Smarten Support Portal Updates – April – 2026!

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Why Should My Business Consider Embedded BI Tools?

How Can Embedded BI Tools Help My Business?

A recent article published in Analytics Insight suggests that the most important aspects of Embedded BI solutions are:

  • Ease of Integration and Flexibility
  • Powerful Data Visualization and Exploration
  • Self-Serve User Analytics
  • Scalability and Performance
  • Deployment Options
  • Pricing and Support

When a business wishes to select an Embedded Business Intelligence (BI) solutions, there is a lot to consider!

‘When augmented analytics is combined with integration APIs, your business can place BI tools within existing software apps and products to provide easy-to-use analytics and data integration across the enterprise.’

Whether your business is deploying BI tools for the first time, or upgrading existing solutions, the Embedded BI solution provides a lot of flexibility and improves user access by removing barriers that exist with siloed analytics solutions or solutions that are meant to serve data scientists and IT users.

By incorporating Embedded BI, you allow business users to access familiar enterprise software tools and apps using a single sign-on environment that allows them gather and analyze data in one place, without manual migration of data or the use of a sophisticated, complicated analytics solution.

If your goal is data literacy and data democratization, Embedded BI is likely to help you by encouraging users to explore and use analytics to improve their output and results on a day-to-day basis. By making it easier on them, you can improve your business results.

Embedded BI Tools Provide Extreme Benefits Without Significant Investment

Embedded Bi provides numerous benefits and advantages to the organization and to users:

  • Access augmented analytics and BI tools from within mobile application and enterprise apps.
  • Avoid user frustration with user-friendly solutions and deep dive capabilities that suit their roles and responsibilities.
  • Improve user adoption of BI tools and encourage collaboration, data sharing and fact-based decisions.
  • Improve Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for enterprise apps.
  • Provide unique BI tools and analytics integration without significant investment.
  • Support rapid implementation and deployment.
  • Establish a solid foundation for upgrades to keep pace with business and market needs.
  • Provide Embedded BI and access to timely data for websites to ensure that users and customers have the information they need.

In addition to these benefits, a business that is focused on software development products can add analytics and BI tools to its existing products to expand its market and provide more features and functionality to its customers.

When augmented analytics is combined with integration APIs, your business can place BI tools within existing software apps and products to provide easy-to-use analytics and data integration across the enterprise.

‘When a business wishes to select an Embedded Business Intelligence (BI) solutions, there is a lot to consider!’

You can find out more about the Smarten Embedded BI And Integration APIs solution and add powerful functionality and access to existing ERP, SCM, HRMS, CRM or any other products. Provide analytics capabilities within existing products without major Investment. Your business users and your customers will appreciate the ease-of-use and access and you will gain a competitive advantage. Read our White Paper: ‘Making The Case For Embedded BI And Analytics.’

Smarten Support Portal Updates – March – 2026!

What I’ve Learned About Empowering Non-Technical Users With Predictive Tools

How Predictive Tools Empower Non-Technical Users

Many organizations collect large amounts of information but struggle to turn it into decisions that feel clear and reliable. Smarten approaches this problem from a human POV. Instead of assuming Analytics belongs to specialists, it treats prediction as a shared responsibility across teams. This shift changes how people think, how they ask questions, and how decisions are made inside organizations.

Read as I talk about the power Non-Technical Users hold in business decision-making and how tools like Smarten pave the way for future-ready analytics workflows.

The Potential of the Citizen Data Scientist Approach and Augmented Analytics
 Download the White Paper

Why Non-Technical Users Need Predictive Tools Just as Much

I have encountered several instances where business users created Predictive Models without a formal background in data science. These users were not guessing or experimenting blindly. They were applying years of domain experience through a system that respected how they already think. The right predictive tools guided them step by step, allowing them to focus on meaning rather than mechanics.

What stood out most in these stories was how quickly confidence developed. When people understand what a model is doing, they are more willing to rely on it and improve it. Users did not wait for validation from technical teams before acting. They could see how inputs affected outcomes and why certain patterns appeared. This visibility removed fear and hesitation.

Modern CDS Tools create that structure by guiding decisions without dictating them. This balance allows non-technical users to succeed without feeling overwhelmed or constrained.

Why Explainability Is Not Optional

Predictive models fail when people cannot explain them to others. A result that cannot be explained cannot be defended, trusted, or improved. When explainability becomes a requirement and not an extra feature, every outcome gets connected to visible drivers that users can understand in simple language. This clarity changes how people interact with predictions.

When explainability is built in, conversations improve across teams. Sales, finance, and operations can discuss the same model without confusion. People focus on what changed and why it matters. Meetings become more productive because participants share understanding instead of debating definitions, which reduces friction and speeds up decision-making.

Explainability also protects organizations from silent mistakes. When assumptions are visible, they can be questioned early. Citizen data scientists can think critically rather than accept results without reflection, creating a culture where Analytics supports thinking instead of replacing it.

How CDS Bridges the Skill Gap

Many analytics tools expect Non-Technical Users to adapt to complex systems. CDS tools take the opposite approach by adapting the system to the user. They democratize data, allowing organizations to combine analysis with the professional knowledge and domain skills of the individual. This enables a better understanding of trends, patterns, issues, and opportunities, and improves business agility and efficiency in the long run.

Here’s how CDS bridges the skills gap:

  • Designed around familiar business steps: CDS tools are designed around familiar business steps that feel logical and intuitive; users are guided through the modeling process without needing to learn new technical concepts.
  • Provides context at every step: CDS recognizes that skill gaps are simply differences in training and focus. It bridges those gaps by providing context at every step. Users know what they are doing and why it matters. This understanding helps them make better choices and avoid common mistakes.
  • Keeps workflows clear and structured: CDS allows users to build reliable models without shortcuts. Validation checks help users see weaknesses early without discouraging exploration. This balance encourages learning while maintaining responsibility. Over time, users grow more capable and confident in their analytical thinking.

What Future-Ready Analytics Actually Looks Like

Future-ready analytics is not about complexity or volume but about flexibility, clarity, and learning. Today’s users expect models to change as conditions change, and that’s what modern CDS tools like Smarten do. They help decision makers stay connected to data and focus on understanding direction and impact.

Smarten CDS gradually integrates into existing processes. It empowers business users to take responsibility for insights instead of waiting for reports, while allowing analysts to focus on deeper problems instead of routine requests. This redistribution of effort increases overall capacity without increasing headcount.

Over time, data becomes a shared resource rather than a specialized asset. Decisions feel deliberate because people understand the reasoning behind them. Confidence grows from clarity, and organizations can act decisively even when outcomes are uncertain.

FAQs

1. What does Smarten CDS help users do?

Smarten CDS helps business users build and understand predictive models without needing technical skills.

2. Why is explainability important?

Explainability allows users to trust results, defend decisions, and improve models over time.

3. How does CDS bridge skill gaps between business users and advanced analytics?

CDS bridges skill gaps by guiding business users through predictive modeling using familiar steps, clear explanations, and built-in validation, allowing them to apply domain knowledge without needing technical training.

Should My Business Choose Traditional BI or Augmented Analytics?

What’s the Difference Between Traditional BI and Augmented Analytics?

Whether you are considering a first-time implementation of business intelligence (BI) software, or you wish to upgrade your existing installation to include new features and technology, the market for BI tools and augmented analytics solutions can be confusing. Adding to the confusion are the seemingly conflicting predictions of research firms.

Gartner Predicted that, ‘Transitioning from a data-driven to a decision-centric vision is crucial. Prioritizing urgent business decisions for modeling, aligning decision intelligence (DI) practices, and evaluating DI platforms are recommended steps.’

So, will data-driven reporting, simple metrics and alerts be enough to drive your business into the future? Should your organization select a traditional BI tools, a ‘modern data quality solution,’ or review and select multiple analytics solutions to meet varying requirements across the enterprise?

‘Every enterprise has different needs, a different culture and varying business user, IT and data scientist requirements. As you review the capabilities of Traditional BI and Augmented Analytics, analyze the suite of services and functionality and compare those to the needs of your users and your organization.’

To help you answer these questions, it is important to first understand the difference between traditional Business Intelligence and Augmented Analytics.

Should My Enterprise Choose Traditional BI Tools, Augmented Analytics or Both?

Traditional BI Tools

Traditional BI tools support power business users with self-serve report creation without the need for advanced technical skills, SQL skills or IT assistance. To improve accuracy and outcomes, enterprise business users who are working on day-to-day projects and activities need access to easy-to-use, intuitive tools that allow for swift, accurate action and decisions. With an integrated, mobile approach to BI tools, business users can leverage personalized dashboards, multidimensional key performance indicators, and KPI tools, report software, Crosstab & Tabular reports, GeoMaps and deep dive analytics and enjoy Social BI and collaboration.

Features include:

  • Personalized Dashboard
  • Multidimensional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Deep-Dive Analytics
  • Social BI tools for data sharing
  • Graphical Analysis and Cross-Tab Analytics for Intuitive reporting
  • What-If Analysis to test pricing, budget and cost information
  • GeoMap support with interactive maps
  • Out-of-the-Box Mobile BI tools for access from anywhere
  • Personalized alerts
  • Real time and cached data management
  • R Integration for all with no programming experience required
  • Intuitive, informative reporting
  • Publishing and delivery agent

Augmented Analytics Solutions

Augmented Analytics solutions are designed with intuitive, sophisticated features that take users beyond basic BI tools to enable swift gathering and analysis of trends, patterns, opportunities and challenges. Augmented Analytics solutions include self-serve data preparation, smart data visualization, assisted predictive modeling and natural language processing (NLP) foundational search analytics so users can ask a simple question and get a simple answer without coding or queries. This type of solution includes key influencer analytics, anomaly detection, alerts, clickless analytics and other tools designed to support the transformation of business users to Citizen Data Scientists and to increase data literacy in the enterprise.

Augmented analytics that is designed with sophisticated features for use by team members, IT, data scientists and others, provides many advanced features and enables improved data literacy and data democratization across the enterprise. With products and modules that include self-serve data preparation and ETL for business users, predictive analytics with auto-suggestions and recommendations to help users choose the right predictive modeling techniques, and smart data visualization with recommendations for the type of visualization best suited for a particular type of data, the users can make choices confidently and gain insight into issues without the programming or data science knowledge needed in decades past. Embedded BI with integration APIs allows users to leverage single sign-on within familiar software and perform analytics from within that solution.

Features Include:

  • Sentiment Analysis
  • Assisted Predictive Modeling
  • Key Influencer Analysis
  • Clickless Analytics with Natural Language Processing (NLP) and easy ‘Google-type’ searches and queries
  • Auto Insights and toolsets that leverage machine learning
  • Anomaly Monitoring and Alerts

Features are designed to support Citizen Data Scientists and organizational transformation for Data Literacy.

‘Should your organization select a traditional BI tools, a ‘modern data quality solution,’ or review and select multiple analytics solutions to meet varying requirements across the enterprise?’

Every enterprise has different needs, a different culture and varying business user, IT and data scientist requirements. As you review the capabilities of Traditional BI and Augmented Analytics, analyze the suite of services and functionality and compare those to the needs of your users and your organization.

You may wish to implement Augmented Analytics across the enterprise and elevate data literacy and the access and use of advanced analytics across your user organization, or you may wish to focus on specific metrics, data monitoring and reporting to address unique needs or targeted goals within the organization.

Some organizations choose to leverage both the Traditional BI and the Modern BI and Augmented Analytics approach to ensure that all user and enterprise needs are addressed and avoid the one-size-fits-all approach. By giving their users, IT team, executives and business analysts the tools they need, they can align their data gathering and analytics with their strategic goals and operational objectives.

The choice is yours!

Contact Us to discuss the unique needs of your organization and your users and find out more about Smarten Technology. Explore our free article: ‘Which BI Or Analytics Tool Is Best For My Business?

Assessing Ten Years of the Citizen Data Scientist Approach

Ten Years Into the Citizen Data Scientist Revolution

It has been a decade since Gartner first defined the role of a Citizen Data Scientist. In 2018, Forbes published an article, referencing Gartner’s updated analysis of the role and stating that, ‘And the best part is, mid-market organizations already have potential citizen data scientists on their staff—it’s just a matter of tapping those with potential and interest in the work, and cultivating an analytical mindset across their workforce. Then, those who serve as citizen data scientists can grow their own skillsets, all the while being active players in their companies’ ability to tap the value of big data and drive transformation.’

‘It is likely that the Citizen Data Scientist role will continue to evolve, and it is important that the enterprise facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing and build a sustainable technology environment with appropriate policies.’

A lot has happened in the past decade, and today the role of Citizen Data Scientist is no longer new. So, what has changed in the ensuing years? How as this role changed? Has the average enterprise embraced the role and made the technological and cultural changes required to truly support this approach?

A Decade of Citizen Data Scientist Evolution

Here are a few of the ways in which the Citizen Data Scientist approach has evolved within the organization.

  • In the early days of the Citizen Data Scientist approach, Data Scientists often worried that their positions would become obsolete. Nothing can be further from the truth. The use of Data Scientists to perform strategic analytics and to refine analysis performed and submitted by business users has kept Data Scientists busy.
  • The evolution of augmented analytics and self-serve tools has expanded analytical capacity, the speed at which business users can gather and analyze data and the dependability of the outcomes. Drag and drop capabilities, machine learning and, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI) have significantly improved tools and made it easier and more desirable for business users to dive into analytics and make it part of their day-to-day role.
  • As cloud-based access expanded, the enterprise leveraged improved access and data platforms to enable collaboration and create multi-disciplinary teams and power user roles that would further encourage the use of these tools across the enterprise. Methods and guidelines improved data literacy and encouraged business user expertise creating more confident Citizen Data Scientists and supporting the role as a mainstream concept.

Every enterprise must do more with less, increase productivity and reduce missteps in order to remain competitive. So, it is likely that the Citizen Data Scientist role will continue to evolve, and it is important that the enterprise facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing and build a sustainable technology environment with appropriate policies for user access, upgraded technology and data analytics tools and standards and regulations to govern and manage risk and maintain alignment with enterprise strategies and goals.

‘Those who serve as citizen data scientists can grow their own skillsets, all the while being active players in their companies’ ability to tap the value of big data and drive transformation.’

If you wish to know more about the Citizen Data Scientist approach and how augmented analytics tools and your industry and market knowledge can position you for success in this role, Contact Us today to find out how our team can help you to improve business results and increase team collaboration, data literacy, productivity and competitive advantage. Get started today with our self-paced FREE Online Citizen Data Scientist course.

Mobile BI Tools Are Not Just Nice to Have, They Are A Necessity

Mobile BI Tools Support Users and a Competitive Strategy

No matter the size of your business or the industry or market in which you compete, the importance of business intelligence (BI) and self-serve augmented analytics is no longer in question. Nearly every business is using some form of business intelligence today and, if your business is not, you are already behind the competition!

When we consider the growth of this important solution market, we find that the mobile market for business intelligence solutions is growing exponentially and that is not surprising. Today’s workforce is mobile and, even where employees work onsite, their work will take them away from a desk and into a manufacturing or production environment, or perhaps within the walls of a hospital, a university, a retail store, etc.

‘The shift to mobile BI tools is not just a matter of convenience. It is crucial that your team remain informed and that they have the tools they need to collaborate, share and present data, whether they are on the road, with a client or in an airport. This flexibility reflects the evolving business environment and the need for agility.’

A recent Mordor Intelligence Report revealed that the 2025 market size for mobile business intelligence was 19.33 billion USD and that the 2030 projected market size is 55.56 billion USD.

While many businesses rely solely on BI solutions and look to their team to implement and use these solutions, the growth of business intelligence services is also of note. The complexity of technology landscapes, in-house vs. cloud implementations, security and regulatory and industry compliance, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) add-ons and integration have created an environment that is often best served by expert services.

These services can help businesses to personalize and customize their approach and to provide meaningful mobile BI tools, embedded BI for familiar best-of-breed and legacy software solutions and other tools that will support end users and make the team more productive.

User accessibility and ease-of-use are paramount considerations. The shift to mobile BI tools is not just a matter of convenience. It is crucial that your team remain informed and that they have the tools they need to collaborate, share and present data, whether they are on the road, with a client or in an airport. This flexibility reflects the evolving business environment and the need for agility.

Whether you are a sales manager, a media executive, a healthcare provider or a business analyst, it is important to have access to a suite of BI tools that will help you gather and analyze business data using mobile devices.

Why is Mobile Business Intelligence Important for My Business in Today’s Work Environment?

The team needs interactive data tools and tools that enable sharing and collaboration, reporting and sophisticated analytics – all with dependable security. Users should also be able to tailor their mobile BI tools to suit their role and preferences and integrate the use of these tools within workflow to foster a data-driven, fact-based culture.

‘Today’s workforce is mobile and, even where employees work onsite, their work will take them away from a desk and into a manufacturing or production environment, or perhaps within the walls of a hospital, a university, a retail store, etc.’

Look for a mobile BI tool that will:

  • Support a native mobile environment for Android and iOS, with an intuitive user experience (Ux).
  • Provide access rights defined at the server level with appropriate security and privacy at all levels.
  • Accommodate hosting within the IT infrastructure, on-premises or in public or private cloud environs.
  • Provide users with access to dashboards, reports, and clickless analytics with a natural language processing (NLP) search function.
  • Provide expertise and services that are appropriate for the needs of your organization.

If you want to support your business user team and provide a foundation for BI tools that will better serve your team and your customers, explore Smarten Mobile BI benefits and features, with powerful functionality and access for your business users including out-of-the-box Mobile BI and advanced analytics for every team member. For more information on Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics, read our article, ‘Mobile BI Business Use Provides Real Advantages,’ and take a moment to watch and listen to this informative webinar, ‘Smarten Mobile BI.’

Smarten Support Portal Updates – January – 2026!

Embedded BI for End-Users Improves User Adoption and Results

Should My Business Employ Embedded BI for End Users?

The Embedded Business Intelligence (BI) and augmented analytics market is growing by leaps and bounds. According to a recent Mordor Intelligence the banking and finance industries represent 21% of the Embedded Business Intelligence end-user market, while Healthcare represents 15% and there is significant growth in the end-user component of business intelligence solution use for manufacturing, retail and energy. In short, embedded BI for end-users is growing in many industries and markets.

‘No matter the industry or market, end-users can easily access embedded BI and analytics tools from within familiar, popular solutions and apps and use analytics to gather and analyze data, produce reports and collaborate with other users to make fact-based decisions.’

Embedded BI allows the enterprise to affordably and quickly put the power of integrated business intelligence where they need it, with simple, easy-to-use analytics integration within enterprise and business applications in a single sign-on environment. Organizations can easily integrate and embed BI objects within their ERP, CRM, Intranet portal or other applications, to improve user adoption and maximize Business Intelligence ROI.

When enterprises integrate Embedded BI within popular solutions, they report significant improvement in user adoption and in the value of BI tools.

  • 67% of companies say time spent in their applications increased after they embedded analytics
  • 93% of application teams say embedded analytics improves their user experience

Business users can access augmented analytics and BI tools from within their enterprise applications or mobile apps. The enterprise can engender business intelligence data democratization and alleviate user frustration with real business user solutions and deep dive capabilities. Your team can provide user access within their favorite applications to improve user adoption of business intelligence tools, and engender collaboration, data sharing and fact-based decisions.

How Does Embedded BI Improve BI User Adoption and End-User Solution Satisfaction?

When your business selects the right embedded BI solution, there are many advantages for end-users, including:

  • Seamless Access to Data Sources including data warehouses, and business application architecture with single-tenant mode or multi-tenant modes.
  • Single Sign-On Access (SSO) for access to analytics, using the same login credentials as those employed to access the business application.
  • Access to Embedded BI Objects from Within Your Application with easy to use, scalable Integration API. Integrate BI objects (Dashboards, Crosstab, Tabular, KPIs, Graphs, Reports, Clickless Analytics and more) into your business application.

Select a solution that is easily implemented without a lot of customization and that can be deployed quickly and easily, so your end-users can get started using self-serve analytics right away.

‘Business users can access augmented analytics and BI tools from within their enterprise applications or mobile apps. The enterprise can engender business intelligence data democratization and alleviate user frustration with real business user solutions and deep dive capabilities.’

No matter the industry or market, end-users can easily access embedded BI and analytics tools from within familiar, popular solutions and apps and use analytics to gather and analyze data, produce reports and collaborate with other users to make fact-based decisions. Embedded Bi enables user adoption to improve Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and it increases user satisfaction and understanding of analytics by providing easy-to-use tools that make the team member’s job easier and increase productivity.

Contact Us to discuss the unique needs of your organization and your users and find out more about Smarten Technology. Explore Embedded BI And Analytics and how it can help you to achieve your goals, improve user adoption and satisfaction and improve ROI and TCO.