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What's the difference between scorecards and dashboards? Historically, software scorecards were a direct result and visual representation of the theoretical balanced scorecard approach to business strategy developed at Harvard Business School. Software scorecards are also distinguished by the regimented top down organizational planning process defined by the theory that underlies the scorecard interface. This process aims to identify the few key performance metrics that best indicate an organization's progress towards stated strategic goals, and then cascades down through the organization to all supporting and contributing metrics, groups, and individuals. Software scorecards emphasize individual accountability for contributing to and achieving strategic goals.
In contrast, software dashboards evolved as the information systems equivalent of the automotive dashboard that displayed real-time changes to tactical information often displayed as charts, graphs, and gauges. Software dashboards also offered the ability to drill through top-level information into supporting data. As they evolved, software dashboards became increasingly common as the user interface for individual applications such as ERP systems and Web analytics packages.
Modern enterprise information systems are placing less emphasis on differentiating between scorecards and dashboards and paying more attention to the overlap between the two approaches. Ultimately, both scorecards and dashboards are concerned with measuring enterprise performance against pre-determined success metrics, and communicating this information in easily understood, interactive reports. Today it matters less whether you have a red metric on a scorecard or a declining graph on a dashboard than it does that different people can look at the same information, understand it at-a-glance, and then take immediate remedial action to correct the problem. In the end, all that matters is that you have an effective system for translating top-level strategic goals into individual accountability and measuring progress against these goals in a timely manner. Maybe these amalgamated systems will be referred to as scoreboards?
Klipfolio recognizes that another trait shared by scorecards and dashboards is that the information they convey only has value if it's perceived and acted on by a human decision-maker. For this reason, seeing your most important performance metrics should not require a log in process or even switching to another application. With all the different software applications you use on a daily basis competing for your attention, a scorecard or dashboard that requires additional effort simply won't work. For this reason, Klipfolio provides the enterprise with desktop dashboards that appear alongside your regular work as an enterprise sidebar, beneath it as a bottom bar, across the top of your screen as a top bar or even as a floating enterprise widget that you move throughout your day. The Klipfolio Enterprise dashboard appears on your desktop where your key performance metrics cannot be missed. Whether you're looking to accelerate decision-making for your customers, for your department, or for yourself, Klipfolio has a Klipfolio desktop dashboard designed with you in mind.
