Business intelligence software provider iDashboards was founded in 2003 to help companies better utilize their stores of information. The software, also called iDashboards, provides a portal that draws live metrics from databases, data warehouses, Excel spreadsheets, XML, and other data sources throughout the enterprise. Users can customize views with a selection of charts and other visual tools as needed. The software's chart interactivity and data visualization features are patented.
"iDashboards delivers a direct impact to the bottom line for manufacturers," says Shadan Malik, iDashboards CEO and co-founder. "Executives and managers don't waste time poring over out-of-date reports and spreadsheets looking for problems and outliers; iDashboards manifests them instantly."
AET Films, one of North America's largest makers of specialty plastic films used in consumer goods packaging and labeling, rolled out iDashboards in its manufacturing operation early this year. The company wanted to move from a "snapshot" view of its performance data to a dynamic, real-time model that executives could access on demand.
Since AET's implementation of iDashboards, "VPs and senior-level managers are able to work with information as opposed to chasing it down the management chain," says Jim Burger, AET's director of information systems.
iDashboards recently reported 510% growth in revenue year over year for the first half of 2007 and signed more than 100 new customers in the period. Future plans for iDashboards include enhanced integration with leading ERP and supply chain software packages, as well as "delivering the very best in ease of use and a fascinating user experience," Malik says.
- YEAR FOUNDED: 2003
- PRODUCT NAME AND CATEGORY: iDashboards/business intelligence
- INDUSTRY SEGMENTS SERVED: CPG, industrial equipment, aerospace & defense, food & beverage
- KEY PROBLEM SOLVED: Provides a simple alternative for manufacturers struggling to close the gap between plant floor performance and executive visibility, without requiring a huge investment
- DIFFERENTIATOR: Uses a patented visualization metric that draws from databases, data warehouses, spreadsheets, XML, and other sources to pull live metrics from enterprise and plant floor apps
- TOP CUSTOMERS: Georgia Pacific, International Paper,
NOW Foods
- FUNDING: Internally generated