Understand the difference between Balanced Scorecard and Dashboard Dashboards and Scorecards are both measurement systems

built on integrated data and help an organization view the business performance. This is where lot of people goes wrong, the question is if both gives the business performance insight then what is difference between them?, and hence the terms scorecard and dashboard are loosely used. Scorecard is a Business Performance Measurement (BPM) used mostly at senior management level to view the business performance through indicators. This helps the organization do a pulse check to see how the business is performing towards achieving the strategic goals in different units of business which are operating as per the strategy map. Dashboard is a Business Activity Process Monitoring (BAM) or Business Process Measurement (BPM) used most by the operational managers to monitor the day-to-day operations through visualization. What do they have in common? In an ideal environment both Scorecard and Dashboard should be developed on an integrated data infrastructure, preferably a data warehouse. This will enable the organization to measure the performance of their business via scorecard, drill down to the data warehouse to see what the possible causes of problems were and then look at the dashboard to see the current operational status of the problem area. Also any remedy taken at the operational level could be monitored starting at the dashboard and back to scorecard to see the result of the action. This is a perfect example of a BI application where data is converted to information, information to knowledge and the knowledge into action. What is a KPI? KPI, Key Performance Indicators are measurements of business performance. Scorecard uses KPIs almost entirely to measure success in each areas of the business as defined in the strategy map. Dashboard uses KPIs to highlight milestones in operations. What visual display technique is commonly used? Scorecards commonly use symbols and icons, Dashboards use mostly graphs, grids, gauges and a variety of visualization techniques to highlight the operational data. Is BI Portal a BPM or BAM? Business Intelligence portal is collection of an enterprises BI applications. It can contain Analytical applications, Dashboards and Scorecards. It serves in tactical role for the enterprise.

Operational

Tactical

Strategic

Business Use Users Used by Data Refresh

Dashboard Monitor Operations Operations Managers Department Detail Intra-day

BI Portal Progress Report Middle Tier Managers Business Units Detail/Summary Daily/Weekly/Monthly

Scorecard Performance Measure Executives Corporate Summary Monthly/Quarterly/Annual

Recommended reading: Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business, by Wayne Eckerson (John Wiley & Sons), 2005.