Tag: BI

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 Major Misconceptions about The Cloud

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Blog, Uncategorized

The rise of cloud technology, applications and its other components have totally flipped the technology industry on its head. Businesses and individuals have both benefited from the cloud’s ability to store their data wirelessly and in a way that is accessible from any location with wireless internet capability. And as it becomes more ubiquitous, more companies are looking to implement a cloud IT infrastructure to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals.

And cloud technology has definitely given some business owners the advantage by being able to utilize a more agile infrastructure that not only saves space, but creates more opportunity for where and how work is done. On the flip side, as many are making use of this new age resource, some are still left in the dust and fail to fully comprehend the mechanics of the technology.

That’s why we’ve broken down the most common misconceptions to clear up some of the characteristics that cloud technology can offer you.

It’s Less Safe Than Other Methods

The literal imagery of a cloud storing your information makes it easy to assume that it’s in a vulnerable location that can easily be accessed. However, this is not the case. In fact, according to Gartner, more security breaches take place in on-premises data center environments.

Cloud storage areas are easily tempting as they store the information of several organizations, but additional security measures like encryption serve as an extra layer that prohibits access even when a cloud center’s security is compromised.

Once You Switch, It’s for the Entire Company

Another common misconception is that once a business decides to switch to cloud computing or storage, that is also applies to every possible area of the company as well. And that’s not necessarily the case. It’s absolutely depends on your company’s unique needs, current infrastructure and capacity.

It’s imperative to weight your options and list out the benefits of both cloud and non-cloud technology. For some processes or areas of your business, having an on-site solution may work best. To maximize your efficiency, many businesses are employing a hybrid structure where different vendors handle different tasks. Whatever works best for your business should be the top priority as a uniform platform may not be perfect.

It Will Cost More Than On-Site Storage

This is also not necessarily the case. Switching to cloud takes away the financial need to hire an IT team to manage the technical aspects of your business. And in the long run, the responsibility of managing your cloud computing is put in your hands and will save you in the long run. Of course, however, this depends on how you will use the cloud.

For example, if you decide to build apps to reduce the need to purchase new hardware, this can amount to more than if you stayed with your previous infrastructure.

Productivity Will Spike Automatically

Just because you’ve implemented a new cloud structure doesn’t mean not much work is needed to see results. While some companies build applications that are hosted on the cloud, it can be a huge benefit to spend time figuring out how it can be best used. Combining both cloud and local storage to host your app is suggested to give you some flexibility and redundancy when using the app. It can certainly help productivity, but don’t bank on the cloud technology to do all the work for you.

In summary, making the switch to cloud, especially for your business intelligence needs, has the potential to greatly improve and simplify the way your company operates. With the use of a specialist to guide you through the process and an eager team that’s ready to maximize their performance, the possibilities for growth and productivity are endless — if implemented the right way, of course.

Don’t allow these misconceptions hinder you from exploring new options, but rather, let them guide you in making the right choice for your business, employees and customers.

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.

Data Privacy: What’s the Big Deal?

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, General

For those in the private sector, collecting customer information serves as an incredible tool to not only engage with your customers, but to also cater to their needs. The amount of information that prospects are willing to give you also allows you to gauge their interest in your services.

However, while your website may be a primary source where clients and prospects share their information, many are questioning the actual use of this information.

Is it really being used to just send company emails or could their personal information end up in the hands of a third-party?

Data privacy is a growing concern for those on the receiving end of businesses who make use of big data tools. While collecting data is ultimately voluntary for prospects and consumers, where it goes after it is given is the main concern. And who should be in charge of maintaining the order?

It’s clear that businesses shouldn’t be the ones in charge of maintaining the ethical order as the conflict of interest is clear — which means the responsibility can only be left in the hands of our government.

Data Privacy & The Government

When Edward Snowden revealed the telecommunication spying efforts done by the NSA on millions of American Verizon customers, it sparked the conversation surrounding the question of how secure is our information really?

Both the White House and the Federal Trade Commission have addressed the topics and are striving to make more stringent policies in protecting big data, but the topic still remains unsettled. But perhaps it shouldn’t be unexpected that the issue is ongoing. It’s especially difficult to monitor big data privacy concerns when the entity that is supposed to establish and maintain judicial law is overstepping its boundaries by wiretapping its own citizens.

Areas of Improvement

When you download a new application for your phone or new program for your desktop, you’ll likely have a Terms & Conditions page that requires your approval in order for you to use the new software. Companies often use heavy-loaded jargon to discourage users from reading the script entirely and it’s here where their attempt to be transparent smoothly slips the mind of the user.

As a business who is likely collecting big data, it’s advised to be as transparent as possible — without the lengthy distractions. Keeping your customers and prospects in the loop of where their personal information is going is key to building a solid relationship as the question will likely come up if your customers are aware of the growing concern of data privacy.

Data Brokers

The companies that purchase consumer information and analyze their purchasing behavior are known as data brokers. Once they’ve collected this information, they sell what they’ve gathered to companies who are looking to maximize their marketing.

While the consumer may or may not have signed off on this use of their data, their information is still out there being used.

Steps to Tighten Up Your Data Security

Make sure your cloud technology is up to par. This should be one of your first steps in protecting your most important big data.

As these cloud storage initiatives are affordable and flexible, it serves as the perfect medium to house your customer/prospect information. While great, it still has its limitations.

Keeping your information safe from intruders is necessary as the information is likely stored in a public server, where it’s easier for intruders to infiltrate. Moving to a public cloud source gives you an extra layer of security where data is kept safe and visible to only you and whoever you assign responsibility to.

Another measure one could take is to sanitize your data. According to a data warehouse specialist from Emory University, Amy Dean says, “apply filtering, cleansing, pruning, conforming, matching, joining and diagnosing at the earliest touch points possible.” This relates more to the analytics portion of data storage and helps to ensure the quality of information that you’ve collected is correct and up to date.

Lastly, the most transparent way to ensure the ultimate data privacy is to allow your clients and even prospects to view the data you collected about them. Allow them to change information as they see fit — without making it a costly or difficult process. While this may seem unlikely for any company to do, in terms of transparency, it is the most fair.

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.

What Does “BI Solution” Really Mean?

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, General

Have you ever been having a conversation with a consultant, but were unaware of the buzzwords that kept being brought up? Often times in the business intelligence industry, this is the case. However, we understand that an informed consumer is the best kind of customer and we would rather you have a firm understanding of your potential BI options than to be overwhelmed by keywords.

That’s why in this post we’re going to break down the popular terms that are frequented in BI circles. These terms are the ones that are more broadly considered BI solutions.

“Products”

In the BI community, the term product is arguably the most generic. It can refer to many things outside of a business intelligence context, but within its context, the definition is quite simple.

If you find yourself shopping for a tool to use to enhance the way your company gathers, tracks, displays and analyzes your data, you’ll find products on the sales floor that are dedicated to helping you accomplish your mission. While you may have found an answer to your professional need, you will likely need a professional BI consultant to help you integrate and implement the new product into your existing system.

“Solution Accelerators”

Solution accelerators are also known as blueprints. They are likely a collection of tools that have been used on prior projects. Project tools like data connectors, transformation logic, metrics, data models and dashboards are prime examples of a solution accelerator.

Instead of starting a project from the very beginning, these tools (for a lack of a better term) accelerate the overall process of using business intelligence to your full potential.

“Architecture”

The architecture of a BI system deals with the framework that organizes the data. Its role is crucial because it affects development and the decisions made in implementation. It includes data sources that users need to analyze their statistical information.

Depending on who you ask, structured or unstructured data is included in the makeup of BI architecture. This overall framework is customizable and can include applications like reporting, data mining, data visualization tools and more.

Before You Commit…

When you’re on the market searching for a new product, it’s super important to do your research beforehand so you’re not perplexed when the time comes to choose your BI solution. Knowing the difference between these keywords not only saves you time in the purchasing process, but it also gets you closer to understanding which solution will truly meet your company’s needs.

Whether you already know what you’re looking for or if you need guidance in making the right decision, feel free to contact one of our representatives. We’ll gladly assist you in clearing up any confusion you may have with understanding business intelligence and any of its tools.

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 Tactics to Boost Your BI Production

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, General

No business owner wants to be at the mercy of their business intelligence technology. While many BI applications can serve your business for a reasonable amount of time, this isn’t the case with most solutions. As you may already know, the requirements and updates that these providers offer are constantly changing and make it difficult for your team to keep your technology up to standard.

In order for you to stay ahead of the curve and reduce your dependency on the technological side for gathering, maintaining and displaying your big data, we’ve listed a few pointers to help you stay on track, regardless of your BI solution.

Prioritize Your Outcomes

Some of the original business intelligence solutions didn’t focus on giving its users valuable outputs. Instead, it employed a bottom-up mentality that emphasized the technology and its glamor. This is why we encourage BI users to NOT get caught up in your BI solution’s characteristics, especially if it’s not providing you with valuable data.

Rather, focus on what you purchased the technology for — tangible information. By using a top-down approach to your business, you should be able to make use out of the critical stats that help you make smarter business decisions. With that said, make sure you have a method to capture key performance indicators (KPIs) and other valuable information to keep your business running effectively.

Don’t Forget About Your Data

Never underestimate the power of your data. In fact, data is everything when it comes to business intelligence. While some BI programs continue to ignore the significance of your data, you shouldn’t. A sure way to lose the effectiveness of your technology is to neglect your data by providing unfinished, doubtful or untrustworthy data and inputting it into your system.

With this said, we urge you to focus on your functional reporting capabilities so you can maximize the use of your data and your current BI solution. Like most tools that you use for your business, the outcome of your work heavily depends on the information that you put into it.

And the more complete, detailed data that you place in your BI solution will make it easier for you to truly implement sound business decisions moving forward.

Technology Isn’t Everything

In the past decades, we were all unable to show crucial business information with the click of a button. At least, not easily. While the 21st century has brought several advancements to the BI community and beyond, it has also dragged in many distractions that hinder progress.

Due to the overwhelming amount of gadgets, tools and buttons that are available, sometimes fancy BI solutions can be more distracting than beneficial. Now, with easily-navigable user interfaces, we can perform in-depth functions in less amount of time. We say this, to say that much of your time spent on a BI application should be on analyzing your data and managing your business.

Don’t forget what the “B” in BI stands for — and make sure that it’s at the forefront of your actions.

In Summary…

We understand that in today’s world there are several trends, distractions, tools and specialists that may pull you in several directions. However, when it comes to your BI solution, the goal should be to make use of your data to make decisions that propel your organization forward.

With tools that should give you clear projections for the coming months, your business intelligence solution should be a benefit not a liability. In sum, by implementing these mindsets as a business owner or manager, you’ll be able to keep your focus on what really matters — improving your business.

Mobility & Production: The Now & The Future

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Doug Hoogervorst - Big Data, Blog, General

Mobility in the workplace is a trend that has been on the rise since we were able to bring smartphones and tablets into the office. No longer reserved for phone calls, smartphones have become the secondary screen of choice for most, behind the desktop computer.

However, with globalization and the need to be on-the-go continuing to increase in importance, the use of a mobile device for production purposes is beginning to creep into the first-place position.

With more innovations coming our way, what’s the future of mobile production looking like? What can we expect to be simplified in the coming months and years? And what’s the current state of mobile production?

In this post, we’ll address these questions and find out how the trend of mobility and on-the-go production is affecting companies across the world for the better.

Current State of Mobility

One of the downfalls of being able to access your work information from your mobile phone is the plethora of other distractions that are also waiting for you. From applications that focus on games to music to news and beyond, there are many other options that employees may be influenced by. In fact, according to Flurry Analytics, 32% of mobile users spend their time on gaming apps, where productivity apps garner just 4%.

Many have speculated that the practical use of a smartphone for manual, productive work is severely limited. And this can explain why users are spending far less time working on their mobile devices and more time playing games. The smaller screens and fewer features make it more difficult to work on intricate tasks like spreadsheets or graphs.

However, for those managers or executives who simply need to use their mobile device to track numbers or to stay updated on current operations, big data applications serve them well. More BI applications are providing real-time information that is beneficial for those mobile managers who find themselves constantly in and out of meetings and need real-time access to KPIs to keep those meetings productive.

Changes to Expect in the Near Future

Across the board, mobile applications that are made for productivity must be able to provide reasonable usability given their awkward and space-limiting format. One of the underlying issues is that developers may be creating productivity apps as a secondary platform and not for primary use. User experience decreases when moving from a desktop platform to a mobile device and this transition needs to be more smooth.

Another feature that needs to be implemented, should you be in the market for a mobile application, is the solution’s ability to cross platforms. To accommodate your employees who have different types of devices, your mobility tools should be compatible with Apple products as well as Android devices, and this goes for programming languages as well (HTML, Javascript, etc.).

A Silver Lining in the Current Structure

On the other hand, there are some positive attributes of mobile technology. As far as displaying data is concerned, as long as your internet connection is strong, this shouldn’t become a problem. In fact, displaying data may be one of the most important features that a BI app can offer at this point in time.

In Summation

The whole process of bringing mobility into the workplace is a complicated one. However, the more progress that is made, the easier it is for business owners to reap the rewards of their investment.

Data works best when it’s all in one place — and while BI application developers may already know this, it’s the simple, practical and user-friendly aspects of mobility that still have kinks that need to be worked out.

In the future we can expect less apps that perform separate tasks, but instead, more resources that are all-encompassing and strive for a smoother transition from desktop to mobile device. And further down the line, we can reasonably expect the development of workplace applications that are so similar to their desktop counterparts that users can’t distinguish the difference.

For more information on how to select the proper BI solution for your organization, contact one of our specialists today!