Author: Justin Hesser

Getting involved with large-scale analytics is an important first step. Working with a FileMaker developer to design a way to collect, sift and categorize your data can pay immediate dividends. If you want to take your analysis to the next level, though, it might be time to think about visualizing.

Simply put, "visualizing data" takes the information you have and organizes it into in image to highlight particular trends. It isn't meant to supplant spreadsheets, but rather to enhance them. This process creates an ease of communication that facilitates cooperation, and can turn a meeting from a slow process of poring over numbers, to an efficient exchange of big ideas. A trend that might not stand out when it's amid other numbers on a screen could suddenly become obvious when displayed in another format. 

You can even adjust it so that the image updates in real-time. Using color and design, these snapshots can tell a high-level story about your data, which the information itself can then elaborate on. If, for example, you are trying to sell a potential client on the efficacy of your product, a graphic representation might be more visually arresting. Once you've created that interest, you can use the particulars to support the narrative. 

This approach also pairs well with using a service like FileMaker. Since the software allows you to parse your information so quickly and efficiently, it's simple to create visualizations that can highlight a variety of different factors. Using images is yet another way to use the powerful tools afforded by Big Data to create approachable and workable takeaways. 

In some ways, technology has had a negative impact on the environment. The inexorable march of mechanization hasn't always been kind to the earth or to the other animals that live on it. Now, however, Hewlett-Packard is focusing its managed IT services software on mitigating or reversing those issues entirely.

The company announced "Earth Insights" on Tuesday, a program that seeks to apply the analytical power afforded by Big Data to help aid in environmental efforts. 

"HP Earth Insights uses our products and services to deliver near real-time analytics to provide scientists with more accurate and more actionable environmental information," HP president and CEO Meg Whitman said in a statement.

The software can identify trends in animal endangerment in real time. This capability creates a sort of "early warning system" for threatened species: rather than being reactive, and attempting to save an animal after it is already too late, conservationists can address threats before they become catastrophes. What used to take a team months to gather and analyze can now be done by a single person, in just a matter of hours.

So far, about 1,000 cameras and sensors have been installed in forest areas around the world, providing a wide range of information, including vegetation, precipitation, temperature, carbon stocks, humidity and solar radiation. This data is then distributed to area managers, governments and researchers for analysis. Working together, they can help not only protect animals, they can also develop policies that best support their habitats.

HP has already reported valuable insights. With all of the negative effects innovation can have on the environment, it's heartening to see it used to protect it. 

Today's leading edge hospitals are quickly learning the diagnostic value of beside ultrasound scanning. However, learning to perform them isn't an easy task: it takes formal training to become certified. At the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, they realized that FileMaker development could help with this daunting process. 

Initially, they considered using other software. However, when judging excel vs. FileMaker, they found that the former just didn't have the ease of use or flexibility required for such a difficult and important task.

In the past, training happened largely via index cards. Doctors had to lug them around everywhere, recording data on the date, time and any observations made during their exams. Considering how many components they were looking at—heart function, lungs, organ size and any other abnormalities—it quickly got tedious.

In addition, if one of the cards was lost or forgotten, that information simply didn't get recorded.

No longer, thanks to FileMaker. Using the Go program for iPhone (most of the doctors already use these smartphones as pagers), physicians can access a custom tracking program. With just a few button presses, they can easily record, with is transmitted wirelessly to servers. 

This functionality doesn't just help caregivers perform ultrasounds, it helps them do them better. When teaching a a trainee, a trainer can quickly evaluate how accurate the diagnoses are, and step in to correct any ongoing mistakes. In addition, physicians can track their own progress and improve on any areas in which they might be lacking. 

Says Dr. David Tierney, director of the hospital's ultrasound program: "In the end, it is all about taking the best possible care of patients using the tools we have available. If ultrasound can fit in our little black bag, it is wrong for it not to be there. FileMaker is helping us make bedside ultrasound part of our standard tool set."

Just another way the simple program can help save lives. 

Have you ever managed to kill a fake house plant? Never been able to make your flowers flourish? Just don't have that green thumb?

You're in luck. Now, all you need to know for a wonderful garden is how to use FileMaker.

Setting up a custom database is easy with FileMaker. You can input the type of plant, the light requirements and how much water it needs and when. Then, you can easily mark off when each plant has gotten exactly what is required, which can take the guesswork out of gardening. It's even simple to add a category that tracks weather patterns, so you can easily remember which days have given your buds the most sunlight.

If you use FileMaker Pro for iPad, uploading pictures is a cinch. You simply take a snapshot of the flower in question, and it can be immediately uploaded into your database. This functionality makes real time tracking a possibility: you don't need to rack your brain to determine how your garden is progressing, you can just scroll through a series of pictures. Any wilting or drooping can be caught early, before it becomes a serious problem. 

Maybe the best part of all is the opportunities for analysis. The software allows you to sift through a ton of information and organize your plants by which need the most attention. Not only will you have a better garden, you'll become a better gardener by being able to look back and correct any previous mistakes you might have made. With FileMaker, you just might have more of a green thumb than you ever realized. 

In many ways, big data is the future of business. The ability to sort, process and analyze the increasing amounts of information that companies now have at their disposal is an important asset. Really profiting from this opportunity, however, takes the right corporate environment. 

The whole company has to be on the same page. If management is unwilling to trust any information that doesn't confirm its "gut feeling", there is little value in compiling a database. Trusting in the collection process is a crucial part of using data well, and an unwilling executive could undermine the the entire process. Before a business agrees that it will adhere to Big Data principles, it has to make sure there is a wholesale commitment to it. 

Another important takeaway from database management is "actionability." What do you want to do with the information you've gathered? Setting concrete goals before looking at the numbers can help guide the discussion and suggest practical solutions. 

Say, for example, you're managing a clothing retailer, and you use FileMaker to determine that your most heavily trafficked hours are between 9 a.m. and noon. Are you able to devote the extra personnel and marketing hours to taking advantage of these findings? If not, the value of this knowledge is sharply curtailed. But if you are adaptable, you could reorganize your sales goals to take advantage of the increased traffic and add extra salespeople to increase conversions. 

If you're a company looking to make big profits with big data, it might take more than just talented FileMaker developers: a cultural change might be needed.

At the highest levels of basketball, every player is fast. Every player is strong and talented. What sets the truly great ones apart is how well they use the information provided to them on a day to day basis.

Mike Procopio is the man who provides that information, and FileMaker is what lets him do it with ease.

Mike is the founder of The Hoop Consultants, a basketball strategy firm that has helped NBA players like Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant hone their games throughout the year. A former scout, he watches hundreds of games a year, taking meticulous notes and gathering as much intel as he can possibly get on everything he sees. Typing and entering all that information to create a composite profile of  player would take up to six hours.

Until he got FileMaker support. 

By creating a custom database, he was able to streamline the entire process. Rather than having to build his profiles manually, he can capture and sort large amounts of data in a flash: everything from a player's age, statistics, height, weight and salary information is gathered for convenient analysis. This information is valuable not only to players themselves, but also to scouts looking to find the next big thing.

"As I'm watching college players, I can automatically pull in profiles of every player in the NBA at his position with the same height and overall profile," says Procopio. "In 10 or 15 minutes I have examples that tell a scout whether we've found a new Kobe clone or other great player that could be a tremendous asset at the professional level."

At the elite levels of basketball, every advantage counts. With FileMaker, Mike Procopio helps provide that edge. 

Paper, paper and more paper.

That was the admissions day process for international students and visiting scholars at Boston University's Center for English Language and Orientation Programs (CELOP), one of the leading intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) schools. In order to process all of those immigration documents, staff had to use huge copy machines borrowed from faculty. Not only were those machines then not available to the professors, the entire system was laborious and painstaking.

The admissions officers needed FileMaker help.

They used the software to create a custom database which allowed them to streamline their operations. Instead of relying on hard copies of all of the records, they automated the document management and saved a ton of time in the process. Scanning time for documents was halved, and once entered, they are now easily available for search. Audits that once took 20 minutes of digging through old records can now be finished in a matter of seconds. 

Using FileMaker made the entire change easy. In just three business days, the university's IT team created and tested a new digital file management platform, just in time for an influx of new students. Hakan Rudy Seber, systems support specialist for Boston University Global Programs, raved about the program's efficacy.

"The speed with which we built this entire document management solution is a testament to the FileMaker Platform's ease of use and the helpfulness of the FileMaker community," he said.

Even if you're not dealing with thousands of international students every year, you might be able to benefit from cutting down on paper clutter. Can Filemaker help? For Boston University and a lot of other users, they answer was a resounding yes.  

Are you a Connecticut FileMaker developer with a shiny new copy of the software and no ideas of what to with it? Here are nine awesome suggestions that can help you get the most of the program:

1. Keep track of plant growth and health for your patio herb garden. Bon appetit!

2. Manage requests for all of the guests of your bread and breakfast.

3. Track and monitor student success between different classes. You can figure out which students need help and in what subject, all in real time.

4. Keep your artistic portfolio on hand at all times. Search it easily, and show the exact digital painting you want to find with just a few clicks.

5. Record and analyze lab results. Dealing with a ton of samples? No problem! FileMaker offers ways to easily organize huge amounts of data. 

6. Oversee your university's library. With the inventory at your fingertips, finding even a rarely used book is easy. 

7. Ensure your pets are happy and healthy. With FileMaker, it's a cinch to keep detailed information on illnesses, eating patterns and treatment history, especially since your dog is unlikely to be able to do it all himself. 

8. Conduct an employee survey. Once you've compiled all the data, you can sort by department, level, hiring data or any other criteria that might pique your interest. 

9. Get a better night's sleep. Recording and investigating your snoozing patterns might yield info that will keep you more energetic and happier throughout the day.

These were just suggestions: clearly, the possibilities are wide and varied. In the end, how you use choose to use your copy of Filemaker is up to your heart's desires. 

One of the major challenges in caring for any animal is that they can't communicate in the same way as a human might, and horses are no different. While a person might have their own health records (or at least a strong memory of recent illnesses and treatments), it falls onto an horse's owner to store all of that information and deploy it in a conscientious way. Especially over long periods of time, or if multiple horses are involved, memories can be inaccurate. That's where the FileMaker service can be vital.

While keeping important health records for a horse can be as low-fi as using a notebook, creating a custom database in FileMaker offers several crucial advantages. First, horse care can be complicated and deeply involved. Not only will you need to store information about routine health and oral exams, you will also want to have a log of farrier procedures (those related to hoof care), workout and competition notes, results of lab tests and any illnesses or abnormalities that might arise. Being able to store all of that information digitally can save time and space.

Additionally, FileMaker pro allows to analyze patterns in data over time. While a paper log might tell you when one thing happened, using database software allows you to look at a lot of data at once and organize it to reveal any underlying causality. Additionally, you can sync it to wireless devices, so you can actually thumb through the information while you interact with your horse — something that isn't easy to do with dozens of sheets of paper. The more you know about your horse, the better care you'll be able to provide for it, and a healthy horse is a happy one. 

Just one FileMaker developer. That's all it took for a Kansas school district to revolutionize the way it administered and reviewed student assessments. 

That district, the Dodge City Public Schools, had struggled with student evaluation. When it began handing out iPads to teachers and students last year, Ray Wipf, executive director of information management, surmised that the devices could be used for more than mobile apps and note taking. Soon, he came up with a solution using Filemaker.

Initially only used on desktops and laptops, the program is now on all 1,200 of the districts iPads — a number that's expected to increase more than fivefold. Students can use the tablets to answer multiple choice and short answer questions, and teachers can track scores and progress, all in real time. Teachers can then quickly identify trends and areas of need, by using custom database filters to sort by subject and areas of weakness. They can view this information in chart, graph or list form, and readily identify students who need extra help. 

Wipf has long recognized the value of being a FileMaker developer.

"I know how to program and I've used FileMaker a number of times in the past. When the district approved the budget to purchase a license for the product, FileMaker was installed on all desktops and laptops," he told education publication The Journal. "We decided the value of doing that would be justified."

Now, with this iPad expansion, the schools in the district are realizing even more benefits from the versatile program. Now that teachers can analyze student results more quickly and thoroughly than before, they can make sure that every student is put in the best possible position to succeed.