The verdict in three sentences
A real-time BI management dashboard connected to your sources (ERP, CRM, accounting, e-commerce) is built for 15,000 to 45,000 EUR net in 2026, delivered in 6 to 12 weeks. On top of development come BI licences of 10 to 70 EUR/user/month and maintenance of 400 to 900 EUR/month. The ROI is not in the chart: it is in decision speed, turning monthly reporting into daily steering.
What a management dashboard costs
Cost depends mostly on the number of sources to connect and the required data freshness. Hourly refresh costs far less than true event-driven real time.
| Work package | Indicative timeline | 2026 cost (EUR net) |
|---|---|---|
| KPI workshop + data model | 1-2 weeks | 2,500 - 5,000 |
| Multi-source connectors (per source) | 1 week / source | 2,000 - 6,000 |
| Warehouse / data pipeline | 2-3 weeks | 4,000 - 12,000 |
| Visualisations + alerts | 2-3 weeks | 4,000 - 12,000 |
| Rights, roles, security | 1 week | 1,500 - 4,000 |
| Acceptance + management training | 1 week | 1,500 - 4,000 |
A 2-3 source dashboard with hourly refresh fits within 15,000 to 22,000 EUR net. Multi-entity steering with event-driven real time and smart alerts reaches 35,000 to 45,000 EUR net.
Custom or off-the-shelf BI tool?
The choice is not binary: you often combine a BI base (Power BI, Metabase, Looker) with custom development for connectors and business logic. Here are 2026 licence order-of-magnitude figures.
| Solution | 2026 licence | Setup time | Suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metabase (self-hosted open source) | 0 - 15 EUR/user/mo | 3-6 weeks | SMEs, tight budgets |
| Power BI Pro | ~10 EUR/user/mo | 4-8 weeks | Microsoft ecosystem |
| Power BI Premium (capacity) | ~50-70 EUR/user/mo | 6-10 weeks | High volume, real time |
| Looker / Tableau | 30-70 EUR/user/mo | 6-12 weeks | Large management teams |
| Custom integrated | licence 0 + dev | 6-12 weeks | Very specific needs |
For 15 users, Power BI Premium at 60 EUR/month is 10,800 EUR/year in licences; a self-hosted Metabase base drops to 1,200-2,700 EUR/year. Over 3 years, the gap funds a large share of custom development.
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Mini case study
Thomas, managing director of a 60-person trading group in Berlin, decides on consolidated spreadsheets every 15 days. Every decision made on stale figures costs him stockouts and eroded margins. He invests 28,000 EUR net in a real-time dashboard (ERP + e-commerce + accounting), 15 licences at 12 EUR/month (2,160 EUR/year) and 600 EUR/month maintenance.
Result: decision latency drops from 15 days to 1 hour. Cutting stockouts by 2% on 8 M EUR revenue recovers roughly 40,000 EUR of annual margin. Total first-year cost: 28,000 + 2,160 + 7,200 = 37,360 EUR net, repaid in just over 11 months by stock optimisation alone.
FAQ
How many sources can you connect? Technically no limit. Each connector costs 2,000 to 6,000 EUR net depending on API quality. Expect 2 to 4 sources for a first useful management dashboard.
What does "real time" actually mean? Three levels: hourly refresh (cheapest), near real time (5-15 min) and event-driven real time. Each step up raises infrastructure cost by 20 to 40%.
What licence budget should I plan? From 10 to 70 EUR/user/month depending on the tool. A self-hosted open-source base can bring this close to zero, at the cost of slightly more maintenance.
Do I need an in-house data engineer? Not to start. The 400 to 900 EUR/month maintenance covers pipeline upkeep. An internal profile becomes useful beyond 6-8 sources.
How long until the first dashboard? A first usable decision dashboard ships in 6 to 12 weeks depending on the number of sources.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your data sources, your 5 priority KPIs and your number of users, and we will price your management dashboard. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
