How to Effectively Price a Dashboard Project

Presented By : Mike Alexander and Mico Yuk
www.xcelsiustraining.com

DataPig Technologies LLC. ©All Rights Reserved 2011

About the Presenters
Xcelsius Advanced Developer Workshop
Typical Project Pricing Methodologies
Establishing Skill Set Based Rates
Establishing Customer Maturity
Accounting for Dashboard Size
Walkthrough of Dashboard Project Milestones
Demo of Dashboard Pricing Tool
Q&A


Mike Alexander
Mike Alexander is the author of several books on advanced business
analysis, including Crystal Xcelsius For Dummies. He has more than 14
years experience consulting and developing reporting solutions for a variety
of industries. In addition to consulting, Mike is also serves as the principle
contributor at www.datapigtechnologies.com, where he shares free video
tutorials with the Microsoft Office and Xcelsius communities. Mike has been
named a Microsoft MVP for his ongoing contributions to the Excel
community.

Mico Yuk
Mico Yuk is a 2010 SAP Mentor and Founder of the popular weblog,
EverythingXcelsius.com and the ‘Xcelsius Gurus Network’. She also serves as
part owner in the services end of Everything Xcelsius, where she manages a
team of SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius consultants at clients such as
Medtronic, VISA, SAP BusinessObjects, US Army, Chiquita Bananas, and
much more. A computer engineer by degree, she has been designing and
implementing enterprise dashboards since 2006 and is considered to be one
of the industry’s top Xcelsius dashboard developers in the world. Her work has
been featured on the SAP BusinessObjects main Xcelsius website.

Slide 3 DataPig Technologies LLC. ©All Rights Reserved 2011

Day 1 (Apr 19) Day 2 (Apr 20)
Advanced Dashboarding Techniques
Using Flash Variables and FSCommands
Advanced Xcelsius Design Techniques
Understanding Flash Variables
Enhancing Xcelsius Dashboards with
Visit Advanced Excel Functions
Passing Parameters Between Dashboards

www.xcelsiustraining.com Debugging Connected Dashboards using
Embedding Xcelsius Dashboard into Excel
To Register and Access
Fiddler

Connecting to Non BOE Data Sources
Use the discount code Connecting to BOE Data Source
WebGurus to register for Understanding BOE Connections
Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server

only $800 Writing back to the server from your
Using Live Office and QaaWS
dashboard

That’s a $300 discount! BOE Connectivity Best Practices
Triggering dynamic queries from your
dashboard

Creating an Adhoc Query Detail
Downloader


+ Time Based
You work a certain amount of
+ Project Based
You charge your client for
time and get paid for the time finishing a specific task or
spent working. project.

Protects you from the impact of Completing a project early is
delays or sudden addition of does not have a negative
workload. financial impact.

Give clients a finer amount of The client can budget for the
control of expenses, adjusting exact cost of the project.
engagement time as the project
unfolds.


- Time Based
Your client turns into a clock
- Project Based
Project delays and scope-creep
watcher, often pressuring you to could force you to work more
work faster than normal. for the same fixed price.

It’s difficult to negotiate in an Project completion is often determined
hourly model without blatantly by the client, who can force you into a
undervaluing yourself. series of iterative loops.

May require repeated Fixed pricing requires a more
negotiation and contract intensive requirements and
renewals, straining client specifications discovery process.
relationship.


An effective pricing strategy allows for a mix of both
methodologies.

Time Based Project Based

Set separate rate multipliers Consider client profile in
based on client profiles project assessment

Apply hourly rates based on skill A complete understanding of all
set availability and complexity skill sets needed for the project

Assign time an rate Develop a comprehensive list of
allocations to each distinctive all milestones and deliverables
dashboard task needed to throughout the project
deliver on milestones


You’re skill sets don’t fit into one category.
So why do you have one rate?

Job Title Job Level Hourly Rate
Info Systems Architect V MASTER $120

Business Consulting IV EXPERT $100

Svc Info Developer III SPECIALIST $90

Business Analyst IV EXPERT $70

Business Analyst II INTERMEDIATE $60

Allows for flexibility in negotiating rates

Forces you to examine each project milestone more closely


Consider applying a maturity multiplier to
your client’s rates.

High Medium Low
Understanding of
Requirements and Scope

Complete understanding of
data and internal nuances
Has In-House Subject Matter
Experts available

In-house team can serve as
development partners
Has the ability to take over
project once complete

Has Previously Built
Dashboards


Adjust work allocation based on dashboard size.

Small Medium Large
# of complex dashboard
components(i.e.. Charts, Grids,
<15 15 - 40 >40
Buttons, etc)

Dashboard selectors that allow
you to change the way the data is 0 1-2 >2
aggregated by choosing multiple
data dimensions

Filter components that allow you
to change the data that is in
dashboard or individual 1 2-3 >3
components

3rd-Party Add-Ins Requiring 0 1+ 1+
additional knowledge and support


Identify Business Requirements (Business Consulting IV)
Work with key personnel to understand business goals and
relevant KPIs
4 - 16 hrs

Define the purpose and audience for the dashboard 1 - 2 hrs

Identify areas of emphasis and importance for layout purposes 1 – 2 hrs

Identify authoritative sources for the agreed upon KPIs 1 – 2 hrs


Dashboard Layout and Design (Business Consulting IV)
Determine placement priority of displayed information to draw
focus to the most important components on your dashboard
4 - 6 hrs

Confirm KPI appropriateness with subject matter experts and 4 – 8 hrs
authoritative sources

Define the Dimensions and Filters for the Dashboard 4 - 6 hrs

Determine the need for Drill downs and supplemental views to 4 - 6 hrs
other sources


Determine Data Sources & System Feeds (Business Analyst II)
Determine frequency of updates (real-time vs. batch)
1 -2 hrs

Catalog available systems and data sources to determine the 1 -2 hrs
most appropriate sources for the agreed upon KPIs

Determine appropriate access to necessary data sources 1 -2 hrs

Identify key owners responsible for accuracy and maintenance 1 -2 hrs
of data sources

Specify and document agreed upon processes to receive data 4 - 6 hrs
from data sources

Establish the refresh schedule of data sources (real-time vs. 1 -2 hrs
batch)


Data Modeling, Analysis and Build (Svc Info Developer III)
Determine frequency of updates (real-time vs. batch)
1 -2 hrs

Catalog available systems and data sources to determine the 1 -2 hrs
most appropriate sources for the agreed upon KPIs

Determine appropriate access to necessary data sources 1 -2 hrs

Identify key owners responsible for accuracy and maintenance 1 -2 hrs
of data sources

Specify and document agreed upon processes to receive data 4 - 6 hrs
from data sources

Establish the refresh schedule of data sources (real-time vs. 1 -2 hrs
batch)


Data Connectivity (Info Systems Architect V)
Develop plan for the automated integration, aggregation, and
reporting of disparate data sources across various dimensions
32 hrs

Develop Plan for environment set-up, environment
configuration testing, test execution, resolving errors and test 32 hrs
reporting

Build ETL interfaces and establish processes and utilities as
needed to eliminate manual data collection of needed data 40 hrs
points

Configuration Testing/System Testing/Integration Testing:
end-to-end test performed to ensure code performs per specs 16 hrs
within an application and with interfacing applications


Post Production Release Support (Business Analyst IV)
Provide help desk support for dashboard changes/fixes post
production release.
20 -40 hrs


Contact Us
Mike Alexander
mike@datapigtechnologies.com
(214) 578-2141

Mico Yuk
mico@everythingxcelsius.com
(678) 561-6426
Visit Twitter: @MicoYuk
www.xcelsiustraining.com
LinkedIn:
To Register http://www.linkedin.com/in/micoyuk

Use the discount code WebGurus to register
for only $800

That’s a $300 discount!


How to Effectively Price a Dashboard Project

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