Business Intelligence--the real value 5 key measures

How do you capture true value in business intelligence?

You need to be open to changing how you think about business practices. Take a step back, assess your business processes, and implement new ideas to make your company a success.

5 Key ways to measure value using business intelligence:

1. Cash Flow--how does your cash position look, are your receivables coming in too slowly, can you extend your accounts payable.

2. Expenditures--are you spending money on worthwhile things? Plan and fund all expenses as you need them, and keep aside reserve money in case you hit rough times. I have heard several stories of companies going out of business or bankrupt because they paid too much money in rent. Clients do not care about your office space, they care about what you can bring to the table. Telecommuting saves companies money and can result in companies lowering rent, utilities, and other infrastructure costs.

3. Return on Investment for Projects--when you spend money, do you see the payback? Also, how do you measure payback? Is it productivity based, revenue generating based, analytically based, etc. Not every project is going to generate additional revenue for the company, but that does not mean that it is not worthwhile.

4. People management--turnover rates and employee satisfaction. People are the greatest asset to organizations and yet they are frequently underutilized. Seek out employee feedback then setup meetings to review and implement change.

5. Customer satisfaction--are you pleasing your customers? What could you do better? Does the customer come to you because you are the only choice or because of what you do? Ask the customer what they are looking for--you'll be surprised to what that can lead to.

So, how would you capture these in a business intelligence tool? That's where the technical knowledge and ability comes into play. It would not be hard to imagine a balanced scorecard/dashboard that had these key metrics available to senior executives, so that they could take action and correct issues when needed.