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Young application development companies got some good news late last week, as Google became the latest tech giant to launch a platform aimed toward helping them grow. The Google Cloud Platform for Startups will award $100,000 credit to startups that are less than five years old, generate less than $500,000 in annual revenue and have received less than $5 million in overall investment. Applicants must already be part of a technology accelerator or incubator or have received venture capital funding, in order to prove their ability to pay back the credit.

As well as the $100,000, the startups will receive around-the-clock support for the Google Cloud Platform, the same one that Google itself uses for its search engine and YouTube. The product suite includes the Google App Engine, giving startups yet another option for integrating their apps with a major platform. Apple is in the process of launching its own application programming interfaces, including HealthKit, which will allow developers to link their software to the iPhone 6's Health application.

The Google Cloud Platform already counts the Khan Academy and Snapchat among its biggest clients. As far as startups go, one of the biggest success stories is Pinterest, which began with a dozen employees working with Amazon Web Services. All in all, app developers, even those whose financial and manpower resources are limited, are finding an increasing number of available options to work with, and major tech companies are making it easier for them.

"This offer supports our core Google Cloud Platform philosophy: we want developers to focus on code; not worry about managing infrastructure," wrote Google's Julie Pearl in a blog post. "Starting today, startups can take advantage of this offer and begin using the same infrastructure platform we use at Google."

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has published the results of a global survey of over 1,100 business executives by the Economist Intelligence Unit on the ways big data is changing decision-making processes. Twenty-three percent of respondents said that data and analytics are the most important factors they take into account before making decisions, placing them third behind their own intuition and experience (41 percent) and the experiences of others (31 percent).

Although executives continue to trust their instincts, 40 percent said that data is the element that has most changed the way they make decisions, with 83 percent saying their decision-making has improved over the past two years.

"Business leaders have long used their own tried and trusted intuition alongside more scientific and financial factors to make decisions and this has served them well in the past," said PwC consulting data analytics partner Yann Bonduelle. "As data become more pervasive, algorithms become more accurate and visualization more intuitive, business leaders are realizing they can make better decisions through using data and analytics more systematically."

Tom Lewis, PwC's head of data analytics, added that 81 percent of executives believe a familiarity with data-driven decision-making is a prerequisite for senior management roles.

"In the digital age, as business becomes ever more complex and data becomes ever more available, business leaders need to ensure they know how to quickly make decisions based on their analysis of data," he said.

Custom database software such as FileMaker can be an essential tool for businesses to get ahead of the competition through the use of big data. FileMaker developers can create databases that are tailored to the needs of each company, helping them make better decisions through the analysis of the information they gather.

On Wednesday, Accenture published the results of a comprehensive study on big data, showing overwhelmingly that businesses that make use of it are reaping the benefits. For the survey, the tech services company interviewed over one thousand chief analytics, data, financial, information, marketing and operating officers and other IT managers from companies that are applying big data across 19 countries and seven industries.

According to the report, titled "Big Success with Big Data," 92 percent of respondents said they are satisfied with the results of their big data use, 89 percent rated big data as "very important" or "extremely important" for their digital operations and 82 percent said big data provides significant value to heir business. Nearly two thirds of the 4,300 targets initially contacted said their companies had successfully implemented a big data project.

Further, 94 percent have used big data to identify new sources of revenue, 90 percent to acquire and retain existing customers and 89 percent to develop new products and services through market research.

Narendra Mulani, senior management director of Accenture Analytics, said, "Businesses are at a transition point where instead of just talking about the potential results that can be achieved from big data, they are realizing actual benefits including increasing revenues, a growing base of loyal customers, and more efficient operations. They're recognizing that big data is one of the cornerstones of digital transformation. Companies not implementing big data solutions are missing an opportunity to turn their data into an asset that drives business and a competitive advantage."

Custom database software can help businesses do just that. A FileMaker developer can create databases that are adjustable to each company's needs, helping them keep track of important information and analyze it to obtain business leads or identify market trends.

Government Technology magazine published the findings of its biennial Digital States Survey last week, showing very positive results for Connecticut. The survey evaluated all 50 states on the degree to which their governments' adoption of technology helps serve their citizens. Connecticut was the most improved state, rising from a C to an A- grade in the two years since the last survey. Only Michigan, Missouri and Utah obtained an A grade, and there were four others with an A-.

According to the survey's official criteria, states that are rated A "are trending sharply up. They show results across all survey categories. Modernization is used to realize operational efficiencies and strategic priorities. There is evidence of meaningful collaboration, and performance measures and metrics are widely adopted."

The survey also details advances in particular areas, with some interesting conclusions for the data sector. According to the results, open data is one of the hot topics for states, who rank it as their fourth biggest priority for the next two years, behind cyber security, cloud migration and shared services. Already, it is second only to mobile-enabled websites in terms of implementation.

Conversely, the report reads, "only a quarter of states report having mechanisms in place to manage and secure big data." This will undoubtedly change in the coming years, as big data is poised to become a significant point of emphasis for governments and private companies alike. As the amount of available data grows exponentially, it will become increasingly important to have the means to process and analyze all that information.

Connecticut FileMaker developer Kyo Logic can furnish local organizations with custom database software, allowing them to gather and sift through as much data as they deem necessary. This can help any business streamline and focus its operations, gaining a significant edge on the competition.

Three major North American publications have begun the week with looks at where big data usage currently stands and where it is likely to go in the future. Tech news website Business Insider recaps two recent reports on the intersection of big data and social media, and how the information gathered from both can boost business. Among the cited statistics is that Facebook processes 500 times more data daily than the New York Stock Exchange.

Both the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and International Data Corporation have predicted up to a 50-fold increase in data generation by 2020. Similarly, a Fortune column cites dramatic increases in cloud computing, data center storage space and device connectivity. But both articles conclude that there is much work to be done before the business world is ready to handle all the information that is coming its way. More available data, says Fortune, "means hiring people with the right skills to make sense of it all."

Business Insider has the results of a Strategy& survey by which 61 percent of data professionals believe big data will change marketing for the better, but according to IBM, 71 percent of marketing officers admit their companies are not prepared to make the most of that data.

Which is where education comes in. The Toronto Star says that demand for business analytics MBA programs is rising fast in both Canada and the United States, where the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects there to be 1.5 million jobs for data analytics experts in the business sector in 2018.

Already small and medium-sized businesses have tools at their disposal to get ahead of the curve. Custom database software is available for companies who want to easily access and analyze all the information that will help them improve business, from production to sales numbers.

Several dozen Connecticut entrepreneurs gathered at the headquarters of Applied Physical Sciences in Groton to discuss the state’s startups, and the possibility of a tech community centered on New London County. Groton is already home to a Pfizer campus, and the pharmaceutical corporation is set to open up a new lab space as part of a project in conjunction with Connecticut United for Research Excellence (CURE). Pfizer will donate a 24,000-square-foot building for CURE to establish an incubator, which will have room for science and technology startups to work in.

CURE, Pfizer and several business networks, including the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, organized the meeting in order to attract emerging science and tech firms. The plan is to have several startups sharing the same space, with the hope that that openness will lead to greater advances than they could achieve by working in isolation from each other.

As reported on this blog, small businesses are thriving recently in Connecticut thanks to government-sponsored programs. Private efforts such as this can also go a long way toward further improving the prospects of the state’s SMBs and opening Connecticut up to new sectors. For startups to thrive in this newly competitive market, they can turn to business software solutions, which are available from locally based providers.

A certified Connecticut FileMaker developer can create customized databases that will help run an SMB’s operations smoothly. FileMaker is a versatile piece of software that allows companies to gather and analyze all their data, from financial information to production numbers. Its ease of use enables employees to focus on the research and development that will lead a tech startup to continued success.

Matt Wood, the head of scientific and technical computing for Amazon Web Services, spoke to IT website TechRepublic about big data, its use and the challenges that businesses face when trying to implement it. In Wood's opinion, rigid technology has been the main obstacle for the widespread adoption of big data solutions in recent times.

"You need an environment that is flexible and allows you to quickly respond to changing big data requirements," he said.

A Gartner survey of businesses from one year ago showed that the main challenge they faced with big data was determining how to get value from it. Wood believes that problem is starting to go away because big data analysis is no longer such a daunting task.

"It was true 18 months ago that people didn't know what they were doing with big data," he told TechRepublic. "Now, however, because customers can start experimenting easily at low cost, the growth in skills has been astronomical over the last two years."

Custom database software like FileMaker can play a major role in expanding data usage and application. A FileMaker developer can tailor the software's characteristics to each client's specific needs, ensuring that the compiled data is relevant and easy to read. For any business, being able to draw reliable conclusions from data is not just helpful but necessary to adjust business strategies accordingly.

Instruction on how to use FileMaker, which is carried out by certified trainers, is also available for business owners who want their employees to be able to expand and work with their own databases. For a small or medium-sized company, to have workers who are qualified to record and track important statistical information can be a significant advantage when it comes to analyzing and interpreting that data.

Entrepreneur magazine has published columns by the CEOs of two startups this week that emphasize the importance of applying data analytics to marketing strategies. Comprehensive data, they argue, is essential for companies to understand their target audience and adjust their services accordingly, ensuring their sustained growth. From the articles, it is possible to glean three simple but essential tips to best apply data gathering to marketing:

• Methodical planning: It is important for business owners to understand that data analysis is an ongoing process, and one that requires care and continued work in order to produce results. While an effective use of analytics can pay immediate dividends, it is in a company's best interest to ensure that benefits are sustained over time.
• Analyze past trends to foresee coming ones: Data can reveal a lot of information about past consumer trends but, more critically, it can also help predict emerging and even future trends, giving the savvy business manager a significant advantage to stay ahead of the curve.
• Personalized service: With so much information at their fingertips, business owners can market their products to a target audience as broad or as narrow as they want, based on their size and production capabilities. Other customized data that can be accounted for includes information on competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

FileMaker is a customizable database tool that can help companies achieve all of these goals. Certified FileMaker developers can create databases specific to each client, allowing businesses to collate and analyze all the information they need to ensure that they understand their market and are able to provide excellent service. Moreover, training services are also available, and licensed providers of such services can help businesses by teaching their employees how to use FileMaker, so that they may modify and update their own databases as needed, ensuring that no market trend takes them unawares.

Big data has steadily been taking over as one of the most important workplace tools for businesses in a variety of traditionally tech-related sectors such as analytics, servers and storage. That trend is not limited to large enterprises, as the International Data Group's extensive yearly survey revealed that 56 percent of small and medium-sized businesses had implemented, or were planning to implement, big data projects in 2014.

That survey showed technology as the main recipient of investment, but in recent times the use of big data has expanded to departments beyond the direct purview of IT specialists, including sales. A report by investment firm TrueBridge Capital Partners on the online edition of Forbes details some of the ways that venture capital is now finding its way into business solutions firms that did not traditionally attract this type of investment.

The main result of this influx of funding is a new wave of development for data-driven business solutions, which are already changing the way many companies do work. With proper data analysis, businesses can not just track existing sales trends, but extrapolate that information to predict upcoming tendencies and identify effective sales and marketing strategies.

Manufacturers and retailers looking to capitalize on this emerging and very promising strategic shift have a powerful tool in relational database software FileMaker, an effective data compiler and analyzer that can help them keep track of existing and emerging trends. Certified FileMaker developers are ideally suited to create databases that business managers can use to boost their sales results. Managers can also choose to have their staff undergo training in the software's finer points, taking instruction from licensed teachers on how to use FileMaker to its maximum potential, resulting in improved numbers.

Recent events in the custom software development sector show a notable growth of this resource as a business solution. As more companies work to stay up to date with the latest technological trends and technology becomes more accessible and user-friendly, many businesses are realizing the benefits of custom application development in getting ahead of the competition.

Tailor-made software can become a big part of an enterprise's management and operations, and the advantages over more generally-available software are many. These include:

• A customized piece of software can address no more and no less than the issues that face each particular client. This way, companies can avoid adopting technologies that offer additional features that may never be used to their full advantage, as well as the more obvious issue of using technology that doesn't help to solve an enterprise's specific problems.
• Working with a custom developer comes with the added benefit of receiving access to personalized support services, with a provider that is more likely to know what the potential issues are and how to tackle them.
• Installation of custom software does not require a complete overhaul of a company's systems, as these apps are designed to integrate with widely used platforms and operating systems.

In particular, one business solution that many small and medium-sized companies can benefit from is custom database development to easily organize and break down the information they need for their operations. FileMaker is a database software solution that allows for numerous customization choices, tailoring it to the needs of each enterprise. A certified FileMaker developer can create and work on databases for its clients, ensuring that they receive the service and support they require. Another option is FileMaker training, which will teach a company's IT workers to independently modify their own databases to their preferred specifications.