Tag: Analytics and BI Platform

Is Mobile BI Crucial for Business Success?

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December 15, 2022

The Mobile BI Market is Growing! Make Sure You Select the Right Solution

In today’s mobile society, no enterprise can afford to overlook the importance of mobile access for business applications. Your team may be working remotely, or out of the office meeting with clients or a sales team. Whatever the case, mobile access to apps is crucial to productivity and collaboration. Business Intelligence solutions are no exception!

‘If the mobile BI solution is not flexible and seamless so that it operates on all devices; if it does not provide all features and functionality in a mobile environment, business users will be frustrated.’

According to recent research, the global mobile analytics market is projected to reach $28 million USD within the next decade. The reasons for that growth include an expanded interest in data democratization and the use of analytics among team members throughout the business organization, as well as a need for mobile access to optimize resources and ensure productivity.

The choice of solution is key to success and any mobile BI solution the business considers must support both Android and iOS, and operate in a ‘design once, use anywhere’ approach that accommodates desktops, tablets, and smart phones with an intelligent, adaptive user interface (UI) that supports any screen resolution and any size screen with seamless navigation and performance.

Mobile BI Ensures Access to Critical Data for Business Users

Anytime, Anywhere – Team members are more tech savvy today and they will not accept or adopt solutions that are restrictive or cumbersome. A mobile business intelligence solution must provide support for a fast-paced work environment and support users in the office and on the road.

Designed to Support Growth and Change – The mobile BI solution must support growth and be flexible to expand user volume, multiple locations and changes in business processes, reporting needs, etc.

Integrated Data Access – The mobile BI solution must be easy to use and operate out-of-the-box without customization to enable access to data for analytics, working across disparate data sources to serve seamless, clear information on mobile devices.

Comprehensive Features – Features should include the ability to personalize dashboards, report features including graphs and charts and key performance indicators (KPIs). Solutions that restrict access to all features on mobile devices will not serve your business users well.

‘The choice of a mobile BI solution is key to success. It must support both Android and iOS, and operate in a ‘design once, use anywhere’ approach that accommodates desktops, tablets, and smart phones with an intelligent, adaptive user interface (UI).’

It is important to understand that simply having mobile access is not enough. If the mobile BI solution is not flexible and seamless so that it operates on all devices; if it does not provide all features and functionality in a mobile environment, business users will be frustrated and are not likely to adopt and use the solution on a daily basis which will negatively impact return on investment (ROI).

Mobile BI and Business Intelligence solutions should include tools and techniques that make it easier to achieve data literacy and provide data analytics access to all business users. Simple, self-serve BI tools can provide your business with the foundation to achieve your goals with features and tools like Social BI, Embedded BI, etc.  Let us help you achieve your vision and improve productivity and insight across the organization.

Original Post : Mobile BI Ensures Access to Critical Data for Business Users!

Why Not Embrace the Advantages of Self-Serve BI Tools?

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November 2, 2022

Don’t Be Daunted by the Challenges of BI Tools. Self-Serve BI is the Answer!

Gartner research reveals that, ‘90% of corporate strategies will explicitly mention information as a critical enterprise asset and analytics as an essential competency.’ As business professionals, we all know that information is power and today, your business users are expected to know more and to keep pace with industry, market and customer changes that will negatively impact the business or have provide potential opportunities. But how do your team members achieve these goals when they are busier than ever, and the changes are coming more rapidly than ever!

‘Simple, self-serve BI tools can provide your business with the foundation to achieve your goals with features and tools like Social BI, Mobile BI, Embedded BI, etc.’

In this article, we will discuss the topic of modern business intelligence tools and solutions and the advantages of providing self-serve tools to your users for day-to-day analysis and intelligence gathering.

Let’s Discuss: Benefits and Challenges of Self-Serve BI

First, let’s look at some of the challenges you will need to consider when implementing self-serve BI tools:

Challenges of Self-Serve BI

  • Technology Access and Infrastructure Readiness – Your IT, finance and management teams will need a comprehensive understanding of your current technology and infrastructure, the data hubs, data warehouses and software solutions (legacy, best-of-breed, ERP, etc.) that will provide the foundational data for your users. You will need a plan and a roadmap to integrate these into your business intelligence strategy. A modern, seamless BI solution can provide a simple solution for what might otherwise be a challenging situation. If you can easily integrate your data sources and make them available for data gathering and analytics, your users can leverage the data to report, share and collaborate.
  • Team Member Adoption and Understanding – Your team will also need an understanding of the average technology skills of your business users and their willingness to adopt new tools and solutions. If your team members perceive that your BI tools are difficult to use, or if they are not educated on the need for and the benefits of self-serve business intelligence, they are unlikely to adopt the new tools. If, on the other hand, they see the value to their role and how it can make them more productive and streamline their work process; if they see that the solution is easy and intuitive to use, your business is less likely to face the challenges of team reluctance.

There are many other challenges and considerations that should inform your BI tools strategy, but these two are perhaps the most important.

Now, let’s consider some of the many benefits of self-serve business intelligence and how it can support your goals and simplify the lives of your business users:

Benefits of Self-Serve BI

  • Social BI – Social BI allows users to champion the use of business intelligence. Power users and those who are curious by nature will create reports, share and collaborate, using easy-to-use tools and thereby encourage others to use the tools and to repurpose report formats etc. to achieve their own goals. Social BI allows business users to share, ‘like’ and perform tasks in a way that is similar to social networking and is therefore popular among business users.
  • Mobile BI – Today’s team members often work remotely, or spend a lot of time on the road. By providing self-serve business intelligence that is intuitive to use and accessible on Android and iOS devices, the business can ensure that users will have seamless access and can accomplish tasks, search for information, share and collaborate, without missing a beat!
  • Data Democratization and Data Literacy – If you want your team members to grow and add more value, you want to encourage data literacy and ensure data democratization. Move away from restricted data access and sole ownership of analytics by data scientists, IT and business analysts. Provide easy-to-use tools that allow for simple search analytics in a Google-type environment and will make it easier for reluctant business users to embrace your new BI solution and develop new data analytics skills they can use for fact-based decisions.
  • User Adoption – There is nothing more frustrating than spending the time and money to implement a new solution, only to find that your users are resistant to using that solution. With true self-serve BI tools and intuitive data visualization, reporting, analytics and access, users will want to adopt the tools and share their discoveries with other team members.
  • Embedded BI – If you want to leverage existing technology, improve your Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for your current solutions and infrastructure, consider that self-serve BI tools can be embedded into existing solutions. With embedded BI with Integration APIs, users can leverage familiar, favorite software solutions in a single sign-on environment, and find information within those solutions without having to learn complicated new techniques or fighting with data silos and transferring data from one place to another.

There are many other advantages to Self-Serve Business Intelligence. This short list should give you some ideas of how you can leverage these tools in your own business landscape.

‘As business professionals, we all know that information is power and today, your business users are expected to know more and to keep pace with industry, market and customer changes that will negatively impact the business or have provide potential opportunities.’

Business Intelligence solutions should include tools and techniques that make it easier to achieve data literacy and provide data analytics access to all business users. Simple, self-serve BI tools can provide your business with the foundation to achieve your goals with features and tools like Social BI, Mobile BI, Embedded BI, etc.  Let us help you achieve your vision and improve productivity and insight across the organization.

Original Post : Let’s Discuss: Benefits and Challenges of Self-Serve BI!

Embedded BI & Integration APIs Ensure User Adoption!

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October 31, 2022

Business Users Can and Will Use Embedded BI to Improve Performance!

If your organization is considering BI tools or augmented analytics but your management or IT team believes it will be too difficult to engender user adoption, it is important to understand your options. With the right tools and strategy, your enterprise can implement analytics, democratize data and improve data literacy, assuring user adoption and a significant return on investment (ROI) and low total cost of ownership (TCO).

‘With the right solution and features, and an Embedded BI solution with integration APIs, the organization can offer its business users the tools they need, and make user adoption as easy as possible.’

In the Gartner Analytics and BI Magic Quadrant customer reference survey, the average modern analytics and BI Adoption rate is 35%. But that doesn’t have to be you! There are numerous reasons for poor user adoption. In this article, we discuss the factors for success and how your business can ensure user adoption and improved performance.

Ensure User Adoption of Analytics with Embedded BI

Provide augmented analytics that leverage Integration APIs to support embedded BI tools within enterprise applications and public websites. Intuitive, self-serve tools put the power of facts, data and business insight in the hands of business users. With access to self-serve analytics from within familiar enterprise apps, BI adoption and use increases exponentially. Business users can access augmented analytics and BI tools from within their enterprise applications or mobile apps and enjoy deep dive capabilities, engender collaboration, data sharing and fact-based decisions. Because these tools are accessible and easy to use, your business users will WANT to use analytics.

Provide Single Sign-On Access (SSO). SSO means your users can log in to their favorite, familiar app using existing login credentials. Your IT team will have the confidence of leveraging existing security protocols including OAuth2, OpenID and other custom SSO authentications and enterprise developers can implement custom SSO authentication using AD or Open LDAP to link analytics with existing portals or applications. Business users do not need to understand or consider any of those security issues. All they need to know is that they can login to their enterprise app and have access to embedded BI and augmented analytics within that application. Again…it’s easy so they are more likely to adopt and use the tools.

Provide Embedded BI Objects from within your application(s) with easy to use, scalable Integration API so business users can leverage Dashboards, Crosstab, Tabular, KPIs, Graphs, Reports, Clickless Analytics for simple, intuitive searches using natural language processing (NLP). These new features and tools will allow your users to enjoy sophisticated analytics without extensive training and will provide them with valuable insight and support for fact-based decisions.

Businesses that report poor user adoption of analytics typically fall short on planning and do not provide the right tools or the right environment to support user adoption. With the right solution and features, and an Embedded BI solution with integration APIs, the organization can offer its business users the tools they need, and make user adoption as easy as possible. If a business user has easy access, great new features and obvious value to support their role and their responsibilities, the enterprise can ensure user adoption and great return on investment (ROI).

‘Provide augmented analytics that leverage Integration APIs to support embedded BI tools within enterprise applications and public websites’

Leverage the Smarten approach to Embedded BI And Integration APIs to add powerful functionality and provide access to existing ERP, SCM, HRMS, CRM or any other products and to provide analytics capabilities within existing products without major Investment. Reduce time to market and stay ahead of the competition!  

Original Post : Embedded BI & Integration APIs Ensure User Adoption!

Users Love Self-Serve BI and Cross-Tab Analytics!

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October 11, 2022

Ensure Business Users Will Adopt BI Tools with Self-Serve BI and Cross-Tab Analytics!

Gartner has predicted that, ‘90% of corporate strategies will explicitly mention information as a critical enterprise asset and analytics as an essential competency.’ Establishing the strategy is one thing, but getting business users to adopt an analytics and information-based business workflow is quite another.

‘Modern business intelligence tools that are designed with self-serve features makes it easy enough for every user (no matter their technical skill) to leverage analytics to report, share and collaborate.’

When it comes to teams, there are two things that are always true: 1) they learn a process and workflow and rarely want to change that familiar process and 2) they are always suspicious of ‘new’ initiatives and nearly always believe that these new initiatives will result in more work for them. There is a reason your team resists new processes and initiatives and that reason is simple. Usually, their fears are warranted!

So, if you want to engender support for new analytics initiatives and engage a business community in fact-based, action-oriented initiatives, you need to plan this new initiative with your users in mind.

In this article, we focus on two of the primary components of a new business user analytics initiative.

Enable User Adoption with Self-Serve BI and Cross-Tab Analytics

Self-Serve BI Tools

Modern business intelligence tools that are designed with self-serve features like smart data visualization, self-serve data preparation and assisted predictive modeling make it easy enough for every user (no matter their technical skill) to leverage analytics to report, share and collaborate. By adding value to the user’s everyday tasks and reducing the rework and issues they will confront, you can encourage your users to adopt analytics initiatives.

  • Any promotion of analytics strategy must clearly illustrate business use cases and benefits of these tools.
  • Support a more productive, streamlined environment that will allow them to do more with less and get the job done quickly.
  • Ensure that business users can collaborate and share and grow their own expertise and visibility.
  • Provide measurable results and information to make recommendations and support those recommendations.

Cross-Tab Analytics Capabilities

Those self-serve tools should include reporting and graphical tools that are clear and concise. Business users don’t want tools that produce complex reports filled with columns and mind-numbing numbers that do not help them reach a decision or illustrate an issue. Cross-tab analytics have been around for some time but the new, improved versions of this capability provides real insight into data in a way that is clear for every user. Sophisticated functionality is underpinned with easy-to-use tools so users can analyze the relationship between or among two or more variables and summarize data in rows and columns making it easy to understand the relationships and intersection of the various types of data. Understanding relationships in data is crucial to identifying the root cause of a problem or to targeting an issue or identifying a business opportunity. Your team members can work with multi-dimensional data and perform ad-hoc queries to gain a clear view of performance, dive into your data, and find and understand the data they need quickly and intuitively. Cross-tab analysis simplifies complex data operations, summary operations, time series functions, filters and custom column expressions and enables business users with simple tools they can really use.

‘If you want to engender support for new analytics initiatives and engage a business community in fact-based, action-oriented initiatives, you need to plan this new initiative with your users in mind.’

Business Intelligence tools can improve your business results. If your business understands the challenges of implementing a business intelligence solution and adequately plans for implementation and user adoption, it can leverage the benefits of these tools and solutions and ensure success. Let us help you achieve your vision and improve productivity and insight across the organization.

Original Post : Enable User Adoption with Self-Serve BI and Cross-Tab Analytics!

What to Know to Choose the Right Mobile BI Solution!

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September 23, 2022

What Should My Business Consider When Selecting a Mobile BI Solution?

As a business considers the implementation of a BI Tool and access to augmented analytics for its business users, it must define its requirements carefully in order to satisfy its corporate goals and its user needs. In today’s on-the-go work environment, mobile BI and the concept of an augmented analytics app are necessary components of the analytics strategy.

‘Ensure that the Mobile BI solution does not require expensive, extensive customization of dashboards or of the app in order to satisfy your business and user requirements.’

Gartner predicts that, ‘data literacy will become an explicit and necessary driver of business value, demonstrated by its formal inclusion in over 80% of data and analytics strategies and change management programs.’

If the business wishes to encourage data literacy and increase business value, it must carefully select its analytical tools and solutions. In this article, we provide a short list of factors your business should consider when selecting a business intelligence and augmented analytics tool with mobile capabilities.

What You Need to Know Before You Select a Mobile BI Solution

Support for Devices

Be sure your solution provides mobile support for iOS and Android, with a seamless user experience that accommodates all screen sizes and resolutions.

Out-of-the Box Functionality

Ensure that the Mobile BI solution does not require expensive, extensive customization of dashboards or of the app in order to satisfy your business and user requirements. Features and functionality should be out-of-the-box so you can get started right away.

Access to Crucial Features

Some mobile analytics solutions provide restrictive access and provide read-only limitations, or only display pieces of the information from the data sources. Be sure your Mobile BI App provides intuitive dashboards, graphs, key performance indicators (KPIs), PDF reports and natural language processing (NLP) searching all within the mobile app. Users should be able to login, browse and search objects and perform interactive analytics, with access to ‘favorites’ and recently used objects.

Integration with File Formats

Your Augmented Analytics App should allow users to access objects via PDF and XLS and share data via WhatsApp, email or other sharing apps on their device.

Appropriate Security and Access

The Mobile BI solution should provide access rights and security, defined on a server to ensure security and privacy and access at the correct level, given the user credentials.

Mobile Hosting

Your Augmented Analytics App should be flexible and agile enough to host from anywhere within the IT infrastructure – on premises, or via public or private cloud.

Licensing

Be sure the augmented analytics provider is not charging expensive add-ons for the mobile app. If you currently have a license for augmented analytics, the mobile BI app should be an easy add-on, without expensive fees, and should be easy to download and implement and easy for users to adopt and use right away.

‘In today’s on-the-go work environment, mobile BI and the concept of an augmented analytics app are necessary components of the analytics strategy.’

Explore Smarten Mobile Augmented Analytics And Mobile BI and add powerful functionality and access for your business users with out-of-the-box Mobile BI and advanced analytics for every team member in your enterprise. For more information on Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics, read our articles, ‘Considering A Mobile BI App? Understand The WHAT Of Mobile Augmented Analytics Before You Choose’, and ‘The Importance Of Adding A Mobile BI App To An Augmented Analytics Strategy.’

Original Post : What to Know to Choose the Right Mobile BI Solution!

Can Democratizing BI Use Help My Team?

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September 7, 2022

Why is Business Intelligence Democratization Important for My Business?

Gartner research reveals that, ‘80% of organizations seeking to scale digital business will fail because they do not take a modern approach to data and analytics governance.’

If you are considering democratizing business intelligence gathering and analytics, you are not alone! Businesses today face more competition from local and global markets and every team member must work quickly and accurately in support of goals and objectives if the enterprise is to achieve its goals.

‘When senior executives and managers have reliable information and dependable recommendations and suggestions, they can improve performance and accuracy in forecasting, planning and demand.’

In this article, we discuss a few of the reasons a business should consider democratizing business intelligence and analytics within its team and how this type of initiative can be implemented to help your enterprise succeed.

Should I Democratize Business Intelligence in My Business?

Working Smarter

When you provide BI tools to your business users, you democratize data and begin to build a better understanding of the root cause of problems, the opportunities the business can leverage and the way forward to solving problems and creating business success. Team members can work smarter, with quick, concise access, and insight into data via self-serve solutions that streamline and simplify the typically complex analytical process and allow every team member to perform the analysis and, more importantly, to understand what the results are telling them.

Focusing on Core Responsibilities

When you democratize business intelligence and analytics with augmented analytics tools, IT team members, data scientists and business analysts can focus on strategic goals and on initiatives where data must be 100% accurate. Team members can use BI tools on a daily basis to test theories and gather and analyze information to support activities and tasks, collaborate with others and move forward, so EVERYONE can focus on their own roles and core responsibilities.

Supporting the Greater Good

When senior executives and managers have reliable information and dependable recommendations and suggestions, they can improve performance and accuracy in forecasting, planning and demand. Team leaders, business unit managers and others can realize long-term benefits and count on the fact that all team members are working with the right information, that information and analysis is based on current, integrated data and on measurable results. The organization can shift to a results-based environment where problems are analyzed and resolved and opportunities are leveraged to the greatest extent possible, so the enterprise can create an environment of continuous improvement.

Creating a Common Language

When all team members are using business intelligence to test theories and hypothesize, to solve problems and get to the root of a problem, to identify those all-important ‘nuggets’ of information that make a competitive difference, managers and executives can feel confident that the team is speaking a common language and that every team members knows how to find a problem, how to explain that problem and how to dependable recommendations to solve that problem.

‘Businesses should consider democratizing business intelligence and analytics within teams to help the enterprise succeed.’

Business Intelligence tools can support data democratization and improve your business results. If your business understands the challenges of implementing a business intelligence solution and adequately plans for implementation and user adoption, it can leverage the benefits of these tools and solutions and ensure success. Let us help you achieve your vision and improve productivity and insight across the organization.

Original Post : Should I Democratize Business Intelligence in My Business?

Embedded BI with Integration APIs Leverages Tech Investments!

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August 26, 2022

Embedded BI Extends and Expands the Useful Life of Enterprise Solutions!

Businesses develop and/or license software solutions for a variety of reasons. Most enterprises invest in software to solve a problem, perform tasks, etc. But the useful life of a software solution and the breadth and depth of its overall value can often fall short of expectations for return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO).

‘By adding the value of Embedded BI with integration APIs, the team can achieve results, better leverage and use data by producing actionable reports and clear insight, and extend the useful life of the existing software applications.’

In order to leverage the full value of your users’ favorite software application and to increase user adoption, an enterprise can add embedded BI and augmented analytics. By providing seamless access to analytics in a single sign-on environment, the organization can ensure that business users get the tools they need to make recommendations, support decisions, report on progress, solve problems and identify opportunities, thereby improving the value of the existing software solution and the value of the team member as an asset to the organization.

With the right augmented analytics solution, business users can enjoy the advantages of sophisticated BI tools without additional training or complex processes and queries. Analytics are embedded via APIs for a seamless, scalable approach to analytics without a lengthy integration or implementation process.

According to Forbes, ‘the average single application today is powered by 18 APIs. Half of all B2B collaboration happens through APIs. And most staggeringly — 83% of all web traffic is attributable to APIs.’

Improve ROI and TCO with Embedded BI & Integration APIs

Embedded BI with integration APIs offers numerous benefits including:

  • The best of analytics and best practices of application integration to produce results and encourage user adoption
  • Expansion and improvement of the value of existing software applications by adding integrated analytics
  • The use of data within an existing application or software product to produce meaningful analytics and reports

Every business management team looks hard and long at software investments. These investments are typically expensive and time-consuming and often over promise when it comes to results. But once committed, these investments must be justified and cannot be undone without a lot of difficulty, confusion and complex backtracking. After the implementation, the IT team and business users are committed to the use of the software (whether it is helpful or not) and business managers find themselves in a quandary. They need the software to perform certain tasks but the software does not provide the promised value, ROI or TCO.

By adding the value of Embedded BI with integration APIs, the team can achieve results, better leverage and use data by producing actionable reports and clear insight, and extend the useful life of the existing software applications – all without requiring extensive training or complex implementation and additional high-cost investments.

‘In order to leverage the full value of your users’ favorite software application and to increase user adoption, an enterprise can add embedded BI and augmented analytics.’

Leverage the Smarten approach to Embedded BI And Integration APIs to add powerful functionality and provide access to existing ERP, SCM, HRMS, CRM or any other products and to provide analytics capabilities within existing products without major Investment. Reduce time to market and stay ahead of the competition!  

Original Post : Embedded BI with Integration APIs Leverages Tech Investments!

Improve Analytics User Adoption with Mobile BI App!

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August 23, 2022

The Importance of Adding a Mobile BI App to an Augmented Analytics Strategy!

Many businesses are considering, or have implemented, business intelligence and augmented analytics solutions. According to renowned technology research firm, Gartner, ‘80% of organizations seeking to scale digital business will fail because they do not take a modern approach to data and analytics governance.’ With this prediction in mind, the addition of business intelligence and augmented analytics to the organization workflow, business processes and technology infrastructure is a wise decision.

‘The addition of mobile capability will improve user adoption, support culture changes and extend the office environment for a more productive business and team foundation.’

In order to address the ‘modern approach’ Gartner describes, the business must include a mobile BI and augmented analytics app strategy. In this article, we discuss the importance of including a Mobile BI App in the organizational approach to business intelligence and advanced analytics.

Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics App Improves Productivity

Changing the Culture and Business Processes

With any data literacy and data democratization effort, the business MUST look at culture change. If it intends to encourage business users to transform to Citizen Data Scientist, it must look at all aspects of its culture, business processes and workflow, and to integrate data sources and make that information available at appropriate levels so that users can access and analyze data and IT and senior management can be assured of appropriate data governance. When the business implements a business intelligence and/or augmented analytics solution, it must consider the importance of adding the capabilities of a Mobile BI App so that users can access data from anywhere. By providing mobile augmented analytics, the business can enforce and enable the culture change and modernize its approach to data access and data sharing. Providing restrictive business intelligence or analytics solutions without mobile capability will further inhibit user adoption and act as a barrier to the culture change within teams.

Extending the Office Environment

Over the past decade, businesses have changed drastically and one of the greatest changes is the concept of a ‘team’ or ‘group’ working on a project, or toward a goal. In recent years, the idea of remote workers has grown exponentially, and teams spread across the country (or across countries) and geographic locations are now using software and technology to collaborate and share data. Users want to access data on the road, in a hotel room, while working at a client office or in an airport, and when it comes to analytics, that need is just as great. It is important to provide a solution that accommodates all types of devices from desktops and tablets to iOS and Android devices, so that the user can access data and analytics from anywhere on any device.

Improving User Adoption

When senior management teams announce a new initiative like the adoption of analytics, it is easy for team members to discount the commitment and to believe the new ‘flavor of the month’ will simply disappear and they will go back to the old way of doing things. The culture change we discussed in this article is a necessary component and the availability of the tools, and easy-to-use solutions that require little training is crucial. A mobile BI and augmented analytics app meets the expectations of users for intuitive tools – tools that are accessible as and when they need them, and with simple, powerful reporting and collaborative tools, the users will be encouraged and enabled and user adoption will improve.

There are many other important aspects of mobile BI and augmented analytics. Here, we have provided a few of the crucial considerations a business must include when it reviews its requirements and builds a strategy to implement business intelligence and analytics for business users. The addition of mobile capability will improve user adoption, support culture changes and extend the office environment for a more productive business and team foundation.

‘In order to take a ‘modern approach to BI and analytics, the business must include a mobile BI and augmented analytics app strategy.’

Explore Smarten Mobile Augmented Analytics And Mobile BI and add powerful functionality and access for your business users with out-of-the-box Mobile BI and advanced analytics for every team member in your enterprise. For more information on Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics, read our articles, ‘Considering a Mobile BI App? Understand the WHAT of Mobile Augmented Analytics Before You Choose’, and ‘What Should My Business Consider When Selecting a Mobile BI Solution?’

Original Post : Improve Analytics User Adoption with Mobile BI App!

BI Tools Provide Benefits and Challenges!

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August 3, 2022

Understand the Benefits and the Challenges of a Business Intelligence Strategy!

If you follow industry and business publications, you know that analytics are taking the lead in business strategy. Gartner states that, ‘90% of corporate strategies will explicitly mention information as a critical enterprise asset and analytics as an essential competency.’ If your enterprise is implementing a business intelligence and analytics strategy, it is important to plan carefully and to understand the real benefits as well as the challenges of choosing the right BI tools and deploying these tools to users in a way that will ensure optimal user adoption and leverage of analytics to achieve the results you need.

‘Your business should carefully assess requirements and plan for expected user adoption by selecting a BI tool that will offer the features, ease-of-use and functionality your team members need.’

In this article, we provide examples of the various benefits of BI tools for specific business functions and some of the technology and user challenges you will face as you consider your options and plan for implementation.

Address the Challenges and Achieve the Benefits of BI Tools

No matter the business function, there are benefits to implementing a business intelligence strategy that will deploy these tools to your team members. Here are some examples:

Benefits

Finance – Your organization will be more efficient and profitable, with Ready-to-Use Dashboards, Analysis, and KPIs designed especially for the Finance domain. This business intelligence solution includes interactive Dashboards that allow users to perform intuitive, easy analysis of key metrics including Profitability, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payables, Cash Flow Analysis, Past Due Invoices, Balance Sheets, Income Statements and more!

Inventory – Inventory business function allows users to accurately plan and optimize inventory. Interactive Dashboards track item movement, compare sales to closing stock, and monitor warehouse stock and value, and answer critical questions regarding stock turnover ratio, seasonal buying, back-order assessment and safety stock to prevent lost sales. Users can analyze inventory levels to effectively manage stock based on the buying behavior of customers.

Purchasing and Procurement – Allows users to view and analyze spending details, analyze procurement data, drill through data to analyze issues, measure performance, identify savings opportunities, and track supplier performance. Identify reliable trading partners, analyze supplier cost, perform purchase rate comparisons, reveal trends, identify top/bottom vendors, and achieve timely insight into spending patterns and trends across all departments.

Production – Quantify and visualize data at the operational level to make fact-based decisions. Analyze Output, Reduce Labor Costs, Maintain Inventory Levels, Optimize Equipment Performance, Monitor Rejection Ratios and Downtime, and take action before problems arise to mitigate risk, and capitalize on opportunities. Publish automated reports to monitor and manage plant performance and provide management with quality metrics and relevant data.

These are just a few examples of how business intelligence can be used within a business function, department or business unit to benefit business users and to help the organization make fact-based decisions, spot trends and patterns and opportunities, and identify the root cause of problems.

If you want to take advantage of all of these benefits and ensure success of your business intelligence initiative, your business should carefully assess requirements and plan for expected user adoption by selecting a BI tool that will offer the features, ease-of-use and functionality your team members need.

Technology and User Challenges

Social BI

Your team members are also consumers and outside of the office they are used to a collaborate and social experience. By engaging in Social BI, your team can champion data sharing, collaborate on creative ways to analyze data and make quick work of data analytics, with tools that allow the user to ‘like’, ‘share’ and leverage other social tools and networking techniques.

Mobile BI

Not every BI tool provides real mobile business intelligence to accommodate every type of device, screen size and resolution. Choose a solution that has a Responsive and Adaptive UI engine, so you can roll out BI tools on any Desktop, Tablet or Smartphone without any device specific development. ‘Design once, Use anywhere’ concept in true sense.

Personalized Dashboards

Business users will not adopt a solution that limits them to predefined dashboards. Each user has a need to see and use data in a different way. Be sure to select a solution that allows your users to work in a way that is meaningful to them.

Interactive, NOT Restrictive

Choose a solution that will allow users to leverage deep dive analytics. There is no way an organization can anticipate every question or type of analytics a business user will need to incorporate into decision-making. Provide truly interactive tools that will assure user adoption and make your organization more agile.

Ease-of-Use

Advanced Data Discovery allows business users to perform early prototyping and to test hypothesis without the skills of a data scientist. Advanced Data Discovery ensures data democratization with Self-Serve Data Preparation, Smart Data Visualization and Plug n’ Play Predictive analysis that can drastically reduce the time and cost of analysis and experimentation.

‘No matter the business function, there are benefits to implementing a business intelligence strategy that will deploy these tools to your team members.’

Ready-To-Use Business Intelligence tools can support data democratization and improve your business results. If your business understands the challenges of implementing a business intelligence solution and adequately plans for implementation and user adoption, it can leverage the benefits of these tools and solutions and ensure success. Let us help you achieve your vision and improve productivity and insight across the organization.

Original Post : Address the Challenges and Achieve the Benefits of BI Tools!

Understanding the Truth About Mobile BI!

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July 20, 2022

Considering a Mobile BI App? Understand the WHAT of Mobile Augmented Analytics Before You Choose!

If your business is considering a Business Intelligence or BI tool or an augmented analytics tool for its business users, the addition of this type of tool can and will improve user adoption of analytics, data democratization and data literacy. As you consider your requirements, your user and technology needs and other factors, do not forget to add mobile BI tools and augmented analytics to your list of requirements. A BI Mobile App will further improve user adoption and fact-based decisions.

By some estimates the Mobile Business Intelligence Market is expected to achieve a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.43%

‘If a vendor or solution provides only SOME of the features and functionality business users require, the solution cannot truly be considered a Mobile BI app.’

In this article, we define Mobile BI and the concept of a Mobile Augmented Analytics App, so that your business can achieve a more complete picture of these tools.

What is True Mobile BI?

Perhaps the best place to start this discussion is to define what Mobile BI is NOT.

What Mobile BI and Mobile Analytics is NOT

A true Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics App should not be restrictive. Limited views and access will only frustrate users.

Real Mobile BI is not just a series of static reports or limited access to data that would otherwise be available from within the walls of the enterprise.

What IS Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics?

Mobile Augmented Analytics is based on a comprehensive advanced analytics solution with sophisticated features, analytical algorithms and functionality designed for business users with average technical skills.

Mobile BI is designed to extend the augmented analytics environment beyond the walls of the enterprise and support remote work, team members who travel and those who wish to work while on the road.

A Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics App accommodates both Android and iOS devices so that users can access features, reporting, data sharing etc., on the device of their choice.

Mobile BI for Business Users is easy to implement and license and does not require extensive training.

Mobile Augmented Analytics provides a functional environment for analytics, extending the features the user leverages within the office on a desktop so that the user can analyze data with full access into datasets, dashboards and reports.

Mobile BI apps must present data appropriately, no matter the size of the screen or the resolution. Navigation must be easy and intuitive.

If a vendor or solution provides only SOME of the features and functionality business users require, the solution cannot truly be considered a Mobile BI app. Implementing data democracy initiatives to support the transition from business user to Citizen Data Scientist requires tools that can be used in a real work environment and that must include true mobile access to a comprehensive set of features.

Remember, your team members are also consumers who are used to access to all their favorite apps no matter where they are, and no matter which type of device they choose to use.

‘A BI Mobile App will further improve user adoption and fact-based decisions.’

Explore Smarten Mobile Augmented Analytics And Mobile BI and add powerful functionality and access for your business users with out-of-the-box Mobile BI and advanced analytics for every team member in your enterprise. For more information on Mobile BI and Augmented Analytics, read our articles, ‘The Importance of Adding a Mobile BI App to an Augmented Analytics Strategy’, and ‘What Should My Business Consider When Selecting a Mobile BI Solution?’

Original Post : What is True Mobile BI?