Your data is split across classified and commercial systems, so Tableau only ever sees half the picture
Custom BI dashboards for a Portsmouth defence or marine firm run £30,000 to £90,000 over 2 to 5 months. Tableau, Power BI, and Looker visualise clean, accessible data well. Your problem is upstream: your data is split across classified and commercial systems with security walls between them, so a generic BI tool only ever sees the half it's allowed to.
You want one view of the business, refit progress, parts and certifications, milestone billing, workforce clearance, but that data lives in systems separated by security boundaries. Power BI connects to a commercial database happily and then hits a wall at the classified side it can't and shouldn't simply pull from. So you get a dashboard of the commercial half and a separate manual report for the rest, and nobody sees the whole.
Tableau and Looker assume your data wants to be in one warehouse. In a defence-linked business, some of it can't sit beside the rest, and the rules about what can be aggregated and shown to whom are as important as the charts. You don't need prettier visuals; you need a BI layer that respects the security boundaries while still giving leadership a true, combined picture.
- Your data is split by security walls and no single BI tool sees the whole
- Leadership keeps deciding on a partial, commercial-only picture
- Visibility rules about who sees what need to be enforced in the BI layer
- All your data is commercial and can live in one warehouse
- Power BI or Tableau connects to your sources without security walls
- You need standard reporting, not boundary-aware aggregation
- One genuine view that combines permitted data across security boundaries
- Access rules enforce what each viewer can see, so sensitive figures stay protected
- Leadership decides on a whole picture, not a commercial-only half
- Manual report assembly disappears, freeing analysts for real analysis
- It connects to your ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), inventory, project, and HR (Human Resources) systems for live figures
- Respecting security boundaries in BI is harder than pointing Power BI at a warehouse
- What can be aggregated from the classified side is genuinely limited, so some gaps remain
- Building and securing the data pipeline is most of the cost, not the charts
- If all your data is commercial, off-the-shelf BI is cheaper and entirely sufficient
Business Intelligence Dashboards pricing in Portsmouth: the real numbers
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboards over a single commercial data source | £30k to £45k | 2 to 3 months |
| Plus secure pipeline across systems | £45k to £70k | 3 to 4 months |
| Plus enforced visibility and full integration | £70k to £90k | 4 to 5 months |
The features that matter for Portsmouth
What we build under business intelligence dashboards in Portsmouth
Digital Heroes builds the full business intelligence dashboards stack for Portsmouth teams. Typical engagements cover data warehouse, embedded analytics, business intelligence dashboards, BI development, data visualization and Tableau alternative.
Exactly what you get
A BI layer that gives leadership one true picture while respecting security boundaries. It combines commercial and permitted, abstracted classified-side data, enforces who can see which figures, and presents live dashboards for refit progress, certifications, milestone billing, and clearance status. The manual-report stack disappears, drill-down stays within permitted data, and it connects to your ERP, inventory, project, and HR systems for live numbers.
How to choose a developer in Portsmouth
Choose a team that understands data engineering and security boundaries, not just dashboard design. Ask how they'd combine commercial and classified-side data safely, how they'd enforce visibility rules, and how they'd build the secure pipeline that's most of the work. A partner experienced with regulated data will lead with the pipeline, not the charts. One that just wants to point Power BI at a warehouse hasn't seen your security walls.
From kickoff to launch: the schedule
- !They want all data in one warehouse. Ask how they handle the classified side that can't move
- !No visibility-rule enforcement. Ask how a viewer is stopped from seeing protected figures
- !They focus on chart design. Ask about the secure pipeline that's the real work
- !No experience with regulated data. Ask for a project respecting data boundaries
- !No integration plan. Ask how live figures reach the dashboard from each system
If business intelligence dashboards is on the roadmap, helpdesk & ticketing, erp, custom software usually follow within the year. Budget them as one conversation.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't Power BI just connect to everything?
Because some of your data sits behind security boundaries it can't and shouldn't cross. Power BI happily reads the commercial side and stops at the classified wall, leaving you with a partial dashboard plus manual reports.
Can classified data appear in a dashboard at all?
Only in permitted, suitably abstracted forms, and only to viewers allowed to see it. A custom BI layer enforces those rules, so you get as complete a picture as the boundaries allow without breaching them.
What's the hardest part of the build?
The secure data pipeline that combines sources while respecting boundaries, not the charts. Most of the cost and value sits in getting the right data together safely, which is exactly what off-the-shelf BI can't do here.
Does it integrate with our other systems?
Yes. It connects to your ERP, inventory, project management, and HR systems so dashboards show live figures rather than stale exports, within the visibility rules you set.