5 Ways SMBs Are Putting Information to Work
TDWI Speaker: Lyndsay Wise, Industry Analyst
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2014
Time: 9:00 a.m. PT, 12:00 p.m. ET
Webinar Abstract
In many ways small and midsize businesses (SMBs) have greater opportunity when using BI. Yes, budgets and resources may be limited, but most SMBs are not as constricted by robust IT infrastructures that control BI access and use like their enterprise counterparts. Consequently, many SMBs are empowered through their BI applications to take advantage of interactive technologies without the limitations of large-scale enterprisewide IT infrastructures. Part of this includes the way in which BI is being deployed to reach a wider audience and to make it more consumable to more people both internally and externally.
Aside from more flexibility in design and software selection, SMBs are applying BI in the following five ways to take advantage of information assets and add BI to their daily use:
- Embedding BI within their operations to create a single and seamless interface within their applications by providing easy access to reports and dashboards.
- Expanding access to BI through Web portals to increase the types of information shared and broaden who this information is shared with—for instance, expanding networks to suppliers, partners, and customers.
- Mobilizing the workforce through diverse access points, such as tablets and smartphones, to create applications that leverage and interact with BI-related data on a broader scale in the way that is most valuable to end users.
- Increasing flexibility in dashboards and analytics design, enabling IT to develop applications that are easier to consume and more flexible for end users.
- Using BI platforms to expand operational frameworks through broader extensibility by integrating them into other applications through a Web-based interface. This includes expanding BI use to integrate sales or finance systems and creating single access points to both operational and analytical applications within a unified interface.
Attendees will learn:
- Why these five areas of BI use are important to SMBs
- How these BI applications are shifting the market and user expectations
- The value of looking at extending BI use to include one or more of these five areas
- Practical steps to expand current traditional BI use to include the level of flexibility and interactivity associated with these five BI uses
Lyndsay Wise