A couple weeks ago there was a post about mashups and it triggered a discussion here at Klipfolio about the value of having access to business intelligence information from multiple sources in one location. It is more than just having everything at your fingertips without spending the time and bandwidth* for going to multiple places, although that is part of it.
Most enterprise applications come with some form of a dashboard. While there is some customization available, most of the time users keep the dashboards in the default configuration. And each application presents the data in a different way and style. Two dashboards presenting the same information might convey them in completely different ways using different visuals. Likewise, two dashboards from two different enterprise applications will almost certainly not have consistent user interfaces, let alone user manuals.
Two dashboards using different charts, colors, and threshold values
By pulling all the information into one location the opportunity exists to have a consistent user interface for all of the data that is being accessed. Not only is this is critical for ensuring that informed decision making is taking place, but it reduces time spent searching for the information, as well as learning the various systems.
Here is another example. How many times have you seen something formatted in a specific way that skews your perception of it? Think of a graph where the scale is extremely large or small. This can make the perception of the data much different than it really is.
Two graphs with the same information but very different scales skewing the perception
Dashboards in applications operate in the same way. If the data from different sources are not compared properly it will lead to assumptions and potentially false decision making. And even being aware of the differences, it takes effort to combine them into a consolidated source to provide a realistic view, not to mention the added complexity of performing additional analysis on the data once it has been formatted.
As you know, Klipfolio Dashboard is a platform that pulls data from different sources and gives it a consistent look and feel. More importantly it presents a consistent baseline so that a proper analysis can be performed. Instead of trying to understand the different colors and graphics used by multiple enterprise applications, dashboards, and other reporting software, it is simplicity and consistency that really helps users understand their KPIs.
* Look for an upcoming study on bandwidth consumption to compare receiving data with Klipfolio Dashboard to visiting individual sites to access the same information. Sneak peak: Klipfolio Dashboard uses about 4.9 times less bandwidth compared to typical web application page queries.
Recently we were asked to participate in the AMA (American Marketing Association) two-day Data and Dashboards workshop taking place in Atlanta starting at 8AM tomorrow (June 1). The workshop provides mid- to senior-level marketing manager with the knowledge to put data at the center of your marketing strategies.
The workshop presents a review of dashboard resources, use cases, and participant collaboration to provide actionable learning. They contacted dashboard vendors that offer best in the industry products and will provide reviews of them. We are very pleased to announce that Klipfolio Dashboard was one of the few chosen to be included.
Chances are you are familiar with Klipfolio Dashboard already and are aware of the platform design that allows you to pull data from multiple sources. For marketing this is very valuable as you can have something like Google Analytics klips to show website traffic and keyword data on the same dashboard as Salesforce.com showing the number of leads that have come in from various marketing campaigns, and a host of others, such as Omniture, Webtrends, and Eloqua BI data on your desktop at all times.
Led by James Clark (Twitter: @jamesoclark ), co-founder of Room 214 and Ben Castelli (Twitter: @bencastelli ) agency director of Room 214, a leading social media agency and developers of customer marketing dashboards, this intensive two-day seminar will dive into the how to gather, filter, curate and visualize the data that matters most for assessing ROI.
If you are in the Atlanta area it sounds like an interesting workshop to check out.
