Datasheet

Defining Dashboards and Reports
It isn’t difficult to use report and dashboard interchangeably. In fact, the line
between reports and dashboards frequently gets muddied. I’ve seen count-
less reports that have been referred to as dashboards just because they
included a few charts. Likewise, I’ve seen many examples of what could be
considered dashboards but have been called reports.
Now this may all seem like semantics to you, but it’s helpful to clear the air a
bit and understand the core attributes of what are considered to be reports
and dashboards.
Defining reports
Reports are probably the most common application of business intelligence.
A report can be described as a document that contains data used for reading
or viewing. It can be as simple as a data table or as complex as a subtotaled
view with interactive drilling, similar to Excel’s Subtotal functionality.
The key attribute of a report is that it doesn’t lead a reader to a predefined
conclusion. Although a report can include analysis, aggregations, and even
charts, reports often allow for the end user to apply his own judgment and
analysis to the data.
To clarify this concept, Figure 1-1 shows an example of a report. This report
shows the National Park overnight visitor statistics by period. Although
this data can be useful, it’s clear this report isn’t steering the reader in any
predefined judgment or analysis; it’s simply presenting the aggregated data.
Figure 1-1:
Reports
present data
for viewing
but don’t
lead
readers to
conclusions.
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Part I: Making the Move to Dashboards
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