of opportunity," he concludes.