How to prepare your business users and IT organizations for Xcelsius dashboards

How to prepare your business users and IT organizations for Xcelsius dashboards Dr. Berg Comerit Inc.

In a survey of 600 IT and Business people, 75% of respondents believed that their projects are either always or usually “doomed right from the start 41 % of the business people surveyed have this view of IT projects: We spend at least half their time on avoidable project rework, much of this effort is wasted on preventable activities" 78% think the business team “always” or “usually” lacks alignment on project objectives. The Low Rate or IT Project Success You need to communicate early that dashboard projects are iterative and required multiple go-lives to be successful. - Create a strategic dashboard release plan Source: Michael Krigsman, "75% believe IT projects are 'doomed'. 2011

Background A Real-World Xcelsisus Adaptation Example BI and Dashboard Stakeholder Management Dashboard Change Management User Training and the BI Self-Service Model The Role of the BI Support Organization On-Line Help and Knowledge Transfer The Business Readiness Dashboard Checklist Wrap-up What We’ll Cover …

This project is for travel expense analysis. The color codes communicate changes, year-over-year. Graphs can be displayed many ways Navigation can be done and get new query result sets A Real-World Xcelsisus Adaptation Example This dashboard is based on only on BW query and BICS connector; the cube is in BWA and the dashboard therefore loads in less than 12 seconds.

Dashboards are most useful when compared to something. This dashboard is relative to a budget. Notice, that all graphs can be displayed many ways and that color coding is consistent across dashboards A Real-World Xcelsisus Adaptation Example Make sure layout, buttons and colors are consistently used

This dashboard groups six different categories and over 30 lines into a easily readable table using a few lines and mostly colors. Too many lines and incorrect use of 'bold' makes dashboards very hard to read. A Real-World Xcelsisus Adaptation Example Don't cram too much into single dashboards. Plan on multiple for each business area.

Tables can fill as the time period progress What-if-analysis can be embedded The more functionality you include, even when not requested, the more likely you are that users will leverage your dashboards A Real-World Xcelsisus Adaptation Example Don't expect all requirements to come from your users. Be creative and suggest functionality that may be helpful..

Changes over time are typically tracked in the dashboards. Don't just present numbers, plan on only showing changes. I.e. in amounts and percentages. A Real-World Xcelsisus Adaptation Example In this dashboard, the graphs are sometimes hard to read, so we added filter selections. use this carefully, since they are slow and makes the flash files very large.

The organizational change process starts with FUD: F EAR - 'How will the dashboards impact my job?' UNCERTAINTY - 'Will my job still be needed?' DOUBT - 'This is just temporary, it will never succeed' Gartner created a 'hype cycle' that describes how new technologies are adopted in organizations and society: 1. Something makes the dashboard a need-to -have tool: The Technology Trigger 2. Everyone have high expectations 3. The first go-live was not that great 4. We now know how to use it properly 5. We reach the 'plateau of productivity' Getting People to Use Your Dashboards Source: Wikipedia, "hype cycle", 2011 Managing expectation and realizing that you will need more than one 'go-live' to get it right is critical to dashboard projects

The plan should clearly map out the vision for the next 24-36 months The Strategic Dashboard Release Plan Make sure you add the 'Phase-2' timeline for all areas, plan for enhancements, and communicate this early to all users

In most companies, summarized data that is combined across many organizational units are only available to senior management. The power therefore resides at the CxO and VP levels of the organization There is little incentive to share this information downwards in the company Dashboard Stakeholder Management - Today's Situation Traditionally organizations view information as 'power' and only grant access on a 'need-to-know' basis

When dashboard's are employed to middle management, they can combine this with operational details and start making sense of 'why things are happening', instead of looking at 'what happened'. This shifts power within the organization and often makes the senior management feel that they are not informed, nor have the time to look at all operational details Dashboard Stakeholder Management - Tomorrow's Situation Some companies are afraid to share summarized and operational data and are simply employing a too tight 'security' model, and see few dashboard benefits

If dashboard's are given to only some key individuals within an organization, you create 'power pockets'. Dashboard Stakeholder Management - Power Pockets • In this case, the dashboards can be used to concentrate power regardless of position within the organization. Deploying dashboards to select 'power users' in companies can create significant incentives to withhold information and concentrate power

The best way to deploy dashboards is to take an open security view: Everyone has access to the data, unless there is a very good reason to restrict it Operational information is shared with the people who can make the change on the daily operation - middle management Financial information is shared only with the finance group and senior management (VP and CxO) Complex dashboards are given to power users that are designated by the management, not the IT department, nor to all requesting it. The Dashboard Deployment Layers Create a dashboard deployment diagram and map it to security roles as part of the project planning

The dashboard deployment diagram provides an overview of who has access to each dashboard The Dashboard Deployment Diagram You should also provide a similar diagram that shows who can grant access to the dashboards. These are called 'dashboard owners'

The Xcelsisus Dashboard Adaptation Curve How will you move people along? Went to a meeting: “My boss is using this, so I better start looking at the same numbers" Went to training: “This way is more effective” Kept in the dark: “I’m not sure what these dashboards may do to me" Talked to a co-worker: “My colleagues are using it, I guess I should too" Saw the PowerPoint: “You said it was easy!" Confidence Saw the demo: “Actually, these dashboards may be betterthan what I am using" Heard about a dashboard project: "I like the old reports just fine!" Heard a rumour: “You can’t do this. It won’t work. We’re not allowed” Time

How to Make People use your Xcelsius Dashboards You have to engage the users. Not only provide log on passwords! “This is the way we do analysis and reporting around here” Internalisation of Dashboard usage “OK, I’m ready to start using these dashboards” Increasing Commitment Commitment to using dashboards “I know how we need to do our jobs differently” Translation to the work setting Significant involvement needed “I understand where we are going with these dashboards Understanding of change direction “Yeah, I saw the email" Awareness of desired change Information with some involvement is sufficient here Source: Adapted by Dr. Berg from Piers Schreiber's "change management", 2011

Leader attention, measurement, rewards and controls Leader reaction to critical incidents Leader role modelling, coaching Criteria for recruitment, promotion, retirement and excommunication Formal and informal socialisation Recurring systems and procedures Organisation design and structure Design of physical space Stories and myths about key people and events Formal statements, charters, creeds, codes of ethics etc Do you have Executive Sponsorship? - What People Pay Attention To: Between 80-90% of all user behavior is determined by the first three points Source: Piers Schreiber "Change management" , 2006

Involve those most impacted by the changes Develop objective method for selecting candidates Select staff of equivalent seniority Ask them to identify opportunities and have a say in how the project funding is spent (i.e. prioritization) Select staff who are: Well regarded by their peers Credible Reliable Eager to learn and be involved “Opinion leaders” Have time to spend on active feedback and engagement Getting the Right Dashboard Change Facilitators Do not select staff: who are perceived to be management mouthpieces

The Long-Term Use of Dashboards Require Organizational Acceptance Level of Support Time New technology takes time to be used and accepted. Don't be surprised when few dashboards are actually used Source: Piers Schreiber's "change management"

The Dashboard Change Management Process IT responsible Change Request form Approved? Integration tested QA environment No Business responsible Sr. mgmt. responsible Yes Yes Approved? Moved to production No Submission No Approved? System tested Dev. Environment Complete? Scheduled No Yes Yes Change Request form Review Recom-mended? Developed Unit Tested Dev. environment No Yes Approved? No Yes

The Change Management Form — Page 1 The front page that the requestor fills out To make this process work, you need a formal instrument The instrument can be online (i.e., a Web page), electronic (Word document), or a paper-based system The form should contain at least these fields

The Change Management Form — Page 2 The back page that the system admin and approver fill out 24 This page is used by the system administrator or the project team The purpose is to have controlled changes that are scheduled and tested appropriately

There are four core options for the training strategy: Classroom training Best when users are similar and centrally located On-line training Best when users are dispersed, dashboards are simple or go-live over long time period Train the trainer Best when users resides in many locations, multiple languages are involved and when there is a very high number of users One-on-one training Best for executives and senior management. Should be done at each user's office. User Training Options Communicate and schedule training early in the project, so that everyone will be available

This means that they can search content, create their own WebI reports, organize the layout of their displays, view Crystal report, Xcelsisus dashboards, and other items at the same time. The BI Self-Service Model • The key concept of the BI Self-Service model is to let user become self sufficient to create, access, organize and modify their own content.

The launch pad is intended to make the accessing the BI items much easier. From here users can: Use multiple tabs to work on several documents at the same time Search for what they are looking for and use widgets to filter results. Schedule and send from items from document viewers BI Self Service - The Launch Pad in BI 4.0 The idea is to have a single launch item for all reports & analysis. Many call this a "report center" Source: SAP AG, 2011

The BI Help Desk — Level 1 Support The first level support should be done by Power Users in the organization You will have to train these resources, empower them to make changes, and leverage them as much as possible, even when it is easy to “jump to solutions” Dashboard related support tickets from a central location/Web site should be routed to the power users in each department. The power user can escalate the ticket to Level 2 support if he/she is unable to resolve it.

The BI Help Desk — Level 2 Support The second level support is used for issues that are not related to dashboards queries, presentations, reports, and formatting This include data loads, performance, security, availability, training schedules, etc. This is addressed by the central support team Some support ticket types are always routed to Level 2 support. It is important to have a generic email address for Level 2 support that is not related to an individual. Emails to this address should not be deleted.

Support Turnover and Team Rotations 24% of IT application developers leave their jobs every year 4 years, 2 months is the average time spent in an IT job in the US and slightly longer in industrial Asian countries. However, the IT support staff lasts only 25 months! * US Dept. of Labor statistics, Sept. 2009. Source: NobScot,, 2011 The top reason for leaving an IT support job is the lack of personal growth opportunities!! SOLUTION: Create a formal plan for rotating each support role every 6 months. Provide a formal mentoring and training program that is communicated in writing to each employee annually.

Computer Based Online Training (a real example) On-line training can be delivered on-demand There are many companies that can develop customized, cost-effective, interactive training for your end users (starting around $8K to about $20K) Over time, this is probably the best way of delivering casual user training The trick to being successful here is to provide interactivity and common tasks scenarios. Hint: Use a storyboard to develop your training.

On-line help should be created for each dashboard Plan for an On-Line Help System for Your Dashboard Go-Live RECAP The on-line help system should explain • how number are calculated, • how to read graphs • what functionality is embedded

There are four possible outcomes of your dashboard project. You can get the wrong requirements and have an ineffective implementations (occurs only 10% of the time) You can have the wrong requirements and do a great job implementing them (20%) You can get the right requirements and implement it wrong (20%) - this is what phase-2 if all about!! You can get the right requirements and implement it correctly (best of all worlds) The Implementation Outcomes Be prepared to work seriously on requirements gartering and user acceptance to avoid 30% of the project failures..

The purpose of the business readiness dashboard checklist is to make sure that a the project is not merely an after-thought with little visibility, zero real sponsorship, and have lack of communication, support, training and organizational commitment. The Business Readiness Dashboard Checklist NOTE: There are reasons why many dashboard projects fail.

Successful Xcelsius projects require more than 'finger power' Design is done interactive with the business, not in 'solitary confinement' Getting users to change their behaviors require significant organizational change and visible sponsorship Training, on-line help and formal checklists can increase success rates BI self-service, require substantial resources to implement short-term, but pays off in the long run If you can get executives to use your dashboards in their meetings, you are almost guaranteed success! Spend time planning how users will access your dashboards and plan for multiple iterations; you will not get it 100% correct the first time! 7 Key Points

Implementing SAP Customer Competence Center, SAP PRESS. by Boris Otto and Jörg Wolter Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects – By Tom Demarco & Timothy Lister Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance by Harold Kerzner, Aug. 2011 Resources

Your Turn! How to contact me: Dr. Berg bberg@comerit.com

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How to prepare your business users and IT organizations for Xcelsius dashboards