Management needs information to manage their organization. Usually the information they need is in their database somewhere. Recently, management dashboards have been popular so that management can view important data at a glance on a regular basis. The following are the steps on what needs to be done to create a dashboard:

1) Determine a specific dashboard that needs to be created such as IT performance dashboard, sales dashboard, overall management dashboard, shipping dashboard, purchasing dashboard, collections dashboard, etc.

2) Define the key indicators that need to be measured in this specfic dashboard.

3) Map key indicators to specific data requirements. Determine if the data exists in system or needs to be collected or created.

4) If the data collection/creation gap exist, explore improvements to fill holes. Develop a general plan and timeline to fill in these gaps.

5) If no dashboard tool is in place, investigate and decide which dashboard tool to acquire that match organization requirements. Pay attention to how dashboard tools integrate with organization's existing infrastructure. Budget for the initial cost of the dashboard tool including annual maintenance and tool installation.

6) Budget for the changes necessary either in data, programming or dashboard changes to implement the dashboard for the key indicators.

7) Develop a specific implementation plan for creation to specific dashboard and implement including user training and validation of accuracy.

8) After specific dashboard is implemented, review if other data needs to be included on dashboard from other systems/modules that would make it more beneficial to users and organization.

9) After specific dashboard is completed, determine next specific dashboard to work on.

For more information on dashboards and their creation, contact Technical Resource Group (TRG), at (949) 296-8380 or asktrg@picktrg.com or our website at www.picktrg.com.