Business Analytics software
Business Analytics software is not any longer a stand-alone application that is the preserve of power users who have special skills to use arcane tools. Instead, business analytics applications permeate the enterprise and they have to be adapted for users who are pre-occupied with solving business problems or just daily operations and do not want to bog down in mastering the technical nuances of sophisticated tools. While power users require data exporting, cube and data modeling options, business users need the ability to manipulate data, at a granular level, locally in Excel. Casual users prefer dashboards and canned reports.
The business users are also interested in sharing analytical information with their team members. Tools like Crystal Reports and Actuate Corp.’s e-reporting disseminate information to many casual users and high-level decision makers.
Finally, business analytics software have to be seamlessly integrated with business process management as well as tools for evaluation of results of actions taken based on the initial analysis. An example of this kind of software is Customer Power 5.0, a tool developed by NCR, which is targeted at customers in the retail, financial and catalog marketers. They are able to use customer information and analytics for improving the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. One clothing company is able to use transaction information to create catalogs specially designed for its best customers.
Enterprise users look for tools that have an intuitive interface and are customized for their industry and functional area of expertise; generic business analytical software tools are less likely to meet their needs. The need to expand the functionality of business analytics software tools stretches the technical capability of vendors. In the past, analytical software companies specialized in a limited range of functional expertise. Some companies like Hyperion excelled in performance management while others like SAS and SPSS distinguished themselves in statistics. In their efforts to meet a more diverse set of needs of customers, business analytics software vendors are now entering a risky terrain where they have to acquire companies to provide a portfolio of products including integration with business process management software. Furthermore, they have to be able to gain domain knowledge of a variety of industries where they have customers. Finally, customer needs are evolving as knowledge workers in enterprises find ingenious ways to use information. It is unlikely that all customers will be able to find the entire range of functionality they need.