Tag: Analytics

3 Competitive Advantages of BI

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, General

Running a successful business entails more than maintaining sales, providing consistent service and staying the course. If your company’s leadership is determined to maximize progress, then your eyes are likely constantly set towards the future. And part of having an informed foresight has to do with understanding your past and current economics.

As many businesses were once doing this with spreadsheets or Excel documents, the times have changed to allow for an easier method of collecting data — using business intelligence (BI) solutions. These solutions transform the raw data that’s collected into useful information that is then used to make high-quality business decisions.

Depending on your market, the use of a BI solution can give you the slight advantage over your competitors that offer similar services or products. In this post, we’ll highlight the ways in which implementing a business intelligence system within your company’s infrastructure can revolutionize your standing in your industry and serve as a competitive advantage.

Company-wide Finances Made Simpler

According to projections from Gartner’s researchers, 3 out of 4 companies worldwide will place major responsibility on business intelligence by the year 2020. And as BI has grown into a $16 billion a year industry, its importance is showing no signs of stopping. If you’re considering making the jump from filling out spreadsheets manually or relying on the dated technology that is Microsoft Excel, investing in a long-term solution may be your best bet for your company’s evolution.

One of the main areas where BI can aid your organization is the ability to see your corporate finances. As your company grows in size, revenue and influence, so should your data collection efforts. Keeping track of physical paperwork or basic documents on your computer may do the trick, but for a better scope of your current finances and to be able to make effective projections, it’s highly recommended that you consider using a business intelligence solution instead.

Planning for the future is just good business — and business intelligence allows you to plan with more confidence and with a simpler display of complicated information. Condensing the intricacies of your data in a simplified, intuitive display also allows you to save much time that can be used in other areas of your company.

Cut Wasteful Spending

With a wider view of your company’s statistics, BI also gives you the opportunity to locate areas of waste. In the same way trainers aim to help their clients trim the fat, your BI tools should be able to help you identify areas of waste so you can save your dollars for a more important task.

A major part of maximizing your revenue potential involves eliminating your waste — and this goes for both financial numbers and the time spent in making choices, devising plans and analyzing the past and present. By trimming the fat of your organization, you’ll have the ability to strengthen your company’s core and run a more efficient team with faster, better decisions at the forefront.

Quicker & Smarter Decision Making

Moving towards the future requires a game plan. Whether it’s short-term goals that must be reached by the end of the quarter or if it’s long-term strategies that must be met at the end of the year, help from business intelligence can go a long way.

Being able to view your company’s data in a well-displayed, easily-readable format gives you the flexibility to make decisions with far more confidence than if you were simply looking at your old school spreadsheets.

Time is money. And you don’t want to waste either. With that said, implementing a business intelligence tool or software will lead the way to faster decisions and more informed choices that will allow your management team to maximize profits, while cutting costs and gaining a fuller understanding of the complex financial dynamics that make up your organization.

4 BI Improvements You’ve Been Waiting For

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, General

As we have successfully made it past the midpoint of 2015, the year is shaping up to offer several new enhancements in big data and analytics. Much of the improvements that come in the BI community comes in the form of either simpler, faster or more — and this improvement trickles down to businesses of all sizes across the globe.

This is why it’s exciting to see what new trends will emerge, what traditional strategies will be flipped on its head and who will be the pioneers in implementing these new improvements. Here, we’ll break down four major changes that are soon coming our way in the BI community and how to implement these strategies within your system to benefit your growing business.

Datafication

Datafication is what you get when you’re able to display, track and analyze individual processes with your technology. While this isn’t necessarily revolutionary in terms of business intelligence, datafication is picking up steam with more real-time capabilities being used and valued.

A perfect example of this technology is Fitbit, the wireless, wearable activity tracker that “measures data such as the number of steps walked, quality of sleep and other personal metrics.”

It’s datafication that makes this information visible all of a sudden via a device that’s made to specifically designed to display it. This data goes a long way in tracking movements and monitoring health concerns for those trying to lose weight, stay fit or simply desire to monitor their personal health.

And this is just the base level. Datafication opens the doors for businesses to optimize tracking. The use of sensors, real-time technology and a full-fledged analytical display can serve as a tool that businesses can use to monitor their own processes with ease.

Community

Long gone are the days were one person would control all the analytics capabilities. Instead, we’ve evolved to the point where IT spending has become more of a collaborative effort where each analyst’s input should be valued and respected as there can be several paths to a solution.

Analytic organizations are coming to a point where community is in charge, not the individual. With scattered sources, educational backgrounds and data perspectives, this means data teams will need to implement internal social networks where collaboration is the more effective method of data analysis, as opposed to disparate ideas taking longer to come together.

Analytics Ecosystems

One of the first steps in establishing a comprehensive big data infrastructure entails using the varying inter-dependencies of your company and synchronizing them. Viewing your company’s BI solutions as an ecosystem goes a long way in collaborative efforts to make use of the big data that you collect.

Take it from IBM Data Magazine:

“A successful big data analytics program requires many interacting elements … data, which has to be integrated from many sources, different types of analysis and skills to generate insights and active stakeholders who need to collaborate effectively to act on insights generated.”

As a “network of interconnected and interdependent entities,” having a well-defined ecosystem helps to alleviate the path of big data while making it useful for every element of the system. There are three interacting spheres that define the analytic ecosystem including the core, extended and external.

Data Privacy

The subject of data privacy, while evolving, is still trailing the evolution of our technology. With the necessary involvement of governments and politicians, it’s likely that the laws that need to be stringent will become so far after they’re initially needed.

The private sector also has a responsibility in maintaining transparency with their customers and partners as to where their information is being stored and if it’s being distributed to a third-party.

As more conversations are had surrounding the subject, the coming years should offer more solutions that protect consumers while holding companies and governments accountable for their actions.

IoT — Is it the Next Digital Revolution?

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, General

There was once a time when the idea of having a device in your pocket that could make phone calls was unheard of. Then, there was a time when the Internet was just going to be a short-lived idea that only benefited scientists and researchers. Now today, everyone is waiting at the edge of their seats for the latest technological innovation — and more importantly — no idea is too far fetched anymore.

One of the latest major trends in technology that’s affecting businesses worldwide for the better is the Internet of Things (IoT). By combining the capabilities of billions of devices, IoT is changing the way data is collected and shared globally — simplifying the workload of workers and streamlining several processes.

What Exactly is IoT?

IoT is the connectivity among devices — computers, mobile phones, machines and practically any device with internet capability. It started with home automation, which was often used for a synchronized entertainment system or to maintain a safe kitchen with automated kitchen appliances that would respond to safety issues or cook recipes — all with less input from humans.

How Will it Shape the Future of Technology?

Now that the trend has been picked up and successfully applied to several industries, the concept has flourished and is only showing signs of growth. In fact, Gartner forecasts that “4.9 billion connected things will be in use in 2015, up 30 percent from 2014, and will reach 25 billion by 2020.”

Furthermore, the amount of revenue that the big data and technology sectors will generate will also be on the rise. According to a recent IDC report, “the big data technology and services market will grow to $41.5 billion through 2018 — six times the growth rate of the overall information technology market.”

A major part of IoT’s development that is often overlooked is where the true power really is. As many argue that it’s the devices themselves that offer this major growth, the more sound explanation is really based in the connectivity that IoT offers.

The technology is not only seamless, it has the potential to be global, maximize real-time data capabilities and offer humans a performance partner that doesn’t have to be put on the payroll.

In the same way that the Industrial Revolution paved the way for high-quality, life-simplifying innovation, IoT has often been compared to being able to accomplish the same things.

How the focus of the country shifted from farming to machinery, IoT has the potential to change the employment culture from manning machinery to clocking in at work on a device to oversee the machines work on their own.

Steps to Take to Maximize IoT

Investing in relevant technology and having an open mind serves as a great benefit should your organization care to get involved with the Internet of Things. With the proper implementation, use of trial and error and consulting with technology experts, your business stands to gain several positive effects, including:

– Higher quality service
– Increased production
– Streamlined maintenance requests
– More access to real-time data
– Quicker & better decision making
– Less physical work & more oversight duties

As a business who is likely trying to simplify their operations while implementing new technologies, making use of IoT is a trend that you do not want to neglect. Being left behind as the trend’s momentum pushes your industry forward is a spot where you do not want to be in as it may lead to you having to invest more time and energy later on.

Instead, consult a BI specialist or big data analyst who’s well aware of how implementing IoT’s features within your business can truly revolutionize your company for the better.

Is Your Business Intelligence TOO Complex?

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog

A major part of maximizing your business intelligence solution is the ease in which you’re able to use it yourself. Of course, if you have an independent BI team that is managing all of your tools, then the need to understanding the inner workings of it decreases in importance.   However, for those of you who are taking on the responsibility, we understand how difficult it can be to learn on the job. New tools bring new stresses — and new terms bring on new confusions. And with constant changes coming in the industry, it raises the questions:

– Can BI become too complex in nature?
– How much is too much business intelligence?
– When do you know it’s time to simplify your tools?

In this post, we’ll highlight the tell-tale signs of an overcomplicated BI structure within your organization and offer ways to make sure your data collections efforts remain simple, intuitive and effective.

The Importance of Simplicity

“For BI to be actionable, it must be accessible,” says steven Schneider, Chief of Products at Logi Analtics.

And this couldn’t be more true. Not every business is large or fortunate enough to have the ability to train employees on how to use the several BI tools that are available. And while the technology may be affordable for an organization, the training and/or hiring of an in-house analytical team can cost more than organizations can handle.

After all, it’s important to note that the true value of business intelligence is NOT in having the tools — but in having the know-how to make smart decisions with the data gathered from these tools.

Simplification is Becoming a Trend

While some BI manufacturers are still creating tools that are geared towards highly-qualified data scientists, there is also an influx of data tools that cater to those who aren’t as well versed.

For business functions that are more widely used, such as modeling, profiling and algorithm blending, simpler versions are now becoming more commonplace in new BI solutions. Making these functions easier to use not only benefits the end-user, but also helps the BI provider’s sales by creating a wider audience for their product.

When Complexity Becomes an Issue

For a newcomer, dealing with company statistics is bound to be a challenge. One must deal with many graphs, statistics, charts, algorithms and more — and be able to interpret all of their meanings.

With that said, BI tools are supposed to lessen the gravity of this task by doing most of the grunt work for you. However, sometimes you may find yourself doing more work than you anticipated if your BI infrastructure is overly complicated.

Here are some signs that your BI solution is actually becoming more of a limitation rather than an asset to your organization.

– You find yourself asking more questions than solving issues
– More time is spent figuring out HOW, than actual work
– No progress is being made in speed of decision-making
– Analysis takes longer than pre-BI implementation

Looking Towards the Future

Besides the inevitable fact that business intelligence will become democratized even further as the years go by, one thing is true: more employees will be able to make use of BI tools as the technology becomes easier to use.

The need for highly-educated data scientists will also decrease. More organizations will be able to take full advantage of the many years of BI development to make better, faster and more long-lasting decisions as long as business intelligence continues to simplify.

And with all of these changes happening concurrently, the ones who adapt to these changes earlier, will also be the ones to first take advantage of the business profits that come with the industry’s developing tools.   As the industry of BI continues to progress, businesses will also be able to reap the benefits in their sales and decision-making skills and by cutting analysts from their team — creating a more lean organization and a more profitable business. It all starts with simplification and the industry is already well on its way.

BI & Business Analytics: Are They The Same?

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog

You’ve definitely heard of business intelligence and you’ve likely heard the term business analytics before. In fact, you probably heard both terms used interchangeably, but you aren’t quite sure what the difference is. That’s expected, as some in the BI community aren’t exactly sure where the two terms diverge into separate concepts.

BI experts actually have several different interpretations as to what the differences are between the two, but there are commonalities in their personal definitions that we’ll highlight here. In this post, we’ll break it down so you have a better understanding of the unique qualities of both business intelligence and business analytics.

How Do You Define Business Intelligence?

There are many fancy words that can be thrown around in the industry, so it’s not uncommon to be overwhelmed by what each of them mean. The term business intelligence has actually been on the decline for the last 10 years in Google searches while the term business analytics has risen.

According to CIO, Business Intelligence is defined as the following:

“an umbrella term that refers to a variety of software applications used to analyze an organization’s raw data. It’s a discipline made up of several related activities, including data mining, online analytical processing, querying and reporting.”

In other words, BI is the entirety of everything you know in regards to data collection, displaying and this includes the analysis portion of the BI process.

The concept of BI (and its tools) is required to run a company efficiently by giving the decision makers the data needed to make high quality choices.

The CEO of BigData-Startups, Mark van Rijmenam makes a great point in differentiating the two concepts when he said, “…both will provide you with different, not less, insights. BI is important to improve your decision-making based on past results, while business analytics will help you move forwards and understand what might be going to happen.”

How Do You Define Business Analytics?

As many will agree that BI’s function is to maintain an organization’s efficiency with the data it provides, business analytics serves as an integral function under the BI umbrella. Analytics takes on many capabilities with several intricate tools that offer several different methods of analysis.

For example, business analytics makes use of your current data to project how your company will perform in the months to come. These functions can be conveniently stored in your BI package in the form of dashboards, reports, data mining or even applications.

Analytics is more about revolutionizing and improving upon your company with the data you collect, while BI serves as a maintenance measure to help you continue working successfully in the present.

As the VP of Engineering at Noetix Products, Pat Roche, put it, “business intelligence is needed to run the business, while business analytics is needed to change the business.”

Still, while many experts have offered their different perspectives on what the fundamental difference is between the two, one thing is clear: both of the concepts work together to offer you solutions for your data collection efforts in the present and the future.

As the term BI has been around for decades now, business analytics is right behind it in popularity. The convenience of having analytical tools within your BI infrastructure, takes away the need to hire analysts in your team. Its integration allows your team members to take over the role and plan for the future with confidence, knowing that your analytical tools have served its purpose well.

3 Big Data Trends Changing the Game

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, cloud BI, General

Having more NEW ways to visualize your business data helps executives understand what changes need to be made moving forward. In the industry of big data, there are many moving parts that are working together to provide businesses with an easier method to track their company operations. As we get deeper into the culture of interconnectivity, the value of having readable, statistical data rises to the top of an executive’s needs.

And these brand new ideas are popping up every day. To help you keep track of the latest updates in the data collection industry, we’ve outlined the latest big data trends that seem to be gaining the most traction as of late.

Analytics Are on the Rise

What’s a successful business without proper planning, anyway? By being able to read your data with a convenient big data tool, you’re improving your chances to make the right business choices that grow your earnings. Often times, it’s not the data itself that makes the difference in how you approach tough decisions, but rather how it’s presented.

With the help of today’s technology, ERP systems and business intelligence tools alike are presenting your company data in ways that are easy to visualize and digest. By using these tools more often, businesses can expect easier, more efficient forecasting with the ability to properly analyze the recent months of transactions.

Cloud Capability

As you may already be aware, data storage in the cloud is becoming increasingly popular due to how easy it is to use. By being able to connect to your information from any device with internet access to reducing your need to have a physical storage room for your many clients, cloud technology has really taken off as an inevitable trend for the future.

In fact, for the next three years, public cloud usage is predicted to grow 44% whereas the usage of on-premise computing workloads is expected to only grow 8.9%.

Plus, the number of data analytic tools in the cloud are on the rise. With major names like Amazon entering the market, it’s only a matter of time before more big names offer widely-accessible tools to store your information.

So with the future of this wireless technology looking promising and its perks being inevitable for small and medium-sized businesses, it can be expected that this type of data storage is here to stay for the longterm.

IoT (Internet of Things)

The progression of business and personal technology has brought us, as a society, to the IoT — the Internet of Things. This concept is practically the symbiotic relationship between all devices from your computers to the tools your IT team uses to your POS system.

The relationship they all have with one another is something that we can expect to be enhanced in the near future. It’s being done already. For instance, If you have a computer that can wirelessly send a message to your printer, then this, on a small scale, is what we can expect among more devices.

What’s the benefit? The rise of IoT can lead to less human interaction with the devices we use in the workplace. From ordering and restocking your storage room when inventory gets low to changing business practices once sales slow down, the Internet of Things allows the technology around you to run on auto-pilot while you can focus on running your business and managing more difficult tasks.

While new trends come to light and become popular in the business world, running your company will eventually become easier and require less work done physically in the office.

As one of the premier business intelligence providers, our team takes pride in helping executives achieve their data collection, analysis and visualization goals — no matter their current technology. For more on how we can improve your big data goals, contact one of our representatives today!

Aptean Edge Review – From Behind the Sign

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Doug Hoogervorst - Blog, Conferences, Ross

Roughly 1000 customers from a dozen computer systems have come to Aptean Edge at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas, most happy to be out of the office and eager to hear the Aptean updates. Like most user conferences, Aptean Edge has sessions to lay out their road map, changes, updates and all the things that you do at a user show. In the keynote, it was the standard stuff on where they’re going, how much they value listening to the customers, the continued investment into each of their products, along with stuff on the cloud, mobility, changes in the world, etc. The facility is nice and food is reasonably good. The beers are expensive ($12 each) in the restaurants, but it is Vegas, so…

For us at Business Impact, we’re a first time exhibitor. We’ve gotten to see several of our customers in business intelligence, and that’s always nice. In addition it’s a back to my roots feel as I once worked for Ross Systems, which is one of the ERP systems under the Aptean umbrella. My old friends still working there have been very welcoming and cordial.

The big news from Aptean Edge has been the selection of a corporate wide BI tool – QlikView. The teams have pre-integrated six systems including Ross. There has been little word about the current BI like EPM at Ross and where that will lead other than to QlikView. There is a session on Analytics Strategy that we’ll attend and get more info out to Ross customers interested.

The show wraps up on Thursday afternoon. We are raffling off a fantastic bottle of Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 at 5:30 pm on Wednesday evening – TONIGHT. Stop by and say hello “without a care” and enter to win a bottle of one of our client’s remarkable wines.