Where do I Come From?

What are My Options?

1. PerformancePoint Monitoring & Analysing
   PerformancePoint delivers excellent reusability and sharing of KPIs, customisable indictors.
   Coming from the Office suite of tools, it is a UI* which doesn’t require IT involvement – it is aimed at BAs and super-users.
   Integrates with existing technologies, SQL and SharePoint.
2. SharePoint
   PerformancePoint still uses SharePoint as it’s UI but here I’m talking about building KPIs themselves. As of Office 14, PerformancePoint M&A will be entirely bundled into MOSS. Which I guess means that SharePoint’s existing rudimentary KPI building functionality will disappear. Yes, it’s rudimentary and simple – it’s ok for really small stuff but if you’re from an IT department, my advice is, don’t waste your time.
3. SSAS
   Get your MDX skills going because you’re gonna be writing a lot of MDX queries. That’s not a bad thing. I’m just saying that’s what you will be doing. Also, all information relating to a single KPI must be contained within that cube where the KPI sits. And you’re gonna have to create the interface using Excel or suchlike yourself.
4. Numerous Other Software Vendors
   It all comes down to cost doesn’t it? And integration. And user familiarity with the UI*.

I know I’m biased. I like PerformancePoint. It integrates nicely with technologies that I’m already using (SQL and SharePoint). And I like that it’s gonna be bundled with MOSS. So sue me (no, don’t really)…

* user interface

Who Am I?

I could give you a massive list of KPIs, but I ain’t gonna. Check out the EPM Review. They have an EXHAUSTIVE list of common KPIs. It’ll knock your socks off… or provide just the impetus you’ve been needing to clean out your garage. Who am I to judge?

Just remember this… you want to measure performance in all areas that are important to you. While there is some commonality across organisations, there is by no means uniformity. This means, the very first thing you’ve got to do, is consider your organisations values, mission and strategic plan. This will guide you on what’s important FOR YOUR ORGANISATION.

Once you know what you want to achieve, then you need to identify what data you already have that can be used to quantify those areas. Then consider, what data you could capture but don’t already have. Finally, don’t forget to think through and identify what data you can’t capture. It may be just as important to know what’s missing.

How Long is a Piece of String

Defining targets is not as simple as it seems initially. Again, this is something you need to think through at the outset. Targets could be manually entered values, but based on what? It could be as simple as Revenue Last Year + 4%. But someone somewhere has to decide how many percent, and whether that base revenue number should include Revenue from discontinuing entities, or interest or a number of other factors. The fact is, you need to think this through separately for each and every KPI.

Getting on the Merry-Go-Round

Defining the KPI
What’s the formula? Each segment of the organisation defines things in slightly different ways. In order to measure them effectively, a corporate view needs to be taken. This can be tricky. If you want the data used to derive the results to be meaningful then you either have to (a) ensure it’s 100% automated and requires no business unit level input or (b) find a way to get everyone to agree on a common definition. Good luck with that!

Weighting the KPI

Some KPIs are more important than others. Well, maybe not more important but certainly the impact on the organisation of poor performance, or conversely good performance, is more greatly felt. So we need to identify what matters. Again, getting everyone to agree can be challenging. But this is an important thought process and should be well considered before jumping in the deep end. It helps to look at your strategic plan and that may point you in an appropriate direction.

Too Many KPIs

I see this time and time again. How do you hit the bullseye when you’re aiming everywhere? It’s got to be achievable, not the KPI targets but the project itself. Getting a scorecard up and running is challenge, no doubt about it. But getting people to use it, now that’s the real challenge. So start small. I’ll say it again. Start SMALL. Did you miss it? START SMALL!!

Get users comfortable with a few key areas before you throw a thousand or a hundred or even 50 KPIs at them. They just won’t read it. They won’t understand what they are looking at. My suggestion, seriously, start with 10 at the most. I know there are BAs and scorecard developers out there looking at me in stunned silence (well, reading at me in stunned silence… or perhaps not, perhaps you are yelling at the screen (if so, ask yourself why because I can’t actually hear you). Of course, you can revisit it later… just don’t start with information overload. That’s all I’m saying.