Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business [Hardcover]

Wayne W. Eckerson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2010

Tips, techniques, and trends on harnessing dashboard technology to optimize business performance

In Performance Dashboards, Second Edition, author Wayne Eckerson explains what dashboards are, where they can be used, and why they are important to measuring and managing performance. As Director of Research for The Data Warehousing Institute, a worldwide association of business intelligence professionals, Eckerson interviewed dozens of organizations that have built various types of performance dashboards in different industries and lines of business. Their practical insights explore how you can effectively turbo-charge performance–management initiatives with dashboard technology.

• Includes all-new case studies, industry research, news chapters on "Architecting Performance Dashboards" and "Launching and Managing the Project" and updated information on designing KPIs, designing dashboard displays, integrating dashboards, and types of dashboards.
• Provides a solid foundation for understanding performance dashboards, business intelligence, and performance management
• Addresses the next generation of performance dashboards, such as Mashboards and Visual Discovery tools, and including new techniques for designing dashboards and developing key performance indicators
• Offers guidance on how to incorporate predictive analytics, what-if modeling, collaboration, and advanced visualization techniques

This updated book, which is 75% rewritten, provides a foundation for understanding performance dashboards, business intelligence, and performance management to optimize performance and accelerate results.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Performance dashboards have become the preferred way for busy executives, managers, and staff to monitor key business metrics at a glance and move swiftly through layers of actionable information to get the insight they need to solve problems quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

Written by Wayne Eckerson, a recognized expert and consultant in the field of business intelligence, —Performance Dashboards, Second Edition shows how performance dashboards focus business people on the right things to do and arm them with relevant information to do things right. Eckerson's tips, techniques, and practical insights provide a strategic road map to help organizations turbocharge performance management initiatives with dashboard technology to optimize performance and accelerate results.

Extensively rewritten and modified to reflect changes and advances in the field, the Second Edition now includes:

• All-new case studies that illustrate how to deliver operational, tactical, and strategic performance dashboards

• A chapter on architectural issues and options for creating scalable, high-performance performance dashboards

• Explanation of the MAD framework (monitor, analyze, and drill to detail) for developing performance dashboards and the Double MAD framework (model, analytics, and deliberation) that defines next-generation capabilities

• Expanded section on the best practices for managing performance dashboard projects

• New architectural techniques for integrating performance dashboards and cascading performance metrics across tiers of dashboards

• Detailed characteristics of operational, tactical, and strategic dashboards, including prominent subtypes in each category

• A description of dashboard functionality by type of dashboard, including navigational and analytical techniques to enhance usability and effectiveness

• New guidelines for designing effective dashboard displays, including an overview of visualization techniques and how and when they should be used

• New insights into key performance indicators (KPIs) and performance targets, as well as practical tips for brainstorming, designing, and maintaining dashboard metrics

• In-depth examination of the role of performance dashboards in the BI Maturity Model

Written for IT managers but accessible to business executives, this book will serve as a testimonial to the power of performance dashboards to improve organizational effectiveness as well as a comprehensive source of best practices required to successfully implement dashboards and scorecards. Every executive and manager should have a copy of this bestseller on their bookshelf.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Performance Dashboards, Second Edition

"Wayne Eckerson's book is the preeminent resource on performance dashboards. I am thrilled that Wayne has shared his vast experience in performance management and dashboards with the marketplace. He has crafted a comprehensive resource that merges leading-edge, real-world practice with strong foundations—making his book a must-read for anyone interested in performance dashboards."
—Dr. Barbara Wixom, Associate Professor, McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia

"Wayne Eckerson is the rare breed of author who manages to translate complex topics into simple business concepts. The latest edition of Performance Dashboards covers fresh trends and uses cases in the BI world, illustrating the escalating urgency of information deployment. Indeed, Wayne's book is like the topic it describes: comprehensive and infinitely useful."
—Jill Dyché, founder, Baseline Consulting; coauthor of Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth

"Over the past decade, dashboards have had surprising staying power—and have become a common paradigm for Business Intelligence applications. Wayne's first edition of Performance Dashboards provided valuable clarity and a needed context for delivering dashboard-based business intelligence solutions. The Second Edition raises the bar still higher—with new content and many excellent case studies—making it required reading for both business users and IT as a means of developing a common understanding and vocabulary for Business Intelligence."
—Howard Dresner, author of Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change and The Performance Management Revolution: Business Results Through Insight and Action

"Wayne Eckerson is the internationally renowned expert for performance dashboards—increasingly a key element in modern Business Intelligence systems. This book not only provides a comprehensive and well-structured overview of the concepts behind dashboards but also a lot of practical advice on how to succeed in their implementation. A must-read for everyone that is looking into this topic—both from a technical or a business perspective."
—Dr. Carsten Bange, founder and CEO, Business Application Research Center

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 318 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (November 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470589833
• ISBN-13: 978-0470589830
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars good overview May 13, 2013

By KVW

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Nice conceptual overview of performance management and the role of dashboards therein. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in BI

5.0 out of 5 stars Dashboard 3M's March 1, 2013

By qcridder

Format:Hardcover

This book is not an easy read, but definitely rich in ideas, advice, practical models, and examples. The unique provision is Eckerson's three dashboards (i.e. operational, tactical, and strategic), which I contend provide organizations a realistic approach to the three M's (i.e., Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing).

Eckerson's book provides assurance that it is more than academic, theoretical. That is, the author offers three case studies, one for each type of dashboard, thus providing a level of credible face validly to the models. Additionally, the author is cognizant of the trials and tribulations for organizations in adopting performance dashboards. As such, he identifies key pitfalls and offers strategies to ensure adoption and the management of dashboard.

Without question, Eckerson makes it clear that successful dashboards respond to organizational change. Leadership, as the driver at all levels of development and implementation, must be matched by resources. While selecting the right indicators (metrics, measures) is critical, organizations need a graphical interface that can accurately and concisely convey the findings. I highly recommend this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! March 11, 2012

By Shefali Dua

Format:Hardcover

Stellar job! The book gave me the direction I was looking for on performance management for my client. The book addressed my âaewhen rubber meets the roadâ questions head on. I highly recommend this book for strategists who are introducing a performance strategy to their organizations for the first time. The book provided insights on how to develop an effective vision, engage middle management and cautions against what can backfire.

Definition: Business performance management (BPM) is a series of management disciplines, processes, and tools that enable organizations to optimize the way they execute business strategy. Performance dashboards play a pivotal role in BPM initiatives since they provide a window into business performance and a visual way to chart progress against goals.

A panoply of benefits for BPM:
1. Communicate strategy
2. Refine strategy
3. Increase visibility, coordination and motivation
4. Consistent view of the business
5. Reduce costs and redundancy
6. Empower users
7. Deliver actionable information

Mixing Elements. Dashboard architects need to consider how to mix the various Web technologies just described to deliver an attractive, interactive, and high-performance user interface.

Key BPM Architecture Considerations
1. Data Access
2. Data Transformation
3. Data Management
4. Infrastructure Architecture
5. Charting
6. Analytics
7. Development
8. Security and Administration
9. Design Environment: Power Users & IT
10. Dashboard Functionality
11. Deployment Options

Eight cardinal sins which can turn a performance dashboard into a performance quagmire:
1. Display too many metrics.
2. Fail to get user buy-in.
3. Don't assign accountability.
4. Create metrics that are too abstract.
5. Create metrics that undermine each other.
6. Use metrics to punish, not empower.
7. Attach compensation to metrics too soon.
8. Fixate on measures not management.

Thumbs Up for the author- Wayne Eckerson!