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Johnson & Johnson, a major home care product company, has announced that it plans on establishing four new "regional innovation centers" in California, Boston, London and China. These centers will focus on developing research and projects with experts and innovators in those industry hotspots. Surely, this advancement is something that would benefit from the use of custom database software to maintain the rise in projects and partnerships.

"Today, leading innovation sources have concentrated geographic presence in selected locations around the world, and our goal is to become an active part of these ecosystems," said Diego Miralles, MD, head of the California innovation center in a press release. "By refocusing our outward facing activities and locating our experts and deal-making capabilities in those regional hubs we can simplify the deal making and coordination for entrepreneurs who are looking to collaborate with the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies."

The press release goes on to explain that the centers will allow scientists and entrepreneurs to increase collaboration in "early-stage opportunities" by combining the technological innovations of these local businesses with the knowledge of experts available at Johnson & Johnson. The centers are projected to "be operational in the coming months."

With the company's commitment toward partnering with innovative companies in the area of these new centers, the corporation may benefit from the implementation of database software to help keep organize its projects.

By consulting FileMaker developers, companies that are embarking on research and development initiatives similar to Johnson & Johnson will also be able to maintain an organized list of its projects and with custom software as it can help spread necessary information and documents while keeping track of pertinent data and statistics.

According to leading research and consulting group McKinsey & Company, big data is becoming an increasingly important asset to all businesses – regardless of size or industry.

In a study released by the group, 15 out of 17 sectors in the United States have more data digitally stored per company than the entire United States Library of Congress's digital archives.

In addition, the company found that there is a 60 percent potential increase in operating margins for retailers that use big data effectively. 

But, CompTIA, a nonprofit IT consultant, found that many companies do not have a thorough understanding of all the data they're gathering. The survey also found that most companies are using big data for Web analytics, with 15 percent using it to measure email marketing campaigns and 12 percent using big data for social media monitoring.

"As expected for an emerging technology with an evolving definition, many executives are still moving along the big data learning curve," said Tim Herbert, vice president of research at CompTIA. "Not every business will need a big data strategy. But, just about every business will need to effectively aggregate, store, manage and analyze the data they do have, regardless of its volume, velocity or variety."

In order to effectively do so, companies will need to invest in custom database software that can aggregate and help interpret this big data.

By using database software such as FileMaker, companies will be able to effectively gather and compartmentalize all the terabytes of data that they may be collecting.

In addition, McKinsey's report also cited a potential lack of professionals that would be needed to help analyze this data in the years to come. Companies that may be struggling with understanding the raw numbers on their own may find that this software can aid in the implementation of data-centered IT branch.

Bring your own device (BYOD) is becoming an increasingly popular trend in the workplace. In fact, according to a survey by Global Information Inc, 65 percent of corporations from around the world that responded said they have adopted some kind of BYOD policy or will by the end of 2012. The results also showed that the two main motivators for allowing a BYOD policy is cost reduction and staff motivation.

While, according to FastCompany, ensuring data protection is a main point of concern for many IT departments, the successful sharing of information and documents between different devices and operating systems can also be very important and tricky to manage.

With the rise in workers using their own smartphones or laptops in the workplace comes the need for companies to provide a system in which these individuals can successfully upload and share information and documents across the company despite some workers using their own devices and others using corporate-issued computers.

This can easily be done with custom database software. For example, at an advertising firm, members of the art department may prefer to use their own Apple laptops while account managers might only use a PC. In order for the art department to share documents with the account managers to present to clients, they may need file sharing software that can effectively work across platforms.

Furthermore, as more workers use their own smartphones to stay current with email and other important information, using a mobile version of the same custom software can aid in this developing trend. By investing in FIleMaker Go, companies can efficiently aid the use of personal mobile devices for work-related activities. 

As more consumers are taking to the internet for their shopping and social media needs, many companies are starting to initiate internet marketing campaigns and digital advertisements to gain this traction and support. Because this form of marketing is so new, it can be hard to judge just how effective it is. But, with the use of analytical data and custom database software, companies can gain clarity into these advertising campaigns.

According to Entrepreneur Magazine, there are a few key statistics that marketing and advertising companies should keep track of that can help them understand just how effective their campaigns are.

One of the most easily understood ways to track how well a campaign is going is by viewing a company's conversion rates. A conversion is when a website viewer converts into a customer, most often through a purchase. Tracking conversions can be done quite easily with analytics software, which can help companies see how many conversions they receive on a monthly, weekly and even daily basis.

In addition, overall engagement is something that should also monitored with database software, as it shows whether the advertisements are actually creating an impact – a reaction – with the audience. Companies can use a custom database to crunch analytical numbers, such as how many Facebook likes a post may get and at what time.

While the economy may be climbing out of the recent recession, many businesses are still looking for effective ways to cut costs. Although some larger companies may have been able to cut major expenses by creating a smaller workforce and moving to a more affordable office, small businesses may not have the resources to make similar moves.

That being said, according to Entrepreneur Magazine, there are many ways for companies to cut costs. These businesses can create policies that limit employee spending on business travel, eliminate overtime pay and, most effectively, move as much of their operations as they can to an electronic platform.

By using custom database software, companies can transfer essential business practices such as bookkeeping, payroll management and tracking employee hours to a digital format, which can eliminate a litany of paper products, binders and office clutter. This can also create a more efficient workforce, as the ease and efficiency of using this software can allow employees to maintain this vital information on their own.

By putting corporate spreadsheets and travel budget expenses in software powered by FileMaker Pro, employees can input their own transactions and budget figures without needing to accost accountants with receipts. In addition, this information can be shared almost instantly with managers and executives.

Furthermore, this software can eliminate the need for creating unnecessary paper documents for meetings and internal circulation. Instead, employees can just upload key data, which can be accessed across all departments.

While it may seem as if this change is only cutting the costs on detail items that are usually in the peripheral of budgets – paper, copies, printer ink and the annoyance of  office clutter – it's these small things that add up quickly and put a strain on a company's bottom line and operating budgets. 

According to FastCompany, "customer experience is how your customers perceive their interactions with your company," and these perceptions have become increasingly important in the age of digital connection. Studies have shown that consumers are more likely to complain on social media about a bad experience than a good one with a company, which could be disastrous for small businesses that may rely on having better customer service than their corporate competition as part of their market niche.

This makes it especially important for companies to do what they can to tackle any issues with customer service.

According to a study by Customer Management Exchange Network (CMEN), the greatest challenge for the respondents – chief customer officers, vice presidents and directors of customer experience in the UK and U.S. – has been managing an effective customer experience.

Although cultural change and centricity has been a topic of heavy debate among business owners of both large and small companies, nearly 50 percent of all respondents to the network's survey cite customer service as one of the greatest three challenges they're facing.

The survey also states that most say this conflict in customer service may come from the need for all business units to "embrace the customer and align business strategies to move into a customer centric environment."

Doing this may require many companies to invest in new technology that can help aid in more effective cross department communication as well as create a stronger liaison between the customer and customer service representatives.

This can be solved by using custom database software to create a customer experience database that will allow employees to make adjustments to critical data that can be accessed across all departments. In addition, this software can help synthesize this raw data so that it is more customer centric and easier for customer service representatives to communicate to clients.

For many businesses today, the terms “big data” and “data analytics” are being used on an increasing basis. This behavior stresses the importance of using database software to compile and analyze all the necessary raw information.

One industry where this may be especially common is healthcare. In fact, consultant Frost & Sullivan projects that the use of “advanced health data analytics solutions” will increase in hospitals by 50 percent by 2016.

Most of these changes, the report says, is from the growing implementation of electronic health records (EHR), which are stored in custom database software.

These EHR systems are still relatively new and, therefore, being improved in efficiency at an increasing rate. While only 10 percent of hospitals used EHRs in 2011, the report predicts that as the industry matures, more providers will realize they need to adapt to technological advances in order to stay competitive in a changing market.

“Hospitals will increasingly invest in advanced data analytics solutions to monitor end-to-end care delivery across a variety of settings,” said Frost & Sullivan health care principal analyst Nancy Fabozzi. “Due to growing competitive pressures, hospitals need to provide comprehensive reporting on performance and quality measures to a variety of stakeholders. Advanced analytics capabilities are absolutely critical for survival – there is no way to avoid it.”

One way for healthcare providers to effectively to analyze data is by investing in custom database software by consulting a FileMaker developer. By acquiring this software, hospitals will be able to implement an analytics program that is customizable to what is important to that specific branch.

In addition, by using custom database software to create an analytics solution, healthcare providers will be able to improve everything from daily operations up. These tools can assist with payroll, hours and scheduling, medical records as well as crunching numbers for more accurate shareholder presentations.

The way businesses have used social technologies has developed and changed over the years. At its inception in the late 1960s, the internet was used as a way for major university departments to communicate more effectively with each other in a small and enclosed network. It has since developed into the World Wide Web that exists today, where nearly 1.5 billion individuals use social networks to share with each other, according to a study by major consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

According to their report, 72 percent of companies use social technologies in some way. While many companies use these technologies as a means to interact with customers and market products. The report also states that more potential value lies in developing tools for enhancing communications and sharing knowledge across company departments then with marketing. By using custom database software to create intercompany file sharing and communication lines, these businesses will most likely see a more effective workflow.

"Two-third of this potential value lies in improving collaboration and communication within and across enterprises," says McKinsey & Company's report. "The average interaction worker spends an estimated 28 percent of the workweek managing email and nearly 20 percent looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks."

In addition, the report explains that a "searchable record of knowledge" can reduce the time employees spend looking for documents and information by as much as 35 percent, promoting better time management and organization.

By consulting a FileMaker developer to create an internal documents database or communication software, companies can greatly improve their overall productivity which can have a direct effect on their bottom line. 

A recent study conducted by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts Amherst exposed that today's commonly used medical devices may need better security and tracking methods as well as an updated means of maintaining important information in case of malfunctions. Most of these problems can be alleviated through the use of custom database software.

By combing through the Food and Drug Administration's databases, the group of researchers determined that the industry needs a more effective reporting system for medical devices and increased cybersecurity efforts.

According to Kevin Fu, a computer scientist and medical device security expert at UMass Amherst, hospitals should "rethink how to effectively and efficiently collect data on security and privacy problems in devices that increasingly depend on computing systems susceptible to malware."

With the increasing dependence on medical devices to monitor illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, the safety and maintenance of these devices is becoming very important. While working through the FDA's databases the researchers found that, while security concerns are relatively low, the way the administration stores and records important device information needs tweaking, as it is not well suited for handling modern malfunctions and repairs.

By using custom database software, hospitals and medical professionals can create a database that holds important user information that will allow them to keep an accurate account of specific device locations. In addition, custom database software can be used to file reports of incidents involving these devices for authorities and aid with any subsequent investigations. Administrators can later track the need for possible repairs and determine how much this work would cost.

Customer interaction has always been an area of business that can make or break a company. Most often, a company is either too reclusive or too intrusive, not finding the right balance of when and how often they should engage in customer interaction – on both the customer service side and the sales side. This can have a huge effect on how happy clients are and, thusly, the bottom line of the business.

In his interview with Entrepreneur, Richard Branson – the eclectic CEO of Virgin Inc. – says that when it comes to customer service and meeting consumer expectations, her prefers to rely more on individual experience than on market trends or big data analysis.

But, while this method may work well for Branson and his business ventures, it can oftentimes produce varied results that depend largely on uncontrollable elements. In order to help boost sales as well as customer satisfaction in a more reliable manner, many companies should provide their employees with software that can aid with current and potential customer interactions while still giving them the freedom to add that human touch that Branson suggests.

Inc. Magazine recommends that companies make their processes more efficient for their employees. This can be done by using customer relationship management software that allows workers to access and store essential information about anything from product details, client information, cold calling scripts and recent sales figures. This information can complement a salesperson’s own ability to gauge customers interest and encourage a sale.

In addition, boosting morale is always a great way to increase productivity, as motivated employees are more likely to take extra steps to help customers. This can be done by using custom database software to track an employee’s progress toward reaching a sales goal or even the overall team’s improvement. This can help give hardworking representatives a tangible way to look at the importance of their role in the company.