Recently, on linkedin, a questioned was asked whether an xCelsius Dashboard
is the same as an aircraft cockpit display. As both a Pilot and Flight
Engineer (C-130) as well as 10 + year SAP BI vet, I wanted to take a while
and explain how different they are and how their usage is completely
different in practice.
Aircraft Cockpits
For me, the first major difference I
want explore between an Aircraft
Cockpit and an xCelsius (or any other
type of online-interactive dashboar),
is their concept or usage.
complete the mission, whether that be
to deliver a load of cargo, fly combat
sortie, fly passengers from point A to
B or simply a joyride.
xCelsius Dashboards
Predictably Engineered
Imagined
The aircraft cockpit, is, in general,
designed to tell the pilot what is going
on with the aircraft systems, the
environment the aircraft is operating
in and where the aircraft is in relation
to where it is heading. So, for
example, the basic systems, the pitot
static system, is designed to work on
detecting the changes in atmospheric
pressure experienced as the plane
ascends and descend in the
atmosphere and is a real-time
mechanical system. These changes
are nearly always predictable and
known in advance. If you go up,
atmosphere pressure goes down.
With a bit of math and adjustment,
you can get a very accurate idea of
how high you are, how fast you are
going and how fast you are going up
or down. In short, it is a highly
predictable, engineered system that
normally gives predictable results for
a given set of inputs-you hope!
An xCelsius dashboard, by contrast,
relies on a complex set of
technologies, including Excel, Crystal
Reports, SAP Business Warehouse,
LiveOffice, and a large number of
widgets and other technologies that
rely first and foremost on the
previous imagining of a near infinite
variety of scenarios and outcomes.
The system operates in delayed or
near-real time (mostly delayed) and if
you forget to imagine the right
question, i.e., in a retail environment,
at level do I want to see alerts MRP
signals? Although all the parts to this
system are as mechanical as the Pitot
Static system on the plane, the alert
settings, their meanings, their
interpretation and the follow-up
actions required and taken are not
engineered at all-they are business
decisions and likely to be different
from one business environment to
another and from company to the
next.
Mission Focused
Exploration
The cockpit of airplane is there to
ensure the pilot and crew and
complete the mission, whether that be
to deliver a load of cargo, fly combat
sortie, fly passengers from point A to
B or simply a joyride. In order to do
these things, the cockpit, which in
reality is composed of not only gauges
and dials and digital displays but as
well, the flight controls, engine
controls and landing gear controls, as
well circuit breaker panels,
communication and navigation
equipment. All it is possible to
complete the mission with some of
these devices malfunctioning, it
generally requires everything to be
working correctly in order to
successfully complete the mission.
Most ‘missions’ are carefully preplanned before they are ever flown,
and the pilots fly the mission with
minimal changes to the plan. The inflight replanning capabilities are
limited by the existing circumstances,
i.e., fuel onboard, location of the
aircraft, nearest airport, etc. What-if
scenarios are quickly explored and
decisions made. Once the mission is
completed and the plane is on the
ground, the cockpit is essentially back
in a zero state, meaning, it has no
information nor further exploration
duties-in short, it is turned off and
does not continuously receive data
inputs in order to be ready for the
next mission (although maintenance
may occur).
Exploration
Teamwork
We don’t fly in Formation
Here is probably where the greatest
difference is between an aircraft
dashboard and an xCelsius dashboard.
Although I can’t say I have seen every
possible version of an xCelsius
cockpit, I can say I have not seen an
equivalent to several dashboards
flying in formation!
An xCelsius dashboard, although very
complex, is designed to reflect
information as it exist at a single point
in time and to allow you to explore the
results of various assumptions using a
variety of sliders and other data input
devices.
There really is no idea of a mission-it
is hard to tell when you have
completed anything and instead, it
provides the input for further action
or insight. The equivalent of preplanning a mission here is the design
process that occurs when you build it .
You could also potentially equate the
exploration a user does with it as preplanning, but it, unlike an airplane
pre-flight plan, which is highly defined
and engineered by both experience
and government authorities, what you
do with a xCelsius dashboard is
limited only by your imagination, and
has no right or wrong answer to it.
Aircraft operate in a highly complex
environment, full of interdependent
systems that have to work together.
Take for example, a flight of four F-16s
that are flying in formation. Although
each aircraft is fully capable of and is
operating independently, the 4 ship
formation depends, among a other
things, on the ability of the pilot to
anticipate and react to the actions of
the other pilots in the formation. To
my knowledge, the autopilots on F16s are not able to fly in a tight
formation and do a diamond roll
(might be wrong on this one, but have
never heard of it). However, the
combined capabilities of the aircraft,
including radar, navigation and here is
where it is completely different from
an xCelsius dashboard, the input from
AWACS controller’s and other sources
of external information, allow the
aircraft to execute their mission with
greater effectiveness than any single
aircraft could accomplish on its own.
In addition, the information the
aircraft cockpit (grouping a multitude
of systems here for clarity) is able to
receive and synthesize from the
electronics onboard the weapons
system, mean the cockpit is able to tell
the pilot how he has done in real time
with highly unstructured data.
The nearest scenario you encounter is
the teamwork required between the
various departments of a business,
such as Marketing, Sales, Finance and
Manufacturing. Although not a
perfectly analogous to the 4 ship flight
of F-16s flying in formation, there is
an element of team-work involved, if
all goes as planned.
For example, the sales dashboard
might reflect marketing qualified
leads and the number of sales
qualified leads coming in. Although
not as exciting as an F-16 flight of four,
nevertheless, the requirement for the
lead, in this case, the sales manager, to
react to and communicate with the
marketing manager, are similar in
nature, although obviously not in
execution.
Where additional work is needed is in
the incorporation of external data and
the ability and willingness to share
information with business partners.
The system is relatively open, i.e., in
can receive information from the web
or data providers such as D&B, these
external systems are rarely focused on
providing exactly the information
needed by a particular business in a
particular scenario, unlike AWACS,
which shares a common objective
with the fighters. To take just one
example, a certain market website
exist for lysine, a major animal feed
supplement. Although the
information provided by this website
is available to all, the information can
be and often is manipulated by
competitors. Any dashboard
incorporating this information in the
decision cycle is likely to lead to false
conclusions.