Wine and Shine: Be Agile with Mobile BI

Mobile BI is in constant demand today due to many reasons. Time-poor executives need to access key performance indicators at a glance during meetings, seminars and conferences. With the advent of smartphones and its enhanced features, it is possible for executives to be in touch to the online world constantly. Corporates are increasingly using smartphones, tablets and laptops and the latest devices are even capable of delivering rich Web content which guarantees the managers and decision makers to have extensive access to corporate data.

 

Not only managers, but sales personnel find mobile access and business analytics to be in constant contact with their group of customers and also assess the inventory or a projection chart with the help of mobile analytics. Field personnel especially need to have sound knowledge of their company’s customer-base for better sales results.

 

Employee productivity is one of the key reasons for delivering mobile BI. Infrequent accessibility to critical information actually inhibits a mobile worker’s productivity. Better information flow is one of the prime motivations for the use of BI in mobile devices. Analytics are delivered real-time and there is constant access to data. Service and field sales personnel are constantly on the run and mobile BI helps them to achieve their goals and objectives easily and efficiently.

 

SharePoint 2010 helps everyone access the business information required to make good decisions. With powerful features like business-specific interactive dashboards and scorecards along with the ability to make sense of Key Performance Indicators, people can use the data which can be found in databases, reports, and other sources to address specific needs.

 

In SharePoint 2010, the BI tools are Microsoft Excel, the PowerPivot Add-in for Excel, Excel Services, Visio Services, PerformancePoint Services, SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services), SSIS for Integration Services, and SSAS for Analytical services. SharePoint 2010's BI capabilities are easily more cohesive than those offered by other solutions.

 

INDUSA has scheduled a wine tasting event for those interested in how SharePoint 2010 can be leveraged for creating a robust Mobile BI environment.The audience will primarily consist of senior management and executives, sales managers and field service personnel.

 

The company is also conducting a session on the key factors which are driving the need for Mobile BI, and will focus on the overall benefits derived from embracing mobile BI in an agile environment.

 

The event will be held on the 23rd of February 2012 at the AON Center in Chicago from 6:00 AM onwards. Click here to register for the event.

 

Social Media Assessment with Microsoft SharePoint 2010

Do you want to know one of the worst questions dealing with the digital world right now? It is: How revenue can be generated through Social Media.

 

Social media has been the rising star of the new internet decade of the 21st century, and it's constantly evolving and complex content has been a great challenge for many businesses.

 

A social media assessment will help you quickly and efficiently develop a game plan on how to use the internet to help build your business.

 

You need to find the right arenas

Match the shared interest with your own

Understand how to contribute

Ideally, find the actual people who are most enthusiastic

 

We are taking in account the NCP model which involves networks, contribution and participation. Additionally, the social media assessment follows the Four Quadrant methodology of brand, customer, partner, and competitor assessment. There should also be a proper measurement plan. Creating a measurement plan prior to launch avoids pitfalls down the road.

 

Role of SharePoint in Digital Marketing

 

Microsoft defines its collaboration tool for the enterprise in these words, “Using SharePoint 2010, your people can set up Web sites to share information with others, manage documents from start to finish, and publish reports to help everyone make better decisions.”

 

The Microsoft SharePoint bee-hive displays six major categories containing several features addressing the needs of a digital marketing initiative. The six categories are:

 

Collaboration

Portal

Enterprise Search

Content Management

Business Processes

Insights

 

Keeping in line with the growing need for well-structured taxonomy on a web site, SharePoint 2010 now supports Managed Meta Data Services that allows creating & managing the Meta tags across multiple sites.

 

Audience objects will allow us to target specific content to the target visitor segment thereby making their experience on your site more effective. We believe this is a great feature for content repurposing as the content you render will resonate with the needs of the visitor.

 

Microsoft SharePoint also provides inbuilt web analytics to understand your website performance. It demonstrates the standard KPIs (key performance indicators) for web site monitoring - like count of unique visitors to your website, total traffic on the site, top destinations on website, and top referrals etc.

 

The new Microsoft SharePoint 2010 seems to provide every single feature that a web content management (WCM) platform or a digital assets platform or even an enterprise search solution needs to support to deal with a public facing website.

Salient Features of SharePoint 2010 for Internet Sites

SharePoint for Internet Sites (SP-FIS) is available in two different versions: SharePoint FIS Standard Edition & SharePoint FIS Enterprise Edition.The enterprise edition includes all the features offered in the standard edition and a preferable choice for organizations willing to utilize SharePoint as a platform for their online presence.

 

There are many companies that might need limited features of SharePoint-FIS including web content management capabilities and other primary features & functionalities. For such companies rest of the components might not be feasible to them. SharePoint FIS Standard Edition, with limited features, could be the best solution for these companies as it also helps saving a lot on the costing part. It could also act as a good starting point for using SharePoint for Internet Sites.

 

SP-FIS standard edition is a basic version of the product and offers users the entire web content management (WMS) features, the workflow collaboration components as well as social computing and site search features. It is important to note that standard edition does not support multiple domains and can be used only for a single domain website.

 

If you need higher usability and better functionalities and other business components such as Business Intelligence (BI), insights into your websites, online or e-forms, or enterprise-wide search functionality then it is advisable for you to go for the Enterprise version of SharePoint 2010 for Internet Sites. Some of the features include:

 

- Interaction management: It includes an important Interaction Management feature which essentiallyenvisages the method in which you interact with the site.

- Content Transformation – a kind of interface which not only helps you searching internal information, but some additional data or information can be pulled in from external resources and both can be merged and represented as a single result.

- Multiple language support: SP-FIS supports multiple languages, so multilingual website can be developed easily and swiftly.

- Connectors: This product also comprises of Connectors for databases, XML and others.

 

Some of the general benefits of SP-FIS include:

 

- Easy-to-use authoring tools helps SP-FIS keeping content fresh and dynamic

- It is easy to launch new sites and content with the help of custom workflows which are adaptable enough to be customized as per user’s requirements

- With SP-FIS, an appealing online experience is certain due to highly interactive features such as search, rich media and social computing. These features will definitely assist you to get your users captivated!

- It is also easy to develop highly interactive and powerful business applications based on your current systems.

- SharePoint 2010 for Internet Sitesoffers a cohesive infrastructure with a feature like web content management (WMS) system, which is very cost-effective, compliant and easily manageable.

- Easy integration of BI tools like Excel Services and PerformancePoint Services for better decision making support.

Mastering the Revenue Game with the right Digital Marketing Strategy and Microsoft SharePoint

Digital Media has drastically changed over the years. Traditional marketing meant direct mailers, print ads in magazines/telephone books, radio /TV ads, and even billboards to reach viewers and prospects.

 

Today, it’s a completely different scenario. Monologs have given way to dialogs, conversations which have bred social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, messengers and chat applications. Individual consumption has given way to group participation.

 

Today people are quite done with the barrage of marketing messages. They are very good at deleting, trashing, and blocking traditional marketing.People are instead attaching more importance to transparency and authenticity (personal tweet messages from CEOs) which are guaranteed to connect to the mass public.

 

Clients in most cases find sites difficult to use and navigate, and complain about lack of dynamic content. Many do not like to read content-heavy sites as they find it “boring and tedious.” Chances are that, they find main content irrelevant and relevant content difficult to find, in a site. Some don’t find the site pleasing to the eye, while some do not have the required patience to scour the site and hence abandon it quickly. There are some users who are directed to a site with which they have no direct connection.

 

As more and more consumers are going digital, marketing methods are becoming more complicated. With digital marketing, chances are that one might get lost in the maze of several marketing platforms and options. It is important to prioritize and visualize which options are feasible, which ones are important and which ones should be prioritized. Digital Marketing is complex since it houses a plethora of mediums including photo sharing sites, video sharing sites, social networks, micro-blogging sites, job boards and technology forums. One needs to identify the best medium for connecting to their prospects depending on type of business.

 

SharePoint products are widely used for leveraging digital marketing strategies especially social media for the boosting online presence of enterprises. Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for Internet Sites has two versions – standard and enterprise. If you want to introduce other elements such as Business intelligence, insights into your website, electronic forms, or enterprise-wide searches then you would need to have the Enterprise version. SharePoint products are different from the base version of SharePoint 2010 which is ideally an ECM solution which is scalable for enterprises.

 

For more information about how one can master the revenue game with Digital Marketing and Social Media, register for the lunch ‘n learn event here http://www.indusa.com/SPDigitalMktlnl.php. The event will be held at Chicago from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.

Microsoft Dynamics AX vs. SAP Business All-in-one

SAP and Microsoft continue to dominate the enterprise resource planning domain. Microsoft who was actually playing second fiddle some years back is back in the reckoning for the top spot with its Dynamics AX solution. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 development and implementation is geared towards more user adoption since it offers better returns in many aspects compared to SAP.

 

Salient Features of SAP Business All-in-one

 

SAP Business All-in-One is more of a marketing framework rather than a software solution designed specifically to address the needs of the SMB market segment.

 

1) Micro-vertical solutions are channel partner and region specific, which make global rollouts challenging.

2) Users report SAP All-in-One has the complexity of SAP’s enterprise solution (R/3) because it is based on R/3.5

3) Most business logic is still based on legacy and proprietary ABAP/4 code. Because the programming language is proprietary, customization and integration with other applications can be challenging. High system overhead has also been reported.

 

Salient Features of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

 

Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed for mid-sized and multinational organizations, scaling to thousands of users across multiple sites.

 

1) Placed in the “Visionary” Quadrant by Gartner Research in the Magic Quadrant for the ERP Manufacturing Midmarket, June 2005

2) Designed to meet the individual needs of the customer, rather than forcing a user to accept a solution based on industry best practices.

3) Supported by 1,300+ solution providers on a global scale.

4) Over 5,800 customers worldwide.

 

Why should one opt for Dynamics AX instead of SAP Business All-in-one?

 

Microsoft Dynamics AX development and implementation services can boost employee productivity drastically. In a recent analysis that compared the impact of ERP on people's productivity, Microsoft Dynamics AX users scored 18 percent higher than SAP users.

 

Microsoft Dynamics AX can also scale with your business since one can integrate the ERP solution with Microsoft SQL Server to enjoy enterprise-level reporting, quick decision-making support, and timely, relevant business insight at an affordable cost.

 

Microsoft Dynamics AX also provides a low cost of ownership and is adroitly engineered to cost-effectively support the changing requirements. Additionally, recent research reports suggest that it offers a higher return on investment (ROI) than many other offerings. Microsoft Dynamics AX licensing is also designed to be reasonable enough since it can be tailored as per requirements. Finally, Microsoft offers a fantastic vertical partner ecosystem which helps the company to deliver vertical solutions to hundreds of different industries. The Microsoft Dynamics AX program offers solutions which are designed to meet the needs of multiple domains as well as professional services.

 

For the right Microsoft Dynamics AX development and implementation services, one needs to pick rich portfolio of tested solutions developed by ISVs that match Microsoft’s effective organizational certification standards.

An Introduction to FAST Search for SharePoint 2010

Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint is an innovative search solution that provides users with unique search features offered by FAST with the TCO options of Microsoft. FAST Search Server for SharePoint 2010 offers the best general productivity search features provides a cost-effective way to build new search-related applications. SharePoint Server 2010 FAST Search is a vital improvement to the existing search feature for SharePoint and offers great flexibility to users. In addition to that, FAST technology offers FAST Search for SharePoint 2010, which is entirely new offering for SharePoint platform. It is considered to be an improved version of SharePoint 2010 Search irrespective of the product you use at the enterprise level.

FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 provides highly advanced search facilities which can be considered. There are many eye-catchy and noticeable improvements that draw a clear line between both these search capabilities.

Features of Enterprise Search Platform have been integrated into FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 which made its deployment and accessibility easier through SharePoint management tools. Another noticeable change in FAST ESP is the advanced content processing and enhanced linguistic features.

Another noticeable advancement with FAST Search is in the Structured Data Search. Though both of them have this feature but FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 can perform data search based on numbers, dates and some other structured data. For developers, this can be achieved using FAST Query Language (FQL).

Flexibility of Visual Search based on document thumbnails and previews is one of the other advanced features in FAST Search for SharePoint 2010. Visual document thumbnails and previewer of Web Parts assist in finding out relevant data from the search results quickly.

Advanced level Custom Relevancy is a pivotal feature in FAST Search for SharePoint 2010. Take, for example, two separate level executives / users, entering the same search query might have different search “contexts” and different search experiences based on their account profile and roles.

Visual best bet is another advanced feature in existing “best bets”feature which adds to the search capability for searching images as well as videos.

FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 is built on highly advanced and all-inclusive development framework of SharePoint 2010. It has extensive capabilities for search which are unequalled in the industry.

Many more features and enhancements are expected to be added to the existing FAST Search features. Moreover the product has proved to be very useful for digital marketing via SharePoint.

Third Party Mobile App Integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX

In this fast paced world, it is extremely critical to have access to consistent line-of-business apps even while you are on the field. Dealing efficiently with on field scenarios is very important for organizations that have heavy field sales work involved. But innovation in Mobile technology has played a crucial role in making this happen. Implementing mobile applications based on Microsoft Dynamics AX as well as the Windows Mobile Platform helps boost work efficiency. Mobile apps integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX solution assists indriving augmented output, and most importantly, reduces overall costs involved.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is gaining attention as the premier ERP application for the mid-sizedorganization, as demonstrated by the fact that AX currently maintains the Top Spot in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for ERP in the mid-market.There is a basic need to have an integrated mobile application with Dynamics AX.

There are many companies who use AX as its ERP solution. But the problem is that field service executives are unable to get real-time access to the ERP when on the move.

Integration between Mobile apps with Microsoft Dynamics AX

1) Maximize Dynamics AX investment and productivity by extending the solution to the smart phone through mobile apps
2) Organizations can transform the business through mobility on the Customer side by identifying new intelligent products and on the Employee side through process innovation and new styles of collaborative work
3) The application help grow the business by providing new channels and communities to Customers and by supplying role specific applications to Employees
4) The integrated Mobile app help you run the business by providing light weight communication options to your Customer and also provide basic productivity tools such as mobile e-mail and connectivity to your Employees
5) The Mobile appintegrated with AX can help customers to place orders, track existing orders, make payments or view promotions

Who can be benefited?

- Executives working from home
- Your outside Sales Force staff
- Service & Field personnel
- Plant personnel
- Warehouse users and executives at several level of hierarchy

Integration between Dynamics AX and Mobile Apps has opened new doors for organizations, where a constant and reliable connection between executives and company data is must, even if the information is located at remote location.