You want one place to see case volumes, turnaround times and branch results. During the dashboard discussion, you discover that each department counts a “closed case” differently. One report uses the submission date; another uses the decision date.
Before commissioning charts, check whether the numbers describe the same thing. Give this work its own place in the scope and budget.
Define one metric from beginning to end
Take case handling time. When does measurement start and stop? Does time spent waiting for documents count? What happens when a case is reopened?
Record the definition, source, update frequency and person who approves the result. That description makes it possible to check whether the report shows the right number. A label at the top of a column is not enough.
Inspect a data sample
Arrange sample files or access under your organisation's rules. Look for missing values, duplicates and different names for the same unit. Establish whether records from separate sources can be matched reliably.
Separate one-off cleanup from problems that will return with the next import. If branches keep entering information under different conventions, the project also needs an agreed way of working.
Ask for separate cost items
The quote should distinguish source preparation, metric definitions, calculations, report views and ongoing operation. Ask what the dashboard will show when a source stops updating. Users should be able to recognise an old result rather than mistake it for current information.
For acceptance, prepare a small dataset with an independently calculated result. Compare it with the report, including unusual cases. This lets you assess the meaning of the information behind decisions as well as the appearance of the chart. It also makes clear whether a discrepancy belongs to the report or to the source data.
Every number in this article, plus thousands of other contracts, is in the database.
Open the database