New Dashboard Capability for SAS Enterprise BI Server
Portlet Application Combines Ease of Use, Graphical Appeal
The recent release of the SAS BI Dashboard is one more compelling reason to upgrade to 9.1.3 Service Pack 4 (SP4) and enjoy the full benefits of your investment. For some time now, customers have been asking SAS to deliver an out-of-the-box dashboard capability with the SAS Enterprise BI Server. Dashboarding has always been possible with the SAS Enterprise BI server, but with the arrival of the SAS BI Dashboard, a new portlet application available to SAS Enterprise Business Intelligence Server customers running SAS 9.1.3 SP4, it just got even easier and more visually appealing.
Dashboarding, simply put, is a way to represent numbers in an easily consumable, graphical form. A dashboard is only able to convey the information provided to it, and the value of that information can vary wildly, as can the interpretation of what is being displayed. To be of maximum value, a dashboard should go beyond the traditional display of actual vs. target numbers, displaying numbers linked to an organization's strategy, cause-and-effect relationships and business process.
The SAS BI Dashboard allows the rapid creation and deployment of dashboards that display data from a wide variety of sources and systems. It features point-and-click interfaces, a variety of graphical indicators that can be selected by the viewer and the ability to consume data for display from a wide variety of sources. Users will find they can quickly devise dashboards without the need to write or maintain code. They can also display forward-looking indicators (additional software to generate information may be required), giving decision makers early warnings of trouble ahead so problems can be prevented, or confirmation that the forecast is bright so needless preventative measures can be avoided.
If you have an interest in the SAS BI Dashboard and meet the criteria, ask your SAS account representative how you can get it. If you have a need for dashboards and do not have the SAS Enterprise BI Server, it may be time to take a look at what SAS software can do to help transform your organization. If this sounds like something that your company needs, don't stop with the SAS BI Dashboard, take a look at SAS for Performance Management as well.
