As I continue to work with customers in the adoption and implementation of Microsoft's Business Scorecard Manager, SQL Server Reporting Services, and the larger Microsoft BI stack, a common theme exists in the discussions. There is a challenge to ensure that your scorecard does not become just another report in your stack of reports.
Through the various Balanced Scorecard studies available in print and online, you will see a continuous discussion on the effort to make scorecarding an active part of your organization. My interpretation of active is that the scorecard should be something that is viewed daily - and should become a normal part of an employee's day. Placing the scorecard on your corporate intranet (SharePoint Portal) - a place where employee's visits daily - is an ideal place to drive adoption. Make it visible and let it grab attention. Think of the scorecard you may be creating today - how often is the data updated? How long does it take to get the scorecard updated? Do your 'analysts' spend more time 'creating' the scorecard than 'analyzing' it and the outcomes that may be evident in your organization's performance? If your ability to create your scorecard takes a month, how can you actively make decisions on a daily basis with the data in the scorecard? Additionally - to maintain adoption of the scorecard, employees should see something different with each visit. In otherwords, if the scorecard doesn't change for 30 days (and becomes just another report), the adoption and use of the scorecard will dwindle, and performance measurement and management will lose its value.
To make it an active part of the day, the data on the scorecard must timely. Without the timeliness, the closer your scorecard is to becoming just another report. So here is the challenge - work to build out a strategy for daily KPI updates into the scorecard. Support that effort with the proper ETL and cube efforts (SQL Server 2005 Integration Services and Analysis Services) - and automate the load.
With this in place, the daily impact of the scorecard can take place, and the entire organization can focus on decision making rather than scorecard creation.
Dean Furness
Practice Manager - Quilogy's Business Intelligence and Integration National Practice
dfurness@quilogy.com