The Client
This energy company is a leader in multi-fuel energy exploration and production. Its primary business is mining steam coal and marketing it to the electric power generation industry in order to power generators. It also produces methane gas and markets it to natural gas wholesalers.
The Problem
The company’s executive team faced a common management problem: the need to get a factual, data-driven view of the company’s health at a given point in time. For this company, the data required for a “big picture” perspective was present but not consolidated or readily accessible. The data resided in multiple systems, databases, spreadsheets, and data marts tied to distinct functional groups. The company had no way of consolidating relevant data from all of the various standalone data sources and then presenting it in a manner that was visual, intuitive, familiar, and thus easy-to-use for information consumers at all levels of technical skill. The executive team knew what they wanted: a Web-based executive dashboard that provided “at a glance” status of defined key performance indicators (KPIs) essential to the company’s overall performance: production, safety, compliance, continuous improvement, and cost. Further, they wanted the ability to drill into the data in order to pinpoint underperforming “red flag” performance issues, whether in a specific region or at a specific mine or well asset.
The Solution
Stonebridge was engaged to design, develop, test, and implement an executive dashboard accessible through a SharePoint portal. Built on the 360° Collaborative Framework, the dashboard includes unified scorecards that allow for viewing all company KPIs in one place along consistent filtering options. The portal also provides intranet collaboration and analysis sites for the company’s coal operations and mines and natural gas regions and wells. To create the solution, Stonebridge consultants worked directly with key business leaders in order to create reporting and analysis capabilities that aligned with the executive team’s defined performance metrics. Stonebridge consultants also examined the source data systems to determine the requisite data structures from which the target summary-level and operational data would be extracted for analysis. The data sources ran the gamut from spreadsheets and production data to Oracle-based financials and SAP ERP systems housing safety and compliance data. As the target data structure was being assembled, Stonebridge assisted the company with designing a unified corporate data hierarchy that enables consistent representation of mine and well assets across all information systems. In the development and implementation of the solution, Stonebridge provided a complete range of business intelligence, enterprise content management, and application development services, including project management, information architecture and design, ETL development, SharePoint portal architecture and development, report development using SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), PerformancePoint dashboard development, InfoPath forms development, and database assessment and mentoring support.
The Benefits
The dashboard solution paid immediate dividends from its initial launch. Now members of the management team use the same analytical toolset for reporting across common dimensions, and they can view relationships and trends using common timeframes across defined business units and locations. The portal’s look-and-feel is also consistent with the company’s Web brand. The executive team is now making plans to roll out the tool to mid-management personnel in order to ensure that they too are on the same page as to the company’s performance. Key data is no longer just data, but rather valuable information accessible, understandable, and actionable through clear visual representations. The dashboard provides a shared business context that helps guide key executive and leadership decisions that impact the entire organization.