BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 10, 2009) - In the newly released report, "
Executive Dashboards: The Key to Unlocking
Double Digit Profit Growth,"
Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
(
NYSE:
HHS), found that leading organizations were able to produce an
average 8.4% improvement in sales performance, more than 4 times the
increase of all other companies, by leveraging a comprehensive and
pervasive strategy for dashboard use. This study collected data from 285
end-user organizations globally and found that these companies are
combining a tactical approach to business visualization with a strategic
forward-looking vision in order to achieve substantial improvements in
customer service and service performance.
Many companies today suffer from a lack of visibility into the key metrics
that drive business for the organization. With most organizations
tightening their belts and focusing inward, some are finding themselves in
the uncomfortable position of "not knowing what they don't know." In other
words, the performance indicators that truly dictate business efficiency
are constantly changing and fluctuating. Prior Aberdeen research revealed
that many organizations had turned to business intelligence (BI) dashboard
tools in order to help discover and improve those key areas of their
operations. Aberdeen's data demonstrates a multitude of applications for
dashboard tools. Performance reporting dashboards and other strategic
tools can be instrumental in anticipating changes in the market and
preparing for long-term changes that can affect the business. On the other
hand, dashboards have also proven to be useful from an operational
standpoint in order to determine what is happening on a real-time basis and
make decisions on the fly. A key notion uncovered in this research is that
the top performing companies are not choosing between a strategic or
tactical approach to dashboard implementation but rather are combining the
two approaches to generate a comprehensive strategy for data visualization.
Perhaps just as important, these Best-in-Class companies have made efforts
to deliver dashboard visualization capability to a wider set of users
within their organization. Once upon a time, dashboards were used
primarily as a tool for executive management to understand the highest
level metrics like revenue growth and general profitability. Now, these
tools have expanded in scope to help operational managers understand
changes in inventory levels, supply chain efficiency, human resources
metrics, and a wide variety of other business factors. Data from this
report shows that Best-in-Class companies are delivering dashboard
visibility not just to more departments within the company, but also to
more roles within each department. By spreading this dashboard capability
to more users within the organization, the Best-in-Class were able to drive
considerable improvements in operating profit, customer service, and sales
performance.
"In the entire universe of business intelligence -- from data warehousing
through ETL and integration to analytics and visual reporting -- dashboards
are perhaps more palatable to non-technical users than any other element of
that stack," explains Michael Lock, Research Analyst for Business
Intelligence at Aberdeen Group. "However, that does nothing to mitigate
the fact that the solutions need to be easy to understand and use, as well
as truly improve an employee's ability to perform at his or her job.
Best-in-Class companies report user satisfaction that far eclipses all
other companies across a wide range of different metrics, including
ease-of-use, and response time to information requests."
The report is aimed at educating the end-user community as to how
Best-in-Class organizations are combining a comprehensive base of
organizational capabilities with a strategic and tactical approach to
dashboard visualization in order to achieve a higher degree of business
visibility and ultimately bring about major improvements to key business
metrics. The report recommends clear actions for Industry Average and
Laggard compannies to achieve these types of performance improvements and
draw closer to the
Best-in-Class.
A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the
following underwriters: Dundas Data Visualization and Niteo Partners. To
obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5874.
For additional access to complimentary Information Technology Research,
please visit
http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/-information-technology
About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers
demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the
past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving
market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering
meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the
global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that
drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in
context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's
analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of
Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement -
Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role
Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit
Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to
learn more about
Harte-Hanks,
call (800) 456-9748.
© 2009 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com
Contact Information: Media Contact:
Michael Lock
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
(617) 854-5365
michael.lock@aberdeen.com