Make Data Simple Again With Dashboards
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•410 views
The document discusses how dashboards can simplify data with SEQUEL. It provides an agenda for a presentation on building centralized dashboards. The agenda includes discussing dashboard essentials like displaying summary data graphically; the benefits of centralized dashboards like consistent views and access from any device; a demo of building a dashboard in SEQUEL; and a question and answer section. Centralized dashboards in SEQUEL allow customization, access to multi-platform data from a single system, security controls, and provide a single consistent view of business data.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Make Data Simple Again With Dashboards
Similar to Make Data Simple Again With Dashboards (20)
More from HelpSystems
More from HelpSystems (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Make Data Simple Again With Dashboards
- 2. “What gets measured, gets managed.” —Peter Drucker, Business Visionary Data Matters: Just Ask the Experts “The dashboard needs to deliver data in a timely fashion, and that timeliness is dictated by which process is being represented in the dashboard.” —Keith Gile, Analyst/Author
- 3. Mike Stegeman Sr. Data Access Consultant Introductions Heath Kath Sr. Data Access Consultant Today’s Speakers:
- 5. Today’s Agenda Dashboard essentials Centralized dashboard benefits Demo: Build a dashboard Q & A
- 6. Dashboard Essentials A Dashboard: • Displays summary data graphically • Provides highlights of your business • Shows key performance indicators • Represents one or more businesses • Provides an at-a-glance summary
- 7. Dashboard Essentials “If your UI even vaguely resembles an airplane cockpit, you’re doing it wrong.” —John Gruber, Author
- 8. Types of Dashboards Operational: for Monitoring Tactical: for Analysis Strategic: for Management
- 9. How Dashboards Deliver Data Summarized Graphical View Multidimensional View Detailed Reporting View
- 10. Dashboard essentials Centralized dashboard benefits Demo: Build a dashboard Q & A Today’s Agenda
- 11. Centralized Dashboard Benefits • Refine strategy • Increase coordination • Consistent view of the business • Deliver actionable information
- 12. IBM i System A IBM i System B IBM i System C SQL Server ORACLE MySQL • Helps manage your business • Multi-platform • Customizable Centralized Dashboard Benefits
- 14. Dashboards Reside on IBM i One Place to Allow Access PC Shortcuts Security Centralized Dashboard Benefits
- 15. Access to Data Design in SEQUEL Present Data Control Centralized Dashboard Benefits
- 16. Anytime, anywhere Mobility PC Tablet Smartphone Prompts Select Data No IT Wait Pivot Tables Centralized Dashboard Benefits
- 17. One Truth Centralized Dashboard Benefits
- 18. Today’s Agenda Dashboard essentials Centralized dashboard benefits Demo: Build a dashboard Q & A
- 19. Demo Summary: Build a SEQUEL Dashboard in Four Steps 1. Start a New Dashboard 2. Build with: – Text – Graphics – Views – Graphs – Gauges 3. Save 4. Display from Browser
- 20. Dashboard essentials Centralized dashboard benefits Demo: Build a dashboard Q & A Today’s Agenda
- 21. Charts & Graphs Pivot Tables Remote Database Access Custom Reports Scripting Browser Access Executive Dashboards Report Distribution Queries & Views Drill-Down Data Analysis Easily Access and Share Data SEQUEL Data Warehouse
- 22. Summary SEQUEL is the solution! Dashboards make it easy to truly understand your company’s data.
- 24. Mike Stegeman Sr. Data Access Consultant mike.stegeman@helpsystems.com Heath Kath Sr. Data Access Consultant heath.kath@helpsystems.com We Are Ready for Your Questions! www.helpsystems.com/sequel
- 25. Thank You for Joining Us Today! Website: www.helpsystems.com/sequel Phone: 800-328-1000 or +1 952-933-0609 Email: mike.stegeman@helpsystems.com heath.kath@helpsystems.com support.sequel@helpsystems.com
Editor's Notes
- HEATH: Welcome to today’s presentation Make Data Simple Again with Dashboards. We’ll talk about dashboards in general and how SEQUEL can improve on this concept.
- HEATH: A recent survey showed that many companies have the same goals when it comes to BI tools. A common theme that runs through all of the goals is improving productivity. There is a balance that must be achieved when considering productivity and access, especially when it comes to data. Using SEQUEL, you can control a lot of that access while empowering your users. Dashboards are one way to distribute multiple pieces of information from one location, in one display. This quote from author Keith Gile, is the essence of building a dashboard that is useful and timely. Inventory or production may need up to the minute data. Whereas monthly sales tracking and financials may not be as time sensitive when it comes to up-to-the-minute displays. Every industry and every company is different.
- 3
- HEATH: Before we begin we would like to ask our audience a couple of quick questions. If you can take a moment to respond and remember to press the submit button after you have answered the questions. <Heath can elaborate on the questions – plan for about 1 - 1.5 minutes max>. Mike, take it away.
- MIKE: Here is the agenda for today. What is a dashboard, what are the benefits of centralized dashboards, a brief demo on building a dashboard in SEQUEL and finally the Q&A Session.
- MIKE: So what is a dashboard? A single object that displays information through data or charts and graphs. The dashboard needs to be able to show the users summary or detail information. This can be right on the initial display or from buttons. Dashboards, historically, show information through graphs and charts but in essence are optional. Dashboards should be able to include KPI or Key Performance Indicators to help highlight important information about your organization. As you will see today, Dashboards can be customized for any line of business., providing a quick way to see how your organization is performing. Sales, Financial and accounting information are often tracked with dashboards. Which departments are over their budget? Or under their budget? Which is the largest cost center in our organization? Who owes us for goods or services provided? Your accounting department needs to know where the money is coming from and where it is going. A great way to share that information is through a dashboard.
- MIKE: Columnist John Gruber stated: “If your user interface even vaguely resembles an airplane cockpit, you’re doing it wrong.” Too much data or too many graphs or gauges, even summary data, is too much. Ideally you would display data important to the viewer, Key Performance Indicators for example.
- MIKE: A book called Performance dashboards written by Wayne Eckerson described these three types of performance dashboards as.. <<Point to or box each column as you go through… remove box from previous displaying only 1 box at a time>> Operational dashboards emphasize monitoring more than analysis or management Tactical dashboards emphasize analysis more than monitoring or management Strategic dashboards emphasize management more than monitoring or analysis
- MIKE: Further Wayne Eckerson explains that a performance dashboard delivers information to users in layers as they need it. Top Layer – Summarized – Purpose: Monitor Key Performance metrics Display: Graphical indicators, numbers, text Technology: Dashboards, scorecards, portals Graphically displays exception conditions Middle Layer: --- Multidimensional Purpose: Explore information from multiple dimensions Display: Interactive charts and tables Technology: OLAP, interactive reports Lets users explore or “slice and dice” data from multiple dimensions Bottom Layer – Detailed Purpose: Examine details before taking action Display: Table or report in separate window Technology: Operational reports, data warehouse queries, Lets users examine individual transactions and operational reports
- MIKE: Here is the agenda for today. What is a dashboard, what are the benefits of centralized dashboards, a brief demo on building a dashboard in SEQUEL and finally the Q&A Session.
- MIKE: Now shifting to the benefits of dashboards. Performance dashboards can deliver the right information to the right users when they need it and how they need it. Allowing the user to analyze the information, make accurate decisions, enhance efficiency, and accelerate bottom-line results. Wayne Eckerson breaks down some of the benefits of dashboards. (a little long, so just grab about ½ of them and describe) Communicate Strategy – translate corporate strategy into measures, goals, and initiatives. Each day when you log into your performance dashboard, you get a clear picture of how your organization is doing and what needs to be down to achieve these goals. Refine Strategy – Use performance dashboards to help fine tune the corporate strategy as you go along Increase Visibility – From executives, managers, and other end user will now have greater visibility into the daily operations, or even trends. Increase Coordination – dashboards created for different departments such as operations and finance, you will find new capabilities allowing your staff to work closer together Increase Motivation – It has been said that “what gets measured, get done” Performance dashboards can help users get motivated in trying to excel in those areas being measured Consistent view of the Business – With a dashboard, you have a single view of the business information that you need to see or to monitor Reduce Costs and Redundancy – Information can be easily consolidated in a dashboard, and this dashboard can be easily distributed to not just a few users, but even to several departments Empower Users – User will be able to access the data they need, when they need it. Self-service from collecting the information and analyzing current information. Deliver Actionable Information – Current or Live Data can be delivered through a dashboard. Real time data allowing you to see what is happening or if needed what has happened. With Performance dashboards you do not need to spend hours searching for the data, it’s right there, right in front of you.
- MIKE: Dashboards often become an executive tool for managing the business because they are so easy to build and use. User can get the information they need very quickly. Dashboards can be a great asset to your company; because: They can be created quickly—you should be able to just insert existing query objects or data sets. Many types of users, including managers and top-level executives, can benefit from dashboards. You can access data in files, tables, and objects stored in IFS folders, such as documents and image files. You can use Dashboards from a PC, a shared folder, a mapped drive, a Citrix server, and even from a browser or mobile device. Dashboards are easy to maintain. At least SEQUEL’S are. And, You can customize them to fit everyone’s needs.
- MIKE: You can call these the 4 pillars of centralization. These are the more important and prominent features of using SEQUEL dashboards in a centralized manner. Let’s briefly look at each section.
- MIKE: For Security, the dashboard definition itself resides on the IBMi. The IBMi object level authority can be used to determine which users can run the dashboard. SEQUEL has another level of security that can be applied on top of the IBMi. IT only has one dashboard to secure – one object, one library. This is an obvious productivity boost to the department. The dashboards are backed up each time you save the library in the rare case that something happens to the original. Shortcuts are created and set to the users. If the PC or the shortcut is lost, the original dashboard is safe and secure on the i.
- MIKE: There is always a tug-of-war between IT needing to control access to the data and the users need to analyze the data. Dashboards can offer a little of both. It controls, as was stated in the security section, by user ID, who has access to the data. Users can be given data in formats that allow for them to play or massage the data for business analysis. Control interacts with security but has it’s own roots into a business. With your users accessing one object from a short-cut, it becomes easier to allow or block users from designing or modifying dashboards in SEQUEL. And the designer controls, with guidance and assistance form the user community, whether the data is presented as data or graphical representations, as detail or as summary, basically, how the data is presented on a dashboard.
- MIKE: Anywhere and any time are more closely intertwined than security and control. Any where means that the centralized dashboard can be accessed from a PC in the office or out, if you are inside the firewall like with a VPN or proxy server. They can also be access from a tablet or phone with secure connections through the firewall. Any time means that the displays of the data on a dashboard can ask the user to specify the data they wish to see. Like a date range, account numbers, client or vendor numbers, etc. are common examples. And pivot tables provide another tool for the analyst to massage the data looking for information to take the organization to the next level.
- MIKE: Finally there is one version of the truth. I lost track of how many times I have spoken with companies who have tales of disperse data ending with different results. One person downloads data to Excel or Access and adds some formulas that are inaccurate, whether through accidental error or lack of understanding. Or the data originally downloaded was old or not from the correct tables. Doesn’t it make more sense to have everyone reading form the same chapter of the same book? Downloading to Excel is still widely used. SEQUEL has an easy method form view or table results. A Dashboard can also contain a spreadsheet.
- MIKE: Here is the agenda for today. What is a dashboard, what are the benefits of centralized dashboards, a brief demo on building a dashboard in SEQUEL and finally the Q&A Session.
- MIKE: And that brings us to the demo portion of today’s presentation. We will cover how to build a dashboard and add some more useful features. I will give a quick demonstration.
- MIKE: This is what was covered in the demo portion of this session.
- MIKE: Here is the agenda for today. What is a dashboard, what are the benefits of centralized dashboards, a brief demo on building a dashboard in SEQUEL and finally the Q&A Session.
- MIKE - SEQUEL is a complete tool set, a solution that will help IT Managers break free from BI struggles -- use a single product like SEQUEL that allows you do to most everything – from creation to the distribution of information. You can easily create the views/queries, do drilldowns, pivot data, build custom reports and dashboards and even see data in charts and more. < Alternate text from original slide> SEQUEL is a complete tool set, use a single BI solution that allows you do to most everything, from the creation to the distribution of information. SEQUEL can provide data to analysts in a variety of forms and formats. You have data coming in from your applications, remote databases like an MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, or from a data warehouse like SEQUEL Data Warehouse. SEQUEL can help distribute the information, whether simply displaying the information, emailing, providing summary data for the user to drill into details on demand. And, for those power users, they can easily build powerful views, custom reports, drill-downs, dashboards, build charts, and more – very quickly with our graphical user interface.
- HEATH: In summary, this is what we covered in today’s session. There are different types of dashboards for different purposes and users. We examined the benefits of dashboards and specifically centralized dashboards, where the use can be controlled, secured, standardized and everyone will be on the same page.
- HEATH - HelpsSystems is a diverse company with solutions for system automation, document management, security and business intelligence. This June in Minneapolis, we are holding our user conference. This will give you the opportunity to meet several Help Systems employees and network with other customers. You can gain more product knowledge through a large selection of sessions.
- HEATH: And now we are ready to address your questions. If you haven’t entered one yet and still have a question or two, please use the CHAT feature and send them to all panelists. Please keep in mind that we only just scratched the surface in showing you some of SEQUEL’s capabilities. HEATH: Mike – do you see any questions? Questions - fillers: Does ViewPoint need to be installed to run a Host and Client Tables? Does the data in the report dynamically update? What is needed to use the Dashboard, does that come with SEQUEL? Does the Tabling features come with SEQUEL? Does the OLAP Tabling features come with SEQUEL? Can data displayed in Dashboards from SWI have the data be automatically refreshed? Yes.. Are there plans to support a full client table options from SWI? Yes… How can I get additional information about SEQUEL? Contact us …. Call / email / web … How can I get additional information about DB2 – Database Partitioning? Check IBM’s website, they also have published a Redbook on Database partitioning and Table partitioning
- HEATH: We hope that you now have a good feel for how SEQUEL can address your business needs by improving your productivity - allowing users not only to access data when they need it, from where ever they are at, but also, to see information in an easy to read modernized format. If you have any further questions, or would like to see more of SEQUEL, give us a call, or email Mike or I – we would be glad to schedule a demonstration with you or your team. We appreciate your time and look forward to seeing you in futures Webinars. This concludes our session on: Empower your business users with SEQUEL Thank you, and have a great day! ** STOP RECORDING