Say ‘Yes’ to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Because Guess Work is for Dummies!

Posted on February 15, 2012

Who is the most valuable person on your staff? That person is probably the most consistently dependable team member; one who delivers concise, accurate information every time. When it comes to business intelligence (BI), the same principle holds true!

You want a BI solution that provides integrated, dependable, accurate, measurable, concise information. Before you make a decision about your company, you need to be sure you have the information to make a GOOD decision! You need to consider data from data warehouses, data marts, ERP, best-of-breed apps, CRM, legacy systems, data bases, and spreadsheet. Then you have to create metrics to objectively assess and understand results.

How am I doing now and what do I need to change to make things better? Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) allow you to set boundaries and objectively measure results to see what strategies and tasks are helping the company and which strategies and processes you need to change. KPIs give you a complete picture of plan vs. actual results. Everyone can share in cascaded strategies, goals and objectives, and KPI metrics can be established with meaningful measurements for every role and function.

Manage, organize, filter and analyze information from disparate data sources to view accurate data and detailed measurements. Remember that person you identified as the most valuable person on your staff? Ask them and they’ll tell you: GUESS WORK IS NOT VALUABLE!

You need great BI with intuitive, concise, dependable Key Performance Indicator features. http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com.

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t Fall Victim to the Top 5 Reasons Businesses Fail! BI is the Cure!

Posted on January 31, 2012

I write blogs (in case you haven’t noticed) and blog writers LOVE to use numbers. “10 ways to achieve customer satisfaction”, “7 things you should know before buying a computer”. I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool with my “Top 5 Reasons a Business will Fail”. I can think of more than five reasons, but let’s stick to five, so you won’t miss lunch!

Reason 1: The business doesn’t understand or anticipate competitive products and market moves
Reason 2: The business makes decisions without understanding the impact of these decisions
Reason 3: The business uses old or incomplete information to plan for the future
Reason 4: The business takes too long to respond to its market and customers
Reason 5: Employees do not have easy access to the information they need to contribute to business success

If this Top 5 list has your business name written all over it, you’d better make some changes! You may feel overwhelmed by the task, but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

Business Intelligence tools enable performance management, by providing clear, concise results using data and information integrated from various sources and presented in a way that clearly illustrates patterns, trends and problem areas. With user-friendly tools and personalized, custom metrics, users can manage objectively with insight into the Key Performance Indicators. You can make faster, more accurate, course corrections and adapt to the changing market with ease.

So what are you waiting for? Get great BI. http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com.

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Explore Your Sensitive Side with What If and Impact and Sensitivity Analysis

Posted on January 15, 2012

My family, friends and colleagues might tell you that I am not the most sensitive person on the planet. I’m a no-nonsense girl who tells the truth, even when it’s painful. That’s why I can tell you business people that you NEED a Performance Management tool with Impact and Sensitivity Analysis features.

Your business is sensitive to competition and changes in customer buying behavior among other things. Why guess at success, when you can pinpoint the right price, prevent pricing changes from under achieving goals, and avoid over pricing items and creating a decrease in sales. Identify the right training at the right time without spending money than is necessary. That’s just the beginning! Understand the impact of one decision, process or activity on a department, division or goal! Make corrections with full insight into dependencies and the factors that will have the greatest impact.

Consider options and make decisions in a risk free environment. You can play ‘what if’ to your heart’s content and perform sophisticated impact and sensitivity analysis. You’ll look like a pro and impress even the most demanding manager. Use multi-variate, non-linear analytical formulae and techniques to make decisions. It’s impressive…it’s possible…and you don’t need a degree in statistical analysis to get it done!

Focus on the right things at the right time with complete confidence in your pricing, product, sales, resource and business decisions.

Get sensitive NOW! http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com.

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Forget Those Ugly Holiday Sweaters! Give Yourself the Gift of Simple, Sophisticated BI

Posted on December 31, 2011

I didn’t get the present I wanted for the holidays or for my last birthday? I got gift cards to stores I don’t like and ugly sweaters! YUCK! What I REALLY needed was a better way to manage my business. I didn’t know whether my goals were achievable or if I was making any headway in the market. I didn’t know if my team was doing what I wanted them to do and whether these activities were going to help us grow! No one took the hint when I added Business Intelligence (BI) software to my gift wish list, so I took matters into my own hands and began my search for a simple-to-use BI with sophisticated features.

I found a BI suite with browser-based architecture, and simple integration of enterprise applications and other data sources. It gives me scalable access on the road and in the office. It was easy to implement and flexible, with lots of features and sophisticated functionality like OLAP, graphs, charts, key performance indicators, balanced scorecards, personalized dashboards and more! It’s got simple, drag and drop, interactive building blocks, quick views and analysis, easy customization, professional charts and objects, lots of formats and templates, delivery, publishing and sharing among users, quick filtering and drill through views.

At last! A BI solution that is simple to use with intuitive tools. I didn’t need a ton of consulting, it’s easy to deploy, and even users who are not tech savvy can get on board. It’s affordable and there are on-site and hosted licensing options! What’s not to like?

If you need a rich, intuitive data environment, and great BI features visit: http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com.

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Inside Scoop on Today’s Business Intelligence: Imagine BI That is Suitable for EVERY End User

Posted on December 15, 2011

When it comes to IT evolution, the pace is faster than ever! Business Intelligence (BI) has been around for a while but the recent evolution of these solutions has made it easy to achieve true BI. Your end users can jump into the deep end of the BI pool without drowning in convoluted features and out-of-date reports that do them absolutely no good!

With the right BI solution your users can achieve clear, concise results using data and information integrated from various sources and presented in a way that clearly illustrates patterns, trends and issues that require attention. Using custom designed metrics and measurements, every user can manage objectively. You can make faster, more accurate, course corrections and adapt to the changing market with ease and proficiency.

You can enjoy the benefits of BI and intuitive, personalized perspectives and views with affordable, dependable service, features and functionality. Great BI provides comprehensive, integrated capabilities for query, reporting and analysis in a single, user-friendly, browser interface. I am going to tell you where to find a BI solution that is simple to implement and requires minimal training. Your users won’t need a programmer or expert to design, develop and use personalized views of data. This solution is practical, affordable and suitable for strategic planning, tactical analysis and operational management. Every one of your end users can leverage the power of BI analysis and reporting and analyze issues and stay on track.

I’m not kidding! If you’re ready to leverage the power of BI for each and every executive, manager, and team member in your company, you can start here: http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com.

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Balanced Scorecards are the BEST!

Posted on November 30, 2011

I am part of a task force. We are trying to understand our declining customer profitability (and we’d better do it fast or I will have to update my resume). We are trying to gather the information, but with so many data sources, it’s hard to make sense of things. Even where we are able to compile data, we aren’t sure we really understand the source of the problem.

We know that our measurements show poor results but we don’t know how to fix the problem. What if we make the wrong decision and make things worse? If we could see the impact of prospective changes to determine how much or how little to change pricing or processes, we could avoid making changes that will not improve the results.

We got ourselves a great Corporate Performance Management system with balanced scorecard and impact and sensitivity analysis features. We discovered that in some cases we were measuring the wrong things. We are now focused on activities that will result in timely, effective market response and ensure that we can adapt to change. Every employee can establish and align metrics to objectively measure performance and receive alerts to notify them when a threshold has been crossed.

The balanced scorecard provides a dynamic environment where everyone can monitor results and make appropriate changes to strategy, processes, assignments and tasks.

We have insight into the processes and tasks that engender success and those that need adjustment. We improved metrics and key performance indicators and we can clearly see where changes must be made. Our executives can focus on the important performance metrics and drive the business, and the members of our task force can go back to work!

If you want your own Balanced Scorecard and Impact and Sensitivity Analysis tools, visit http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where Am I and How Did I Get Here? Never Fear, You Can Create a Performance Driven Enterprise!

Posted on November 15, 2011

You want to grow your business and win new customers. You want your competitors to stop nipping at your heels. Your boss says to fix it but in order to do that, you have to get a handle on exactly what is happening inside your company. You set objectives but you never really know where you are day-to-day or even if everyone is measuring progress in the same way. You lie awake at night and wonder what new fact, omission or mistakes will blind side you tomorrow. You want true Business Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management. You want your organization to be performance driven. You want to understand what tasks and activities are helping you and where you need to make changes.

Under-performing and failing to achieve critical goals is a frightening business reality. Competition is tough, and businesses rarely get a second chance to excel. What if you are doing everything right, but your business is still stagnant? Your direction is clear, but your pace is lagging! To manage performance, you must have a clear picture of strategy, how and where that strategy is succeeding or failing and where developing trends might demand changes to improve business success.

Even with a great strategy you still face daily market and competitive changes that can negatively impact results. Unless you can adapt to change, that seemingly solid strategy can result in revenue erosion and market stagnation. Furthermore, every employee needs to know if the tasks they are performing are supporting business success. In a performance driven enterprise, every employee and business manager works together using accurate up-to-date information to adjust strategy and re-evaluate tasks and direction.

If you’re feeling less than confident about your business results and your competitive advantage, don’t despair! Get connected with intuitive BI and CPM. Visit http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I WANT MY OWN BI! How About Your Own Business Intelligence Dashboard!

Posted on October 31, 2011

I’m special! Your job isn’t like mine! I’m not interested in YOUR data! So say the employees and users in your company. But in the midst of all of this personal power, YOU must integrate and report on every job function, department and division. If you want to get the full picture of results and plan appropriately for success, you have to summarize information from disparate sources AND analyze and make decisions.

But, what about those pesky users? They DO contribute to the bottom line. Or at least they should. You can give them access to BI but if you ONLY give them access and the data is not meaningful to them or interactive and current, you will not solve your problems. Present information in the same old way, and they will produce the same old results!

Every user needs access to up-to-date, relevant data! If this data is to improve productivity and increase the effectiveness of business decisions and process changes, it must be presented in a way that is meaningful to users. What if your BI solution had a dashboard that allows users, managers and executives to create and use personalized dashboards and present data in summary and detail form with immediate, dependable results.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a customized snapshot of daily operations at the tactical, operational or strategic level? Identify problems and the source of problems, obtain valuable, up-to-date information about financial results, sales and other information – all in one place?

BI Dashboards provide a unified view of key performance metrics, graphical analysis and reports in an interactive environment. You can adapt quickly to the changing market with confidence in every decision.

Users can operate in a self-serve environment, with minimal training and access the right information, and automate alerts to meet their needs without waiting for a programmer.

If you want a robust BI solution that satisfies company and individual user needs, visit http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com.

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Standalone BI is About as Useful as Rock without Roll – Integration is the Key to Power BI!

Posted on October 15, 2011

This is the age of information. But, without GREAT info you are guessing at strategy. It is REALLY IMPORTANT that everyone have the information they need to accurately and effectively perform.

Business and technology run at light speed. You hire and train resources with the right knowledge to do the job. You organize and execute work using optimized processes and collaborative efforts. You need to get everyone working toward the same goals. If you are anything like me, you EXPECT your users and employees to understand the strategy and manage their work to achieve objectives.

What gets in the way of true BI?

There is never enough time to sort through spreadsheets, presentations, reports and enterprise system or data bases to find the data needed to make the best decision.

Not every user has access to the information they need to manage their work.

Even if users have access, the info is out of date.

Out of the box solutions and silo enterprise applications are NOT the answer. You can take the time and resources to enter data into multiple systems but you will never see the complete picture and the information is likely to be out of date.

Don’t despair! The answer is BI Integration. Integrate BI with ERP, CRM, production and manufacturing, sales, customer, training and learning systems and more! An intuitive web front-end allows ANY user to personalize views and get up-to-the-minute information. Manage, find, sort, filter and use data with comprehensive, integrated capabilities for query, BI reporting and analysis. Maximize performance through Balanced Scorecards, interactive dashboards, OLAP analysis, graphs, reports, exception alerts and other tools.

This isn’t a pipe dream! Find out more by visiting http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com.

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Buck Stops Here…BI Can Alleviate the Pass the Buck Syndrome.. AND Save Bucks at the Same Time!

Posted on September 30, 2011

“All I have to work with are reports that are a month old.” “It’s not my fault. No one told me we were over budget.” “By the time I found out we had missed our quota it was too late to do anything about it.” Excuses, excuses…but they are good ones! If you team doesn’t know what is going on TODAY in their department, division or business unit; if they don’t understand how individual efforts affect the success of the company, you are doomed to buck passing and excuses: the kind you can’t argue with; the kind that damage business results.

A first-class, cutting-edge Business Intelligence solution gives you (AND your users) a single view of data, integrated from various enterprise sources, so strategy is cascaded throughout the company and Key Performance Indicators and metrics are personalized to a user role, team, or department. Affordable BI solutions have proven, scalable architecture to meet the demands of increasing data volume, growing businesses and disparate enterprise applications, users and needs. YOU NEED high performance BI analysis, enterprise reporting, automated alerts, intuitive, personalized dashboards, balanced scorecards, slice and dice, drill down, forecasting and predictive analysis. AND you can achieve all of this in a self-serve environment, without the assistance of IT resources, consultants or programmers.

NO MORE EXCUSES or buck passing! Users can set threshold levels and exceptions, and whenever that threshold or exceptions is met, the BI system will send them alert. So they don’t have to look for information. The system works FOR THEM, and alerts them to issues and achievements. The ability to monitor and modify tasks and goals allows your users to manage performance and results. Everyone is empowered…everyone is accountable!

Get BI today and get your team moving toward goals and results! Visit http://www.elegantjbi.com/ or email sales@elegantjbi.com

Intelligently yours, Betsy Bizintel

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
© Elegant MicroWeb. All Trademarks are duly acknowledged.

Intel Software PartnerOur Technology Partner