Start with a report people can use together
Business intelligence brings business records together so people can understand what is happening. Your first version can answer one recurring question, such as “Which orders still need dispatching?” The intended change is simple: colleagues can plan the next step from the same figures, instead of rebuilding separate files before every meeting.
Build three things in order: a checked set of source records, shared calculations with an agreed meaning, and a report that shows the answer. Keeping these separate lets you change the presentation without quietly changing what a number means. This follows the broad source-to-report approach in IBM’s explanation of business intelligence.
An organised spreadsheet may be enough when one person maintains a small report for a few readers. A shared reporting system may help when several reports use the same calculations, need regular updates, or show different information to different teams. Choose the tool after agreeing that need and who will maintain it.
See how the shared answer takes shape
Synthetic example, not client results: a small distributor wants sales and operations to see what remains to dispatch. At the agreed reporting time, three orders contain 20, 15 and 10 units of the same product. Their dispatch records show 12, 15 and 4 units sent.
The shared rule is ordered units minus dispatched units, matched by order number. The report shows 14 units still to dispatch across two orders: 8 from the first and 6 from the third. Both teams can open the underlying records and explain that answer. This example assumes complete records and no returns or cancellations.
There is one exception: the four-unit dispatch appears twice in the export. Counting both copies would show only 10 units outstanding. The reporting owner checks the dispatch number against the source, confirms the duplicate and counts that dispatch once. Correcting the duplicate changes the reported total to 14; it does not change what was shipped. If the duplicate cannot be confirmed, keep the report provisional.
Make it dependable before you extend it
Try the report in one weekly review. Confirm that colleagues can trace a total, recognise an unresolved issue and find the person responsible for checking it. Agree when the sources should be complete, who updates the report and who covers absences. Add another question once this routine works.
The roadmap, diagram and worked records for your first report show the example from source to shared calculation to report. Use them to scope your first version.
Datimore can help build shared business reporting around that routine. Our commercial performance case shows sales information brought into one view for managers; it is separate from this invented example. Bring one recurring question, the available records and the people who use them. The aim is a shared picture your team can explain and maintain.