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July 31, 2010
iPhone 4 re-invents the pie chart
As if the iPhone 4 has done enough to change our world – well it has done everything from re-inventing the internet, computing, telephony and the way I make my lunch and now it has re-invented the pie chart too.
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http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews.i4?newsId=97661
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 1:00 AM | Comments (0)
Agile Business Intelligence and Excel Reporting
The humble spreadsheet certainly has a big part to play in reporting and data analysis. After all it would be difficult to find an organization that does not use excel reporting at all. Thinking about this phenomenon and agile BI led me to a few conclusions. If we think about agile Business Intelligence as the capacity to rapidly create and distribute your data analysis then we need to factor in the use of spreadsheets as a data collection tool.
Read More --> http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews.i4?newsId=97555
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 1:00 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2010
Using Yellowfin to visualize code performance and optimization
We had some performance issues that were coming up in a particular part of our code with a large number of clients/users. After analyzing the code a number of optimizations were made to hopefully improve the situation. To test the improvements we used Yellowfin to chart the before and after.
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Posted by Justin Hewitt at 7:45 PM | Comments (1)
Adding graphics to a report table makes data visualization easier
There are times when a graphic embedded in a table adds a significant amount of usability to a report. Whist the guru’s in the data visualization space may argue that you do not want to clutter your tables we found a great example of when a graphic makes interpretation of your data easier.
Read More -> http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews.i4?newsId=97628
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)
Does Language influence Data Analysis and Visualization
I came across an interesting article in the WSJ that discussed the role of language and its influence on the way people see the world. The argument being that language effects our perceptions and interactions. An extreme example quoted was “The Piraha, a tribe in the Amazon in Brazil, whose language eschews number words in favor of terms like few and many, are not able to keep track of exact quantities.”
Read More --> http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews.i4?newsId=97578
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)
Embedded Business Intelligence Seminar in Japan
I thought it was time to do a quick wrap up on Yellowfin in Japan. I have just completed my latest trip to Japan, focusing on embedded business intelligence and SAAS Reporting, and am delighted with the progress that our partner KMSI are making.
Read More --> http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews.i4?newsId=97423
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)
Agile Business Intelligence and Excel Reporting
The humble spreadsheet certainly has a big part to play in reporting and data analysis. After all it would be difficult to find an organization that does not use excel reporting at all. Thinking about this phenomenon and agile BI led me to a few conclusions. If we think about agile Business Intelligence as the capacity to rapidly create and distribute your data analysis then we need to factor in the use of spreadsheets as a data collection tool
Read More --> http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews.i4?newsId=97555
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2010
Spreadsheet Reporting
Our latest Video for version 5.0 content - spreadsheet reporting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gbYQmdZDlc
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Posted by Justin Hewitt at 6:30 AM | Comments (1)
Top 10 biggest issues with BI vendors
We recently came across this list of top 10 biggest issues with BI vendors and we could not agree more. This list is a set of grievances from independent software vendors, who wish to embed a BI solution into their application, that have had a poor experience with some of the other vendors in the industry.
At Yellowfin we think we are pretty good and working with our ISV partners so I thought we would take this list and provide the Yellowfin response.
1. Integration with 3rd party technologies *
Yellowfin has a range of API’s and web services to expose both administration and reporting functionality to 3rd party applications. Heck we even use these ourselves for our iPhone app. Our goal is to provide software vendors with seamless integration of our BI functionality into their applications. We are not even precious about our brand – no need for logos and the like. Yellowfin is a white label solution.
* Integration may refer to front-end or back-end technologies/applications or both
2. Time to resolve technical support problems
With the OEM segment a critical part of our business we understand how important great support is to you. Yellowfin has a very strong focus on service as part of our partnering model. We do everything we can to be part of your extended support organization. We will not leave you hanging when your customer requires assistance.
3. Contractual terms and conditions
Doing business together has got to be easy right? Well we make it that way. Simple contracts, no up front fees and no intrusive Trojan horse deals – that’s the way we do business. We want a long-term mutually beneficial relationship – and this starts with our terms and conditions. Generally we do not start making money till you start making money. It all about aligning our shared goals.
4. Online forums and documentation
One thing we do for you is provide lots of documentation – oh and also in word format so you can rebrand it as your own. Once signed up you have access to our portal which contains a forum, documentation, tutorials and marketing and sales assistance.
5. Upgrade/migration to new versions
One of the things we learnt really early on is that if we make it super easy for you to upgrade we got less support calls. Lets say we like it that way. Our installers let you migrate and version of Yellowfin from 3.3 onwards with a click of a button. We do all the hard work for you and make it easy for you to migrate to the latest and greatest version so that you can delight your customers.
6. Follow up after the sale
We are not about the once of deal but more about the long-term relationship. So once we get the ball going we will have an account manager to work with you for the years of our relationship. Improving the profitability of that relationship for both us.
7. Customization and Extensibility
Did I mention you could white label Yellowfin? Well you can use a variety of custom functions to extend the functionality of Yellowfin for your clients. While we hope that you won’t have to (our goal is to give you all the functionality you need so that you do less work right!) there is a ton of things you can do if you have the desire to do so.
8. Vendor consulting value
Our goal in working with you is to get you to market quickly. We are not a services organization. So we want to provide you with just the right amount of support and consulting to get your deployment up and running. What does this mean? Well the best advice quickly – we are not here to milk the deal.
9. Sales understanding business/needs
We have worked with many ISV partners and we think we are getting pretty good at it. As such we have an approach to doing business with you that ensures your success. We know what you want – a world class BI module that makes you money. Well with that in mind we work with you to achieve those goals.
10. Continuity of support personnel
Nothing worse then having to explain the same problems over and over again, especially to the new guy on the block. Our tech team has been around for a while and they are very adept and getting to the heart of your issues quickly.
So if you are thinking about embedding a BI solution into your application then try out Yellowfin and test some of the points above. You will not be disappointed.
Check out our embedded Business Intelligence section of our site and our embedded Business Intelligence white paper.
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 6:00 AM | Comments (1)
July 14, 2010
Recent Interview with our CEO
Glen Rabie is CEO of Yellowfin Business Intelligence, recognised among 25 rising companies that CIO’s must know about, Yellowfin is an innovative and flexible solution for reporting and analytics, providing a full range of data access, presentation and information delivery capabilities.
Interview.
Hello Glen, Thank you for taking the time to speak to us today.
GR. No problem, good to talk to you.
Q. Yellowfin has just released a major release in 5.0, can you tell us about the new features?
GR. The main features for 5.0 include in-memory analytics and integrated excel or spreadsheet reporting. Both of these will add a tremendous level of value for our end users – both in terms of speed and flexibility for business users to do the types of analysis that they demand.
Q. Is Yellowfin's in-memory an evolutionary or revolutionary step in BI delivery ?
GR. I think it is evolutionary. Basically in-memory analysis addresses the issue of speed. Traditional BI deployments simply are not agile enough for the changing needs of business users. With the development of in-memory users to not have to compromise with the development of aggregated data marts but are free to browse their data with on the fly analysis at the most granular level. It is really thanks for hardware developments that this has been made feasible.
Q. Speed is king, but Can you give us a real world example of a customer who would greatly benefit from your in-memory technology ?
GR. Well any customer that has had to aggregate their data prior to analysis is a winner. The problem with the traditional model is that when aggregating you need to anticipate the type of analysis you wish to conduct.
The draw backs of this approach is that one it took time to build data marts, and if you got your assumptions incorrect you would have to start again – and all this time the business users is waiting for answers. Not a satisfactory outcome.
With in-memory you do not have this constraint. So if you wish to analyze 3 years of invoice details you can. It is as simple as that
Q. Yellowfin had a lot of momentum in 2009, What are some of your key priorities for 2010 ?
GR. So 5.0 was release in May for the rest of the year we have a couple of releases planned – enhancements to our mobile platform in August, and a minor dot release of Yellowfin scheduled for November.
Q. Mobile BI is certainly becoming a hot topic what are Yellowfin’s plans?
GR. The new mobile release is certainly something that we are looking forward to. We were one of the first to release an iPhone app and now thanks to all the feedback from our users we are about to release v2 of that platform with iPad support as well. I think in this space we have the right strategy.
Other vendors have created a secondary platform with their mobile play. Ones where the user has to migrate content on to a specific mobile server – which is crazy when you think about it. The Yellowfin approach is that any content created via the browser is immediately available to the mobile user – who needs the frustration of having to know where your content is?
The second difference is that we continue to view the mobile platform as a consumer of content role. What I mean by this is that users are not going to use their iPhones to analyze data. They just want access to simple answers. There is no point trying to build complex analytical functionality when the user is working on a postage stamp – this sort of functionality is better left to the browser.
Q. What part do channel partners play in your growth strategies for 2010 and beyond ?
GR. We are a channels company – 90% of sales originate through our channels – both ISV and reseller. We have no intention of deviating from this strategy as it is something that we continue to focus on and continue to develop our business model and processes around. Our goal is to become the premium vendor to partner with, and certainly we have started this year with some significant new partner acquisition that is giving us additional global reach and deep knowledge of specific regional markets.
Q. Are you focusing on Resellers, OEM's or system integrators as channel partners ?
GR. It’s a mix. A strong partner eco-system will have all three. That said we do have a strong focus on the OEM/ISV segment as I think we have an especially good value proposition for that part of the market. We understand the ISV market really well – their needs both commercial and technical and certainly have a fantastic value proposition for them.
Q. How are you competing these days with the old established proprietary BI companies ?
GR. The world is a big place – the BI market is still not highly consolidated so you get to see all sorts of competition. In the ISV OEM space we hardly see the traditional vendors – and quite frankly I do not think they are interested in that market. In the direct space it really depends on the style of the deal. Our platform and partner mix means we play at all ends of the market – from enterprise to SME. As a result we seem to touch on most vendors in the industry.
Q. Yellowfin markets itself as leading edge and a easy product to use, given that can Yellowfin also be accepted as an enterprise class product suite?
GR. The concept for Yellowfin was borne out of a failed enterprise deployment of a traditional vendor. The goal of making BI easy is directed at the enterprise. In fact it has been hard work to make Yellowfin so easy to use.
We have a continuous improvement model with a customer feedback loop that has a goal of always improving the way in which Yellowfin works at all levels. A large part of each release is actually infrastructure improvements not just “sexy marketing UI”. As a result we have some very big deployments in excess of 10,000 end users. Currently we are working on a 200,000 end user deployment – so I think we can safely assume that Yellowfin is enterprise scalable.
Q. The perception exists that to access company data you need to have very specific competencies, how is Yellowfin approaching that perception ?
GR. I think this is partly true. There are different user roles that have various levels of analytical skill sets – from a consumer of data all the way through to your quants. What is happening though is that generally users are becoming more analytical – in the same way that the average IQ levels are rising generation after generation.
So you have a greater demand by users for access to analytical applications. More business users want to do their own analysis – whereas in the past this was left to the experts. And this is where solutions like Yellowfin come into play, applications that are really easy to use and that allow business users access and analysis of their data.
Q. The business workspace is evolving very fast , laptops, iphones, ipads, wireless, etc, these technologies are transforming the way people work and even transforming traditional jobs. How is Yellowfin transforming itself to meet these challenges.?
GR. Ultimately what is changing is the delivery channel. The fundamentals have not changed. Users want access to data but now they are device independent. Yellowfin’s goal is to ensure that users can access their data from their preferred device.
Q. With these platforms, has come the expectation of instant knowledge access, “stale data” just won't cut it anymore, workers want realtime. Can you tell us how Yellowfin can support this.
GR. Real time analysis is an interesting challenge. I could pay lip service to the trend and say yes it is critical but its not. Think of it this way. Are the actions you take as a result of your analysis real-time? If your actions are not real time or do not have a real time impact then the latency of your data is actually less of a concern. Long term trends I would argue should be more of a concern to a CEO than last hours web traffic. Yes there are some very good examples of real time BI but I think this is a small segment of the market.
So having said that Yellowfin does have some interesting technology to enable real-time reporting and especially with its in-memory database and the ability to incrementally load the database in minute by minute intervals.
Q. As you move towards a 6.0 release of your software what will be the technology focus of Yellowfin’s ?
GR. 6.0 is still a long way off. I think we have a lot to do in 5.0 especially around collaboration and changing the way people work with data. This is going to be our focus over the next 18 months.
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 6:45 AM | Comments (0)
July 8, 2010
Integrate Spreadsheet Reporting with BI Webinar
Despite all of the technology advancements, excel spreadsheets are still widely used by business users to create stand alone databases that allow them to merge external and internal data for reporting and analysis purposes. There are many reasons why this occurs, however; fundamentally it is because the business user does not have a viable alternative. They use spreadsheets because they do not have a choice. Finally with Yellowfin Business Intelligence they do!
Yellowfin helps you take control and reduce the risks associated with spreadsheet reporting.
Yellowfin a Business Intelligence Solution that "Excels"?
You don’t need to move away from Excel to deploy outstanding BI software.
Yellowfin provides the ideal platform to integrate your excel reporting with an integrated BI solution. - Excel. Report. Analyze.
Join us on Monday, July 12th for this live webinar to find out how to reduce the external and internal risks that spreadsheets pose to your organisation.
Register Now!
Date: Monday, July 12th
Cost: Free
Time: 11.00am - 12.00pm Australian EST
Register for Excel Reporting Webinar
Please note: after registering, you will receive an email confirmation containing information about joining the Webinar.
____________________________________________
This webinar will cover:
Excel spreadsheets as a data source;
How to reduce or in some cases eliminate the external and internal risks involved with excel spreadhseets
How the usuability and functionality of Yellowfin will exceed your business users expections. If they love the features in excel - they will love Yellowfin
How easy it is for business users to load their excel spreadsheets into Yellowfin so they are centrally managed and data isn’t duplicated
How easy it is for end user to update the data located in these spreadsheets
Posted by Justin Hewitt at 7:45 AM | Comments (0)
Webinar Register Link
Webinar Register Link
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/347984784
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Posted by Justin Hewitt at 7:45 AM | Comments (0)
July 1, 2010
Location Intelligence - Every Map tells a story
You could call them maps with attitude. They’re maps with business intelligence information overlaid on them and they can provide rich insights into business performance.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a good map is worth at least a thousand dollars, especially when combined with customer data, demographic profiles, sales region performance and even competitor information.
Until recently, combining business intelligence, customer relationship, enterprise resource planning and related information with spatial information via GIS (geographic information system) was rather difficult – and expensive.
But now, with the advent of more widely available digital base-maps, advances in browser-based and application based map interfaces, and improved methods for geo-coding, it has become easier to map business activity. As a result, savvy companies are taking advantage of smart maps to give themselves a competitive edge, increase profits, make better decisions and streamline their operations.
But first a little explanation: geo-coding – this is the process of placing point, line and polygon (objects, such as buildings) information accurately on the base-map.
Informed decisions
One industry that has taken this new technology onboard is the contact centre industry. And one company that is taking location intelligence tools very seriously is Jet Interactive. It has an in-house system called Call Tracker to which it has now added geographic intelligence. “Adding customised maps and the location of in-bound callers to our Call Tracker online dashboard is a significant point of difference between us and our competitors,” says Justin Graham, Jet Interactive’s CEO.
The company is one of Australia’s largest in-bound number providers. “Media companies especially like the ability to see immediately where calls originate, as they’re then able to gauge the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. When our customers can see exactly when and where calls originate from they can make more informed decisions on where to focus their advertising initiatives.”
The Australian contact centre industry employs 250,000 staff dealing with around 16 million calls per day – with numbers like these, competition is intense and companies have to have a competitive edge to attract and retain clients. Providing clients with business intelligence through the use of call mapping is one tool they can use to do this effectively.
Maps on the dashboard
The new technology works by integrating location intelligence with that staple of business intelligence – the dashboard, making information easier, and quicker, to view by managers, as well as analysts.
Business analysts are used to working with tables and spreadsheets, but many upper-level and line managers don’t have the time to spend hours and hours sifting through the numbers to identify patterns and make associations. They want to be able to quickly see, for example, how many sales there have been, which sales people made them, how long it takes to deliver the goods sold and other key performance indicators (KPIs).
Most of these KPIs have a time aspect to them and many have a dollar value assigned to them, but now KPIs are being associated with a location value too. Jet Interactive provides a good example here.
“Our customers can see call volume by exchange, city, state and slice it up by demographic metrics on a map view,” says Graham.
“We have mapped some 5,000 exchanges – which can vary in size from a few city blocks to huge expanses – across Australia. Each time a call comes in it is assigned to an exchange. Then using the Call Tracker Dashboard, users can click on a tab and immediately see from which exchange the calls originated. They can also aggregate up to cities and states. We have added the capability to look at demographic profiles of the exchanges too – 250 individual categories, licensed from the Australian Bureau of
Statistics – so customers can compare the exchange to national averages.”
“Being able to offer location intelligence has given us a clear advantage in the marketplace,” says Graham. “We’ve made the whole process easy to grasp for our users. They can now visualise where their callers are, compare demographics and then make more informed decisions on how
best to structure their marketing programmes.”
Jet Interactive’s Call Tracker LI interface has been developed inside Yellowfin’s BI platform.
Ahead of the curve
Melbourne-based Yellowfin is ahead of the curve when it comes to true location intelligence (LI). LI differs from traditional GIS in as much as end-users can access the map-based interface from inside the BI application itself. Advanced GIS capabilities are limited – for instance, LI users can’t create polygons.
This has to be undertaken by a third-party and then loaded into the BI solution. However, LI users can take advantage of the many benefits of GIS – without having to become mapping experts.
“BI and LI users often have a very basic requirement,” says Glen Rabie, CEO of Yellowfin. “They want to see where they can sell more stuff. It is up to us, as solution providers, to ensure that they have the tools to help them do just that.
Before Google Maps, location intelligence was too obscure a concept. Most people thought of maps as static, paper-based sheets. But once they started to see the possibilities of online mapping, the seed was planted.” “We can now tap into the available digital maps –
Google Maps and Bing Maps – via API (application programming interfaces) and use these as the base for overlaying customer data, continues Rabie. “We can also add demographic data from [say] the Australia Bureau of Statistics, as Jet Interactive have done. Keep in mind, though, that this data is not free. There are licensing arrangements to sort out, depending on how you want to set up your maps. But, once customers start to see their data in a geographic context, they’re invariably impressed.”
Empowering a new class of users “Location intelligence has the potential to bring the power of spatial analysis to a much broader range of users,” says Francisco Urbina, manager of business development strategy at ESRI Australia, the local office of the world’s leading GIS software and service provider. “LI provides what people would expect from a mapping solution, with a simplified interface.
The average user doesn’t care about metadata, centroids, polygons or any of the other technical features that define GIS. They want to see maps that show them customers, transactions and patterns. And that is what LI delivers.”
LI can provide a number of benefits for users. “You can track your assets from the map,” continues Urbina, “ and perform basic geographic analyses. With the capability to display the maps on a hand-held data terminal, your field staff can quickly identify assets in the field and service them as required.”
Integrating LI capabilities into enterprise solutions such as business intelligence has become much easier. “There are a lot of tools available now,” says Urbina. “For instance, most developers have a library of APIs that can link capabilities. Plus web services and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) can be employed to add mapping capabilities to non-mapping solutions.
But regardless of the actual techniques employed, the power of smart maps is now becoming more accessible to a whole new class of end-users.” Clean data Location intelligence is here and it’s powerful. But, even though the map interface is intuitive and can be called up
with a single click, the amount of pre-processing to get to that point is not trivial.
Companies like Jet Interactive are already using LI to give them a competitive advantage, but like any advantage it’s not gained without effort.
The investment is likely worth it though. LI can take your company from being an also-ran to a leader. However, it takes vision, commitment and lots and lots of clean data. But, if you want to give your company a jump-start in your field, LI just might be the technology to take your ompany to the next level.
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Posted by Justin Hewitt at 6:30 AM | Comments (0)
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