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Smarten Support Portal Updates – July – 2025!

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August 1, 2025

We invite you to explore our latest knowledgebase articles and to join the Smarten user community on Smarten Support Portal.

If you have not registered yet, Click Here to obtain your login credentials.

Knowledgebase Articles

  1. Data Sources : Adding a new JDBC/ODBC Database Driver/Connector to Smarten
  2. Visualizations : Making use of Case statements (IfCase, When-Then)
  3. Administrator : Enable Managed Memory In Objects

Predictive Use cases

  1. Assisted predictive modelling : Classification : Customer Churn model using Smarten Assisted Predictive Modelling
  2. Assisted predictive modelling : Regression : Sampling Data using Smarten Augmented Analytics

Business Use Cases

  1. Business Scenarios : Calculating Pending Completion Months for an Ongoing Project
  2. Business Scenarios : Derive monthly closing balance of various items from yearly opening balance and their monthly transactions data

Manuals and Technical Guides

  1. Smarten Concept Manual SmartenInsight
  2. Smarten SSDP Best Practices
  3. Smarten Working with Reports

If you don’t find what you need in the Support Portal, we hope you will contact us with your questions, comments or suggestions. We are here to help and to support your business goals and success!

URL: Smarten Customer and Partner Community
Email: support@Smarten.com

Original Post: Smarten Support Portal Updates – July – 2025!

What is MCP and Why is it Important to My Business?

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July 30, 2025

How Does MCP Help AI Application Development?

Technology is great! But it can be hard to keep up. Even if you have made a career in technology, the pace of change today is so rapid that, if you miss one issue of your favorite tech publication, you may risk falling behind.

Perhaps nothing has increased the pace of change in technology more than Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, because AI potential seems to be unconstrained, the need for expanded capabilities and foundations is constant.

One such development is Model Context Protocol (MCP). MCP is an open protocol that was created by Anthropic to simplify the process of interacting with Large Language Models (LLMs) and to standardize the way in which applications provide context to LLMs and help them interpret data.

It may help to think of MCP as a translator or a way to make connections. Much like a USB adapter can connect an external hard drive to your laptop, MCP can connect various tools and data sources to enable interaction, integration and context for use in AI.

While early stage AI struggled to connect disparate data sources, tools and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), the advent of Model Context Protocol (MCP) provides a bridge to external data and services to connect AI models using a standardized communication framework to allow for AI reasoning and processing. So, AI models like Azure OpenAI, GPT, Atlassian and others can fetch data, connect and interact with APIs and perform tasks, going well beyond the knowledge contained in the model to produce new, expanded outputs.

What is Model Context Protocol (MCP) and WHY Should I Care?

In the good old days of AI (just last year), your users might ask a complex question or a question that exceeded the information contained within an LLM training data set. That question could elicit an answer that made no sense or the system might simply frustrate the user by saying, ‘I don’t know.’ In order to solve that problem, you would have to provide data refinement to ensure that the LLM had context or you would have to add another tool or secondary source. That can be complex, time consuming and expensive.

In short, in order to succeed with your LLM, you were constrained by the amount of training data, and how well you could anticipate what your clients or users would ask or need. Sure, the information exists out there somewhere, but your LLM doesn’t include that data! You could use APIs but that process of application integration is complex and can be difficult to implement in a meaningful way, and you have to hard-code each connection! Using this technique to provide information to an LLM requires you to review documentation and data, identify the end point of the search, verify authentication, structure requests and then make sure it all works seamlessly so your users are not frustrated.

MCP allows you to create a bridge between apps and tools and establish automated workflows, using the power of LLMs to perform tasks and provide clear, concise information across all technology frameworks and platforms. MCP allows developers and content managers to establish what the LLM should know and provide that in a standard format that the LLM can understand. In essence, MCP acts as the go-between or the middleman, simplifying the relationship and connection between the LLM and APIs, tools and data repositories. Rather than your app reaching out to the API, it communicates with an MCP server. The MCP server will then translate that information and decide how to communicate with the API to satisfy the user request. It’s a translator!

Model Context Protocols (MCP) provide support for application developers using AI so they can more easily build apps and integrate information, ensuring that the app is flexible enough to support future integration of tools and data. Its open-source accessibility allows software developers and software vendors to leverage these tools to create business and consumer apps.

The team can create apps that are extensible at runtime and connect tools and APIs to an MCP server, to use the app immediately without extensive coding and deployment. The process is simple.

  • When a user enters a query, the Large Language Model (LLM) sends a request to the MCP server
  • The MCP server translates the request and decides where it should go (API, tool, etc.), and then sends it to the appropriate source
  • The response to the query is returned through the MCP server
  • The MCP server sends that response to the LLM
  • The user receives the response

It’s just that simple.

If you, your IT staff, your management team or your customers are asking about the potential of AI and LLMs, it is time to consider MCP and how it can support your needs. The incorporation of this approach can save development time and expense and alleviate rework and developer and user frustration.

If your business wishes to improve productivity, timelines, budgets and dependability of in-house applications, you will want to find a vendor and service provider who appropriately employs AI and LLMs to support its development model. If you are planning to engage an IT expert to augment your own software product or solution, it is wise to look for this capability when you interview prospective partners. Contact Us to find out how to integrate AI And LLM capabilities into your software project, website, analytics initiative or other project. Explore our free White Papers: ‘What Is AI And How Can It Help My Business,’ and ‘The Practical Use Of GenAI In BI And Analytics Tools.’

Original Post: What is MCP and Why is it Important to My Business?

Leverage Citizen Data Scientists for Business and Business Users

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July 23, 2025

Business and Team Member Benefits of Citizen Data Scientists!

When a business considers the prospect of implementing business intelligence and augmented analytics tools to align objectives and streamline processes and decision-making, the business management and executive team can often see the project as time-consuming and expensive.

In fact, most proposals that include process changes, training and new technology get stalled because:

a. change is hard

b. there is a tendency to say that everything is just fine the way it is

c. the management team believes that the expense is not equal to the value of the transition.

When it comes to BI tools and self-serve analytics, all of these claims can be disproven by results.

‘By providing business users with easy-to-use BI tools and augmented analytics features that produce results and allow them to make the most of their knowledge and time, the organization is more likely to retain its human resource assets and to identify and utilize its team member skills to achieve results, thereby creating a competitive advantage and a more agile, streamlined enterprise.’

In fact, Gartner has predicted that ‘Early adopters of augmented analytics have the potential to realize more strategic and differentiating business benefits from their analytics investments than those who wait until these technologies are widely adopted.’

Results and benefits are proven across the enterprise by businesses that have already adopted business intelligence and augmented analytics.

Minimum Viable Products (MVP) Produces Better Business Start-Up Results

For the organization, these benefits include:

  • Support for data-driven, fact-based decision making
  • Insight and perspective into history, results and trends and patterns for strategy and operational decisions
  • Encouraging collaboration among team members, IT, business analysts and data scientists
  • Business agility and efficiency
  • Leveraging human resource assets and improving productivity
  • Creating a competitive advantage with rapid decision-making and market response
  • Improving and optimizing financial investments, forecasts and predictions

For business users, transitioning to Citizen Data Scientists, the advantages include:

  • Combining professional and industry knowledge with data to achieve accurate results
  • Leveraging simple BI tools and self-serve analytics to receive recommendations and suggestions and make quick, clear decisions
  • Reducing the need for IT and data scientist assistance
  • Collaborating with other business users to create and share data, reports and information
  • Advancing career goals by learning and using tools that combine existing skills with new analytical capabilities
  • Improving data-driven decisions and reducing re-work

By providing business users with easy-to-use BI tools and augmented analytics features that produce results and allow them to make the most of their knowledge and time, the organization is more likely to retain its human resource assets and to identify and utilize its team member skills to achieve results, thereby creating a competitive advantage and a more agile, streamlined enterprise.

‘Gartner has predicted that ‘Early adopters of augmented analytics have the potential to realize more strategic and differentiating business benefits from their analytics investments than those who wait until these technologies are widely adopted.’

If your business wishes to capitalize on the potential of the Citizen Data Scientist approach, it important to work with an IT Partner who can help you define your requirements and strategize for optimal success, providing the augmented analytics tools and knowledge of the industry that is required to position you for success. Get started today with our self-paced FREE Online Citizen Data Scientist course.

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.

Original Post : Leverage Citizen Data Scientists for Business and Business Users!

Don’t Add IT Resources, Add an IT Partner!

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July 17, 2025

When Your IT Needs Outstrip Your Team, Look for a Partner!

If your business is anything like your competition, your IT team is overwhelmed with ongoing activities, with special projects, reporting, maintenance and other activities that seem to take up every minute of the day. If a business manager or an executive wishes to undertake an application development project to improve business productivity, or a consumer application development project to increase revenue, or a major technology infrastructure project to improve, and enhance performance, scalability, security or other factors within the organization, your IT team is likely too busy to accommodate the need.

Even if they CAN find time to execute these tasks, the projects may require specialized skills that your team does not possess. In that case, the enterprise will have to expand its IT facilities to accommodate the new team members they must recruit, hire and pay. And what is to become of these team members when the project is finished? Will the organization still need their services, or will the enterprise be forced to contract its team again, leaving it with expensive facilities space it does not need?

Such are the challenges of a small or medium sized business owner. The fact is that your vision, your dream may be compromised by the inability to staff your projects. And that isn’t the only risk. If your business is expanding or must meet competitive response, it may be at risk of falling short if it cannot staff those crucial projects.

Not Enough IT Resources or Skills? Don’t Despair! The Right Partner Has What You Need

There is an answer to these challenges and, as with so many other things in life, the answer lies in building a team, in trusting the support of a partner to help you get the job done! According to recent studies 92% of the Global 2000 companies use IT outsourcing.

‘With a well-rounded IT partner team that possesses the skills and experience, offers affordable licensing and technical and soft leadership skills, you can take your business to the next level!’

With the right IT expert partner, your business can address all of the issues described above.

  • Addressing Immediate Needs
  • Building for the Future
  • Supporting Ongoing Needs

Here are just a few examples of the services your business can engage:

Digital Transformation (Dx) – If your enterprise is struggling to update and upgrade its technology landscape to integrate, streamline and improve the flow of data and information and to improve the business user experience (Ux) to enhance productivity, align goals and encourage collaboration, your project will require comprehensive skills and focused attention. You must assess your current environment, identify requirements and create a roadmap and roll-out plan, and then staff that project. You will need services, solutions, and a team approach to innovate, create, and support cutting-edge technology, and the skills and experience to execute that vision.

Build Your Software Team – This crucial set of services can expand your own IT team with new skills and solid experience to provide the services you need on an ongoing basis or for a special project. These resources are dedicated to your enterprise and available as and when you need them with no delays. The partner team acts as an extension of your team, providing advice and output and working closely with your organization to satisfy your needs.

Minimum Viable Products (MVP) – If you have a new product idea, you run the risk of spending a lot of time and effort developing a product that falls short of customer expectations or a product that stretches far beyond the needs of the market and is too costly for customers to buy. Working with a skilled partner, you can assess needs and create a product with essential features to determine market potential and get crucial customer feedback to incorporate into the final product.

Software Product Development – Turn your vision into a reality, gain market share and address competitive issues with the right technology, the right features and the right architecture for future growth. Choose an IT partner that understand the difference between Application Development and Product Development and can provide a full suite of services to ensure appropriate security and protect intellectual property, etc.

Software Application Development – Whether you are developing a business application, a mobile application, or enhancing an existing application, you must choose the right technologies and frameworks, carefully integrate data and deploy within your organization or among suppliers and partners with careful planning and comprehensive scheduling and services. The technology market is changing rapidly and an expert IT partner can help you choose technologies from artificial intelligence (AI) to cloud-based data storage, integration of disparate data systems and user-friendly interface design to customer relationship management (CRM) and applications for financial management, media, travel, hospitality, production, supply chain management (SCM) etc., the right IT partner makes all the difference.

Data Engineering, ETL & Data Warehousing – Create and/or manage data warehouses, data hubs, data marts and more with services to help you organize manage, monitor and analyze data from internal and external sources.

Business Intelligence (BI), Augmented Analytics, Predictive Analytics and AI – Whether you wish to upgrade your BI tools or implement analytics for the first time, you will need the right services to integrate data for smart data visualization, self-serve data preparation and predictive analytics and to leverage artificial intelligence (AI), and low-code, no-code foundations to quickly and easily analyze and leverage new features in a flexible environment that is suitable for all your team members so you can transition business users into Citizen Data Scientists.

‘There is an answer to your IT staffing and technology challenges and, as with so many other things in life, the answer lies in building a team, in trusting the support of a partner to help you get the job done! With the right IT expert partner, your business can address your issues in a timely, affordable fashion.’

These are just a few examples of the suite of services you can expect from the right IT partner. Look for a partner with proven experience and references, one with proven references and services that include Quality and Testing, Infrastructure Management, social media integration, cutting-edge AI skills and other advanced and traditional skills. With a well-rounded team of skills and experience, affordable licensing and technical and soft leadership skills, the right IT partner can take your business to the next level!

Discover our Software Application And Maintenance Services, Software Application Development Services and ongoing technology support. Build Your Software Team using our resources, skills and experience. Explore the benefits of expert services with our free Articles and White Papers: ‘Minimum Viable Products Enable Swift Start-Up And Product Insight,’ and ‘Preparing Your Business For Digital Transformation And Data Literacy.’

Original Post: Don’t Add IT Resources, Add an IT Partner!!

Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – Nepal Ambulance Dispatch & Tracking App for U.S. Client

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July 16, 2025

This U.S. Client is spearheading a charitable initiative in Nepal to enhance emergency response services. The project will revolutionize ambulance dispatch operations by integrating real-time tracking, optimizing ambulance assignments, and streamlining communication among dispatchers, ambulance drivers, and patients. By leveraging an advanced solution, the initiative seeks to improve response times, ensure efficient resource allocation, and ultimately save more lives during critical emergencies.

Continue reading “Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – Nepal Ambulance Dispatch & Tracking App for U.S. Client”

Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – AI-Enabled Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and App Product Development for U.S. Recruitment industry Start-Up Sourcing Platform

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July 15, 2025

The Client has a start-up business in the United States. This Client is focused on the recruitment technology market. Its business focuses on improving efficiency and quality of the complex process of sourcing in the recruitment industry. The Client business mission is to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the efficiency and speed of sourcing the best candidates.

Continue reading “Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – AI-Enabled Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and App Product Development for U.S. Recruitment industry Start-Up Sourcing Platform”

Look to Cross-Tab and Tabular Analytical BI Tools for Clear Results

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July 9, 2025

Cross-Tab and Tabular Reporting Tools Are Foundational!

The evolution of advanced analytics has been rapid and impressive. With features that provide support for business users and help to transition them into Citizen Data Scientists, and the addition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other capabilities like Natural Language Processing (NLP) and search analytics, augmented analytics is suitable for every team member in your organization. It is easy to be impressed with all of the new bells and whistles and these additions certainly do make a user’s life easier and help the organization to analyze and use data in a more meaningful way.

But while we are admiring these new BI tools and analytics features and technologies, we should give equal respect to the bread and butter of the business intelligence (BI) and analytical landscape! Foundational, comprehensive visualization techniques are not only meaningful, they are mandatory.

‘With flexible views and report formats and interactive features and presentation capabilities, your business users, managers, IT team and data scientists can leverage data across disparate data structures and view and present that data with intuitive formats for fact-based decision-making.’

Analytics and business intelligence (BI) tools provide many such options including:

Cross-Tab – Cross-tabulation analysis (or crosstabs), analyzes and categorizes data to reveal the relationship between two or more variables to help you make sense of survey results, reveal actionable tasks, find patterns and correlations. Cross-tab analytics can be used for categorical variables (with independent or dependent variables), for contingency tables, marginal totals, or conditional frequencies, and many other purposes.

Tabular – Tabular visualization facilitates quick comparison of data in a tabular form, marrying data classification with data presentation to reveal measures and averages in a structured format that is easy to manipulate, compare and understand. Tabular analytics can be used for statistical analysis or units of measure among other uses.

According to research at the University of North Carolina (UNC), cross-tab and tabular analytics account for 90% of the analytical techniques used in all research analysis.

A BI reporting tool that enables users to customize their view and approach and is easy to understand and use will make the user more productive and ensure Return on Investment (ROI).

Analytics Can Be Flashy, But Traditional Cross-Tab and Tabular Visualization is Your Bread and Butter

These foundational analytical visualization techniques are easy to understand and use and are suitable for business users and all team members. When you choose a Business Intelligence reporting tool that enables report, template and document design and configuration and supports preprinted fixed formats too. With flexible views and report formats and interactive features and presentation capabilities, your business users, managers, IT team and data scientists can leverage data across disparate data structures and view and present that data with intuitive formats for fact-based decision-making. IT team members or consultants can leverage a simple, basic programming or scripting environment to define format templates and use data from Datasets and objects to produce stunning pixel perfect reports. Users can preview reports, export data to PDF files and share documents and reports via email at predefined frequency using delivery and publishing agents.

‘While we are admiring new BI tools, features and technologies, we should give equal respect to the bread and butter of the business intelligence (BI) and analytical landscape! Foundational, comprehensive visualization techniques are not only meaningful, they are mandatory.’

To learn more about Traditional BI Tools And Visualization Techniques and the promise of augmented analytics and Advanced Reporting Tools, contact us now. Find out how to  ensure Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) results, gain a competitive market advantage, and enable user adoption, read our free White Paper, ‘A Roadmap To ROI And User Adoption Of Augmented Analytics And BI.’ Explore The Benefits of our Augmented Analytics And BI Tools, Contact Us. Keep pace with changing enterprise needs and support business agility. Let us help you realize your business goals and objectives with fact-based information, and flexible, scalable technology solutions that will support Citizen Data Scientist initiatives, and improved data literacy and data democratization.

Original Post: Look to Cross-Tab and Tabular Analytical BI Tools for Clear Results!

Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – Data-Driven Vendor Selection & Efficient Procurement for German Cable Manufacturer

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July 7, 2025

The Client has a headquarters in Germany, and is a leading global supplier of integrated solutions and branded products in cable and connection technology. It maintains business operations around the world with more than 4500 employees, 25 production sites and locations in 152 countries.

Continue reading “Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – Data-Driven Vendor Selection & Efficient Procurement for German Cable Manufacturer”

Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – Solution for USA Cell and Gene Therapy Logistics Courier Cloud

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July 1, 2025

The Client developed a specialized niche platform designed to streamline logistics for the cell and gene therapy (CGT) sector. Its innovative, expert solution offers a centralized, seamless interface that allows users to book, manage, and track shipments with multiple specialty couriers, including World Courier, Marken, and QuickStat.

Continue reading “Case Study: Elegant MicroWeb Case Study – Solution for USA Cell and Gene Therapy Logistics Courier Cloud”

Why Include AI In Your Upcoming Software Development Project?

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July 1, 2025

Should I Include AI In My Software Development Strategy?

Whether you are a business owner, a business manager, a team member or a consumer, the chances are good you have read articles and seen media coverage of the influence of AI. There is no doubt that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already had a profound impact on business, everyday life and our perception of what technology can do.

A recent study by Forbes revealed that:

Breathe Life Into Your Business and Consumer Products with AI Features

  • 64% of businesses expect AI to increase productivity
  • 72% of businesses have adopted AI for at least one business function
  • Healthcare and automotive industries are expected to see the most impact from AI use
  • Over 60% of business owners believe AI will improve customer relationships

‘AI is evolving rapidly and it will continue to do so. It provides significant potential and it can serve your business today with customer-facing and internal applications, software and products that will provide a competitive edge and improve your productivity, market reach and customer satisfaction.’

If your business is considering AI as part of your technology strategy, you may be stalled in the process because you are unsure. Business concerns often include:

  • Is AI capable of meeting my business requirements?
  • Will AI be flexible enough to accommodate future requirements?
  • Will AI development be expensive and complex?
  • Can AI truly take my development project to the next level?

By leveraging AI, businesses can tap into its numerous benefits and advantages, positioning themselves for continual success and growth. Here are a few reasons why an endeavor into AI development must be considered:

  • Competitive Advantage – Businesses can secure an edge over their competitors through the use of AI technologies that amplify productivity, decision-making processes, and consumer experiences.
  • Personalized User Experience –  AI technology allows businesses to effortlessly examine consumer behavior and preferences, enabling the provision of products, recommendations, and services tailored to their precise needs.
  • Data-Driven Insights – AI-based solutions help businesses forecast business trends, identify patterns, and make informed decisions by analyzing vast amounts of data and extracting invaluable insights, paving the way for better planning.
  • Operational Efficiency – By automating repetitive tasks, streamlining workflows, and optimizing resource allocation, AI-driven software helps businesses simplify their operations, improve productivity, and reduce costs.

If you are considering the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and you want to leverage its potential today, there are many ways to do so without overreach and risk. AI is evolving rapidly and it will continue to do so. It provides significant potential and it can serve your business today with customer-facing and internal applications, software and products that will provide a competitive edge and improve your productivity, market reach and customer satisfaction. With the right planning and integration, and the right Artificial Intelligence (AI) development partner, AI technology can serve your business and your customers and team with competitive products and services and tools that will improve workflow, customer satisfaction, and time-to-market.

‘By leveraging AI, businesses can tap into its numerous benefits and advantages, positioning themselves for continual success and growth.’

Explore our expert Artificial Intelligence Development services. Discover our Software Application And Maintenance Services, Software Application Development Services and ongoing technology support. Build Your Software Team using our resources, skills and experience. Explore the benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) development in our free White Paper: ‘What Is Artificial Intelligence Technology And How Can It Help My Business?,’ and ‘The Practical Use Of GenAI In Business Intelligence And Analytics Tools.’

Original Post: Why Include AI In Your Upcoming Software Development Project?