One of the reasons for starting this blog was to share good ideas, things we can all do that save time and effort and energy.  Well…

Here is my suggested approach for maximising BI productivity gains through computer display technology:

• Everyone in the BI/DW team should have a laptop/notebook computer
• Everyone in the BI/DW team should have at least one external monitor at their desk
• The BI/DW team room should have a ceiling-mounted projector and every team member workstation should be connected to it so they can instantly throw their issue/challenge/success/cool code/promote/whatever up there for all to see

What am I on about?

I was chatting with James in the office today and he told me that the BI team at a certain university work at desks with a single monitor :o  This struck me as incredible, I guess I have just become used to having multiple monitors and assumed everyone else had a similar setup.  Everyone in our BI team has at least one extra monitor, just about everyone in our IT department does and some people have a lot more.

I just googled ‘monitor’ and ‘productivity’ - there is a ton of casual research out there like this stating how much more you can increase your productivity and at less than $200 for a 19″ flat screen these days, why wouldn’t you?

I’m not about to explain why you need to get another screen (that really should be obvious) but if for some reason this opportunity has escaped you then go and see your boss, right now.  Go on, you can finish reading this later.  They’ve got all those year end $ sloshing around at the moment so will be grateful for you showing them how for just a few dollars they can improve the productivity and happiness of their entire team, honestly!

So what if you have a laptop/notebook computer?  Even better - they already have an external monitor port on them so you don’t need to worry about fancy video cards.  Frankly, if you are a BI team member and you don’t have a laptop then I have other issues with you.  How are you supposed to develop and deliver capability for your business colleagues if your demonstrations require them to come to you?

So what about more monitors, what do you do when 2 isn’t enough?  Well now you’re thinking and here’s my tip of the day - if you have three 1280 x 1024 monitors side by side plus your original desktop (in my case 1920 x 1200) then you have a monstrous 5760 pixel-wide virtual desktop.  That’s what I’m running on a MacBook Pro and it is just great, plus I am totally mobile.

I’ll climb off my soap box now but if for some terrifying reason you find yourself as one of those people reading this from a single screen setup then please, please, do something about it, you will not look back (just left and right)…