Dashboards, those essential tools for financial management, no longer offer static views and offer a whole in-depth array of analyses.
What is drill down?
In information technology, to drill down means to focus in on something. Applied to the field of business intelligence, it means being able to dig into a piece of data, to go deep into its specific layers and understand all the ins and outs in order to make good decisions on company strategy. This in-depth analysis concerns both a company's financial experts, its marketing specialists and managers of purchasing departments. Any budget manager using a management dashboard will find that this kind of in-depth analysis tool is a source of information and, therefore, of financial optimisation.
Moving from macro-analysis to micro-analysis
All the data of a company, derived from the reporting of the different stakeholders, is then subject to nomenclature, classification and breakdown on the dashboards. The latter become valuable decision-making tools for managers and decision-making staff at every level. Until now, these staff had access to fixed 'macro' indicators, which interpreted the raw results and which were sometimes rather 'ballpark' in nature. With drill down, they can now zoom in on a piece of data, begin its in-depth analysis and make their financial management much more precise. This new type of management dashboard allows us to move from macro- to micro-analysis, leading to a precise result that is invaluable in decision making.
The practical applications of in-depth analysis
This new kind of management dashboard has very definite everyday applications. Although their use optimises financial management, it also enables managers to prove a result, understand and explain a sales percentage, and to detect faults. This in-depth analysis option to look at a particular piece of data through a virtual microscope, is like the difference between a static PDF document and a document in three dimensions. It enables data and the results of analyses to be put into a much clearer and precise perspective. Each manager can then give direction and set precise performance objectives that are perfectly achievable in the short, medium and long term.