“You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” Peter Drucker once said. Only key figures, so-called key performance indicators, enable a BI system to document and measure company performance in a concrete and comparable way. But how do you get the right key performance indicators? Our checklist will help you create the optimum basis for successful business intelligence.
1. Technical Requirements
The technical requirements should be clarified before the technical implementation begins:
- Which KPIs are needed? And how do you select them?
- What should the KPI module be used for? For example, for board or departmental reporting or a management information system?
- How far should reporting extend? Should it cover Group controlling or plant controlling?
- Who are the recipients? And are there possible conflicts between the recipients and the clients?
2. Standardization and calculation definition
As soon as it is clear which KPIs are required, it should be ensured that everyone speaks the same language:
- Are there any special cases? For example, differences between forecasts and actual results, between business units or based on legal requirements (such as IFRS or HGB)?
- Are the KPIs defined? And are there standardized calculation formulas?
3. Data origin, transformation and storage
The next step is to find out where the data for the KPIs comes from:
- Where are the sources located? Is the data transmitted automatically and are there any technical restrictions, such as interfaces or formats?
- Does data need to be transformed? This often happens in an ETL process (Extract, Transform, Load).
- Who delivers manually? If data is supplied manually, it is important to clarify who is responsible for this and how the data is to be recorded (Excel, TXT, web interface, etc.).
4. Clarify responsibilities & ensure quality
Now it’s time for a test management process:
- Who tests the data? Both the source data and the transformed data must be checked.
- Who ensures compliance with the definitions? The KPIs should be checked regularly for correctness.
- How are changes incorporated? It must be clear how new KPIs are added and old ones removed.
5. Distribution & Publication
Ultimately, the question arises as to how the KPIs get to the right people:
- How do you publish? Web interface, e-mail, PDF – what is the most suitable format?
- Who gets the information? Chiefs, departments, shareholders? And how do they find out about the publication?
If all these questions can be answered, a big step towards successful KPI reporting has already been taken.
Ready to take KPIs to the next level?
This creates the basis for increasing the performance of the BI system with the right key figures. Do you need support? Get in touch with us! We will be happy to help you and take your reporting to the next level together.
