Volume 6 / Issue 2 / 09

PerformInformation in Action

BIRT for Recovery How Open Source is Transforming Government Data into Dynamic Information Ecosystems

Letter from the Editor ...... 2 Cost-Effectively Deploying Open Global Operational Excellence and a Source BI ...... 25 Performance Scorecard System 40 BIRT for Recovery ...... 3 Johnson Controls Inc. by John Katsoulis Safe at Sea ...... 28 ABS Nautical Systems Clarity, Cut and Carats ...... 42 Ten Criteria for Integrating Six Sigma Helzberg Diamonds with Performance Management ... 9 Creating the Customer-Centric In this issue > by Norma Simons Organization ...... 31 A Road Map of Key Sustainability by David F. Giannetto Metrics ...... 44 Putting the Wheels Into

Motion ...... 15 The National Bone Marrow Donor OPM Awards ...... 49 Voltas Limited Program ...... 34 HealthNow New York & City of Dallas by Howard Rohm Leveraging Open Source . . . . . 18 Reading Room ...... 57 From the Publisher Last month, we hosted a customer event that brought together a broad range of business leaders from both the private and public sectors. The event was a tremendous success and our attendees had the wonderful opportunity to learn and share with each other how to harness new technologies to improve all aspects of their operations.

A common theme that emerged from these discussions was that success in today’s marketplace is tied to an organization’s ability to adapt quickly and to implement change to ensure longevity. One thing all attendees had in common was their insight and belief five years ago that the business of information, how you organize it and communicate it, would change dramatically – and it did. The event confirmed what many industry analysts know to be true, that Open Source technologies are here to stay and are an integral part of thousands of enterprises,

This edition of Perform Magazine is especially significant as it marks the fifth anniversary of BIRT, which is celebrated by a flourishing business application developer community, an unmatched business community of Performance Management professionals, and the launch of the BIRT Exchange Marketplace (http://www.birt-exchange.com/be/marketplace/hub/) a showcase for BIRT-based solutions and services where anyone can buy, sell and share applications, solutions and components for BIRT and BIRT-related products.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Perform Magazine and can leverage the case studies and articles within, on how today’s Rich Information Applications, grounded in Open Source technologies, are re-igniting the business of information – and what you do with it.

Best, Rich Guth

Rich Guth Vice President & General Manager Open Source Strategy Group

From the Editor Dear Reader, ByJohn Katsoulis, I’m sure you would agree that this year has proven to be memorable both in terms of the effort being made to pull out of today’s economic uncertainties and how winning organizations will utilize and Senior Manager, Product Marketing leverage a new generation of Rich Information Applications to help them succeed. I’ve always been BIRT FOR Actuate Corporation fascinated with the pace of technological change and its impact on industry. It’s incredible how this new wave of application platforms and enterprise solutions is re-shaping how people use, assemble and view February 17, 2009, President Obama signed information, how IT secures and disseminates it, and how every day users can now contribute to the into law The American Recovery and ongoing definition of these applications through enhanced user interactivity that was not possible just RECOVERY Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), pledging five years ago. a renewed focus on open government andOn transparency, and making it clear that in order for efforts In addition to our dedication to publish content for Performance Management professionals, I am pleased to share with you that we have permanently enhanced the focus of Perform Magazine the to better represent the needs of our readers by including to succeed this renewed focus had to become a top priority at each step of its execution.

Perform Magazine // articles and case studies on related topics, such as: Rich Information Applications (RIA’s), Open Source and the role of developer How Open Source is communities, self service applications, and case studies that feature in-depth editorials of real-life implementation stories across To provide initial guidance, the White House released detailed multiple disciples and requirements. I hope you enjoy this issue. Transforming Government documents on Recovery Act transparency and reporting, which broadens the focus beyond funding programs to Best Regards, Data Into Dynamic include details pertaining to how performance information is communicated to stakeholders, and the means by which this Information in Action Information Ecosystems may be accomplished. Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 John Katsoulis Over the past 20 years, governments have been applying the concepts of Performance Measurement and Management in John Katsoulis Perform Editor

2 3 order to maximize results and minimize negative outcomes – As such, this whitepaper will explore five key recommendations first outlined under the Government Performance and Results that serve to demystify the perceived complexity related to Act (GPRA) in 1993, and later in a new piece of legislation called the ARRA requirements – more specifically, how to leverage The President’s Management Agenda, which was introduced proven methodologies such as Performance Management for in 2002. What sets the ARRA apart is the scale of the Act and successful execution and communication of stimulus projects the urgency it represents, across the nation and at every level and the results they achieve. of government. With a $787 billion ante on the line, federal and state agencies need to get it right, or outcomes may be Lastly, this article will provide an overview of the Actuate BIRT catastrophic to future generations. Doing it right, however, Stimulus Management Solution, highlighting some the unique means that today’s stimulus programs need to sustain future differentiators that set it apart from the one-dimensional growth in areas such as Energy, Transportation, Education, reporting applications or lengthy consulting engagements Health and Infrastructure, while giving the economy the kick offered by other vendors. start it needs today to get back on track. Recommendation #1: Train and Educate Your Integrated Performance Management for the ARRA: Workforce on Key Concepts Understanding the Fundamentals That Lead to A common misconception at many organizations is that Success behaviors and activities are the same as results. Upon closer With so much money at stake, and an overwhelming amount scrutiny, however, there is a realization that employee activity of information being published about how government needs volumes and what we perceive as good behaviors don’t always [ Figure 1.1 ] to respond to the challenge, how should government agencies have a direct correlation with moving an organization towards engage the process to ensure they can both focus on delivering a common set of goals and objectives. Recommendation #2: Ensure Everyone Understands Recommendation #3: Communicate In-Context expected results while responding to the enhanced demands the Mission (Defining Your Organization’s Short- and Performance Results, Outputs and Outcomes to All Engaging Performance Management will take you on a for transparency and accountability outlined in the Act? Long-Term Goals) Stakeholders Using Current Technologies journey that involves collaborating with multiple internal and Moreover, what pitfalls should government avoid to ensure that external stakeholders. It also involves improving how goals Your organization educated its people on key concepts, yet Effective communication of your operational, organization- the individuals tasked with managing the successful execution and objectives are communicated, so that everyone can the question remains: How do you attain visibility into the wide or initiative-specific strategy (in the case of the ARRA) of these programs are equipped to focus on their delivery as understand the strategy in question. As the journey unfolds, performance of your goals, KPIs and metrics? More importantly involves transforming directions and goals into an actionable opposed to managing the data around the program? History the relationship between leading and lagging indicators, goals for government, how do you effectively communicate these plan which in turn will help align frontline resources to day-to- has taught both corporate and government sectors that an and KPIs – in addition to how individuals contribute to each – results in a manner that adheres to demands for new levels of day activities. Automation is a key element to success in this overabundance of data can systematically begin to paralyze needs to be clearly articulated, which in turn encourages the transparency and accountability? area, as is the ability to represent and utilize more than one Performance Management Framework. an organization. Without a clear direction and identification of alignment of resources to strategy. It’s vital that you explain An effective Performance Management initiative must follow goals and objectives, individuals within any organization either these relationships to ensure everyone understands how their a systems-based approach, which consolidates and logically Typically, government organizations are already (knowingly or lose sight of the mission or may have never understood the activities and behaviors ultimately impact the performance of assembles an organization’s goals, KPIs and metrics into a unknowingly) well seasoned at Performance Management, as mission because it was never communicated to them. metrics, KPIs and higher-level goals. representation of overall or operational strategy. This creates they have been required to report on the performance of their a framework or cascade of measures that facilitates the programs for more than two decades. As such, government has generation of performance results at each level in the structure reached a point where access to one-dimensional KPI reports (see Figure 1.1). is simply not enough – especially in light of the tremendous amount of information that exists in regards to the ARRA. It Without a systems-based approach, the effort produces a really comes down to the basics: to succeed with any initiative, flawed picture, because your reports are produced in silos government will need to embrace technologies that provide – without links to other related information. For example, management with insightful summarized KPI insight while organizations that cut spending on education and training will delivering sophisticated linkages to the underlying information likely improve bottom-line figures, however the organization that feeds performance data. But they need this information at in question may eventually experience reduced productivity their fingertips; searching for it is not longer an option. and long-term profit loss resulting from a workforce that is not as current on technologies and market trends as their A growing dynamic across sectors is the emergence of Open

Perform Magazine // competitors. Source platforms and technologies as a viable alternative to the standard operating system-based solutions that many A Performance Management framework provides strategic organizations had become accustomed to in the past. Open clarity and communicates what the strategy is and how Source provides a host of technical advantages, most of which individuals and programs contribute towards common goals; it contribute to the ongoing enhancement of application, doesn’t matter if the strategy is for a single operational unit or the speeding up the release cycle with business users and Information in Action entire organization, what’s important is that you take the time to developers. Open Source also provides significant long-term Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 define your objectives and what contributes to them internally. cost savings, freeing up scarce IT dollars for other strategic In the context of the Act, organizations must find a clear and initiatives. interactive way of visualizing it using a common framework, so that individuals understand what the different focus areas are Open Source is the most rapidly growing technology today. and how their efforts impact their performance. According to an article published by CIO Weekly in March 2003,

4 5 54 percent of CIOs surveyed said Open Source will be their need to be modified to include newer initiatives put in place primary platform within five years. The backbone of the internet to kick start recovery. In essence, the job is never done – it’s even runs on Open Source software. In addition to the benefits ongoing. In addition to the general updates to strategy that already noted, some other high- level benefits surrounding the all organizations experience over time, you may also want Performance Management in its truest sense deployment of Open Source solutions include: to consider the following for effective management of your Performance Management initiative: has always involved getting cross-functional groups • Solutions vs software. With Open Source programming, the application received is precisely what the customer wants: 1. Examine your initiative from the Program, User and of people to work together through high levels of nothing more and nothing less. Customers can elect to Technical aspect. This will provide you with a structured “ buy value-add products, build it themselves or contract way to review your Performance Management system, collaboration, to help define organizational strategy. the work to a firm specializing in programming under a your users’ perceptions of the system and actual design of specific Open Source project. your strategic framework. • Speed to deployment. A community of programmers 2. Review outcomes to determine how much value is derived develops the core elements of Open Source solutions, from your efforts. contribute to the process by allowing application and report What benefits can government organizations expect from the and market deployment of these solutions is often quicker 3. Review how well you have responded to transparency developers access and by sharing knowledge and resources Integrated Performance Management process and” how does than proprietary business models. demands or performance improvement. relating to Open Source technology. collaboration add value? Through an integrated understanding of performance, government organizations gain insight into • The role of developers. Open Source developers working In real terms, using Actuate as an example, the BIRT Exchange is 4. Incorporate new initiatives and measures within existing all aspects of their operations, allowing them to have tighter directly with consumers – in this case government a community site for Eclipse BIRT and Actuate BIRT developers scorecards in an efficient manner. control over obvious areas such as waste, efficiencies, and agencies – can apply the best technology to meet the who add reporting, analytics and business intelligence human resources, in addition to enhanced insight into more agency’s immediate needs. 5. Review current measurement processes to ensure capabilities to Java applications. BIRT Exchange allows strategic long-term success indicators such as innovation consistent measurement across the organization. developers to share code samples and report designs, tutorials, • Open Source standards and security. Open Source solutions and sustainability, among others. In all cases, this enhanced 6. Re-educate your workforce as needed. technical articles, as well as tips and tricks. BIRT Exchange are extremely secure and vastly scaleable and reliable. So perspective into how an organization is performing across its also offers forums, downloads, online documentation, and much so, in fact, that prominent members of the financial top-level goals creates a smarter organization that empowers 7. Provide a forum for dialogue of new ideas. information on BIRT technical support. industry, such as Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First people to make better, more informed decisions. Simply put, the 8. Ensure you are maximizing the use of your Performance Boston, use Linux “open” servers for transactions. Open Source applications also share a unique self-fueling Integrated Performance Management systems they use provide Management system. characteristic, in that the velocity to which they are enhanced them with a complete picture. Value is realized when a strategy In all cases, when searching for an integrated Performance Recommendation #5: Integrate Performance is much faster than traditional applications – and this is directly is in place and when a systemized Performance Management Management solution, your needs analysis should include attributed to its higher levels of collaboration. Another way to initiative takes hold internally. This is when performance results complementary features and functions that help create the Management to Benefit from Two Highly- Collaborative Communities look at this is from the context of a user and by looking at a are communicated in the context of the organization’s mission. foundation of a system that people like using. Don’t ignore series of events that unfolds as users embrace a new application The communicated performance results then become a trigger features that help users access related knowledge, best Time and time again important decisions are made at and start to make requests: to fix and improve areas where performance is below target – practices, or the ability to quickly and easily deploy highly organizations and across sectors, using the traditional short- and the difference or “delta” is value. 1. When you give users information you make them interactive executive scorecards, dashboards and reports. These term “financial balance sheet approach”. Markets globally have smarter; will all contribute to high user adoption and alignment of your demonstrated how this approach is flawed, because it doesn’t Of course, no strategy is perfect and over time it needs to be resources, while external stakeholders are satisfied through take into account how these short-term decisions will impact 2. As they become smarter their questions change; revisited, enhanced and improved (if needed) by the same similar display options built for them. future performance levels or the long-term viability of an internal and external stakeholders that helped define it in the 3. This in turn changes application requirements or scope; first place. The process repeats itself once again, which enhances Recommendation #4: Revisit Plans Regularly – organization. 4. Commonly-requested functionality is added to the the value or output of the planning efforts – each iteration Performance Management and Information is a Earlier we suggested government take an integrated approach application; hopefully provides a higher value return. Without collaboration, Fluid Process Where Requirements and Directions to Performance Management, because of the tremendous strategy can’t be improved, and value can’t be enhanced. Change Over Time benefits associated with having access to all enterprise 5. User and developer collaboration speeds up the information, in a seamless environment that provides users development cycle. How Developers and Business Users Enhance the Value of Performance Management in its truest sense has always with instant access to information at all times. One of the main Your Open Source Applications Business User Collaboration involved getting cross-functional groups of people to work benefits not mentioned earlier, which is critical to the ongoing Integrated Performance Management powered by Open Source together through high levels of collaboration, to help define success of any enterprise implementation, is collaboration. As mentioned earlier, Performance Management is a highly technology creates a bridge between the developers who have Perform Magazine // organizational strategy (through the identification of high-level Collaboration can be divided into two groups: collaboration collaborative effort that involves multiple internal and external traditionally collaborated (from a technical standpoint) in the organizational goals and objectives, as well as through related among developers and collaboration among business users. stakeholders working through how goals and objectives Open Source model, to include highly strategic executive-level lower-level KPIs and metrics). Unlike other initiatives, which These two groups can come together to extract higher levels of translate into lower level KPIs, which in turn link to frontline business users. Collaboration is enhanced with Open Source have a natural start and end date, you will find Performance value from Open Source technologies. metrics. It is only after an organization creates these linkages because the needs of technical and business users can merge Management is an ongoing process of redefining, refining that alignment can occur. A common thread for any strategy Developer Collaboration from what was once two distinct development paths into a and changing directions as the environment around you

Information in Action – regardless of industry – is that with time it will somehow single cohesive system of requirements and enhancements, changes and as directions from management are modified to Open Source applications are built with the expectation that change as organizations react to internal and external events, Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 which all serve to improve an application over time. react to changes in your surroundings. For government, the they will change; they have to in order to grow and support so one can also look at it as an evolutionary process that global economic crisis has placed increased expectations on new users. These characteristics are the hallmarks of successful involves everyone working towards a common set of goals For government specifically, Open Source not only delivers the every level of government, to communicate performance and applications; they keep their momentum by adding both users and objectives which at some point over in the future will be benefits associated with more rapid deployment of technical demonstrate accountability. In doing so, existing strategies will and features at the same time. Open Source communities changed or modified. updates and changes, but it also offers government leaders

6 7 a means to share best practices, report templates, measure will be pleased to hear that a full suite of value-added products structures, scorecards, etc., that are not readily accessible with a and solutions are available today that are built specifically to closed model. Additionally, since governments serve to improve address the ever-changing reporting complexities of the Act. performance at all levels to their constituents, the concept of Sitting at the core of this pre-built Stimulus Management collaboration exists in its truest sense, because “competition” Application is the Actuate BIRT Performance Scorecard, the most does not exist (as it does in the corporate sector). Governments fully-featured Integrated Performance Management System. in this sense are unique in that they can focus on collaborating “Integrated” is the key word here – because true performance with other government organizations, to ensure that they learn insight requires access to all of your information, so that it from each other and can benefit from enhancements from remains in context with your search at all times, regardless of either a technical or business standpoint. where your data resides. Responding to the ARRA: How Do You Get There? So what sets BIRT apart? It’s Open Source, to start. In fact it’s the Open Source – The Best Option for US Government most widely-used and accepted Open Source business projects in the world, and it is reshaping how people in the workplace By no means is Open Source a new idea. Open Source collaborate to use, assemble and view information through the technologies and solutions such as Java, Linux, Solaris, MySQL, enhanced dynamic interactivity it delivers to every user across Apache and OpenOffice are well established and well proven the enterprise. with billions of people using them. Some of the world’s most successful companies – including Google and Facebook -- run This rich, collaborative environment is different because of how their businesses on Open Source technologies. quickly changes can be deployed and enhancements added to the core technology stack. BIRT will change how internal There are a few success stories in the U.S government, yet consumers view and use information, and their changing needs we still lag behind governments in the United Kingdom, help dictate future enhancements. Brazil, Denmark, the Netherlands, China and Germany, etc. Governments there have engaged in formal, wide-scale Components of Actuate BIRT Stimulus Management deployments of Open Source technology, with many having • Pre-built framework of over 250 ARRA metrics. articulated specific policy on Open Source. As such, without a clear Open Source policy in place, the United States risks • Dynamic BIRT templates including cost reports and widening economic and technological competitive gaps interactive Google Maps. between itself and the rest of the world. • Actuate BIRT Performance Scorecard. The most fully featured Do You Know BIRT? Performance Management system. Proven methodology delivers concrete milestones tailored for each customer. When it comes to solutions designed to respond to the reporting and transparency requirements outlined in the • Actuate BIRT and Flash Objects. Intuitive, rich dashboards for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, government leaders display financial and non-financial metrics in context of TEN CRITERIA other leading operational indicators with drill-through into personalized, analysis-ready BIRT reports. • Actuate BIRT Spreadsheets. Automate the Excel spreadsheet Integrating SIX SIGMA with Need More Information? creation process, eliminating errors introduced by manual intervention, thereby minimizing risk and improving data Visit the Actuate Website: accuracy in business-critical spreadsheets. www.actuate.com/why-actuate/applications/ Performance Management • Consulting Services. Unmatched Operational and Strategic stimulus-management/ Performance Management knowledge, software consulting Download a Brochure of the Actuate Stimulus coupled with knowledge transfer. By Norma Simons by ensuring all resources are directed to those areas that are Management Solution: • Metrics Library. Leverage an extensive library of over 12,000 President deemed strategic – but is that enough? What about instances Perform Magazine // www.actuate.com/download/brochures- metrics and a tailored ARRA solution database. Simons-White & Associates Inc. where alignment still falls short of expectations, when the datasheets/OPM-Stimulus-Management-brief. organization in question is still plagued with higher-than- pdf s workplaces become more complex, with expected levels of waste and inefficient processes? How do John Katsoulis joined Actuate in November 2002 and is currently higher expectations, the demand becomes you manage these processes and can traditional Performance Get access . Actuate Stimulus Management Senior Manager, Product Marketing. He has 13 years of combined greater for accountability and performance Management methodologies provide enough insight to ensure Live click here: results. As a result, internal pressures escalate for

Information in Action experience in software consulting, product management and success? Or are other tools needed as well?

www.actuate.com/info/Stimulus-Management- product marketing. John is responsible for the product marketing organizational change, which – if implemented Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 With so many models and improvement tools available for Live/ and development of new applications for Actuate’s Performance Acorrectly – can lead to sustainable success for both corporate organizations to use, the challenge becomes one of identifying Management solutions and also the editor of Perform and government organizations. gaps and of implementing supplementary frameworks that Magazine. It’s well known that Performance Management models and fill those gaps. These frameworks aim to fix operational areas frameworks can help any organization create better alignment that impact both top- and bottom-line strategy. This article

8 9 will address how any organization can leverage its current 1. Customer Focus despite this reality, you still find professors and administrators use of data. In turn, this results in fewer people using the Performance Management efforts and enhance outcomes who lose sight of who the customer is. Again, you have a performance information and can also lead to people actually Customer focus is one major and results by integrating and applying Lean Six Sigma. service being provided without any dialogue or feedback, and fixing the numbers because they know that data will be used criterion that will impact how If done properly, organizations can use Lean Six Sigma the people who are paying for it don’t get to ask any questions. against them. The psychological component is critical. a Lean Six Sigma initiative with Performance Management to systematically improve The customer focus is not very strong. operational performance by eliminating waste and by creating is designed. Companies Also important is teamwork and collaboration across efficient business processes. should be asking these five Finally, in healthcare everybody understands customer departments. We’ve seen more movement towards questions: focus. Everybody is panicked about the patient; the safety of collaboration in the past 10 years in the manufacturing industry, For those who are not familiar, Lean Six Sigma focuses on the patient and the care the patient needs. But the system where certain initiatives have forced people in that sector to be 1. Is the organization improving the quality of process outputs by identifying and is not designed to deliver effective patient care; they have more collaborative than they were originally. A good example focused on the needs of removing errors and variability in manufacturing or business not structured the system with that in mind. Instead, cost, is concurrent engineering, which allows for products and the customer rather than processes. The Lean approach leverages statistical methods efficiencies and utilization take precedence. processes to be developed and refined by teams of people, just internal organizational and analysis and requires that an organization create a special some of whom may work in the same building, while others requirements? internal team of people who are experts in these methods 2. Leadership Commitment are in a different city or country; their processes and goals are (Black Belts, Green Belts, etc.). As such, Lean Six Sigma projects 2. Is there a process to Leadership commitment is also very critical aligned to ensure a common output. follow specific steps and have quantified targets. Another way capture the voice of the customer in an active way? Are to any Lean Six Sigma rollout. What we In sectors where collaboration is less evident, there are to look at Lean Six Sigma is as a project that is focused on cost there surveys, for example, or are there means of talking to typically find is leaders who are experts indications that this is partly due to strong departmentally driven savings, and on removing mistakes or defects in a process. the customer to capture that information? in their fields but who have limited or no organizational silos that prevent the collaboration needed to A Performance Management system is key to any Lean Six 3. Is that information collected? Do they keep track of knowledge of Lean Six Sigma; they may get to the next level. As such, the concept has had little impact Sigma implementation. It’s the foundation from which Lean customer data? hear of the terminology and think it sounds in these organizations, which most people characterize as being Six Sigma projects are built, which means organizations that like a good thing, but when it’s deployed rule and process driven. When presented to work together to 4. Is the data reviewed and disseminated so that people don’t have a functional Performance Management system are they don’t get involved. Companies that improve performance, these organizations are more likely to internally can understand how the organization is starting the Lean Six Sigma journey without the right tools. are successful in Lean Six Sigma are ones find out where the problem exists to ensure the right people viewed? Performance Management helps to clarify the business case, where management has been on board are held accountable instead of using the cross-functional to link projects to the bottom line and to provide a baseline of 5. Are people aware of the internal customers as well as the and an active part of the rollout from the platform to ascertain how the organizational process of one or comparison as performance improvement occurs project by external customers? beginning. If management understands many departments can be improved to ensure better results in project. If you don’t have a good Performance Management what Lean Six Sigma is about, they can the future. system, you don’t have an effective method to set priorities in This idea of customer focus is easy to grasp in the manufacturing demonstrate the value it delivers; there’s terms of which project you need to start on first. environment, because at the end of the day you are producing a connection between processes and If you are just beginning a Lean Six Sigma project and run across a product – a deliverable that’s physical. In other words, many business priorities, and they can be more proactive in their an organizational culture that is built on fear and mistrust, or Performance Management, then, becomes the skeleton or times when you go into a manufacturing plant, there is some involvement of Lean Six Sigma when these connections and one heavily influenced by departmental silos and rules, you’ll backbone to Lean Six Sigma initiatives, ensuring that you select visual clue that gives you an idea of the extent of customer the impact of their improvements are made clear to them. have to leverage Performance Management and demonstrate the right projects, that projects are linked to the bottom line, complaints, especially external customer complaints. There its benefits as you slowly align groups and people to a common and that they are done in the right order according to priorities are also some areas of the organization that will be actively Traditionally, leadership commitment in Lean Six Sigma has set of goals and objectives, while along the way you link to that make sense. And once the project is done, Performance capturing the voice of the customer – in the marketing and been weak, no matter the industry. In the manufacturing processes. If done properly, this key success factor will ensure Management ensures that improvements are monitored and engineering departments, for example – communicating that environment, managers in some cases have bought on; you maintain the momentum needed to effectively engage and therefore sustained for long-term success. information and using that information in the design process. but in healthcare, education and government, leadership implement Lean Six Sigma and Performance Management. commitment is still weak. In most cases, it’s unfortunately one Initiating a Lean Six Sigma project begins with an assessment Government organizations present a different challenge, since of the weakest links of any Lean Six Sigma initiative. 4. Company Strategy based on available Performance Management information. You customer focus is not something that is generally paid much identify the approach you want to use – whether it’s Six Sigma attention to there. What we find is that in the public sector you 3. Organizational Culture If a company strategy is not embraced at the start of a project, you can go down the path of putting together a Performance or Lean will depend on what the challenge is – you execute have a captive audience. When you think about going to any A major problem in many Management system and working on Lean Six Sigma, with no the project, and finally you monitor the business process to public-sector organization – any city council, or the mayor’s organizations is the insufficient alignment to top-level strategy or mission. You many find that replicate the benefits. Many times Lean Six Sigma will fail office, etc. – you are not there by choice. As a result, people use of data, not having the right many projects will have no clear link to the direction and overall because of an organization’s inability to replicate success; within those environments lose sight of value, because their data, or not understanding how purpose of the company. Therefore, you’ve done a project, there was success, but you can’t repeat remuneration is not tied to customer satisfaction; instead they to use the data. These stumbling the process. If you start off with a Performance Management tend to be very internally driven, and focused more on specific they won’t drive the right results.

Perform Magazine // blocks can have a tremendous The whole initiative will become system, it becomes the DNA of the company that you can use procedures that need to be followed and adhered to no matter impact on the culture of an short-lived as a result, because to keep and maintain projects. what. They don’t try to make things user friendly because organization, since there is a they don’t have a natural customer focus built into their when there’s a crisis everybody will There are 10 criteria that should be used as a baseline focus strong psychological component organizational DNA. This is a major struggle in government. just move in a different direction. for the design of a Lean Six Sigma initiative, integrated attached to performance data. This with Performance Management. These 10 criteria will Similarly in the case of education, customer focus is not a psychological component isn’t just Everyone needs to understand the Information in Action

vary depending on whether you’re with government, concept that is always embraced or translated in a way that related to how data is collected, company strategy. This will ensure Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 education, healthcare or manufacturing, and each has unique produces desired results for stakeholders. Individuals seem to but also to how it’s viewed and that corporate strategy drives requirements that will impact how your program is going to forget or try to get around the idea that students are actually the response it elicits. For example, when performance data is Performance Management, that be designed – but the fundamental principles in each criteria critical customers. They are the deliverables of the entire used to point out who went wrong, they’ve in turn introduced your improvement initiatives are stay true across these segments. educational system and their tuitions fund the school, yet a culture of fear that precludes the collecting and effective closely aligned to top-level goals

10 11 and KPIs, and that your people naturally work on the right Sigma can be leveraged to amplify the efficiencies of individual how it is making progress towards long-term organizational to recognize problems and identify problems and describe projects. departments by ensuring the same level of scrutiny is applied goals. KPIs can be specified by answering the question: ‘What problems and find the root causes of problems. Coming up with at process junction points. is really important to different stakeholders both internally a structured methodology for problem solving and problem Demonstrating this linkage and the success you can attain by and externally?’. KPIs differ depending on the nature of the resolution is a piece that’s missed across the board. engaging the process properly can build the business case. When managing change, it is important to take into account the organization and the organization’s strategy. They help to Another way is to demonstrate what can happen if you don’t characteristics of the industry in question, including: the history This is the main reason why problems occur over and over again, evaluate the progress of an organization towards its vision fix the problem, and its overall impact on the organization. of the organization, the organization’s overall cross-functional because people are aware that they’re occurring but don’t know and long-term goals, especially towards difficult to quantify culture, and the attitudes of its workforce and management. In how to respond to them; they don’t have the skill set to do so. knowledge-based goals. You can measure a process with 5. Process Management many instances, people don’t want to initiate change because Moreover, they’re often not even allowed to do so, because it’s many metrics, but only a few of those metrics are key for your they think any new process is a phase that will soon pass, and not part of their job descriptions. Or, some problems might be Process management is a foundation organization (for example, based on your business strategy that they’ll be returning to business as usual at some point in initiated between departments, which means that without a on which to build a cross-functional and/or operational improvement initiatives). silo, which is a good thing because the future. To ensure these difficult situations don’t impede on culture of collaboration things don’t come together. it allows you to break through the the Lean initiative, there has to be some kind of orientation that The intent of performance measurement is not just to have When you’re solving a problem it can’t be a random event, it traditional barriers associated with has to match the industry in question, whether it’s government, measurements, but to have the right measurements at the has to be with structured methodology. Before anything, a processes, which for the most part manufacturing, health care, etc. right time in the right place, and to make sure that those scope must be determined: What is the problem? How do I tend to be focused around individual measurements drive overall performance. It’s key for setting identify the problem? How can I measure that this is a problem? departments or business units. 7. Performance Measurement a foundation for Lean and Six Sigma. If there is a good What’s my baseline performance? Now that I know my baseline Introducing the concept of process performance measurement system in place that takes into Companies must identify performance, what’s my root cause? And the root cause has management into an organization consideration Key Performance Indicators or key drivers, then their true performance to correspond to drawbacks that exist in the system that are can be disruptive, especially if this it becomes much easier to set up the entire project. drivers or Key Performance preventing you from achieving a certain objective. individual is tasked with looking at Indicators, as opposed to 8. Problem-Solving Skills the linkages of business processes measurements that are The number one reason why we can’t solve problems is that we across departments and how they collected regularly that Performance Management systems become key indicators can’t describe them, and you can only describe a problem if you can be improved. don’t relate to anything. to groups of individuals within an organization, helping them have a measurement system in place that helps you understand to measure their own performance. Without performance Most organizations typically already have departmental Often, those numbers have where you are. In any environment, a problem is defined as a measurement, without a good system in place, they have managers who run functional areas. What’s missing in most been created randomly, gap in performance between where you are and where you to wait for their boss to tell them they’re not doing the right cases are process managers who are tasked with focusing on which means they’re not want to be. That’s it. If you can’t describe the problem in those thing. Performance critical cross-functional processes key to the survival of the driving organizational terms, then you can’t solve it. Many organizations will say that measurement, then, organization and to the elimination of waste and increase of performance and as a communication is their biggest problem, and they can’t seem to offers a mirror or a value through overall improvements. result won’t provide the resolve it. But why not? Because communication is a symptom insight needed to make type of feedback of what’s happening, not the problem itself. Most times, people In organizations with siloed “functionally driven” cultures, informed decisions. mechanism on respond to symptoms and not to actual problems. disconnects between different departments create waste, In other cases, these how well a process Finally, often when a problem occurs the first thing asked is and over time this erodes value. To ensure success, any measurements are in place because at some point in time, is doing. Problem- ‘Who is at fault?’ But if that’s the first question, then the chance improvement effort needs to be executed carefully, facility by someone thought they would be a good idea, but under more solving skills, to resolve the issue is immediately lost. Because, if you ask ‘Who facility or function by function, looking at processes, baselines, careful scrutiny they reveal very little. For many, this problem meanwhile, provide is at fault?’ everyone immediately tries to protect themselves; and at collaboration across these areas. This is key to eliminating exists because people don’t know the difference between a you with the tools to if someone feels that they could be at blame, then they’re not inefficiencies in organizations. metric and a Key Performance Indicator. do something about it. going to come forward to try to solve the problem – rather, 6. Support for Change Performance metrics are measures of an organization’s activities their objective is going to be to protect themselves. When A lack of problem-solving skills can be a major stumbling this occurs, because they don’t want to be at fault, they might It’s important to and performance. Performance metrics should support a range block for people and organizations; they may be measuring generate another piece of data to cover themselves, another recognize that Lean Six of organizational needs in order to provide proper performance things, but if they’re not doing anything with the results, that procedure on top of another procedure. That only adds more Sigma’s integration with insight. While traditionally many metrics are finance based becomes useless. Recognition is only the first step; having the complexity and generates more waste. Which is why the first Performance Management – inwardly focusing on the performance of the organization skills to do something about it is the second. It’s the critical question should always be ‘Why did it happen?’ instead of ‘Who is providing many – metrics may also focus on performance against customer second half to Performance Management. is at fault?’ industries with a new requirements and value, and also include information and Perform Magazine // way of looking at running performance insight into employees and processes. While problem-solving skills – in the manufacturing 9. Business Intelligence environment, at least – have become a priority over the last complex organizations. As mentioned, a criticism of performance metrics is that 10 to 15 years, they’re still not ingrained into the industry’s You can’t run an organization, department As such, it needs to be many organizations choose measures that have little value. DNA. People coming into the workforce are coming without or process based on data that you received embraced by everybody. In most cases this is caused by selecting what is immediately proper problem-solving skills and they have to learn them as a month ago. Which his why, in today’s People need to have a measurable, even if these measurements have low value, and they go. But one problem is that information silos exist, and environment, information applications Information in Action positive view of Lean Six by a tendency to ignore high-value measurements simply because individuals are not seeing across those silos they need to provide you with up-to-date real- Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 Sigma, and the organization because they seem harder to measure. has to be prepared for the miss the solution to the problem at hand. That’s one barrier. time data, in addition to the summarized suggested changes. Many Key Performance Indicators (or KPIs) are financial and non- A second one is that people often think that problem solving performance information that can be times individuals misinterpret recommendations as an attack financial measures or metrics used to help an organization is for someone else, that it’s not part of their job description. used to identify potential longer-term on how they are executing their duties, but actually Lean Six define and evaluate how successful it is, typically in terms of They’re not trained in problem solving, they don’t know how performance issues.

12 13 In instances when things go “wrong, Performance Management alone does not provide the means to systematically and consistently address problems that arise in the business process or production realm. This is where Lean Six Sigma can help.

Everybody within the company needs information and uses Also critical is that team building has to occur across functional data. In most cases employees are interacting with real- silos. You have to build teams and people have to collaborate. time information” and making decisions based on historical Human resource systems will drive that. performance. The problem is, people tend to want to report on everything, which preoccupies employees and takes them Conclusion Putting the Wheels Into Motion away from their core duties. Fully integrated Rich Information To summarize, it’s clear that when executed properly, there are Applications address these issues by providing employees tremendous benefits associated with an integrated Lean Six Voltas Views a Dramatic Shift Towards Transparency, with real-time enterprise data using a single version of the Sigma / Performance Management initiative. Organizational truth, delivered in a dynamic environment that allows any user Performance Management information provides strategic Alignment and Dynamic Response to interact and modify the information to answer business information and communicates progress towards a set of goals questions specific to their function. or objectives across the organization, but in instances when “With the Actuate BIRT Performance Scorecard in place, now we measures. Moreover, due to lack of integration, the Performance are able to communicate ‘what is important to the organization’ Management tracking through BSc was limited to financial 10. Human Resources things go wrong, Performance Management alone does not provide a means to systematically and consistently address across hierarchies and geographies seamlessly…cause-and– measures only. The non-financial measures were not tracked due Finally, one of the things problems that arise in the business process or production realm. effect maps have become the basis for all reviews and prioritization to lack of aggregation of data across levels and geographies. that also has prevented This is where Lean Six Sigma can help, assisting organizations in of strategic initiatives.” This led to misalignment among various functions, resulting in success and is sometimes addressing these defects to ensure better results in the future. ineffective strategy deployment across the division. - Gopal Sharma, Senior Manager Business Excellence a stumbling block for Lean Norma Simons is president of Simons-White & Voltas Limited, Dubai The major hurdle was ensuring the integrity of the performance Six Sigma deployment is Associates, a performance consulting company data on non-financial measures, hence an integrated system the fact that the training deliver on its mission to provide high quality, cost- Perform Magazine // in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that has been in business was required to ensure the flow and aggregation of data programs that are rolled for over 16 years, and employs performance effective project management and engineering across all levels. Also, the reporting structure on various key out by human resources improvement systems such as Lean Six Sigma, Toservices to customers throughout Asia, Voltas performance indicators (KPIs) was not streamlined for effective may not be closely aligned Quality Management Systems, Business Operating International’s Electrical and Mechanical Division (EMD) Performance Management in the division. with the company’s Systems and Balanced Scorecards. Certified as adopted the Balanced Scorecard (BSc) as a tool for strategy mission. The situation prompted Voltas to seek automation of the a quality engineer, reliability engineer and a deployment in 2004. The BSc was designed for EMD in line with Information in Action the strategic objectives and cascaded further to all units and Balanced Scorecard with integrated tracking and monitoring Once a company starts down the path of Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma Black Belt, Ms. Simons has an MS in of the KPIs related to strategic objectives of the company. Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 the human resource systems need to change alongside it. At industrial engineering/operations research from business heads for effective implementation. The measures the heart of Lean Six Sigma is a team approach; reward and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. were tracked on a quarterly basis using Excel spreadsheets. The Solution recognition systems need to reflect that, so human resource Contact Ms. Simons at nsimons@simons-white. Tracking BSc measures through spreadsheets proved to be A team was formed to explore more robust Performance systems will need to address it. com or visit www.simons-white.com. ineffective in tracking progress on divisional performance Management tools. Voltas conducted its due diligence in

14 15 About Voltas Solution Overview Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Solutions Industry: Engineering Services. (International) is part of Voltas’ Electro- Mechanical Projects & Services cluster. Established Company Size: $400 million; 3,800 Employees . in 1978 as Voltas International Limited (a wholly- Challenges : owned subsidiary of Voltas Limited) to handle international business interests, the business looks • Spreadsheets ineffective in tracking after core business activities in the Mechanical, divisional performance; Electrical & Public Works (MEP) project areas, • Non-financial measures were omitted due specifically turnkey projects in: to data integrity issues, lack of aggregation; • Electro-mechanical works comprising • Strategy unevenly deployed, leading to electrical building services, HVAC (heating, misalignment ventilation & air conditioning), plumbing, public health, fire fighting, ELV & specialized Solution: systems.; • Actuate BIRT Performance Management • Electrical power projects. Software Suite; Voltas Limited, a TATA enterprise, offers • Integration, consulting services; engineering solutions for a wide spectrum of industries in areas such as heating, ventilation and • Customized smart client. air conditioning, refrigeration, electro-mechanical Benefits: projects, textile machinery, machine tools, mining and construction equipment, materials handling, • Transparency in tracking KPIs, all in one water management, building management place; systems, indoor air quality and chemicals. EMD is • Alignment of action plans to division one of four independent business-specific clusters strategy; within Voltas Ltd., each with its own facilities for market coverage and service to customers. • Dynamic Performance Management, timely reviews.

finding an appropriate solution, and in December 2007 chose All of the above challenges were addressed easily to match the Design Stage • Action Plans are fully aligned to divisional strategy and can the Actuate BIRT Performance Scorecard as its Balanced company’s needs, thanks to the versatility and customizable be monitored online. • Measurement system evolution and refinement during Scorecard solution. features in the BIRT Performance Scorecard . system configuration; • Timely business reviews and dynamic communication of The software was customized in-house to the division’s needs The initial rollout of the Performance Management system performance. • Clear consensus on KPI definitions and descriptions; and implemented across levels and locations. The major started in March 2008, with successful system deployment • All key performance indicators are tracked and available in challenges overcome during implementation were: across all locations by the end of August 2008. The • Minimal support required during configuration and one place; business performance reports are generated as implementation involved user training on the software and implementation; • Complexity of location structure and measures structure. This and when required. BSc measures. sophistication and flexibility was a requirement to ensure • User training and access with individual user ID and Going forward, Voltas plans to roll out BIRT Scorecard access the integrity and correct aggregation of the data, and Benefits password, cementing ownership and accountability of

Perform Magazine // to its subsidiaries and to joint ventures in order to track needed to be incorporated into the overall system. the scorecard across hierarchies in the division; All business reviews are now being conducted online in the the Balanced Scorecard of allied companies on the same • Aggregation of financial performance data from different system, both at the regional and corporate levels. Managers • BIRT Scorecard’s ease of customization to business needs platform. The goal is to use it as a comprehensive Performance countries in different currencies. Led by the local support team can view the status of each project by just logging in, as well enabled instantaneous execution of required changes in Management tool for the international operations of the entire and Actuate partner EU Partners, a currency conversion as review and approve actions planned by the project lead the system. company. facility was created to overcome this hurdle. without waiting for any formal performance review meetings.

Information in Action Rollout and Implementation

This has led to a dramatic shift in the way Voltas manages its Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 • Software access through smart client route at project sites. A performance, and has improved the transparency in tracking • Strategy Map and other Cause & Effect Maps have become Voltas has branch offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Singapore weak internet connection problem was resolved by Actuate KPIs. highly illustrative in communicating the relevance of and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For more information on the Customer Support, which installed the client’s executable various measures and their integration with strategic company, visit www.voltas.com. file on the local PC. An Excel import and export tool is used Major benefits derived from the implementation are as objectives. for data updates to the system. follows:

16 17 economic climate, careful In today’sdecisions are needed to help business remain competitive and to continue to succeed. To stay smarter, they need to build, deploy and maintain business- critical reporting and information applications. Open Source Business Intelligence, while it comes with its own set of technical challenges and misconceptions, is often the right solution to deliver that. Actuate’s Business Intelligence Reporting Tools (BIRT) Open Source solution – developed with the Eclipse Foundation – is one example of a robust and web- centric Open Source Business Intelligence tool. The Open Source Model An economic shift has occurred in the past decade, introduced with the rise of the internet. The internet provides connectivity, which in turn connects demand to supply; this removes the capital equation and shifts conditions in the market. People with computers all over the world provide the means of conduction, and with easy ways for these people to connect they can easily collaborate on projects with very little infrastructure. This, in turn, led to the popularity of Open Source. Open Source has had many consequences for the enterprise software market, primarily by making it a commodity market and by driving down price. It also allows people who have a desire to do something to make money from doing it. Production inputs are widely distributed and the raw materials are there to produce things in new ways. Many argue that this shift has been about software licensing, but actually it is largely about the production and distribution of software; it is therefore a change that is more about economics that about ideology. That economic base – the combination of connectivity, of easier ways to market, produce and distribute software, and the fact that the internet acts as a giant copying machine – changes the conditions under which software can be sold. That is why Open Source continues to disrupt the market and to force vendors to come up with new ways to cope with it. Enterprise software is not going away; rather, it has been forced to shift. A 2008 survey by North Bridge Venture Partners asked: Which sector of the software industry is most vulnerable to disruption

OPEN SOURCE by Open Source? At the top of the resulting list was web publishing and content management, a market that’s currently highly fragmented and therefore perfect for introducing Open Source products. The second sector was social software, an entirely new category that has been difficult to define, and

Perform Magazine // difficult currently for commercial vendors to make money from; again Open Source is the ideal solution. Business Intelligence was the third sector listed in the North Bridge survey. Again this is understandable, since BI tools LEVERAGING and data warehousing tools are exactly that: tools. While end

Information in Action users consume the outputs, they’re not themselves often put Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 into the hands of end users; rather, IT sets up the meta-data, defines metrics, etc. Which means Open Source is targeted at the right audience; there is a platform in a data warehouse that has multiple layers, any one of which can be Open Source or

18 19 Open Source drives down acquisition cost, as Augmenting and bringing in new features and companies no longer have to go through heavy proof of capabilities in areas where BI tools might be weak is “concept. “typical of Open Source implementation.

proprietary. Those modular boundaries make Open Source an companies will be forced into an upgrade they don’t want, that Large organizations, though, have equally ideal environments. Augmenting and bringing in new features and capabilities in ideal fit. was released simply because marketing dictated it and not They aren’t, for the most part, introducing Open Source at an areas where Business Intelligence” tools might be weak is typical ” necessarily because it was ready. Open Source is typically not enterprise-wide level, but rather have projects with specific of Open Source implementation. This is an opportunity to What IT Looks For under those same types of pressures. features that need to get done. The project in question may exist augment an existing environment in a cost-effective manner, only within a single department, which pushes down data sizes to build features into that environment, and to get the features IT acts – for the most part – as the gatekeeper to Business Buyers were also impressed by scaling costs; if an organization and deployment complexities, making them a good target. specifically needed without paying for a whole package that Intelligence. When searching out new software, IT generally has 50 initial licenses and pushes it out to 150 more people, isn’t all necessary. looks for three things: in BI lowered costs come in beyond the initial capital costs. As Introducing Open Source BI 1. Better alternatives to the status quo. Specific features that well, companies are not dependent on vendors for service or for In contrast with what happens in the case of most traditional Open Source BI use often comes in at the edges, and results are better, for example. additional pieces of technology. models, much of the time the need for Open Source from discontinuity. An example of such a discontinuity might be applications comes from the bottom-up and is established 2. Ways to cut costs. With commodity infrastructure in place, Who’s Adopting? a company restart; many data warehouse projects started with from a point of need, from a developer or a department IT has to try to drive down costs. Open Source Business Intelligence adopters include: a particular data model – copying a production database and trying to get something done. There are no enterprise sales putting reporting on it, for example – and have to do a schema representatives making calls or going through a procurement 3. Unique attributes. There may be something they want to • Independent software vendors, solution providers and change. At that point, the cost of switching from one BI tool to process where vendors and financials are examined. There is do but cannot do using their current system, or features OEMs. They are taking Open Source BI and pushing it into another, or from one ETL tool to another, is fairly low. Everything also the ability to put something out in real terms, instead of that might not be available. (For example, their mainstream products that need reporting and dashboards. They’re has to be changed anyway: metrics change, schemas change, relying on a fake proof of concept, where following that proof BI package might not have web-accessible dashboarding beginning to build capabilities using Open Source into queries change. The same is true with platforms: moving from of concept companies are forced to either pull out and throw it that can be self-service.) quality networking gear, file servers and databases. one database to another involves an integration of an entirely away, or to license the software. Why Open Source? • People who have traditionally been underserved and have new set of systems. These discontinuities often allow for the not been getting what they need for whatever reason. introduction of Open Source. Roadblocks to Implementing Open Source In addition to examining the sectors left vulnerable by Open They may not have had the budget, or their current vendor Source, the North Bridge Venture survey also asked: What New interface requirements can also lead to Open Source Misconceptions still exist around Open Source, based largely on might not offer some of the functionalities that they want. makes Open Source attractive? Price was the most popular implementation, as a company attempts to bring data- the idea that these projects are being developed by teenagers Possibly, it could be over-serve: at least half of the features answer. In addition to the capital cost of licensing, Open Source warehouse data into an application, deploying it out through in their parents’ basement; a myth that is more than a decade in a major BI stack today never get used. drives down acquisition cost, as companies no longer have to a website or via an application. But some users may only need outdated, as today Open Source projects are generally run by go through heavy proof of concept. It’s also easier to trial things, • Developers. Web developers provide information – a few single, simple production reports, and don’t need to be commercial Open Source providers with paid developers. Still, and if license costs are less then maintenance costs are also less. especially database information – on their websites, while served through a tool that costs between $1,000 and $1,500 per a lack of information can prove a problem for organizations Finally, unbundling maintenance support and service means internal developers have to build reporting features into seat, which is the average per-seat deployment cost of iTools. introducing Open Source. This often plays out in the legal that businesses can choose from a menu of services instead of applications and typically do not have access to the tools Companies can reserve their BI tools for core individuals who department, which reviews all contracts and may not be being forced into a 20 percent single lump fee. they need. Tools like BusinessObjects and MicroStrategy need the flexibility and features, and can build Open Source informed when it comes to Open Source software licenses. An live in a data warehouse, in a different area of the into applications for large-scale but simple reporting. Open Source license will be missing half the standard clauses The study also showed that companies found that Open Source the lawyers are used to; clauses of restriction that dictate how organization, and can’t be embedded easily. In fact, in most cases organizations don’t replace an entire offered freedom from vendor lock-in. In addition, it is flexible, to deploy, what can be deployed, where it can be deployed, system with Open Source. That only happens in the cases of with easy access to commodity code, in order to develop, In terms of the organizations adopting Open Source BI, many and how the software can be used. Most Open Source licenses large discontinuous change, where the features are good embed and build content into websites. are on the small side, with less than $100 million in revenue. But do not have these same clauses and lawyers will want to know enough in an Open Source tool, the deployment matches, Perform Magazine // very large organizations are just as likely to adopt Open Source why they’re missing. That can be another road bump in getting Another 2008 study, by The 451 Group, gave a list of what and there is no reason for pushing through a high-cost, solutions as well. This is the inverse bell curve of Open Source BI the software acquired. organizations saw as benefits to Open Source once it was implementation. high-complexity solution. What’s more likely to happen is an already introduced. At that point, flexibility – by 0.5 percent – augmentation where a particular department – or a segment Support can also be more confusing. Most major projects have came out over cost. In this instance, though, the definition of Smaller-sized organizations have fewer data sources and of users, or particular class of tool – is given something that they commercial vendor support behind them. But unbundling flexibility was different; respondents were impressed by the fact more manageable data volumes, are more interested in cost need in Open Source. For example, a BI tool might be good is also available, which means buyers don’t have to purchase

Information in Action that there is no vendor that dictates when they have to upgrade, flow and also don’t have the same level of data volume and and flexible, with interactive reporting that can get production support, but instead can buy the subscription model that covers how they have to upgrade, and why they have to upgrade. For complexity that might exist in a medium-to-large organization reports out and do the schedule, but perhaps doesn’t have only bug fixes, integrated patch testing and certification against Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 a commercial vendor at end of life or desupporting versions of or deployment. Much more manageable data volumes, less cost statistical features; rolling out something like R to only a couple databases. This is because enterprise support is often overrated; their software, a sales and marketing schedule will often require to scaling, and fewer technology issues in terms of complexity, of analysts and layering that on top of the warehouse may be more often than not internal support solves more problems a release every Q1, whether they are ready or not. As a result, make these ideal environments for Open Source. the solution. than the vendor does.

20 21 BIRT is built in the Eclipse Project; Actuate sponsors and chairs The third level is for workgroup or departmental-style the project management committee for the BIRT project. applications, or small organization-type applications. To adopt It is Actuate’s third reporting technology built from scratch, this type of Open Source technology, individuals would which means there is a high degree of long-term experience introduce BIRT plus the single server iServer Express, a hybrid integrated into the BIRT environment. of Open Source and commercial technology. How the End User Benefits From BIRT Finally, there are organizations that seek enterprise-caliber or enterprise-level deployments, that want to publish BIRT BIRT comes complete with 6.5 million sets of eyes worldwide applications outside the firewall, to secure these applications looking at it and suggesting changes. That has driven its for millions of users, and to support very high degrees of enhancement in the marketplace. The overall number of performance and reliability. This type of scalability requires both committers on BIRT historically is high, and the current level of good design and trial and error, as operating systems, platforms committers on the project remains high; it’s nearly the same as and other elements continue to evolve. Maintaining best Apache committers in the market today. performance for very large-scale environments means making Actuate – in its sponsorship of BIRT – has added and created sure that each one of these items is optimized. a community called BIRT Exchange, which is a resource for Open Source Vs. Commercial Technology the BIRT development user to continue to enhance their BIRT expertise and to continue to gain help if needed from the BIRT The overall platform that BIRT delivers is a complete set of both community. No question goes unanswered on BIRT Exchange, development and deployment options for creating any type which is at odds with what people often find in other Open of environment. Users can be characterized across a number Source forums, where a huge number of questions remain of different lines, from incredibly skilled Java developers to unanswered from the audience. Within the BIRT Exchange everyday report developers; from people familiar with Actuate environment, there are three different forum administrators who to those who are not; from power users to business users; etc. make sure every single question is answered. BIRT Exchange There are two fundamental questions that these users need to also hosts the documentation for the entire BIRT product line, answer: as well as videos and webinars designed to further the training and adoption of BIRT itself. 1. Is BIRT the right technology for the application they’re creating? Actuate employs more than 50 developers on the Eclipse project itself, with documentation and publications available in 2. What’s the best way to deploy it: through Open Source or support of the project, available at amazon.com. through commercial deployment means? Actuate’s Value Add The answer to the second question is reliant on a number of variables. In the following situations, for example, Open Source BIRT is modern and flexible and open. Since it’s built within Implementing Actuate’s BIRT Open Source build components throughout the project they can reuse would be the ideal alternative: Technology those elements in subsequent future reports. It also supports the Eclipse Project, anyone who knows Eclipse knows how to standards such as HTML, cascading style sheets, JavaScript, use it. Actuate adds interactivity, which take the form of Flash • Those users who want to use BIRT for individual use; BIRT, Actuate’s Open Source technology, was developed with the widgets embedded into the BIRT development environment Java, and XML, adding the underpinning technologies • Those who want to embed it into their own project; Eclipse Foundation and does an exceptional job in meeting web- for either customization or enhancement and allowing – allowing users to build their own types of dashboards – or reporting requirements while utilizing the Open Source model. developers to leverage BIRT while using the skills that they’ve through interactive viewing, to transform a report from being • An ISV who has the technology in their own application to It’s a Java tool with a web-centric development and design already developed. As an integrated report development static to something an end user can manipulate and evolve support printing and baked-in reporting needs. paradigm; BIRT reports are built with the intent of publishing over time. This is important because reports typically become environment, BIRT also provides graphical and robust tools for Converting to or supporting a commercial model, meanwhile, to the web exclusively, or more exclusively than is the case with obsolete quickly; the requirements that they originally meet the most common reporting tasks, including query building occurs most frequently at the enterprise-server level, for other alternatives that are typically intended originally for paper. changes as users use the reports to become smarter, and then – such as graphical object layout – and representing, such organizations deploying the environment to hundreds or BIRT is also very modular and very component based, allowing the questions they want answered change. Which means that as charting. As well, BIRT includes both online help and thousands of users. It supports a wide variety of types of users. users to do as much or as little as they want, to deploy as much documentation. providing this kind of interactive content is key to the success or as little as they need when they’re creating their reports or of a Business Intelligence project. But both the Open Source and commercial models employ a embedding this technology within their environment. It’s an incredibly robust tool, and is capable of being embedded, Perform Magazine // common report design format. It’s a progressive development of being delivered to small groups or across the enterprise, Extending BIRT Capabilities One of the goals of BIRT is to cater to the power that is needed experience, or a collaborative report design and collaborative leveraging Actuate’s commercial platform. New capabilities BIRT development tools and the BIRT engine are available as process, allowing each user to participate in the definition and for many of today’s reporting projects, but also to offer the include the ability to add interactive Flash objects into the simplicity that means an individual report creator can be very Open Source, and are widely distributed. Typical capabilities the evolution of their reporting environment, while at the same environment, to build personalized dashboards, to create ad such as JavaScript and SQL skills are required to become time using tools that are appropriate for their skills; a novice user effective at doing their job simply by using the BIRT design tool hoc reports, and to create interactive viewing. Actuate also itself. That goal has proven successful so far, with 6.5 million familiar with the BIRT product. isn’t being overwhelmed by too many features, while the power Information in Action recently introduced the JavaScript API, which allows users

user or the highly skilled users receive exactly the right kind Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 downloads of BIRT since the project’s inception, 4.5 million of The second level of capability is the ability to embed BIRT to embed approximately a dozen lines of JavaScript into any of technology and level of development capabilities they’re them in 2008 alone. BIRT is, in fact, one of the fastest growing within applications and to begin to add degrees of interactivity webpage, and from that access any content within the Actuate accustomed to. Open Source projects on the internet right now. environment, including any BIRT report that is hosted in that to the environment, such as Flash widgets or the interactive BIRT does a great job of supporting a wide variety of report environment, which in turn can be delivered to any type of viewer. This allows a user to create robust, rich embedded Yet, some of the decision-making criteria lean more effectively types; it supports BRD Pro, BRD, BRS and IV, and as users JavaScript-enabled browser. applications. towards a do-it-yourself situation using the Open Source type

22 23 Cost-Effectively

A growing level of complexity often drives commercial interest, but certain complex functionalities Deploying “– including supporting web service or web service SQL, or other examples of integration techniques – the Open Source model is more than capable of supporting on its own.

of model, and some lean more appropriately to a commercial charting cross tabs and embedded graphics are the investment and ” a commercial tool. A growing level of norm, then the two are served both in Open Source or complexity often drives commercial interest, but certain commercial interests. When JavaScript is starting to be complex functionalities – including supporting web services or used as a customization or a dynamic-properties delivery web services SQL, or other examples of integration techniques vehicle, both the Open Source and commercial models – the Open Source model is more than capable of supporting are effective, although keeping this content embedded on its own. within an environment is probably more appropriate using Open Source. It’s only when introducing elements such as The applications Actuate deploys are information applications. interactive viewing capability, or the ability to manage an When choosing the paths of how to proceed – with regards environment through a management console capability, to choosing either the Open Source or commercial interest – that the commercial option begins to edge out. there are typically four premises to consider in an information application: 4. Are we able to achieve the levels of scale that we need Open Source BI to get that information out to every user who’s interested 1. Is the report or the application able to consume and in it? When individual use is appropriate, Open Source is collect data from one or many sources, whether it’s a a better fit. When transient content is what a company hen deploying Open Source Business Intelligence technologies, multi-layered functionality that can be single report or a complex application? Typically, when is delivering, that’s usually a better fit with Open Source added as needed serves to create a cost-effective way to build a solution specific to an organization’s the data sources are simple and the data connections well as well, as is embedding. To support a collaborative needs. Each function acts as a building block as a company creates exactly the capabilities necessary understood, either Open Source or commercial interests reporting effect, or to support a variety of developers for the job on hand, without wasting money and resources on items that aren’t needed. are appropriate. With meta-data layers and extraction W and users – especially users with different skills – the layers, the commercial model tends to be more effective. One of the benefits of Actuate’s Business Intelligence Reporting BIRT is the third from-scratch product that Actuate has shift begins to move towards a commercial style of But if it’s an embedded project using POJOs or other Open Tools (BIRT) is that very capability for flexible functionality sponsored and developed, and as such it takes into account delivery. When there’s custom delivery required, such as Source or specialty connectors – unique connectors – that’s adjustable to users’ needs. Every component of the BIRT more modern capabilities and techniques for developing JavaScript API, the commercial environment is also more that often keeps a project more suited for an Open Source technology – whether in the Open Source or commercial web content. In building BIRT, Actuate has drawn from its appropriate. deployment. versions – builds upon the components before it, creating a extensive market knowledge, borrowing best concepts from These are the capabilities of different deployment options robust and flexible system designed to meet each organization’s other products as well as from its own. Reusability and the 2. How is it able to aggregate and transform that data into for both the Open Source platform as well as the Actuate unique Business Intelligence needs. ability to include programmability within the environment meaningful information? Looking at aggregation, the commercial platform, geared towards allowing organizations to have been traditional Actuate capabilities that have been same premise holds true: if there’s simple aggregate Choose the Right Graphical Tool get the value that they most see fit within their environment or included in BIRT, but BIRT technology also uses de-facto

Perform Magazine // functions or automatic cross tabs, or even custom or The first step towards evolving organizational Business their application. Typically, for environments that have a heavy standard programming capabilities, such as embedding reuseable business functions, both the Open Source and Intelligence is choosing the right graphical tool. The Eclipse requirement for infrastructure, that’s what drives the commercial JavaScript and Java into the application rather than using a commercial models are appropriate. In terms of embedded BIRT technology, for one, is a visual designer that’s geared at purchase, whereas customization or individual interests typically proprietary language. Java functions, those aggregations are appropriate in report developers as well as JavaScript and Java developers, drive Open Source. either case. It’s when entering into areas of security – of and can create a wide range of reporting technologies and Open Source is the core reporting capability, and value- parameter-driven values, dynamic-parameter collection, The key thing for any organization is to first decide what kind of web reports. BIRT builds content that is specifically intended added commercial products can be added to it. More than 50 Information in Action cascading menus, etc. – that a commercial purchase tends reporting technology they need – whether it be Open Source or for the web, and uses techniques that are expected when developers are employed by Actuate on the BIRT Open Source Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 to excel over the Open Source version. commercial – and then to look at their own needs. And finally, building web pages and web content. It doesn’t use a banded project, similar to the number of developers Apache has consider the BIRT environment as a vehicle that meets web report writer design or development metaphor typical of many applied to the Apache project. Alongside these Open Source 3. What are the presentation options or formats available reporting needs. older report-authoring products, including Crystal Reports or developers are Actuate developers working on the commercial to present that data? When the presentation’s fairly Jasper. product of BIRT. simple, both Open Source and commercial apply. When For more information on BIRT, visit actuate.com.

24 25 Actuate has seen approximately seven million Ultimately the benefit of Actuate’s BIRT technology downloads so far of BIRT technology, which at even is that it is a new generation of web-oriented reporting “a five percent download rate ... adds up to 350,000 “applications or information application technology, and different users of BIRT technology. uses modern Web 2.0 techniques.

Another benefit of BIRT is the BIRT Exchange community, 4. The Open Source Eclipse engine can be embedded into addresses one of the biggest conundrums with regards to Determine Where Content Can Be Distributed Actuate’s user forum, which is far more robust and extensive or deployed from an application quickly within a JVM. report delivery: giving users a report provides them with with documentation and help information than has been Users can add content generation or report generation content that makes them smarter, and as they get smarter they Actuate JavaScript API is a mechanism that allows the user found traditionally. Nearly every forum post has an answer functionality” easily and quickly to their application by take that information and they work it into their knowledge, to take a JavaScript” library, embed it into any HTML page, to it in some form, which is not likely to be experienced with inserting it into their run time. The BIRT engine itself is a which in turn changes the questions that they ask of the and then from that JavaScript library securely access Actuate any other Open Source project or forum-based community. key component in the Eclipse BIRT project. It has a variety report. This means that what they need from a report changes content from the iServer. This particular capability allows the Meanwhile, the community itself is vast and growing rapidly: of extension points built into it, which means it’s able to over time. Allowing users to modify reports themselves is a user to put either a report part – a reportlet – or an entire Actuate has seen approximately seven million downloads so far not only generate supported output types – such as HTML key goal in supporting BI processes, because as users become report directly into new locations. This could be used as a user of BIRT technology, which at even a five percent download rate or Adobe PDF – but can also create custom emissions smarter about what they’re doing with their content they can attraction vehicle, it could be used as a dashboarding vehicle, – where a developer may have downloaded 20 copies over its from a BIRT report, such as an emitter for mobile content help assist in defining what the next iterations of their web or it could be an integration point for systems that are written history – adds up to 350,000 different users of BIRT technology. or an emitter for a particular report format of the user’s content might be. in .NET rather than in the j2e environments that BIRT typically That number is growing at roughly double the rate of the other own, perhaps to feed another application. With a robust supports. Choose the RIght Server to Store and Schedule two most popular Open Source projects. API structure within the Eclipse BIRT engine, these are all Deliver Mash-Up Applications possible. Content Add Value Through Features Delivering mash-up applications using all of the functionalities Build On Interactivity for a Richer Experience Actuate has spent the last 15 years developing the Actuate Actuate BIRT technology has a range of features that will add iServer. It comes in two styles – iServer Enterprise and iServer listed above is simple in the BIRT technology, and lets users value to a company’s BI project: Building onto that BIRT experience, organizations can add more Express – and offers a robust environment for creating, themselves participate in the definition, saving, creation and interactive and visual elements to create more appeal within managing and delivering BIRT report content to users on management of their own dashboard displays, and it allows 1. In addition to being a graphical report design tool, BIRT their BI projects. schedule, on demand, or on an ad-hoc basis directly. them to watch exactly the KPIs that they care about. takes into account the long-standing tradition of Actuate to support reuse libraries and reusability across the entire Animated Flash Visuals. Animated Flash visuals, built into BIRT The iServer Express is a single-server deployment that is This is done through Actuate’s Mashboard Customization to environment. It is able to not only reuse BIRT objects and reports, lend to a richer, more enjoyable experience for end appropriate in scenarios where there is less active usage; the Information Console, which allows users to take any BIRT BIRT components – such as charts and tables – but also to users. They can take advantage of the navigation, enhanced it supports a sequential batch generation capability report content and to deploy it directly into a mash-up style incorporate and use JavaScript objects and Java libraries in with the visual and animated appeal that Adobe Flash offers. and roughly 10 user connections per second, as the environment, where they can define exactly what pieces of content go into their application and what doesn’t. These the reports themselves. This creates a rich experience for The Actuate BIRT development tools include 266 Flash widgets. users connect to the server. It offers that scheduling and driving and building web-oriented reports. deployment capability at a very cost-effective price point, dashboards can also be roll-based, so that particular pieces of This is one feature that differentiates BIRT Open Source with content can be deployed to particular types of users directly; the BIRT commercial product. Those who purchase the while allowing organizations to secure their report content 2. BIRT offers navigability. While a user is in a graphical using the iServer repository, to take advantage of some of the then, if they want to continue to customize that capability, design tool, they should be able to take advantage of development tools from Actuate will immediately receive these they’re able to do so. Flash objects that can be deployed not only within Actuate BIRT presentation layer capabilities that Actuate offers through its some of the core capabilities that the technology offers, information console to present and manage that content on such as a visual hyperlink builder that keeps information reports but within Eclipse BIRT reports as well; they are portable Conclusion across both environments. behalf of the users, and ultimately to create a full reporting in context, as well as the ability to create cross tabs, experience for users directly. Ultimately the benefit of Actuate’s BIRT technology is that it is dashboards and charting mechanisms that are active Interactive Viewing. Often, users have a difficult time articulating a new generation of web-oriented reporting applications or Alternatively, for those deploying a very large system – and navigable. Inserting type of content – so that it is their requirements to report authors. That problem is alleviated information application technology, and uses modern Web perhaps one that operates outside of the firewall in a both consumable and scoped in context for the user – is when authors can deliver them an interactive viewing 2.0 techniques such as Flash and Ajax, in a web-based design traditional web information application – there is the iServer important to the success of deployment. Hyperlinking in experience, allowing the report to become changeable and metaphor. It is designed to evolve effectively over time, and is context is one of the key elements to supporting Open Enterprise. The iServer Enterprise is massively scaleable, but Perform Magazine // adjustable by the user. The user can select a particular column meant to give organizations a choice for every type of user. The also very predictably scaleable: as companies double the Source deployments. and can apply a filter to that column; they can toggle back and first decision point of any organization is to recognize whether resources that they can apply to their environment, they forth between viewing perspectives, rotate charts, change or not BIRT is the right reporting technology for the information 3. The Eclipse BIRT environment supports a variety of double the throughput and user numbers that they’re able the grouping of a report, or add more visualization to it with application in question. Once that’s decided, companies must graphical types or charting types, including not only to support with the iServer. It is also highly configurable in something such as conditional formatting. They could even choose the technologies they want to offer each type of user, grids and tables, but both static and dynamic images as regards to how content is deployed, and supports multi- navigate within the report using a joystick, or deploy that and then consider how they want to deploy those technologies Information in Action well, that can be linked back to databases or can support tenet environments, or multiple application environments.

report or portlet content anywhere they want. And ultimately, Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 conditional formatting and a variety of conditions baked directly. they could drag and drop and change – or add columns to the In addition, it can be componentized so that a presentation into the report. BIRT is able to handle a large variety of chart report directly – by manipulating the report as needed. layer can be separated from a content creation layer, or A wide variety of capabilities can be build into the BIRT types and styles, allowing organizations to convey exactly a business logic layer from a data management layer – environment, ranging from Open Source to commercial Actuate what they’re trying to deliver to their users. Supporting rich This interactivity gives the end user the ability to enjoy more including the meta-data layer itself – to help abstract and products. It is a flexible environment, and is robust for delivering charting is one of BIRT’s key core capabilities. freedom with regards to how they use the report. It also manage the queries driven. to users any type of information-driven web content.

26 27 SAFE AT SEA BS Nautical Systems (NS), is one of the ABS Nautical Systems: A Case Study leading providers of fleet management Asoftware packages available to the marine and offshore industries. It offers a fully integrated, modular approach to managing the principal operational expenses associated with a vessel or offshore rig, ranging from maintenance and repair, to regulatory requirements, purchasing and inventory, and crew management and payroll.

“Both the technology roadmap and scaling are key. It was an excellent fit for us actually – you had the right technology, you’re The Challenge Open Source based, BIRT technology was key, and you were the uiding a ship requires visibility into navigation, most helpful in helping us do the prototype.” operational performance and up-to-date - Sandipan Bhattacharya, ABS Nautical Systems information to make decisions. This type of customer challenge drove ABS Nautical Systems Gto incorporate Actuate’s BIRT technology into its NS5 fleet management software. A leading software provider to the maritime industry, ABS and its NS5 modular ERP system help customers manage principal operating expenses associated with vessels and offshore rigs. ABS provided basic scheduled reporting and offered ad hoc reports in response to specific customer requests, but customers demanded better functionality, including the ability to easily extract and create both standard and custom reports. Producing reports to customers’ satisfaction took time, as reporting was not central to ABS Nautical Systems’ expertise. Further, it took valuable programmer time away from developing new features and functions for its core product. This created the need for ABS to leverage a tool to provide highly-developed, rich information application functionality, increasing the power of its fleet management software, while enabling its customers to access more flexible reporting tools. The Solution With its own expertise in Java development and their existing Perform Magazine // reporting, ABS searched for an Open Source reporting platform/ tool that they could leverage and seamlessly embed in their software – one that would deliver for ABS and their customers, both immediately and for future expansion. After considering

Information in Action Jaspersoft, Actuate and Pentaho, ABS selected Actuate and BIRT for their on-demand reporting solution. Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 “Actuate has a clear roadmap and direction, scalable platform, financial stability, and Open Source development platform. The Actuate offering was an excellent fit because the technology

28 29 used Open Source BIRT, allowing us great flexibility in developing NS5. Actuate was most supportive in helping ABS NS do the prototype – both their Professional Services as well Solution Overview as the account team,” states Sandipan Bhattacharya, CTO for ABS NS. Company Profile:Integrated fleet management software for marine industries. The new BIRT-based, on-demand reporting tool within ABS NS5 is a web-based application that enables clients to quickly Industry: Software. and easily generate custom reports from any NS5 module. Location: Houston, with offices worldwide. It handles reporting for the central elements of operational management – from regulatory requirements, to payroll, to Challenges : planned maintenance programs. But it takes NS5 beyond • Customer need for better, more timely operational duties to consolidate data from across software reports; Creating the modules to better monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) • Enable customers to self-serve for ad hoc such as time to repair, spare parts turnover and purchasing needs and regulatory requirements; cycle times. • Focus on core software expertise and Customer-Centric The interactive information views that BIRT provides help fleet feature requests. managers to achieve maximum efficiency, empowering NS5 software users to get what they want in terms of the reports Solution: Integrate Actuate’s Open Source- they need in the way they want them, as each department based BIRT reporting with ABS’ NS5 fleet Organization or company may want to look at data in a different way. management software. Lastly, that same data is more accurate because it comes as Business Benefits: Finding Your Customer-Critical Path near real-time information, at the time they need and can be benchmarked against how well they are performing to • Faster time to market, broadened By David F. Giannetto provide trends for evaluation. portfolio; CEO Benefits/Results • Ease of integration, development The Telos Group flexibility; • Speed time to market with new features by focusing on your company’s mission and vision event (with no sale, after all, there’s no customer). This logic works • Increased visibility into operations aids core competence in its software platform. This allows ABS statement place the customer for most people and most organizations, and it logically follows to focus development on its core product, and improve customer competitiveness, efficiency; Doesat the center of your universe? that the focus should be upon the creation of the best possible customer satisfaction by rolling out and providing • Users empowered to customize reports. Does it promise to maximize customer value and deliver the product or service, because this is what causes a prospect to complete reporting modules. This also helps decrease best customer experience possible? If it does, your mission become an actual customer. and vision statement is surprisingly similar to nearly every development expenses and support costs. This logic fits nicely with traditional thinking. It was popularized other organization. And much like them, chances are your by Michael Porter’s value chain approach in the mid-80s. The • Expand available market with completely new respond more quickly, adapting them by themselves instead of organization is struggling to make this vision a reality, to value chain is a string of critical processes that begins with product lines, enabling ABS to increase its client base actually reinvent itself as truly customer-centric. depending on ABS to supply reports. raw materials, or inputs, and ends with a product or service to companies that didn’t know about them or had “Actuate empowers users to get exactly the reports they need, “Customer-centric” has become the new buzz phrase thrown delivered to a happy customer. Thinking this way makes sense previously disregarded their offering. The additional the way they want them. Empowerment is key, as well as about at most executive planning sessions, and has replaced because it is easy to place the customer at the end of the modules make the product more attractive to existing process. But this mind-set doesn’t just affect how executives flexibility, as each department or company may want to look at “innovative” as the new, mandatory strategic language. The clients, creating additional revenue sources for ABS. truth is, it takes a lot more to become customer-centric than structure the organization; it weaves its way into every aspect of data in a different way,” states Bhattacharya. changing the company vision – it requires a departure from years how the organization manages itself, and how managers make “The BIRT Open Source platform allows for a great deal of Perform Magazine // Rich information drives efficiency through increased visibility of tradition, a clear look at who and what your organization is, decisions. flexibility in the development stages. Additionally the ease of and better insight into operations, improving customer and a deeper understanding of what motivates your customers For example, the finance department performs the close integration into our OEM package was a great benefit. Lastly, competitiveness. With highly accurate, real-time information to buy from you, or from your competitor. Fortunately, the cost process each month so that it can deliver financial information the Actuate and BIRT offering has proved to be well suited to to make this change is surprisingly low, while the benefits and on how well they are performing, management can control to managers with actual bottom-line responsibility. These ABS Nautical Systems’ needs, and Actuate’s roadmap shows the returns can be shockingly high. both overall and specific costs of operating and maintaining managers, from executives to cost center managers, are

Information in Action what we can do in the future,” states Bhattacharya. finance’s customers, just as shareholders are when they deliver

their shipping fleets. “They don’t have to wait … they can see Finding Your Customer Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 quarterly reports. Once these reports are delivered, finance goes Self-serve customization drives flexibility and ease of creating all contributing factors day to day. It helps improve efficiency at Customer-centric implies that the customer is central to the back to the business of accounting and managing revenue reports; BIRT empowers users to produce reports customized every level. For the first time, a ship’s captain can have insight organization, but this is too esoteric to have any real meaning. and expense until the next month. Engineers work to design to their individual and departmental needs and preferences,. into the operational performance of his ship while still at sea,” An organization turns materials into a product or service, which new products that will keep them one step ahead of their And as government reporting requirements change, they can says Bhattacharya. is then sold. Everything the organization does must lead to this competition. Manufacturing produces goods to meet customer

30 31 Departing from Tradition several different types of customers – household customers that simply need power turned on, or major projects that require While this product focus is exaggerated within a power utility, significant project management and pre-planning. Eventually largely because of their technical nature, these factors affect these starting paths merge. It will occur at the point at which all nearly every organization. Employees who have great influence customers are happy. From there, they may take a different path within the organization will not yield it to those who have less, again; some will terminate service but who understand the customer or have new needs. There is not one better. Funding is unlikely to shift value chain; there are many paths from traditionally respected areas a customer might travel through to those areas that most affect the your organization. customer. This new approach offers significant For a power utility, this means value for organizations that adopt it. that engineers, who have often It allows them to better understand dedicated their entire lives to their customers so that they can be the study of their work, must more effectively segmented and be considered equal to project targeted by products or services. managers and customer service This drives the bottom line in agents, most of who do not hold several ways. A stronger value any degrees. Money, resources, proposition increases appeal, thus and staffing must focus on project driving revenue. Better service and management and call center customer interaction improve the technology, not just on million- or customer experience and increase billion-dollar assets. There must customer loyalty, driving customer be recognition that these areas lifetime value. equally affect the customer. This new perspective must be executed The customer-critical path also by executives who have spent their entire careers adhering to becomes a vital decision-making tool for management. It the traditional values of the product-centric culture. But this orders or demand projections. The sales department courts need for back-office operations such as accounting, finance, provides a clear and unbiased perspective on where resources shift is what customer-centric really means; truly understanding potential buyers so that they become actual customers. Once and customer service. should, and should not, be spent. It defines the relative worth and meeting your customers’ needs. It starts with the customer; they do so, sales then returns to identify new targets and of projects, assets, and expenditures, painting a clear picture Given the complexity of power generation and delivery more specifically, it starts with a prospect. tries to transition them. Manufacturing works to refill shelves. of what the results will be if the customer-critical path is not operations, the organization is staffed by a high percentage of Engineering continues developing products. properly maintained. engineers, many with doctorate degrees and years of specialized Customer-Critical Path Employees throughout the organization are focused upon training. The generation and delivery assets themselves are This means that the traditional And if your mission and vision delivering the product or service for which they are responsible. maintained by highly-trained, highly-specialized workers. A value chain must be rethought statement says you are customer- The product attributes become the value proposition that large percentage of the management team also comes from and renamed more appropriately, centric, it makes your strategic will appeal to their customer, regardless of whether or not this background, and rose through the ranks of organizations to the customer-critical path. A plan more than simple semantics. this is an internal or external customer. Employees are trained identically structured. Combined, these employees represent prospect travels this path on their It makes it actionable, setting your to think in terms of product development, delivery, and value. over 75 percent of the organization. journey to become a customer; a organization on a path towards customer travels this path toward true differentiation and market The organization becomes, even if it doesn’t know it, product Collectively, these employees create a culture that is consistent the goal of becoming a happy leadership. Properly crafted, the centric. Believing that a mainstream management theory in almost every power utility in the world. Their cultures customer. This is the true value customer-critical path becomes such as the value chain approach could not be wrong, or respect academic achievement, technical expertise, and years chain of the organization – a a pleasant stroll through the park outdated, management is comfortable with this view of their of experience in the industry. They typically believe in rigid string of processes that become for your customers, and it can also world. When they try to become customer-centric, they do structures, inflexible procedures, and consistency in design and critical because they directly affect become the most profitable path not know how. execution. They are truly product focused. your customer, regardless of the for your organization. Perform Magazine // Making the Change Given the potential hazards, it is easy to see why they behave the product, service, organizational way they do. But what happens when this type of organization Consider, for example, the electricity powering the light by chart, academic degree, or bias. has to compete in a more open market, when transparency is which you are reading this article. It is a fairly simple product Find the customer-critical path David F. Giannetto is CEO of The Telos increased, or when the customer, such as a municipality, has that was mainstreamed decades ago, and except for new and you can guide your customers Group, co-author of The Performance a stronger voice or is under the growing influence of being types of power generation, it has remained essentially through your organization in the Power Grid, The Proven Method

Information in Action green? What happens when the power company must become way that is most meaningful to to Create and Sustain Superior

unchanged. The traditional value chain for this industry is fairly Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 truly customer-centric? straightforward. Power is generated by a complex and often both them and you. Organizational Performance (J Wiley & Sons, 2006) and a professor in the Executive MBA program of Rutgers University. dangerous power plant, and it is delivered to the customer via It is nearly impossible for them to succeed. Seventy-five But not all customer needs are the same, even within an industry a complicated and often dangerous network. The customer percent of the organization has little to do with, or has little that has only one real product, like a power utility. The customer- Mr. Giannetto can be reached by email at dgiannetto@ then consumes this power and must pay for it, creating the understanding of, the customer. critical path may start in several places, meeting the needs of telosconsulting.com.

32 33 The National Bone Marrow Donor Program The Balanced Scorecard/Vision into Action Journey

By Howard Rohm, President & CEO, Balanced Scorecard Institute under the guidance of The National Marrow Donation Program’s Michael Boo, Chief Strategy Officer and John Rudrud, Senior Analyst

I. Introduction and Background Who the NMDP is he National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) and Be The Match FoundationSM are non-profit organizations dedicated to creating an opportunity for all patients to receive the bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant they need, when they need it. Every year, thousands of people of allT ages are diagnosed with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases. Many of them will die unless they get a bone marrow or cord blood transplant from a matching donor. Seventy percent of people do not have a matching donor in their family and depend on the Be The Match RegistrySM to find a match to save Perform Magazine // their life. The Beginning When their 10-year-old daughter Laura was diagnosed with leukemia, Robert Graves, D.V.M., and his wife Sherry were ready Information in Action to do anything they could to save her. They agreed to try a bone Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 marrow transplant from an unrelated donor – the first ever for a leukemia patient. Laura received her transplant in 1979 at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The treatment gave her an extra year and a half of life.

34 35 The experience inspired Dr. Graves to create a national aggressively improve in strategic areas critical to the delivery of a more specific understanding of how his or her work to do more than double our current transplant volumes in a registry of volunteers willing to donate marrow. His early 10,000 transplants. impacts and contributes to the Strategic Objectives. relatively short time – just five years from now,” explained initiative efforts brought together other patient families and transplant sponsor, Michael Boo. “This has driven a lot of creative thinking • Drives long-term, continuous improvement as Strategic doctors, spurring a federal mandate that led to the creation II. The Balanced Scorecard Approach around how to dramatically improve the efficiencies and cost Measures improve over time. of the National Marrow Donor Program. NMDP began Background effectiveness of many internal systems and delivery processes.” connecting patients with unrelated donors in 1987, with a • Facilitates a “learning organization” where corrective actions The four Strategic themes that the NMDP officer group developed registry of just 10,000 volunteers. The strategic planning system that had been used at NMDP are implemented in cases where Strategic or Department and agreed upon are: up to 2007 was a fairly well-developed planning process that Objective Measures are not being met. What the NMDP Does tracked initiative performance under seven primary areas of • Global Access and Acceptance – Getting to Yes. Overcome The NMDP planning team looked at a number of planning The Be The Match Registry has grown to more than seven strategic focus. While this approach provided a measure of non-cell source barriers to transplant (e.g., no insurance, no models – including Balanced million donors and over 150,000 cord blood units, the largest strategic planning for the organization, it was too focused on transportation, no post-transplant support). Scorecard, Six Sigma, Lean and most racially and ethnically diverse registry of its kind in activities and projects rather than on impacts. and TQM – and concluded • Deliver Excellent Stakeholder Experience. Overcome Cell the world. Medical Early in 2007, NMDP leaders Gordon Bryan, Chief that the Balanced Scorecard Source Barriers (making sure a cell source donation is advances are Financial Officer, and Michael Boo, Chief Strategy Officer, approach provided the available when it’s needed – adult or cord). making marrow began developing strategic metrics designed to identify, most versatile and relevant and umbilical cord • Research. Pursue research to improve cell transplantation as measure and communicate progress in strategic plan framework for future blood transplants a therapy. objective areas. growth and organizational available to development. • Culture of Excellence. Keep up-to-date with talent, structure more patients all Selection and resources needed to continually improve transplant the time. Since As the senior management team evaluated options III. Scorecard services. 1987, NMDP to integrate broader strategic Development – NMDP has arranged for metrics with the existing strategic Officer Input IV. Scorecard Development – Senior Management more than 35,000 business plan, the Balanced Throughout the spring and summer of 2007, four Theme transplants to Scorecard approach emerged as a Early to mid 2007, NMDP Teams, comprised of senior management, met to develop give patients a leading candidate during the initial began the Balanced Theme Team strategy second chance at life. Today, NMDP facilitates more than assessment of planning models Scorecard development maps that included Theme 4,300 transplants a year. because it: effort with the help of consultants from the Objectives by Perspective Planning for the Future • Encourages development of Balanced Scorecard and proposed Measures for strategic themes and provides the each Theme Objective. These Many more patients still need help. In order to meet the Institute. ability to focus on areas where long- served as detailed roadmaps needs of all patients, NMDP will need to facilitate 10,000 term continuous improvement is A comprehensive review of the organization’s with specific objective areas transplants per year by 2015. That is more than double the needed. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, identified – where NMDP number of transplants the organization facilitates today. organizational pains, organization enablers, vision needed to focus in order to NMDP is working to meet this need, but can’t do it alone. • Permits identification of cause- and mission, was conducted over several days improve them. Efforts are sustained by: and-effect relationships between with NMDP officers and senior management. Strategic Objectives within each The four Theme Team • A global network of more than 490 leading hospitals, These sessions produced a new Mission and Theme. maps were subsequently blood centers, cord blood banks and laboratories; Vision Statement and four Strategic Themes (rather than the combined into an NMDP Strategy Map that included all relevant • Facilitates communication of Strategic Objectives that can original seven). • Agreements with donor centers, cooperative donor components from each theme. This NMDP Strategy Map is be portrayed on a strategy map that is easily understood registries and cord blood banks worldwide through The former mission statement: Extend and improve life through comprised of 13 Strategic Objectives, 46 Strategic Measures, and by all employees and stakeholders, and shows how the which the program provides patients access to more innovative cellular transplant therapies, was changed to: We seven Strategic Initiatives. perspectives work together to achieve the mission. than 12 million donors and 300,000 cord blood units; save lives through cellular transplantation – science, service, and Narratives were captured regarding the intent and ultimate end • Assures that the organization focuses on Strategic Objectives support. • Continued support from the US government, which state for each Strategic Objective, and detailed descriptions and Measures from a Customer/Stakeholder perspective has entrusted the NMDP to operate the C.W. Bill Young “This new mission statement captures and communicates were created for measurement information, including rational, and a People/Knowledge/Technology perspective. Cell Transplantation Program, the federal program more directly why we exist, and it clearly articulates the three frequency, owner and unit of measure. (Historically, the organization’s focus was skewed toward Perform Magazine // supporting bone marrow and cord blood donation and ways that we are able to save lives,” explained NMDP CEO, Dr. the Process and Financial perspectives.) At this stage in the process, the team named the Balanced transplantation; Jeffrey Chell. Scorecard tool “Vision into Action” or ViA – NMDP’s strategic • Enables leadership to track Strategic Objective performance • Partnerships with corporations, service organizations, The Overarching Strategic Result, in place of a vision statement, Performance Management tool. On June 1, 2007, the ViA Themes over the long term rather than tracking the status of student groups, faith-based communities and other was developed and shared with employees throughout the and NMDP Strategy Map details were presented to the board of supporting projects and initiatives. organizations. organization: Meeting the need for 10,000 transplants per year by directors by senior management and approved along with a plan

Information in Action • Creates a framework for prioritization of projects, initiatives 2015. The senior management team developed a longer, more to proceed to the next phase of department cascading. A new and different way of thinking about the NMDP’s long- Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 and funding opportunities based on contribution to and descriptive version of this statement, but felt that the shorter term strategy was required in order to make sure that NMDP A ViA Communications Team was formed to communicate ViA support of the Strategic Objectives. version had more impact. would be capable of delivering 10,000 transplants per year progress to employees on the development of the new Mission in 2015. “Business as usual” would not get the organization • Allows organizational Strategic Objectives to be cascaded “We’ve found that the Overarching Strategic Result has been a Statement, Vision Statement and the 13 Strategic Objectives. This where it needed to be. NMDP needed to identify and into Department Objectives, thereby giving each employee great tool to get people thinking about how we will manage was done through a combination of pulse checks, newsletters,

36 37 intranet messaging, e-mails from the CEO, leadership VI. NMDP ViA Today training, all-staff meetings and promotional contests. NMDP has established a department Champions Council. This was an extremely integral step in the ViA roll-out that A community for BIRT users and developers, sponsored by Actuate Members of the Council are becoming experts at using the provided transparency and generated excitement around automated ViA software. Today, this is being used at department the benefits of ViA. staff meetings to facilitate discussion around corrective action V. ViA Department Cascading for underperforming or unacceptable Department Measures. Departments use the department Strategy Maps to guide staff All departments at the NMDP were scheduled for sessions meeting discussions on performance measures and corrective to develop their department Objectives, Measures and action plans. Initiatives. These were facilitated by internal subject matter experts and included an initial two-day exercise to help “All business cases, or requests for funding, must be submitted the department identify where and how each department with clear, tangible descriptions of how the effort will impact contributed to the NMDP Strategic Objectives. Worksheets ViA Strategic Objectives,” explained Boo. “Once all business cases and other preparation material were provided to each have been submitted to the officer group for final approval, participant and collected prior to the cascade session. The they are prioritized in order of their impact on ViA Strategic pre-work information was used to expedite the affinity Objectives.” exercises at each session. All strategic and department measures are required to be These were followed up reported into the ViA system each quarter. Each is color coded with sessions to finalize based on an officer-approved target matrix. Each measure detailed measures with owner is required to provide comments regarding the individual measure owners. measure performance for the quarter and discuss how he or Department teams were she expects the measure to end the fiscal year. This information For More Information comprised of five to 10 is shared with senior management for review and follow-up See a Demo key members of each with measure owners if/when necessary. Contact us by phone at: 1-800-884-8665 department. 1-913-851-5300 from outsideat of theBooth United States Senior management uses the color-coded NMDP Strategic Map www.birt-exchange.com The department cascading as a basis for discussing quarterly performance and identifying #602 efforts provided a number Strategic Objective (JWF
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Perform Magazine // Because the end user tools to modify and create reports are AJAX-based, there’s no desktop Perform Magazine // • A common format and mechanism for reporting department to a great extent, because of the consistent support and performance to officers and senior management. guidance provided by NMDP leadership, including our CEO Dr. software to install. Users get the reports they need quicker, while the burden on development • A common format and mechanism for reporting and Jeffrey Chell, my fellow Officers and the Board of Directors,” said reviewing department performance with staff. Boo. resources to create new reports is reduced. • Help with the development of individual job performance Information in Action Information in Action

appraisal content – which should be designed to support Howard Rohm, President and CEO of the Balanced Scorecard Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 Department Objectives. BIRT Exchange is a community site that offers the broadest collection of resources for the Eclipse BIRT (Business Intelligence Institute, is a Performance Management trainer, consultant and and Reporting Tools) project and for integrating spreadsheets with Java. The site is sponsored by Actuate, a co-leader of the BIRT project. Department Cascading was complete in early 2009. There technologist with over 40 years experience. Mr. Rohm has helped are over 200 separate department measures that are tracked dozens of organizations worldwide build Balanced Scorecard and each quarter. other performance planning and management systems.

Sponsored by: 38 48 XXXCJSUFYDIBOHFDPN 39 JCI’s previous approach of one-off negotiating, as well as Three primary functions of the project were: its spirit of continuous improvement and customer focus, meant that it had only one-off measures in every location. 1. To replace the PowerPoint slides used in global and regional The company, for example, had 127 variations of the measure monthly internal operational reviews. ‘maintenance management’. Many were very similar, but since 2. To very quickly be able to become best in class. JCI wanted they were not exactly the same they could not be compared everyone who had an account to be able to see where they effectively. Inefficiency at gathering and maintaining data at sat compared to their peers. This provided individuals – different locations across the globe made the task difficult when faced with a problem – the ability to quickly identify as well. Data was collected any way possible, thrown into a and contact others who had solved the same issue. cell or a Power Point slide, and handed in at the end of the month. It was highly inefficient, extremely customized at 3. To standardize customer faith in contractually required every location, and did not allow any ability to benchmark, performance measures. This was a key goal of the compare, or look at best practices. These concerns and company, which felt that if they were going to benchmark requirements drove JCI on its scorecarding journey. and compare, they needed to bring in the best practices learned at one location to their work at other locations. The Solution These three primary functions were heavily loaded in JCI’s rating In initiating its scorecarding solution, JCI first had to establish system as the company set out to choose the right software the right measures. Business leaders were chosen for all of for their scorecarding project. It was also important that the the scorecard categories, and for each of them a business software be intuitive, as there was no time for hundreds of owner was selected for each region; these business leaders hours of global-wide training. The software had to be rapid and owners were responsible for defining the standards and and easily configurable, with limited IT assistance. As JCI isa measures. Data collection systems in some cases proved very large organization with a lot of systems in place, the team difficult; there wasn’t always centralized information available in charge also wanted the software to be easily adjustable to Global Operational Excellence – in some cases, data needed to be gathered right down the company’s rapidly changing business; they didn’t want to at the account level. This meant that the process of data have to get into queue for IT every time a change had to be collection and identifying measures was a significant job. To introduced or a new customer added. By David F. Giannetto get started, though, JCI’s web programmers were able to put JCI Chooses Actuate andCEO a Performance Scorecard up some scorecards quickly, to allow the company to start The Telos Group architecting measures; this allowed business leaders across Four vendors were evaluated for JCI’s scorecarding project, with A Case Study of the globe to start identifying their measures, and to put the a global team in place to provide a systematic discussion of processes in place regionally to collect information. the defined business process and requirements. The product System chosen was the BIRT Performance Scorecard. JCI had 30 days Johnson Controls Incorporated Before committing to a technology, JCI wanted to know of Actuate Professional Services and planned for monthly micro 100 percent of their business requirements, and this was the improvements and quarterly macro improvements. ohnson Controls Incorporated (JCI) is a $38 billion and externally, using data-driven results. Since JCI has always point of their web-based scorecard. To assist in this endeavor, company, with a total of 140,000 employees working been very much a data-driven organization anyway, with Actuate – prior to selection – let the company test drive their Upon purchasing the BIRT Scorecard in January 2007, using out of more than 1,300 locations in 125 countries a manufacturing background, this was a natural fit for the product. The JCI team went through and looked at every the blueprints they’d established already the company wrote worldwide. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, corporation. single screen, determining where they had to configure the their business processes. They were able to go live in 90 days, the company provides a range of services, including JCI’s organization-wide motto is to be as good everywhere as tool, and for every single screen they also made what they helped by the homework they did with the blueprints, the web real-estateJ portfolio management, property management, called a ‘blueprint,’ creating an Excel template with fields to scorecard and the data collection processes. It was an incredibly they are somewhere. They’ve found that in any one account, facility management and design and construction services. they may excel in several areas but perhaps not in all areas; correspond with every field on each screen. It was incredibly smooth implementation overall. detailed work, but they wanted to ensure no mistakes were To initiate its scorecarding project, JCI began by creating elsewhere though, on another account, someone else might The Results five categories of measurement: Business Performance (this have the skills needed to fill in those gaps. The company’s goal made and that the business requirements were defined. To includes all financial measures); Service Delivery; Customer was to share information and communicate it between different accomplish this, there was an extreme amount of detailed Whereas JCI originally started out with a model of one-off Satisfaction; Safety; and People. While the other four categories locations across the globe, allowing the company as a whole to coordination globally, with twice-weekly meetings for the negotiations with customer measures, the scorecarding project may be typical to most organizations, the Service Delivery get better faster and to benefit from the skills and strengths of worldwide team in charge of the initiative. A byproduct of has led to approximately 70 percent agreement on JCI standard

Perform Magazine // category was designed to take JCI’s measurements down to its individual members. Scorecarding was introduced as a way the process was that the team learned to use the Actuate metrics. The company does a customer satisfaction survey the client-site level, which includes over 300 locations globally to help share this information and to introduce benchmarking BIRT Performance Scorecard and basically built all of the both annually and quarterly and aims to demonstrate evidence where the company has contracts. In some cases, there might within the company. blueprints for the project design. towards continual improvement. be one staff member assigned to manage a single building, The Requirements JCI’s audience for the project, upon kick off, were the Since implementation of the project, the company has also while other times a staff member has a whole portfolio they 300 external customers that would have access to this been solving its data integrity issues. Previously, two regions maintain. Measuring performance at all of these locations and To get started on their scorecarding initiative, JCI examined Information in Action information. Customers previous to this were getting their might have been using the same words but not the same data levels proved a complex undertaking. each of their US contracts. What they found was that there information via Excel and PowerPoint. In addition to these collection methods – this made it impossible to introduce Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 were no standards between clients, and therefore no ability Strategic Initiatives external customers was the population of approximately benchmarking and comparison between areas. Now, those to benchmark. Customers, though, wanted the ability to find 1,000 internal users within JCI itself. These included account problems are being solved and benchmarking and comparison Like all service providers, JCI has to demonstrate that they add out how they stood in relation to other customers. This was leaders and functional leaders, including those from HR, are possible, to the benefit of both JCI, as it strives for best-in- value. Scorecarding allows them to do this, both internally impossible under the circumstances. Finance, Safety, etc. class status, and its customers.

40 41 volumes, unless there happened to be a coffee shop next door with a WiFi connection that would let Helzberg’s executives access the enterprise system. About Webalo The Three Cs of Information Access ebalo technology transforms The three Cs of diamond grading – clarity, cut and carats (or enterprise applications and data to weight) – turned out to be applicable to data access as well. Wmake them compatible with mobile But it took a transition to handheld devices and to the Webalo devices. This eliminates the need for traditional Mobile Dashboard to achieve it. custom programming, reducing the deployment of mobile applications from weeks or months Though laptop computers had gotten lighter and lighter over to, in most cases, less than a day. The resulting the years, they were still considerably heavier than the Pocket “anywhere, anytime, on-demand” availability PC-based smartphones that Helzberg’s executives used. Since of enterprise data on handheld devices turns they were carrying those handhelds in addition to their laptops, such devices into viable alternatives to desktop, the VPs were open to the idea of being able to: laptop, and palmtop computer hardware, and • Access sales metrics on their handhelds; lets mobile employees work more productively – on the spot – to solve problems, answer • Have data available on-demand from any location with a questions, monitor operations, close sales, and wireless signal; make informed decisions. • Navigate quickly to the figures they needed; The Webalo Mobile Dashboard Service – available in both internet-based and enterprise intranet- • Get updates to their metrics automatically; based implementations – lets non-IT business • Review the information offline. administrators securely specify the content of mobile-accessible information, and the It was the only time that carrying less weight – or carats – added companion Webalo Proxy Server configures it, in more value. Using a simple step-by-step wizard, Helzberg’s seconds, to conform to the native user interface support staff was able to configure their enterprise reports of any BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, in a matter of hours. They then assigned access privileges to Palm, Symbian, or Java-enabled smartphone. each executive to control who could see what information and uploaded the file to the Webalo server. That satisfied how data was “cut.” For each mobile user, regardless of the brand and model of smartphone they used, the Webalo Mobile Dashboard conformed the information to the devices’ user interface. The application worked and looked exactly like any other CLARITY, CUT, AND CARATS application developed specifically for their mobile devices, the on-screen text was easy to read, and navigation used the same How Helzberg Diamonds Made Sales Data Clearer, Eliminated menu structure. That meant there was no learning curve to delay user acceptance and productivity. Clarity was essential, Delays, and Lightened the Load for its Divisional Executives and the Mobile Dashboard delivered it, right down to the ability to bookmark commonly-referred-to displays for instant diamond may be forever, but a lot has changed in how they’ve been marketed and sold during Helzberg reference, enhancing on-the-spot productivity even more. Diamonds’ nine decades in business . A single store has expanded to nearly 300 locations from coast to coast Speed and Simplicity and border to border . Sales can also be made online now . And information about every sale can be accessed in an instance through the company’s enterprise systems . Perform Magazine // A Productivity was also improved on the IT side. Without the need for custom programming to conform the information to • Compare actual sales to their goals and plans; Out of Touch With Crucial Data each smartphone brand and model, deployment was reduced Previously, when Helzberg’s divisional and regional vice • Determine transaction counts for total dollar volume and from months to hours. average sales value; presidents went on the road, access to their key performance Since adopting the Webalo Mobile Dashboard, Backhus metrics was restricted. Without a laptop and a WiFi or hotel • Break down sales by product category; Information in Action says, “The Divisional VPs find it invaluable. They get more

network connection to the internet, they were “flying blind,” Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 • Monitor attachment rates for products and services related done because they don’t have the delays they used to have.” according to Greg Backhus, Helzberg’s Director of Data to the main product sale. Decisions that used to have to wait for current data are now Warehouse and Decision Support Systems. As a result, they did made right away, relying on the right data presented in the a lot of faxing; it was the only way they could get the current For example, onsite at individual stores it was difficult to gauge right format. data that they needed, in order to: how an active price-reduction sale was affecting unit and dollar

42 43 A Road

practice has graduated Regulatory Requirements. The survey’s fourth most popular reply Map of Key Sustainablefrom being market hype – at only 25 percent – were current or potential regulations, to becoming a strategic initiative, important for driving a including the cap and trade systems being implemented, which successful enterprise. It not only reduces a company’s impact will require companies to buy carbon and sell carbon credits. on the environment, but can help organizations achieve a Shareholder Pressure. Finally, at fifth in the CIO Insight survey competitive advantage, to build their brand, impact top and Sustainability – with 14 percent of responses – was shareholder or public bottom line, and improve customer acquisition, satisfaction pressure: pressure building from shareholders to put forth and retention. sustainability efforts. Pressure at this level is often mixed, though, Creating a road map towards sustainable management can as shareholders are also likely to express a desire that they don’t Metrics require an entire shift in corporate thinking, one that involves want shares to decline in value. The general message may be searching for buy-in at all levels, establishing useful metrics, and that it is fine to introduce sustainability measures only as long as introducing practices that get beyond the green hype. The end there is no risk that they will hurt the company. That Impact result, though, is not just a greener organization, but also one with a more prosperous future. A Road Map Towards Sustainability Why Sustainability? Step 1: Identify What Drives Your Organization Bottom In August 2008, a survey undertaken by CIO Insight examined The first step in the road map towards sustainability is identifying green practices in business, focusing on the reasons why CIOs key drivers. Some drivers vary from one organization to another, introduce sustainability efforts into their organizations. The while others seem to drive any organization, regardless of the Line number one reason why organizations went green, the study industry. Drivers incude: found, was that the people within those companies sincerely Internal drivers: had a concern for the environment. A total of 74 percent of respondents answered that way, 32 percent of which listed it as • Cost cuttings and savings; their most influential driver. • Employees, including both the satisfaction of current Other influential drivers named in the survey included: employees, as well as the recruitment and retention of future employees; Financial Drivers. Companies found sustainability to be a way of cutting costs. If they could cut energy costs, not only would • Investment. that help the environment, but it would also help create cost External Drivers: savings. The second most popular answer in the CIO Insight study, financial impacts are key to implementing sustainability • Stakeholders, including both those within the company – in most organizations. Examples of financial impacts possible the employees discussed above – as well as stakeholders outside of the company; from sustainability were presented at CFO2: The CFO Green Conference, which took place in May 2008: • Brand awareness, because consumers are becoming • Dupont reduced its CO2 emissions by 70 percent, saving increasingly aware of the choices that are available to the company $3 billion. them and are making choices based on a company’s green initiatives. • FedEx redesigned its delivery trucks, making them more aerodynamic. This reduced the amount of particulate Future drivers: pollutants, nitrogen and carbon the trucks put into the • Tax incentives; atmosphere, and it also reduced the company’s fuel costs exceptionally. • The recruitment and retention of future customers. Customer Image. In the CIO Insight survey, the third motive listed Step 2: Select Your Metrics by CIOs for introducing sustainability – at 64 percent – was In general terms, sustainability metrics will fall into one of four company image. Consumers are becoming more and more Perform Magazine // major categories: those that affect the climate; those that affect aware of whether companies or organizations are living up the oceans; those that affect human health; and those that affect to sustainability ideals. They will notice if a company image common issues like the land, the water, the wildlife, etc. or brand value reflects this concern for the environment. Meaningful sustainability efforts can help gain customer Within those large categories are smaller areas of interest that approval, as in the following case: companies must examine to introduce organization-wide

Information in Action sustainability management; carbon monoxide use, energy • Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble together agreed to sell Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 consumption, water consumption and fuel consumption are liquid laundry detergent only in concentrated form. This prime examples. saved shelf space for Wal-Mart, reduced water use by 400 million gallons for Procter & Gamble, and eliminated 45 Carbon Monoxide Use. Many of the questions companies are million pounds of plastic waste. asking themselves, in regards to carbon monoxide use, include:

44 45 Sustainability management is requiring new choices What often helps companies overcome challenges and new ways of thinking. Not a lot of information is is borrowing from the knowledge of experts. While “available, which means companies must be able to adopt “sustainability management is a new field, best practices new ideas and to adapt to new trends quickly. are already being established by the green avant-garde.

• How much carbon monoxide do we produce? Some of the examples of metrics that companies introduce in 4. Determining appropriate metrics. Companies must choose Step 5: Get Started terms of water consumption include improved water quality; metrics that are useful, demonstrate impact, and say • Which processes in our overall manufacturing or delivery ” Understand that sustainability development is ” a business how much impact low-flow or low-volume toilets have on water something about their own corporate environment. use produce the most emissions? opportunity. Don’t look at it solely as environmental, although consumption; and how much water is or can be recycled. 5. Calculating metrics. Standard algorithms and calculations that is also important. It’s an opportunity for companies to • Can we determine the indirect emissions? For example, Fuel Consumption. Questions to consider in relation to fuel exist to calculate metrics, but companies must find the introduce more cost-effective processes and procedures, and to leave a computer plugged in and it’s still on the grid, consumption include: appropriate ones and use them. become more cost effective in their vehicle fleet, manufacturing, creating an indirect carbon dioxide emitter. How can we delivery, etc. measure that? • How much fuel do we use? 6. Finding quality data to plug into those calculations. As in any Business Intelligence project, if the quality of the • Create globally consistent metrics and goals. Large agencies • What’s our cost? Do we have metrics that tell us what our • Where are the inefficiencies? data is questionable then so are the sustainability metrics have to make sure that the entire group is on board, and CO2 emissions cost us? • What’s being predicted for fuel usage in the future? themselves. that they have consistent metrics and consistent goals • Can we predict into the future? If we continue on this path, across the enterprise. • Can we analyze our logistics so that we can determine how 7. Determining the scope of the sustainability project. The scope without doing anything, where will we be next month? to reduce our fuel consumption? For example, where are is critical. Narrow it down to something achievable, feasible • Find the value and drive the action. What is the value of Next quarter? Next year? our trucks traveling? How are they traveling? What kinds of and useful. monitoring these sustainability areas, and what’s the course Some examples of metrics related to carbon monoxide use loads are they carrying? of action if you see that they’re going off kilter, or are not Step 4: Learn from Best Practices include carbon dioxide emissions per employee (similar tracking as expected? Step 3: Recognize Challenges to revenue per employee); carbon footprint metrics; and What often helps companies overcome challenges is • Start small. Initiatives such as these can become incredibly transportation distances. Sustainability management is requiring new choices and new borrowing from the knowledge of experts. While sustainability complex very quickly. Start small and build in the ways of thinking. Not a lot of information is available, which management is a new field, best practices are already being Energy Consumption. Areas of interest related to corporate complexity with each ensuing project. means companies must be able to adopt new ideas and to established by the green avant-garde. energy consumption may include the following: adapt to new trends quickly. As such, easier ways to enhance • Get buy in. People need to understand what the metrics • Assign an executive champion. Without an executive • How much do we consume? From what sources? communication and to increase visibility need to be introduced, are, why they’re there, and what they mean to each champion to drive the project, initiatives are more likely to both inside and outside of an organization. individual’s situation (as reflected in individual bonus • Are we on the grid? Are we using solar power or wind lack a holistic view and a clear vision for an implementation plans, perhaps). Measure using industry-accepted power, or another alternative power? There are also constantly evolving requirements, measures and strategy; they may take longer to implement and methodologies and industry-accepted protocols; standards of success. With everything so new, companies are they’re less likely to yield the required results. To provide • How much is used by our data center? How do we make continually improve metrics through optimization challenged to find ways to compare their sustainability efforts motivation, consider linking the champion’s salary directly the data center greener? and forecasting; and constantly optimize metrics and with other organizations. The biggest challenge in implementing to sustainability savings or to the increased revenues that forecast into the future. • Where can we reduce consumption? these processes or attracting metrics may be that they require result from sustainability efforts. an entire shift in thinking. Additional challenges that exist in the • As much as possible, accurately report to everybody Companies today are reducing energy consumption in a variety • Implement internal training and education. Educate implementation of a sustainability model include: environmental performance. Let employees, shareholders, of ways: by introducing energy audits and looking at energy- employees on what to expect and what is expected from customers and regulators know. If data is questionable,

Perform Magazine // saving appliances, and also through energy incentive programs 1. Financial concerns. Companies must truly see potential for them. fix it, get quality processes in place, and then run the for employees, within which companies can incentivize and returns on investment, or these initiatives can become non- • Improve communication. Communicate both to employees metrics. introduce bonus plans. starters or stall. and to stakeholders outside of the organization. • Determine environmental impact. Has waste been reduced? Water Consumption. An examination of a company’s water 2. Lack of regulatory motivation. While not as common as • Start to think about alternative energy management and Has resource utilization been reduced? Has the company consumption may include some of the following queries: it once was, certain organizations aren’t motivated to control strategies. improved environmental factors?

Information in Action introduce sustainability until government regulations are

• How much water do we currently use, and where? Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 in place. • Engage the use of technology and services. For companies not Also, consider using an Open Source vendor. The Open Source • Where in our processes do we use the most water? sure where to begin, a sustainability consultant can assist community is beginning to develop sustainability metrics, and 3. Lack of a formal strategy for sustainability. Without a formal with program selection, as can vendors such as Actuate, Open Source reduces the costs of developing metrics, while • Can we predict how much we’re going to use in the strategy, it is difficult for companies to determine where which has a sustainability management solution in place. software costs for the project are reduced as well. future? they need to go.

46 47 the environment and financially in terms of revenues and cost savings. Publicize how metrics are tracking over time. Actuate for Sustainability Management Actuate for Sustainability Management is a solution by Actuate that integrates highly interactive, visually rich dashboards. There are pre-built sustainability scorecards, strategy maps, and over 100 pre-built metrics across the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability. The Actuate BIRT Performance Scorecard supports the metrics defined, including: • Reducing an organization’s environmental footprint; • Building green facilities and buildings; • Compliance and reporting; • Manufacturing; • Community and engagement; Actuate • Human development, including employee well-being and satisfaction. Performance Management Actuate for Sustainability Management provides collaboration across regulators, consumers and non-governmental Excellence Awards organizations. Dashboards and scorecards come integrated 2009 Step 6: Move from Green Hype to Sustainable Action with reporting, so as to improve reporting to stakeholders both A successful sustainability initiative involves identifying outside and inside of an organization. All of the products are metrics that will translate into cost savings and benefits, while built on Actuate’s dependable, cost-effective and scaleable avoiding metrics that are not likely to yield required results. platform. To accomplish this, start small; start with a small department within the organization, and then repeat this, continuing to Performance Management solutions help organizations understand, act on and influence business decisions, repeat it throughout the enterprise. processes and measures of business success. The 2009 Actuate Performance Management Excellence • Start with basic conservation. Change behavior, reduce Awards will honor customer success stories in four key areas. Over the next several issues, Perform Magazine consumption and in the process increase investment. will highlight some of the entries in these categories: • Start reusing. Improve productivity, improve efficiency, and create less waste. Category 1: Go Green Category 3: Big Bang • When this translates into cost savings, re-invest. Grow, make Each year, the concept of environmental responsibility has Carefully executed Performance Management initiatives begin larger improvements, and increase involvement. implications for both the private and public sector, specifically with a measured approach to the initial implementation, and with regards to how each measures the performance quickly expand to other parts of the organization, aligning Projects that make good starting points: of their operations. For organizations using the Actuate business units to strategy at each step. This category is open • Measure carbon dioxide emissions throughout a BIRT Performance Scorecard to measure the progress of to Actuate customers who initially implemented the Actuate value chain or product lifespan. Look for potential organizational Green initiatives, how have they responded BIRT Performance Scorecard to a limited user community and improvements. to the challenge, and how do they use the BIRT Performance through careful change management and planning, expanded Scorecard to ensure they stay on track? the use of the BIRT Performance Scorecard throughout the • Ensure regulatory compliance. By knowing what the Perform Magazine // organization. regulations are, companies can determine what metrics Category 2: The Perfect Slice need to be in place. Category 4: Super Size Successful Performance Management comes in all sizes. • Identify ways to promote and profit from more Some initiatives are enterprise-wide while others are focused Award-winning enterprises achieve breakthrough results in environmentally-respectful goods and services. around specific business units or functions, yet still encompass the financial, customer, operational and people perspectives Companies can promote environmentally-respectful Information in Action a holistic approach to Performance Management by looking of their business and leverage internal champions across the goods and services, while also using sustainability to help Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 beyond financial indicators to a more balanced set of indicators. organization to ensure ongoing and sustainable success. The the company. This category includes organizations deploying the Actuate key to achieving these results lies in total visibility of all business Monitor the effects of each project to determine which BIRT Performance Scorecard with a focus on improving the units aligned to strategy. This category is open to any Actuate strategies have the most impact, both physically in terms of performance of individual business units or functions, and customer with a fully deployed enterprise-wide Actuate BIRT includes the measurement of people and processes. Performance Scorecard implementation.

48 49 > Performance Management Excellence Awards > Performance Management Excellence Awards

As a point of reference, the Government Programs SBU is Taking the answers to these questions a step further, the HealthNow New York comprised of a State Government Programs team, a Federal facilitator asked the next question: Is the drill-down structure Government Programs team, an Operations team, and a the same for the core strategic or team metrics? The answer Sales team. The Performance Management design team was was yes. By taking this approach, we were provided with Category 2 Entry: The Perfect Slice comprised of the Actuate system administrator/facilitator, the consistency in how the teams look at their business and the Government Program financial reporting manager and two performance of their core indicators. To that end, a new business model was implemented to provide SBU data analysts. Input from the various teams’ management Once the incentive and strategic goals were identified, more the framework for customer focus. Under the new structure, staff was gathered as the design got more granular. leading and lagging operational measures were defined, such the company was divided into four strategic business units Discussions around the design of the Government Programs as: (SBUs), each responsible for financial contribution, customer scorecard began with two basic questions: • Call centers; satisfaction, medical utilization and market share of a specific book of business. 1. What are the handful (ideally, six to eight) of key performance • Accuracy; indicators that are necessary to run and manage your business Each SBU includes its own set of functions, including: sales; • Quality; and to indicate that you’re on the right path to achieving your account and broker management; product configuration; goals? • Sales Performance. customer intelligence; pricing, enrollment and billing; customer 2. Who is your audience? service; medical management; and HR support. Each business Defining the key performance indicators was a challenge that unit is led by an executive who is fully accountable for the required the Actuate system administrator, in a facilitative role, Through the entire measure selection and definition process, unit operations and for bottom-line performance of the entire to get intimately involved in order to keep the discussions the design team was constantly reminded to keep a second HealthNow New York Inc., headquartered in Buffalo, is one of business unit. Each SBU is supported by various corporate focused and high level, and to limit scope creep. The incentive question – who is your audience? – in mind. This helped New York State’s leading healthcare companies, doing business support functions (Actuarial, IT, Legal, etc.). goals were clearly defined at the corporate and SBU level, keep the focus on the critical few and keep the number of as BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, BlueShield of however the tough question was how should they drill down metrics down to a manageable amount. Links to supporting Implementation of the new business model began with a Northeastern New York, HealthNow in the Central New York in the BIRT Performance Scorecard? The facilitator posed the documentation were created to provide easy access to the reorganization of the senior management structure. The senior region, and Brokerage Concepts Inc. in Pennsylvania. following questions to the other members of the design granular data without burdening the scorecard’s objective. management of each SBU has specific incentive goals as well team: Improving the health of people and communities are as strategic goals aligned with the corporate incentive. Those The audience, in this case, was the SBU’s Senior Vice President, HealthNow’s corporate priorities, and for more than 70 strategic goals then drill down to “team” incentives, and to a • How do you usually look at your business? followed by the State Director, Federal Director, Operations years the company has been a proactive partner in health, blend of strategic and operational goals. Director and Sales General Manager. It then cascades down to • How are the primary source documents that capture this working to improve the quality of care and the quality of life each director’s management team and the data providers. This was a completely new way of looking at our business. It was information structured? for everyone it serves. In 2008, HealthNow provided access to a blank slate, requiring new processes and new methodology, In order to provide a complete and consistent picture of State care to more than 820,000 members and in 2008 company as well as an examination of existing metrics and processes, • What other ways do you look at your business? and Federal performance for senior management, where revenues grew to $2.27 billion. to determine what added value and where the strengths, 1 . Explain the problem you were intending to solve . weaknesses, opportunities and gaps were. Describe the business drivers for initiating this solution, Under this new structure, the Government Programs State and describe what you were trying to achieve as a group, and Federal products SBU – which historically had some function or department . inefficient end-to-end processes, lacked internal controls and A few years ago, HealthNow New York Inc. determined that the had minimal oversight of financial performance – was able to key to its continued success would be its ability to differentiate set a foundation and develop a growth strategy. In order to itself from other healthcare plans in ways that could not achieve this mission, and to align, track, monitor, improve and be readily duplicated or copied by their competitors. In an communicate performance, the Senior Vice President of the

Perform Magazine // increasingly crowded marketplace, to get the attention of Government Programs SBU elected to utilize a Performance new customers and retain existing ones, HealthNow needed Management framework via the Actuate BIRT Performance to set itself apart from others. Scorecard.

This lasting competitive advantage needed to come from 2 . Describe the successful solution, including time required an organizational culture that was dedicated to a relentless Information in Action to implement and its scope (including information focus on meeting customers’ needs. It needed to be highly regarding users of the solution and project team) . What Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 responsive, supportive, flexible and nimble, particularly as products were used and what function did they perform? the healthcare marketplace continues to change, with more What do you measure, and how does it change how you responsibility placed upon its customers. manage your part of the organization? [ Figure 13.1: Homepage Map ]

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possible the same or comparable measures were created teams. Placeholders are included to promote visibility, to keep for each team. For example, when looking at the various call them in the forefront even though the data or processes may center metrics – even if the definitions and targets slightly not be in place yet. But by capturing results on one page via a differed – if one team was consistently exceeding or meeting Map, it bridges potential gaps between the teams, promoting their target, it sparked group discussion around best practices, awareness and synergy across the SBU. processes, staffing, and target definition. 4 . Qualitative results: What “soft” or intangible benefits Utilization of Maps continues to play a major role in has the group, department, or organization received as a communicating performance. Again, focusing on our result of this solution? audience, there is a Map at the Senior VP level, which then A major benefit of the scorecard framework for the Government links to a high-level Map for the State director and staff, and Programs SBU has been the identification and alignment of for the Federal director, and staff. The one-page snapshot roles, responsibilities and accountability. allows management to easily view performance, then to drill down to specifics via additional detailed Maps or Books. The SBU’s Senior VP monthly leadership meeting focuses on Because the audience embraces the Maps concept, a “Where four areas: is it” Map containing all Maps and Books by SBU was created. [ Figure 13.2: CEO’s Book ] • Performance. Performance is covered via the existing It’s a quick and easy reference tool. incentive, strategic and operational metrics. are necessary to support achievement of the various meetings are much more productive and look at strategic and 3 . Quantitative results: How was the effectiveness of the incentives, strategic goals and direction, and operational operational performance. solution measured (metrics, ROI, etc .)? Please provide a • Action plans. Documenting action plans in the Performance goals. As with the strategic direction metrics, the value quantitative analysis of the benefits of the solution . Management Software Suite, versus verbalizing action As involvement and participation increased in the team is in the narrative, with the color reflecting what was plans, establishes ownership and accountability. At meetings, as well as in the leadership meetings, it removed silos, Quantitative results are achieved through the promotion accomplished for the specific reporting period. subsequent meetings, management follows up on key opened communications, enabled the sharing of information of visibility and awareness. The Return on Investment may action items or plans to determine whether or not the 5 . Innovation: Why should this solution be considered and best practices, and promoted teamwork across the SBU. not fit a conventional definition, but can be measurable corrective action did take place and if yes, did it have the an Innovative Solution? What makes it unique, But most importantly, it brought about an awareness and a and accomplished by challenging the data, targets, and desired results? groundbreaking and superior? What unintended results sense of unity and commitment within the SBU to achieve accompanying commentary/action plan narrative to drive did you realize? their goals, something that was lacking before. performance improvement. Are the targets realistic yet • Strategic direction. The strategic direction of the various aggressive? Are action plans being documented and carried teams is captured as a springboard to strategic thinking, Over time the Government Programs Performance While it was not part of the initial scope, management out? Are the actions, discussions and decisions leading to discussions and planning. So as not to lose sight of short- Management framework evolved into an innovative solution. realized shortly after implementation that efficiencies could improved performance and processes? and long-term strategic planning, this aspect of the The process drives performance, and isn’t necessarily focused be gained by replacing an in-depth hard copy monthly business now is housed in the BIRT Scorecard, completing on “color”. Rather, it’s about having the right people in the same report with BIRT-generated results. Since the BIRT Scorecard Government Programs’ membership is measured and the strategic planning of the “How are we going to get room on a regular basis, to drive meaningful discussion and to contained the same data with supporting narrative – plus monitored in various ways, via the BIRT Scorecard and other there?” and “Are we there yet?” cycle. This holistic approach take appropriate action to improve performance. additional metrics with narrative – monthly performance sources. For example, Federal membership is measured by helps minimize the chances of our scorecard becoming was captured via a monthly report Book, various Maps and product then by plan. It is also measured by market, then by too focused on operational performance and keeps Outside of the standard processes, it was the monthly review BIRT-generated reports. Elimination of the hard-copy report product, then by plan. By creatively visualizing performance strategic planning dynamic and visible. process that drove effectiveness, revisions, enhancements and was an unintended way of encouraging a more active use of in multiple ways via a Map, those same data results can restructuring of the meeting schedule, agenda and format. the Performance Management software by management to sometimes become very obvious, telling a different story that The value of these metrics is not in the data but in the The Government Program financial reporting manager would monitor performance, thereby increasing user familiarity with may not be obvious via standard reporting methods. It may commentary. The individual teams’ strategic direction meet with each director and general manager to review their the contents, features, functionality and navigation. clearly illustrate that a specific product in a specific market “metrics” are subjective: red = 1, yellow = 2, green = 3. The scorecard for completeness as well as for performance from an 6 . Sustainability: How does the solution adapt to changing is continuously under-performing, for example. Fact-based target = 3. Each metric includes a description of the specific operational perspective. The State and Federal team directors strategic path we need to research or move forward on, business requirements and deliver long-term sustainable Perform Magazine // decisions can then be made as to whether or not to continue would then meet with their respective management teams to value? with this product in this market, or it may initiate discussions as well as what goal achievement it supports. The “data” – review and discuss performance results in preparation for the as to how to grow and retain profitable membership for this or color – is based on basic questions like: What did you joint Government Programs Leadership Meetings. The audience Sustainability is achieved through a continuous process product in this market. hope to achieve this month vs. What did you actually achieve included the Senior VP down to team managers, key data of revisiting the scorecard when there are organizational this month? Were there any successes, barriers, obstacles? In Another more recent example is an initiative to track claims- analysts (data providers), and support function representatives. changes, looking at the business direction shifts, goal Information in Action addition to accountability, the entire SBU benefits from Through trial and error, management learned to maximize changes, process changes, etc. To ensure that metrics are review savings. By reviewing claims via various processes, Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 the sharing of information, having meaningful discussion, what savings can be recouped or realized? What specific their time and effectiveness by concentrating on key metrics still relevant, a filtering process is held with each director and taking appropriate action, and collaboration. areas are State and Federal teams focusing on that can and topics, rather than trying to review all metrics, identify general manager every six to eight months, or as necessary. contribute to overall savings for the SBU? Again, where • Key initiatives. The last critical component is the leading indicators versus only outcome results, and include During this exercise, questions such as the following are applicable, there should be consistency in the metrics across identification and alignment of key initiatives that strategic thinking and initiatives. Today the monthly leadership asked:

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• Is it still relevant to the business and audience? navigation user friendly, it keeps the users visually interested and helps minimize frustration at the user level. • Does it add value? City of Dallas Having the system administrator attend the team and leadership • Is it being used to make any business decisions? meetings provides a great opportunity to observe what is • Is the measure owner correct? working or not working for the audience in terms of content, Category 4 Entry: Super Size functionality, and process. It also is a subtle way to learn about • Is the target still valid? reviewing proposals from several software companies, the any organizational, business or process changes that may City ultimately chose the BIRT Performance Scorecard, as it Has it been consistently meeting or exceeding expectations? require revisions to the scorecard. Topics often spark off-line was best able to meet our business requirements within our If yes, the methodology behind the data is reevaluated and/ discussions about possible enhancements or suggestions to budget needs. or a realistic yet aggressive stretch target is set. better meet business needs. A team of City of Dallas representatives was formed, with As revisions to the content of the scorecard are made, there In summary, the Government Programs management team has members from three departments who would work with is a conscious effort to make sure all objects, Maps, Books, definitely embraced a Performance Management framework. Actuate consultants to implement the full project. A tight and reports reflect the revisions. When applicable, revisions They make a concerted effort to make it an iterative process project schedule was created; over 3,000 measures in over 30 departments would be “scrubbed” and entered into the are communicated to the appropriate parties. By being to keep it current and effective in the pursuit of their goals and new system in less than six months. In addition to the work creative with the presentation of the information and making strategic direction. sessions, we had to train location administrators and the end users (managers and department representatives). In addition to this work, we decided to build a dual system – one that tracked both day-to-day measures and long-term, multi-year performance. 1 . Explain the problem you were intending to solve . Experience Actuate Mobile Describe the business drivers for initiating this solution . The City of Dallas used the BIRT Scorecard to its fullest capacity to Before the City of Dallas implemented the Actuate BIRT build the dual-view structure which currently houses over 3,500 Performance Scorecard system, we had a partially-developed measures. The BIRT Scorecard is used to house three views in performance measurement system. The system was not the current year and one archival view, a training database, and user-friendly, did not allow us to easily generate reports, and a test environment. Briefing Books have been created that allow crashed when too many users logged in. It severely limited end users to enter their data; a Book was created for each of the the management potential of the City of Dallas and grew to over 300 services (group measures) and filters were used to pull be a repository for large sums of information that failed to the data and formula measures for each service. Each Book has a measure progress, assist in management decisions, or support unique URL address by which users access their service for data continuous improvement to city operations. entry. Over 20 images have been loaded into the system for use True Mobility as backgrounds for Maps, and departments are creating reports Department representatives and executives throughout the to show progress towards annual goals. City were unable to cull needed information from the system. Device Friendly Formatting Managers and administrators hated it because it was hard to As previously mentioned, the system is used to track progress Actuate Mobile transforms your e.Spreadsheet and BIRT enterprise use. The public had no way of understanding what was being toward both day-to-day and long-term goals. The City of Dallas reports allowing them to adjust to your specific mobile device measured and reports were often several months behind due has over 30 departments with a wide variety of business lines, ensuring your content is easy to read, navigate and perfectly to the laborious process involved in posting the information to from the typical services for public safety and public works, formatted for viewing. the internet. to airport management and the only municipally-owned commercial radio station in the country. The City measures After several years of struggling with the old system, a group everything from the number of birth/death certificates sold to of key executives came together to demand something better. the number of sewer interceptors inspected/cleaned, to the Anywhere, Anytime Portability They wanted a new system that was easy to use, both when percent of funds protected from loss. Due to the wide range of Stay in touch with all the information you need – without the inputting data and when trying to pull data out for decision- services provided within the City of Dallas, few measures occur frustration of trying to read information and attachments that making. It had to be accessible to the public through the at multiple locations. This not only added to the complexity of Perform Magazine // were not designed for mobile viewing. Actuate Mobile ignites your internet, and the most important requirement was that the the build out, but it also reflects the necessity of a system of this data in the system had to be useable to manage performance. mobile workforce by delivering rich user content that powers daily magnitude in order to assist upper-level executives in managing transactions, decisions, important deals, and the bottom line. 2 . Describe the successful solution, including time required everything the City does. to implement and its scope (including information With the implementation of the BIRT Scorecard, performance regarding users of the solution and project team) . What data has become a more integral part of management. Information in Action products were used and what function did they perform? Performance data is discussed in quarterly meeting and is posted Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009 What do you measure, and how does it change how you to the general public for review. More people have access to the BlackBerry®, RIM®, Research In Motion®, SureType®, SurePress™ and related trademarks, names manage your part of the organization? and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the system and are looking at data and discussing performance. The U.S. and countries around the world. Used under license from Research In Motion Limited. For several years the City of Dallas had plans to purchase a culture of the organization is changing from reporting data for new software program to track city-wide performance. After compliance to using data for management.

For more information about Actuate’s Mobile Solution, please contact an Actuate expert at 1-800-914-2259 (US & Canada) 54 55 > Performance Management Excellence Awards > Reading Room

3 . What Performance Management framework do you 5 . Qualitative results: What “soft” or intangible benefits has use, and how did you roll out the strategy, and the system, the organization received as a result of this solution? Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller across the organization (in terms of communication, training, use of the system?)? The BIRT Scorecard has helped refine and reenergize the City’s approach to evaluating its performance. The ease of Oil and the End of Globalization The BIRT Scorecard easily accommodated the City’s existing the system’s use has freed organizational stakeholders to framework for Performance Management, which aligns city concentrate on the high-level questions that data prompts, By Jeff Rubin services into six Key Focus Areas identified by the City Council. rather than spending time and effort on retrieving and orldwide oil reserves are disappearing, and what that means is a huge shift in the world We began with a small pilot group of nine departments holding formatting data. Furthermore, the dynamic environment in as we know it. Globalization will reverse and the food and goods from around the work sessions to narrow the measures down to the critical few. which City departments can now access their data has raised After the work sessions, measures were loaded into the system awareness of the benefits of performance measurement. Wworld that we’ve gotten used to purchasing at our local superstores won’t be so readily and department/location administrators were trained. Finally, With a much more intuitive look and feel, the BIRT Scorecard available. That’s the world that Jeff Rubin forsees in his book, The World is About to Get a Whole Lot the end users/measure owners were trained on the software makes information much more accessible to a wider audience, Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization. and how to make updates into the system. This process was allowing for a culture of evidence-based management to Rubin, the chief economist and chief strategist for CIBC World Markets, was one of the first modified slightly and then repeated for two additional rounds extend beyond a select group of managers and analysts. Finally, of departments (26 additional departments). Once all of the this enhanced accessibility has aided efforts to eliminate many economists to accurately predict soaring oil prices back in 2000, and now is offering more department/location users were trained, books were created metrics that were unnecessary and did not provide any insight predictions on what the world will become once those oil prices climb even further, as less and for each executive and private training sessions were held for into normal operations. less of the dwindling resource becomes available. It will be a world that looks like the past, a world them on the system’s capabilities. not of global access, but of a more local existence. 6 . Sustainability: How does the solution adapt to changing 4 . Quantitative results: How was the effectiveness of the business requirements and deliver long-term sustainable But the picture Rubin paints isn’t all doom and gloom. He offers a view into how everyone can prosper in these new times, solution measured (metrics, ROI, etc .)? Please provide a value? benefiting from the new reality that results. Local industries will flourish again, and people will return to basic human values. But in quantitative analysis of the benefits of the solution . The BIRT Scorecard is highly adaptable. Early during the process order to get to that point, leaders need to prepare now, by imposing carbon tariffs, investing in mass transit, and creating “green” The effectiveness of the BIRT Scorecard will be primarily we realized that it could be used to monitor performance of alliances that will better the world and prepare us all for the new future before us. measured from a survey of end users who rate factors such both day-to-day and long-term measures. More recently, as as the system’s ease of use, ability to display information, the federal government developed its requirements for the and support of communication with stakeholders and American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), we quickly management decision-making. Additionally, a new realized that the BIRT Scorecard had the capacity to meet framework for bringing organizational stakeholders together the federal reporting and transparency requirements of the Game Over on a regular basis for collaborative discussions based around Act. Rather than purchasing a new software system to track the City’s established metrics is being planned, called “Dallas performance, we decided to use the Actuate solution to track Measures.” The BIRT Scorecard will be the focal point for these ARRA measures. It was a system the City already had, users have How You Can Prosper in a Shattered Economy meetings. Dallas plans to track the success of this program already been trained, and the system had the ability to post by revaluating programs discussed after changes have been results to the internet for the public. The benefits of the program By Stephen Leeb implemented. and our return on investment continue to grow. here’s bad news, and there’s good news. The bad news: the economy has shattered and the world is in recession. The good news, at least according to Dr. Stephen Leeb – author Tof Game Over: How You Can Prosper in a Shattered Economy – is this: there is a financial road map available to protect individual investments as the recession moves forward. In Game Over, Dr. Leeb offers advice on how to thrive in the current economy. The author, investment guru, and editor of Personal Finance predicted an economic fallout – due to a coming shortage of resources and commodities, especially oil – in past books, The Coming Economic Collapse and The Oil Factor. With those shortages still imminent, he says, the current economic climate isn’t likely to go away soon. Which is why Americans need to start protecting their investments now.

Perform Magazine // Dr. Leeb offers clear-cut advice as to how to do that, revealing his predictions as to which investments will rise, which sectors will boom, and the best way to hedge surging inflation. While many Americans will see their savings dwindle, Dr. Leeb hopes to make sure his readers aren’t among that group. Information in Action Vol 6. Issue 2 . 2009

[ Figure 14.1: ARRA Google Map ]

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