WO2016183617A1

WO2016183617A1 - Kpi reporting system

Info

Publication number: WO2016183617A1
Application number: PCT/AU2016/000172
Authority: WO
Inventors: John-Paul DELLA-PUTTA
Original assignee: Advance Business Consulting Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2015-05-19
Filing date: 2016-05-17
Publication date: 2016-11-24

Abstract

A system for displaying Key Performance Indicators, KPIs, on a mobile device. KPI data is regularly extracted from a business intelligence system converted to an image and stored in a cloud storage facility. The image is subsequently downloaded via a mobile device application and displayed to a user.

Description

KPI Reporting System

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a mobile application for reporting KPIs, Key Performance Indicators via a mobile device application.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[0002] Key Performance Indicators, KPIs, are a popular means for monitoring business performance and have been widely adopted across many industries. Many computerised systems have been developed for generating and displaying KPIs. As these systems have evolved they have become increasingly complex and configurable. Whilst such systems are useable in an office environment where a user has the time and suitable interfaces (i.e. keyboard, mouse and large monitor) to interact with such systems, efforts to port them to mobile devices have been less than ideal.

[0003] KPI systems for use on portable devices have sought to replicate the complexity and configurability of their office bound counterparts. The results are cumbersome to use in a mobile environment such as on a smart phone where screen real estate is limited and controls are often difficult to use. These systems have also failed to recognise that the needs of a mobile user are different to that of an office user. A mobile user will typically only need to access a few KPIs and leave trawling through the detail to when they are back in the office.

[0004] Known mobile KPI systems have also failed to exploit the inherent communication facilities of the devices on which they run and have focussed on presenting information and not interaction between the various stakeholders in a KPI.

[0005] A first object of this invention is to provide a KPI system that is easy to use in a mobile environment, or at least provide the public with a useful alternative to known systems. A further object of the invention is to facilitate communication between KPI stakeholders.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention provides a system for displaying Key Performance Indicators, KPIs, on a mobile device, comprising: a business intelligence system, a backend processing system; a cloud storage system and a mobile device application, wherein: the backend processing system extracts KPI data from the business intelligence system, converts the KPI data into a KPI data image and stores the KPI data image in the cloud storage system for subsequent download and display by the mobile device application on the mobile device.

[0007] Preferably the KPI data image is generated according to a configurable schedule and a push sent notification to the mobile device when the KPI data image is generated.

[0008] In preference the KPI data image is accessible by a first user responsible for the work done to achieve the KPI , and a second user responsible for managing the performance of the first user. The system may further comprise a chat facility to provide a chat session between the first user and the second user for each item of KPI data.

[0009] It should be noted that any one of the aspects mentioned above may include any of the features of any of the other aspects mentioned above and may include any of the features of any of the embodiments described below as appropriate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows.

[0011] Figure 1 shows a mobile device displaying KPIs as part of a KPI reporting system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0012] Figure 2 is a block diagram of the KPI reporting system.

[0013] Figure 3 is a flow chart showing configuration of a KPI to display using the system.

[001 ] Figure 4 shows various screen shots of a mobile device in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0015] The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts. Items shown in the drawings may have been modified and/or exaggerated for the purposes of clarity or illustration.

[0016] The present invention provides a KPI system for use with mobile devices and is intended to be an extension of conventional KPI systems which are accessed through a desktop environment. The system allows a user to simply and easily access KPI data on the run and also interact with KPI stakeholders. It is intended that the user would revert to the desktop environment for configuration and detailed KPI analysis. A desktop viewer for PCs is also provided to allow for quick access to the same data as for mobile users.

[0017] Figure 1 shows a mobile device 30 with the system in use. The display presents KPI data according to a predetermined configuration and is deliberately simple. In the example 4 KPIs are shown which are colour coded according to predetermined thresholds. In the example shown the first KPI 31 has a red background to indicate that it is below target. Such a simple interface allows a KPI stakeholder to quickly and easily monitor KPIs.

[0018] A complete KPI system is shown in Figure 2 and comprises 3 key

components: a mobile application, a computing backend and online image storage. In essence the computing backend regularly produces display images of KPI data, uploads these images to the online storage and notifies a user of their availability via a push notification. The mobile application retrieves the KPI data images and presents them to the user.

[0019] The computing backend may take several different implementations as is known in the art, but will typically comprise an application, here denoted as

KPIpulselO, on a desktop PC accessing other business systems 12 and databases 14 either on the same PC or on separate servers. Preferably the business systems are capable of producing KPIs. At preconfigured intervals 16 the application will be invoked and retrieve KPI reports from the business system or data from the database. The reports and data are converted into KPI data images 20 suitable for display on the mobile device and the images are then uploaded to a cloud storage facility 40. Small packets of KPI data are also generated and uploaded to the cloud storage for accessing via a spreadsheet application such as Excel by using a dedicated plugin. An alert is generated and sent 50 to the relevant users. The user can then at their convenience retrieve the KPI data images for review without need to access the application. As well as KPI data images, small packets of data for use in Excel and detailed reports are simultaneously generated and stored online.

[0020] In an example scenario a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) application is used to collect data such as details of sales calls made by each sales representative and stores this in the database. A Bl (Business Intelligence) tool is then used to extract KPI data such as the number of sales calls made by a sales

representative each day. Bl tools are well known with QlikView being a commonly used platform. QlikView will be referred to in the description and figures, but is understood to represent any suitable Bl tool.

[0021] The system provides for two types of users, KPI Owners and KPI Managers. A KPI Owner is responsible for the work done to achieve the KPI, for example a salesperson making sales calls. A KPI Owner is able to access their own KPI data. A KPI Manager is responsible for managing the performance of the KPI Owners and would typically manage several KPI Owners. The KPI Manager can access the KPI data for all the KPI Owners that they manage. KPI Owners and KPI Managers are collectively referred to as KPI stakeholders.

[0022] Figure 3 shows the steps in configuring the computing backend. A KPI is first defined 100 in Qlikview. A publishing task 110 is then created for calculating the KPI. The KPI is then assigned 120 to both a KPI Owner and a KPI Manager. A schedule is then created 130 for generating the KPI. A threshold is assigned 140 to the KPI and used to control how the KPI data is presented, typically KPIs that fail to meet a threshold will be coloured red to bring them to attention, alternatively an alarm image can be displayed.

[0023] Figure 4 further displays the mobile device application in use. In the first image 32 a KPI data image has been downloaded and displayed. The image includes three KPIs. Quite often such a view would be sufficient for a KPI Manager to adequately monitor the performance of a KPI Owner. The first image provides links to further functionality. In the second image 33 a chat session is instigated between the KPI stakeholders. In this instance the KPI Manager is querying the KPI Owner as to why the KPI was below threshold. In the third image 33 further data relating to the KPI is displayed in a more detailed KPI data image. As per the initial KPI data image this further information is pre-generated and stored in the cloud storage for retrieval and display by the mobile KPI application. The detailed image contains a further link to a pdf format report which is also pre-generated and stored in the cloud storage. The KPI Manager or Owner may also access a packet of data relating to the KPI for use in Excel via a plugin.

[0024] To complement the mobile application a PC viewer application is also provided for quick access to the same data as the mobile application.

[0025] The reader will now appreciate the present invention which provides a simple to use system for accessing KPI data on a mobile device. KPI data is regularly retrieved from a conventional business intelligence system and then converted to a simple data image which is stored in the cloud for remote access by either KPI owners or managers.

[0026] Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus. Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in this field.

[0027] In the present specification and claims (if any), the word "comprising" and its derivatives including "comprises" and "comprise" include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers.

Claims

1 . A system for displaying key Performance Indicators, KPIs, on a mobile device, comprising: a business intelligence system, a backend processing system; a cloud storage system and a mobile device application, wherein: the backend processing system extracts KPI data from the business intelligence system, converts the KPI data into a KPI data image and stores the KPI data image in the cloud storage system for subsequent download and display by the mobile device application on the mobile device.

2. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the KPI data image is generated according to a configurable schedule.

3. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the backend processing system sends a push notification to the mobile device when the KPI data image is generated.

4. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the KPI data image is accessible by a first user responsible for the work done to achieve the KPI, and a second user responsible for managing the performance of the first user.

5. A system as in claim 4, further comprising a chat facility, wherein the chat facility provides a chat session between the first user and the second user for each item of KPI data.

6. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the backend processing system also generates a packet of data for use in a spreadsheet application.

7. A system as in claim 1 , further comprising a PC viewer application for viewing the KPI image data.