by Keith Smith, Senior Consultant
Conversations change when the information is instantly available
After loading our company data into QlikView and developing a simple dashboard, I was amazed at the things I could do, and how quickly I could do them. Reports that previously took one week to assemble now took less than five minutes (later improvements would reduce that time even further). Analyzing company sales and orders was now… FUN. I was no longer held back by technology – the only thing that could hold me back now was my own imagination. I started sharing my insights with co-workers, and enthusiasm around QlikView grew quickly. The possibilities were endless.
I began searching the internet for content I could learn from, and came across a blog entry entitled How One-Second Results Change Everything (the author is now a valued colleague of mine here at Bardess). I read it with great interest. “Yes!” I thought to myself. I had participated in too many meetings where very little was accomplished, because needed information was not readily accessible: managers and analysts sitting in the same room, attempting to solve an operational problem or decide upon pursuing a new business strategy. My division utilized a two-tier distribution model to sell hi-tech products to business customers. We shipped manufactured goods to large IT distributors across the country, who in turn sold to resellers, who then sold to the end consumer. We were SWIMMING IN DATA, BUT STARVING FOR INFORMATION. Questions such as,
- “Which reseller sold the most of Widget A last quarter?”
- “Who are the top 50 resellers buying from Distributor X?”
- “What types of products are moving through the value channel?”
All received answers like this one:
- “I don’t have that information right in front of me – can I get back to you?”
It might be days before the answer was ready, and by then the conversation had changed, a decision had already been made, and managers were thinking about the next strategy.
QLIKVIEW CHANGED ALL OF THIS. Powerful, easy-to-use analytical applications in the hands of business users transform the conversations in these meetings and allow knowledge workers at all levels to spend less time gathering, and more time analyzing critical business data.
NEXT: Witnessing the Transformation.
In case you missed it, read Corporate Culture Transformed – An Insider’s View (Part 1 of 4).
For more information on Bardess Group, visit our website or contact us now.
About the Author
Keith Smith, a Senior Consultant at Bardess, has been blending business data with cutting-edge processes and technology for the past 15 years. He looks forward to challenging projects that involve delivering the right information, to the right people, at the right time. He is especially interested in data visualization techniques that foster acceptance and comprehension of management performance dashboards.
