Advantage of Using an Analytics Dashboard

The control panel to your business, an analytics dashboard allows you to see a general or detailed overview of company performance. This tool is used to help organisations quickly identify workplace statistics based on KPIs. By allowing users to easily visualise and review data at a glance, dashboards increase the overall efficiency of business analytics. Likewise, web-analytics dashboards help businesses to better quantify and act upon the information associated with the organisation’s web presence. Is this necessary for most businesses? Well, considering that 41% of organisations claim that their current system can’t make sense of large volumes of data from different sources, it appears that a visually-centered big-data solution is certainly appropriate. Taken together, these analytics processes can have a significantly-positive impact on a company’s success.

With unfathomable amounts of new data being created daily, organisations are rushing to mine as much valuable information as possible. This information can then be used to refine company processes and campaigns, to better identify customers and customer needs, and to recognise emergent trends. However, as more and more data is captured and analysed, it becomes increasingly difficult for organisations to accurately gain a succinct overview of what that data is telling them. In fact, 30% of users say that they have trouble identifying useful data.

Dashboards offer a solution. By condensing multiple reports down into visuals, such as graphs charts, tables, and metrics, and displaying those visuals on a single page, analytics dashboards allow business decision-makers to review significant amounts valuable information at a glance.

While there are certain common needs that most businesses share, the specifics will most likely vary between one company and the next. As such, for an analytics dashboard to be effective, it must also be customisable.

A customisable analytics dashboard allows users to add or remove displayed parameters, so that the dashboard remains 100% relevant to the needs of the business. Decision makers can then see the information that they want, without having to wade through the data that they don’t need.

A few hours of delay can make the difference between actionable, relevant information, and information that is useless and out-dated. Therefore, you want a proper analytics dashboards to display information in real time, continuously receiving, processing, and delivering reports in a clear and digestible way. Real-time reporting provides real advantages over batch-processing, in that there is no delay between data being received, and data being reported on. Instead, organisations are able to act on information that is completely current, rather than having to risk using information that is out-dated (even if that information is only a few weeks or even days out of date). The effectiveness of an analytics dashboard is tied directly into how easily users can operate it. As such, the best dashboards feature intuitive controls. Where necessary, simple tutorial programs may also be included, making it possible for new users to grasp the full usefulness of the program, without having to endure complex or time-consuming training sessions.

A cloud-based analytics dashboard requires no local hardware or software installation. Instead, it operates directly out of the cloud. This means faster deployment, and the elimination of expensive downtime. This greatly benefits users, in that it reduces or even eliminates the need for extensive, complex data centers. It also makes it possible for users to be able to connect with the programs they need, from any internet-enabled device—allowing for direct access from not just the office, but anywhere in the world.

An additional benefit of a cloud-based dashboard is the ease of accessibility from any authorised device. As long as a user has an active internet connection, he or she will be able to review valuable information, whether from a desktop computer, laptop, or mobile smart device. This also allows for better interdepartmental collaboration, as each user is able to access the same information, regardless of platform.

Universal accessibility makes it possible for decision makers to stay completely up-to-date with the data that directs the course of their organisation, no matter when and where. Cloud-based dashboards also offer advanced levels of security, eliminating the dangers of unauthorised on-site access, while also taking advantage of the most-advanced cyber defenses available to prevent remote data-incursions. And while it’s important for business leaders to be able to review business information at a glance, it is just as important that that information not become available to unauthorised users. Effective analytics dashboards break access down into various levels, providing each user, group, or role with it’s own customised accessibility.

In a world that has come to rely so heavily on digital information, the quality and availability of actionable data has become vitally important to businesses both large and small. However, without a straightforward way to review that data, many organisations find themselves drowning in a sea of complex information. An effective analytics dashboard provides users with a lifeline, by sorting data into visually accessible, relevant information that can then be acted upon, for better, faster decision-making.