Charts work in almost any sales pitch, time and again! Animated charts in many products have just taken it to the next level.
During a 2010 OBIEE Masterclass Kurt Wolff, an nQuire original (if you care to remember that far back), made exactly this observation. They'd built a great query engine back in the 1990s, but were finding it tough to sell the product so they added charts!
When it comes to generating software sales, Tableau, Spotfire and Panopticon clearly know how that story works. Simple user interface with fantastic looking charts. Stephen Few has some posts on their visualizations, but dare I say it (sorry guys), they all offer pretty much the same proposition!
As an individual, I like these products because they give you a feeling you're in control. And we all want a bit more control in our lives right?
You can connect to the data, you can load the data, you can run really fast queries locally, you can nurture your data set until you have it just right; then you can really WOW people with a good story and those fantastic charts to back it up!
Great, you get some praise, you look like an expert, it might even help you get your bonus. Who wouldn't want that?
Problem is, unless you're an analyst, somewhere along the way you became an analyst. Effectively you stopped doing your job to study charts in attempt to throw a bit of insight into the decision making process that may or may not be relevant. Just because everyone now has the ability to contribute with these software packages, doesn't mean they should!
And so here's the rub, most employees in companies are do-ers, very few are decision makers. Management requires certain key performance indicators to make decisions. These indicators rarely change, why not present them simply and effectively?
Large organizations function most effectively with well defined business processes. These processes are supported by standard reporting that gives employees the latest information in an effective, recognisable layout. Now, as a user I might not be able to control reporting, but since I'm not the analyst this doesn't concern me.
As an independent consultant, I often get this question from executives 'What tool is right for my business?'. Since there are so many options, this will come up. It helps to be prepared with an answer, but mine goes something like this...
"The larger an organization becomes, the percentage of users who need more flexible tools like [BLOG TITLE] falls away. Since your company is looking to implement reports that support business processes, it pays to consider a solution that provides simple reports effectively to the largest number of employees."
My answer would normally contain other considerations, as appropriate to the situation. For example, for a business to persist in achieving rigorous business process, supported by reporting software, these products must not compete for executive mindshare at each opportunity. This leads to confusion.
The sales representative who first sold you the product will almost never know the best way for the product to be used in your company, so it helps to pay for some independent advice from time-to-time...
DR. OBI
DR. OBI OBIEE Leading Practices Blog.
