SSAS 2005: Cube Performance Tuning Lessons

Intro. <br /><br />A recent project has forced me (which is a good thing) to learn both the internals of SSAS 2005 as well as various performance tuning techniques to get maximum performance out of the OLAP server. It goes without saying that the grain of both your underlying data warehouse's Dimensions & Facts will drive how large your cubes are (total cube space). It also should be a given that Processing Time & Query (MDX) Execution Time usually compete with one another. Given the same grain of a model, the more Grain Data, Indexing, and Aggreggations you process upfront should generally result in a more performant end-user experience (but not always). And while ETL & Cube Processing time is of importance, in the real-world it is the end-user experience (capability and performance) which drives the DW/BI solution's adoption! <br /><br />Throw-out unused Attributes/Optimizing Attributes/Leverage Member Properties <br /><br />The more dimensional attributes you create infers a larger cubespace, which also means more potential aggregations and indexes. Take the time to review with your clients the proposed set of attributes and be sure they all provide value as a 1st class Dimension Attribute. Also, if you find attributes are used primarily for informative purposes only consider leveraging Member Properties instead of creating an entire Dimension Attribute. Also, the surrogate key for your dimensions almost never add business value, delete those attributes and assign the keyColumns of your dimension's grain member (ie it's lowest level) attribute to the surrogate key. If an attribute participates in a natural hierarchy but is not useful as a stand-alone attribute hierarchy you should disable it's hierarchy via the AttributeHierarchyEnabled setting. Finally, be aware that if you have a 'deep' dimension (ie like 19 million members) at its lowest grain, any additional attributes you add will incur much overhead as they have a much higher degree of cardinality. <br /><br />Set Partition Slices <br /><br />The question of whether or not you must explicitly set a partition's SLICE property is clearly documented incorrectly in SQL Server 2005 Books Online (BOL). For all but the simplest partition designs you should consider setting the SLICE property to match the source property (ie the dataset definitions should match across both properties). For those who do not know, a partition's SLICE is useful for query execution purposes, the SLICE tells the formula|storage engine which partition(s) hold the data that is being requested of it. Please see resources section below for more information on this. <br /><br />Optimizing Attribute Relationships <br /><br />Attribute relationships are the developer's mechanism to inform the OLAP server of the relation between attributes. Just like Fact Tables (measure groups) relate to dimension in various ways (Regular, Referenced, Fact, Many-to-Many), dimension attributes can relate to one another in various forms (One-to-One or One-to-Many).Also, you can set the RelationshipType to Flexible or Rigid. If you know your member's change over time (ie reclass), make sure to leave this setting as Flexible, otherwise set it to Rigid. Take the time to thoroughly review your attribute relationships and ensure that both represent their natural hierarchy and are optimized! <br /><br />Scalable Measure Group Partitioning & Aggregation Strategies <br /><br />This is one of the better known techniques but it is still of utmost importance. Make sure to design your measure group's partitions to optimize their performance (both processing and query execution). If your system has a 'rolling window' requirement also account for this in your ETL design/framework. You should almost always partition your measure groups by the DATE_KEY and match the underlying relational data warehouse (RDW) partitioning scheme. The basics of this is your 'hot' (the current period) partition should be optimized for query-execution time via setting a different Aggregation Design as opposed to the 'colder' (older) partitions. Also, if your main storage device (ie SAN usually) cannot hold all of your required data, consider leveraging Remote Partitions to offload the extreme 'cold' partitions to slower storage. <br /><br />Continuously Tune Aggregations Based On Usage <br /><br />Most documentation in the community clearly states the order of creating effective aggregations is to first leverage the Aggregation Design Wizard, enable the Query Log, and then re-tune the aggregations using the Usage-Based Tuning Wizard. What is not mentioned (near enough anyway) is to continuously retune your aggregations using a refreshed Query Log using the Usage-Based Tuning Wizard. By doing so you are ensuring your aggregations are periodically revised based up recent, real-world usage of your cubes. <br /><br />Warming the Cache <br /><br />Another well known technique...by issuing real-world MDX queries onStartUp of the MSOLAP service your cube's cache will be pre-optimized. <br /><br />Be Mindful of Many-to-Many Dimensions Performance Implications <br /><br />While M:M dimensions are a powerful feature of SSAS 2005, that power comes at the cost of query-execution time (performance). There are a few modeling scenarios where you almost have to leverage them but be aware that if you are dealing with large amounts of data this could be a huge performance implication at query-time. <br /><br />Control of the Client Application (MDX): That is the Question <br /><br />A lesser discussed matter yet still very important is how much control you have over the MDX issued to your cubes. For example, Excel Pivot Tables and other analytical tools allow the user to explore your cubes with freedom pending the security (no Perspectives are not a security measure). If you can write (or control) the MDX being issued by the end-user then obviously you have more control to ensure that actual MDX is optimized. <br /><br />Got 64-Bit? Multi-Cores? <br /><br />For enterprise-class Microsoft DW/BI engagements forget about x86/single-core, period. Analysis Services can chew through (process) more data, in higher-degrees of parallelization with x64 multi-core CPUs. Storage|Formula engine cache rely on memory...long-story short, Analysis Services has been designed to perform at higher levels of scalability when running on multi-core/x64 CPUs. Also, be sure to set Analysis Service's Min/Max Thread settings properly for both Query & Processing. <br /><br />Conclusion <br /><br />I am dedicated to life-long learning. I cannot take full credit for my content above as much of this knowledge was the work of others as well as my own testing. The resources section listed below gives credit where it is due accordingly. Take the time to learn and implement highly-performant SSAS 2005 cubes to ensure your project's stakeholder’s first query is a performant one! <br /><br />Resources <br /><br />Mosha Pasumansky's Blog (MDX 'Father'): http://sqlblog.com/blogs/mosha/default.aspx <br /><br />Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (best SSAS 2005 OLAP internals book out!) by SAMS Publishing: http://safari.samspublishing.com/0672327821 <br /><br />SQL Server Analysis Services 2005 Performance Tuning Whitepaper (a great tuning document): download.microsoft.com/download/8/5/e/85eea4fa-b3bb-4426-97d0-7f7151b2011c/SSAS2005PerfGuide.doc <br /><br />HP Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server: http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/3887-0-0-0-121.html <br /><br />My Friends & Colleagues at Scalability Experts

SSAS 2005: Cube Performance Tuning Lessons

Intro. A recent project has forced me (which is a good thing) to learn both the internals of SSAS 2005 as well as various performance tuning...

Read more »

Article in Norwegian about Office 2007 and MS SQL 2005

Ti fordeler med Microsoft Business Intelligence<br /><br />Microsoft Business Intelligence, som er en fullstendig integrert programserie med server-, klient- og utviklerprodukter gjennomført integrert med 2007 Microsoft Office System, gir deg den rette informasjonen til rett tid og i rett format. Business Intelligence presenterer anvendelig informasjon til personer der de arbeider, samarbeider og tar avgjørelser. Her er de ti måtene Business Intelligence kan hjelpe deg å få bedre resultater ved å gi deg forretningsintelligens i hele organisasjonen.<br /><br />Koble mennesker og informasjon enkelt og effektivt<br /><br />Business Intelligence gjør det enklere for beslutningstakere å få tilgang til og analysere informasjon hvor som helst, når som helst. Oppdatert informasjon er tilgjengelig samme hvor personer arbeider, de kan samarbeide og ta avgjørelser, enten det er på skrivebordet eller over Internett.<br /> <br /> <br />Gi de ansatte medbestemmelse<br /><br />Når analysedata er tilgjengelige og forståelige, kan de ansatte enklere handle slik at det forbedrer ytelsen og støtter den overordnede forretningsstrategien. Business Intelligence inneholder robuste, dynamiske forretningsresultatkort-, analyse- og rapportverktøy slik at alle i selskapet kan ta bedre avgjørelser raskere.<br /> <br /> <br />Enklere samarbeid og deling<br /><br />Forbedre organisasjonens effektivitet ved å bruke Microsofts teknologi for forretningsinformasjon og samarbeid. Tett integrasjon med Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 gjør at du kan dele informasjon på en enkel måte i et sikret, administrert webmiljø med kollegaer, kunder og partnere. Nå har du et sentralt sted der du kan overvåke ytelsesindikatorene, få tilgang til rapporter, analysere dataene i tillegg til å dele dokumenter, chatte på direkten og finne relevante emner. <br /> <br /> <br />Analysere og få kunnskap<br /><br />Med 2007 Microsoft Office System, som er fullt integrert med Microsoft SQL Server 2005, kan brukere få ny kunnskap ved å bruke kjente, brukervennlige verktøy som leveres av en utprøvd, skalerbar Business Intelligence-plattform. Når informasjon er tilgjenglig og lett å få tilgang til – legge til data for å analysere, gjøre beregninger og gå mer i detalj – er brukerne bedre i stand til å analysere og vurdere informasjon for så å ta veloverveide forretningsbeslutninger.<br /> <br /> <br />Forbedre strategier<br /><br />Business Intelligence forbedrer strategien i hele organisasjonen. Bestem strategi, sett mål, overvåk ytelse, utfør gruppeanalyser for deretter å ta veloverveide beslutninger som er i tråd med forretningsstrategien. Ledere kan lett opprette ansvarslinjer i et strategikart og ansatte kan justere målene sine i tråd med bedriftens mål.<br /> <br /> <br />Utnytte fordelene med 2007 Microsoft Office System<br /><br />Forbedringer er blant annet økt kapasitet for interaktiv analyse i Office Excel 2007 for søk, levering og samarbeid i Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, og forbedret visualiseringsteknologi i alle Microsoft Office-pakkene. Business Intelligence er også integrert med SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services og SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services – bransjeledende plattformteknologi for forretningsintelligens – som øker nytten av informasjonen på skrivebordet.<br /> <br /> <br />Levere forretningsintelligens til hele organisasjonen<br /><br />Business Intelligence støtter bredden i organisasjonens forretningsintelligensbehov. Strategisk planlegging blir enklere med kjente verktøy, informasjonsstyring blir enklere i et sentralisert og fullt integrert BI-miljø, og utvikling er mer kostnadseffektivt ved bruk av utviklingsmiljø som er standard i bransjen. Med det brukervennlige grensesnittet til Microsoft Office System, forretningsintelligensplattformen SQL Server 2005 i bakgrunnen og tilpasset utvikling gjennom Microsoft Visual Studio, støtter Business Intelligence alle – informasjonsarbeidere, IT-medarbeidere og utviklere i din organisasjon.<br /> <br /> <br />Redusere opplæringsbehov<br /><br />Med Business Intelligence kan brukere i organisasjonen samhandle med data hvor de vil – i 2007 Microsoft Office System. Ved hjelp av verktøy som er kjente, tilgjenglige og som det finnes støtte for, kan du oppnå en betydelig reduksjon i kostnader og redusere lærekurven.<br /> <br /> <br />Lage avanserte analyser og rapporter<br /><br />Med avanserte resultatkortfunksjoner som støttes av rapporter, diagrammer, grafer og analyser, kan ansatte enkelt spore ytelsesindikatorer (KPI) mot forretningsmålene. Med en forståelse og analyse av forholdet mellom KPIer og forretningsmålene kan du oppnå bedre forståelse av hvordan virksomheten går i dag, ikke i slutten av måneden, kvartalet eller året, når det er for sent å handle og påvirke resultatene.<br /> <br /> <br />Levere forrentingsintelligens på bedriftsnivå<br /><br />Med den fullstendig og fullt integrerte plattformen med SQL Server 2005 i bakgrunnen, leverer Business Intelligence ETL-funksjonalitet (Extract-Transform-Load), elektronisk analytisk behandlingsdatabase (OLAP), datauttrekking, prediktiv analyse og rapportering – alt i én pakke. Business Intelligence som er fullt skalerbar, gir kraft, stabilitet, forbedret sikkerhet og lave totalkostnader for eierskap.<br /> <br />Reference:<br />Microsoft Norway

Article in Norwegian about Office 2007 and MS SQL 2005

Ti fordeler med Microsoft Business Intelligence Microsoft Business Intelligence, som er en fullstendig integrert programserie med server-, k...

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Information management concepts

Following the behavioral science theory of management, mainly developed at Carnegie Mellon University and prominently represented by Barnard, Richard M. Cyert, March and Simon, most of what goes on in service organizations is actually decision making and information processes. The crucial factor in the information and decision process analysis is thus individuals’ limited ability to process information and to make decisions under these limitations.<br /><br />According to March and Simon [1], organizations have to be considered as cooperative systems with a high level of information processing and a vast need for decision making at various levels. They also claimed that there are factors that would prevent individuals from acting strictly rational, in opposite to what has been proposed and advocated by classic theorists<br /><br />Instead of using the model of the economic man, as advocated in classic theory, they proposed the administrative man as an alternative based on their argumentation about the cognitive limits of rationality.<br /><br />While the theories developed at Carnegie Mellon clearly filled some theoretical gaps in the discipline, March and Simon [1] did not propose a certain organizational form that they considered especially feasible for coping with cognitive limitations and bounded rationality of decision-makers. Through their own argumentation against normative decision-making models, i.e., models that prescribe people how they ought to choose, they also abandoned the idea of an ideal organizational form.<br /><br />In addition to the factors mentioned by March and Simon, there are two other considerable aspects, stemming from environmental and organizational dynamics. Firstly, it is not possible to access, collect and evaluate all environmental information being relevant for taking a certain decision at a reasonable price, i.e., time and effort [2]. In other words, following a national economic framework, the transaction cost associated with the information process is too high. Secondly, established organizational rules and procedures can prevent the taking of the most appropriate decision, i.e., that a sub-optimum solution is chosen in accordance to organizational rank structure or institutional rules, guidelines and procedures [3] [4], an issue that also has been brought forward as a major critique against the principles of bureaucratic organizations.[5]<br /><br />According to the Carnegie Mellon School and its followers, information management, i.e., the organization's ability to process information, is at the core of organizational and managerial competencies. Consequently, strategies for organization design must be aiming at improved information processing capability. Jay Galbraith [6] has identified five main organization design strategies within two categories — increased information processing capacity and reduced need for information processing.<br /><br />1.Reduction of information processing needs <br />1.Environmental management<br />2.Creation of slack resources<br />3.Creation of self-contained tasks<br />2.Increasing the organizational information processing capacity <br />1.Creation of lateral relations<br />2.Vertical information systems<br />Environmental management. Instead of adapting to changing environmental circumstances, the organization can seek to modify its environment. Vertical and horizontal collaboration, i.e. cooperation or integration with other organizations in the industry value system are typical means of reducing uncertainty. An example of reducing uncertainty in relation to the prior or demanding stage of the industry system is the concept of Supplier-Retailer collaboration or Efficient Customer Response.<br /><br />Creation of slack resources. In order to reduce exceptions, performance levels can be reduced, thus decreasing the information load on the hierarchy. These additional slack resources, required to reduce information processing in the hierarchy, represent an additional cost to the organization. The choice of this method clearly depends on the alternative costs of other strategies.<br /><br />Creation of self-contained tasks. Achieving a conceptual closure of tasks is another way of reducing information processing. In this case, the task-performing unit has all the resources required to perform the task. This approach is concerned with task (de-)composition and interaction between different organizational units, i.e. organizational and information interfaces.<br /><br />Creation of lateral relations. In this case, lateral decision processes are established that cut across functional organizational units. The aim is to apply a system of decision subsidiarity, i.e. to move decision power to the process, instead of moving information from the process into the hierarchy for decision-making.<br /><br />Investment in vertical information systems. Instead of processing information through the existing hierarchical channels, the organization can establish vertical information systems. In this case, the information flow for a specific task (or set of tasks) is routed in accordance to the applied business logic, rather than the hierarchical organization.<br /><br />Following the lateral relations concept, it also becomes possible to employ an organizational form that is different from the simple hierarchical information. The Matrix organization is aiming at bringing together the functional and product departmental bases and achieving a balance in information processing and decision making between the vertical (hierarchical) and the horizontal (product or project) structure. The creation of a matrix organization can also be considered as management's response to a persistent or permanent demand for adaptation to environmental dynamics, instead of the response to episodic demands.<br /><br />Source: Wikipedia

Information management concepts

Following the behavioral science theory of management, mainly developed at Carnegie Mellon University and prominently represented by Barnard...

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Information Managment Concepts

Following the behavioral science theory of management, mainly developed at Carnegie Mellon University and prominently represented by Barnard, Richard M. Cyert, March and Simon, most of what goes on in service organizations is actually decision making and information processes. The crucial factor in the information and decision process analysis is thus individuals’ limited ability to process information and to make decisions under these limitations.<br /><br />According to March and Simon [1], organizations have to be considered as cooperative systems with a high level of information processing and a vast need for decision making at various levels. They also claimed that there are factors that would prevent individuals from acting strictly rational, in opposite to what has been proposed and advocated by classic theorists<br /><br />Instead of using the model of the economic man, as advocated in classic theory, they proposed the administrative man as an alternative based on their argumentation about the cognitive limits of rationality.<br /><br />While the theories developed at Carnegie Mellon clearly filled some theoretical gaps in the discipline, March and Simon [1] did not propose a certain organizational form that they considered especially feasible for coping with cognitive limitations and bounded rationality of decision-makers. Through their own argumentation against normative decision-making models, i.e., models that prescribe people how they ought to choose, they also abandoned the idea of an ideal organizational form.<br /><br />In addition to the factors mentioned by March and Simon, there are two other considerable aspects, stemming from environmental and organizational dynamics. Firstly, it is not possible to access, collect and evaluate all environmental information being relevant for taking a certain decision at a reasonable price, i.e., time and effort [2]. In other words, following a national economic framework, the transaction cost associated with the information process is too high. Secondly, established organizational rules and procedures can prevent the taking of the most appropriate decision, i.e., that a sub-optimum solution is chosen in accordance to organizational rank structure or institutional rules, guidelines and procedures [3] [4], an issue that also has been brought forward as a major critique against the principles of bureaucratic organizations.[5]<br /><br />According to the Carnegie Mellon School and its followers, information management, i.e., the organization's ability to process information, is at the core of organizational and managerial competencies. Consequently, strategies for organization design must be aiming at improved information processing capability. Jay Galbraith [6] has identified five main organization design strategies within two categories — increased information processing capacity and reduced need for information processing.<br /><br />1.Reduction of information processing needs <br />1.Environmental management<br />2.Creation of slack resources<br />3.Creation of self-contained tasks<br />2.Increasing the organizational information processing capacity <br />1.Creation of lateral relations<br />2.Vertical information systems<br />Environmental management. Instead of adapting to changing environmental circumstances, the organization can seek to modify its environment. Vertical and horizontal collaboration, i.e. cooperation or integration with other organizations in the industry value system are typical means of reducing uncertainty. An example of reducing uncertainty in relation to the prior or demanding stage of the industry system is the concept of Supplier-Retailer collaboration or Efficient Customer Response.<br /><br />Creation of slack resources. In order to reduce exceptions, performance levels can be reduced, thus decreasing the information load on the hierarchy. These additional slack resources, required to reduce information processing in the hierarchy, represent an additional cost to the organization. The choice of this method clearly depends on the alternative costs of other strategies.<br /><br />Creation of self-contained tasks. Achieving a conceptual closure of tasks is another way of reducing information processing. In this case, the task-performing unit has all the resources required to perform the task. This approach is concerned with task (de-)composition and interaction between different organizational units, i.e. organizational and information interfaces.<br /><br />Creation of lateral relations. In this case, lateral decision processes are established that cut across functional organizational units. The aim is to apply a system of decision subsidiarity, i.e. to move decision power to the process, instead of moving information from the process into the hierarchy for decision-making.<br /><br />Investment in vertical information systems. Instead of processing information through the existing hierarchical channels, the organization can establish vertical information systems. In this case, the information flow for a specific task (or set of tasks) is routed in accordance to the applied business logic, rather than the hierarchical organization.<br /><br />Following the lateral relations concept, it also becomes possible to employ an organizational form that is different from the simple hierarchical information. The Matrix organization is aiming at bringing together the functional and product departmental bases and achieving a balance in information processing and decision making between the vertical (hierarchical) and the horizontal (product or project) structure. The creation of a matrix organization can also be considered as management's response to a persistent or permanent demand for adaptation to environmental dynamics, instead of the response to episodic demands.<br /><br />Source: Wikipedia

Information Managment Concepts

Following the behavioral science theory of management, mainly developed at Carnegie Mellon University and prominently represented by Barnard...

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My Brainbench Transcript of Free Exams

You have my full transcript of BrainBench Inc testing

My Brainbench Transcript of Free Exams

You have my full transcript of BrainBench Inc testing

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GE: Ecomagination Challenge: Home

<a href="http://challenge.ecomagination.com/ideas?sms_ss=blogger">GE: Ecomagination Challenge: Home</a>

GE: Ecomagination Challenge: Home

GE: Ecomagination Challenge: Home

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KPI for Hospitality Business

Important Calculations (BI) for Hospitality<br /><br /><br /><br />Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Hospitality industry help remove the guesswork from managing the business by checking the numbers that tell what’s really happening.<br />There’s a business saying: ‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it!’ Real, responsive management needs reliable and truthful figures on which decisions can be based. If there are problems, you can take corrective action quickly. If you are having success, you’ll know to do more of what you’re doing! Good figures also give you a wider understanding of your success – sometimes if it’s a quiet month (when your suppliers are telling you that ‘everyone’s quiet!’) you’ll see that some of your KPIs are actually improving (ex. sales per head).<br />KPIs in Hospitality industry can be categorized for functions like Reception, Housekeeping, Maintenance, Kitchen, Restaurant, Sales, Store, Purchasing, etc.<br />Staff KPI:<br />- Wage Cost %: wage costs as a percentage of sales<br />- Total Labour Cost %: not just wages but also the other work cover insurance, retirement and superannuation charges and other taxes that apply on your payroll<br />- Total Labour Hours: how many hours worked in each section. This is useful to compare against sales to measure productivity<br />- Event Labour charge-out: Hotels usually charge-out service staff at a markup on the cost of the wages paid. Are you achieving a consistent mark-up?<br />- Labour turnover: number of new staff in any one week or month<br />- Average length of employment: another way to look at your success in keeping staff. Add up the total number of weeks all your people have worked for you and divide this by the total number of staff<br />- Average hourly pay: divide the total payroll by the number of hours worked by all staff<br />Kitchen Management KPI:<br />- Food Cost %: measured by adding up food purchases for the week and measuring them against your food sales<br />- Total Food Costs: how much was total food bill? Sometimes a useful figure to show staff who think you are made of money<br />- Food Costs per head: see every week how much it costs to feed an average customer<br />- Kitchen Labour %: measure kitchen productivity by comparing kitchen labour against food sales<br />- Kitchen Labour hours: how many hours worked in this section? Compare against sales to measure productivity<br />- Stock value: food stock holding- It should be less than a week’s use, but can slip out if you are storing frozen food<br />- Main selling items: weekly sales from POS or dockets & know the best sellers and map these on the Menu Profitability<br />- Kitchen linen costs: cost of uniforms, aprons & tea-towels can be a shock! How many tea-towels are being used each day?<br />Front House Management KPI:<br />- Total Sales Per Head: total sales divided by number of customers. This may vary between different times of the day<br />- Number of customers: simple! A good measure of popularity<br />- Food, Dessert, Beverage Sales per head: how much your menu appeals to your customers (do you have all the choices they want), & how well your staff are selling.<br />- Seating Efficiency: how well are tables being turned over while still offering high quality customer service<br />- Basket Analysis: how many items do lunch customers buy? What else do morning coffee drinkers order? Grab a pile of dockets and look for ordering patterns<br />- Linen costs: uniforms, aprons etc.<br />- Front of House Labour %: how many hours worked in this section? Compare against sales to measure productivity<br />- FOH Labour hours: how many hours worked in this section? Compare against sales to measure productivity<br />- Customer satisfaction: Feedback forms, complaints and other methods that are hard to quantify sometimes but worth making an attempt.<br />- Strike rate: if 500 people came to hotel last night & only 100 ate at the bistro, your ’strike rate’ would be 1 in 5, or 20%<br />- RevPASH Revenue per Available Seat Hour: take the total number of ’seat hours’ and divide total revenue for a period by this number<br />Bar & Restaurant Management KPI:<br />- Sales per head: how much your beverage and wine appeals to your customers and how well your staff are selling<br />- Gross Profit on sales: difference between what you sold and what it cost you. The sales mix can influence this heavily<br />- Average Profit % on sales: useful to see if your sales are holding steady, although ultimately the actual Gross Profit (real money) will matter the most<br />- Stock value: It’s worth checking with your suppliers and seeing how much you can order ‘just in time’<br />- Stock turnover: how fast is your cellar stock selling?<br />- Carrying cost of stock: what is the cost of financing the stock?<br />- Sales / stock-take discrepancies: Alcohol is security problem, & keeping an eye on ’shrinkage’, staff drinks and stealing a constant problem<br />Banquet Sales Management KPI:<br />- Number of customers: simple! A good measure of popularity.<br />- Visits by your top 100 or 200 customers: they provide a huge proportion of your sales! Track their frequency and spending – these people are gold!<br />- Sales per head: across all areas<br />- Marketing and advertising costs: total value of spend, always trying to measure it against response<br />- Response rates: how many people responded to different campaigns and what effect did this have on profit?<br />- Press mentions: keeping your eyes open for favourable mentions<br />- Bookings: in the current week and month and coming up. Also in peak times, eg Christmas.<br />- Event inquiries: No. of inquiries about large bookings & functions, especially if a campaign to promote them is on<br />- Sales inquiry conversion rate: No. of inquiries that turn into actual sales. why so few people were ‘converted’ – was it the quality of the promotional material, skill of the sales staff, pricing or make-up of your function menus and facilities?<br />Finance & Admin Management KPI:<br />- Cash position at bank: how much do you have available after reconciling your cheque book?<br />- Stock-take discrepancies: measure of efficiency of each department, but also of administrative systems in place<br />- Total accounts due: how much do you owe?<br />- Total accounts payable: needs careful management if you have accounts, eg large restaurants<br />- Return on Investment: profit business makes can be measured as a percentage return on the amount invested in it<br />- Taxes owed: to know how much is owed at any one time so it is not ’spent’<br />- Sales & costs: actual figures compared to what budgeted for a period<br />- Administration labour costs: strong and skilful administrative support will be essential to manage the KPIs listed above!<br />- IT efficiency: how much down-time for IT systems? How accurate is the POS system?<br />Other KPIs:<br />- Revenue per available room<br />- Average daily rate of rooms<br />- % of occupancy of rooms<br />- Average cleaning costs per room<br />- % of reservation requests cancelled with / without penalty<br />- % of rooms with maintenance issues<br />- % of cancelled reservation requests<br />- Average number of guests per room<br />- Average length of stay of guests<br />- % of non-room revenue<br />- % of cancelled rooms occupied<br />- Kilowatt-hours (kwh) per room<br />- Number of hotel guests per employee<br />- Gross operating profits per available room<br />- % of guests who would rank stay as exceeding expectations<br />- Waste per night per occupied bed space<br />Provided by: Maia Intelligence, edited by: Besim Ismaili

KPI for Hospitality Business

Important Calculations (BI) for Hospitality Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Hospitality industry help remove the guesswork from managin...

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