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This is a prototype vision of how a future government service could work. It's not a real service yet, but we're exploring what it could look like. Your feedback will help shape the real service.

Step 4: Understand Self-Service Analytics - QuickSight Dashboard Walkthrough

Calculate ROI and understand how self-service empowers officers

Walkthrough progress

Step 4 of 4 • 2 minutes

Step 4 2 minutes

Understand Self-Service Analytics

Calculate return on investment and see how QuickSight reduces IT dependency while empowering officers.

Find your QuickSight access URL in CloudFormation Outputs
The dashboard loads with council service performance data

Expected outcome

  • You calculate ROI for your council
  • You understand 80% IT dependency reduction
  • You have committee language for business case
  • You see how self-service empowers officers

Calculate your ROI

Use this interactive calculator to estimate the return on investment for QuickSight self-service analytics in your council:

Understanding the 80% IT dependency reduction

Self-service analytics doesn't eliminate IT involvement - it shifts IT from repetitive report requests to strategic value-add work:

Before QuickSight (IT bottleneck)

IT time allocation:

  • 80% on ad-hoc report requests (480 hours/year)
  • 15% on system maintenance
  • 5% on strategic projects

Officer experience:

  • Submit ticket for simple question
  • Wait 3-7 days for Excel report
  • Report answers original question but raises new ones
  • Submit new ticket, wait another week
  • Limited exploration of data

After QuickSight (IT enablement)

IT time allocation:

  • 20% on ad-hoc reports (complex queries only, 96 hours/year)
  • 15% on system maintenance
  • 65% on strategic projects (digital transformation, automation)

Officer experience:

  • Open dashboard, answer question instantly
  • Follow-up questions answered through filters and drill-down
  • Explore data freely without IT involvement
  • IT engaged only for complex analysis beyond dashboard scope
  • Data-driven culture flourishes

Beyond ROI: Intangible benefits

Financial ROI is important, but self-service analytics delivers strategic value that's harder to quantify:

  • Faster decision-making: Service managers act on same-day data instead of week-old reports. Problems identified and resolved faster.
  • Data-driven culture: When answers are instant, officers ask more questions. This curiosity drives continuous improvement and innovation.
  • Democratic transparency: Councillors access same dashboard as officers for oversight. Committee questions answered with live data during meetings.
  • IT strategic focus: IT freed from repetitive tasks to work on automation, digital services, transformation initiatives that deliver long-term value.
  • Foundation for data lake: S3 data storage enables future AI/ML projects (predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, resource optimization).

Think about your council's data challenges

How many operational questions could officers answer themselves?

Common questions officers ask (currently requiring IT reports):

  • "How many total cases are we handling?" → Read Total Cases KPI card (267,334), 5 seconds
  • "Which service area has the highest volume?" → Read Cases by Service Area chart, 10 seconds
  • "How is Housing performing in London?" → Apply Service Area + Region filters, 15 seconds
  • "What's our average satisfaction score?" → Read Average Satisfaction KPI card (4.15), 5 seconds
  • "Can I compare regions for a service area?" → Filter to service area, compare table rows, 20 seconds

Impact: If each officer asks 2-3 questions per week, and each question takes 5 days for IT to respond, that's 10-15 days of decision lag per officer. With QuickSight, all questions answered in minutes - faster decision-making, better service delivery.

← Back to Step 3 Complete walkthrough

Need help?

If you're stuck, check the troubleshooting section or contact us.