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While many organizations are looking for new ways to gather relevant company data, they need to make sure they have a productive way to analyze it. Failure to do this causes companies to not be as effective as they could be.

Recently, SAS Institute and BMI-TechKnowledge, released the results of a poll of 350 companies. The main takeaway is that smaller businesses need to improve their complex business models and analytics.

North-West University professor Machiel Kruger told the news source that with the increase in information flow, the inability of local organizations to make use of analytics will have an adverse impact on productivity, competitiveness and ultimately economic development and job creation.

He added that business intelligence deals with data cleaning to prepare reporting tools for managers, and business analytics uses data inputted into models to make meaningful predictive decisions.

"A proper analytics strategy drills down to various pockets of the organization by identifying problems that need attending to, either through cost minimization or increasing turnover by taking out suboptimal processes to drive profitability in the organization," Edcon business intelligence manager Brent Henegan told the news source.

The poll also found that 87 percent of companies are still using spreadsheets as their main analytical tools. This is leading to a lack of information sharing which hampers departments as they are not able to integrate and share full data.

With the help of a custom database software solution, any organization can find a better way to gather and analyze its data to make the decision making process easier.

The data warehouse is something that many organizations are looking to take advantage of. With the growing amount of digital data that is being created, businesses need to harness this infomration if they want to be relevant.

Customers are gaining insights with big data from multiple sources and analysts need to draw conclusions from that information as fast as it is coming through the door. But this is easier said than done.

A recent article from TechRepublic features an in depth interview with BitYota CEO Dev Patel. According to him, for companies to better understand their business, they need to analyze the interactivity with customers at a granular level. The problem is that traditional systems will not allow that at an aggregated level because companies are going to lose some features in the data that you need to get better insights.

"And you need to be able to get better insights from data from multiple sources, and your traditional systems will not allow you to take data from multiple sources to get your insights," Patel said. "Traditional systems don't let you obtain detailed insights on raw data, or very granular data, or get insights from data from multiple sources, where the velocity of the data could be very different from each source. That is something they don't do very well."

Patel goes on to talk about three major trends that are impacting the business database marketplace. These include:

Data speeds/variety – Organizations find themselves dealing with data coming at different speeds as the solution becomes more popular. Because of the digital age, data is being created with every click of the mouse and from every device that is connected to the internet. On top of that, it is being created in real-time.

All of this new data, is also creating a need to combine the new streams with the older, static data sources. This, in and of itself, can become quite the challenge.

Direct access to data – One of the problems with traditional analytic solutions, is that data needs to travel through multiple layers from the time it is collected until it is able to be analyzed. Engineers need to transform or translate the data to make it consumable by an analyst.

The latest trend involves cutting out the middle man and speed up a process that has been slowed down by what is not considered unnecessary formatting and language changes.

Velocity of analytics – Finding the temporal value of data is now becoming more critical. This means that organizations need to figure out a way to not only collect the information that is being gathers at a breakneck speed, but also look for ways analyze just as quickly. Some businesses are looking to acquire hourly reports which would require a company to analyze the data as soon as it comes into the system.

Many organizations are currently looking for ways to optimize their incoming data. One of the best ways to do this is by partnering with an solution provider that can help create the custom database that is designed to work with their a companies specific business needs.

There is a shift happening in the business software landscape. While software like Excel remain a must have and power solutions for all companies, new options are making it harder for organizations to hold back when it comes upgrading.

A recent article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer examined the use of Excel spreadsheets in an age where many companies are starting to invest in services like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Excel still remains an amazing tool and has a comfortable level with many executives, managers and employees.

However, that doesn't mean that Excel can be sophisticated and take a tremendous amount of time to review, analyze and act upon the details that is contained within it. Because companies are adopting mobile and web-based application to run operations, which is not a strong suite for organizations that rely on Excel.

The article features an interview with Dan Weiss, the CEO of a Cleveland-based custom database developer. He spoke about some of the ways that his business helps organizations transition from traditional systems like Excel and embrace more sophisticated solutions. His company uses FileMaker Pro as the backbone of its database solutions and is able to make Excel data more manageable in a functional-web-based application.

Reliable software developing companies are helping organizations take their solutions to the next level. No two companies are the same and quality solution provider can ensure that any business is able to create and deploy a customized solution. 

The use of database solutions is growing across the business landscape. With more systems going digital, the amount of information that can be gathered and analyzed is increasing exponentially. With all this raw data now available, companies need to find a way to harness it and that means proper databasing and analytic solutions have become more important.

A recent article from Database Trends and Applications makes the case that in the current digital landscape, data has become king. The marketplace is heating up and the number of solution providers is increasing in size and public awareness, resulting in the IT community quickly realizing the opportunity specific business systems like NoSQL, Hadoop and FileMaker.

According to a Wikibon forecast cited in the piece, this database marketplace topped $540 million in 2012 and in the next five years that will increase to nearly $3.5 billion. That is a compound annual growth rate of 45 percent.

"Database solutions today must be able to support extremely diverse application use cases that cross all major verticals for core business and mission applications," the article reads. "Data is king, and the demand to find new ways for storing, processing, analyzing, and mining data continues to provide green fields of opportunity for traditional relational database vendors."

For many organizations, custom database development can be the best way to take on the need for a database solution. While any organization can buy a system off the shelf, to truly optimize it, companies should tailor the solution to what they actually need.

When it comes to business software solutions, many companies are looking for new ways to stay effective. As more systems are reliant on technology, software becomes increasingly important as the platform to manage these solutions. However, knowing software is needed and creating a custom solution that meets all of the challenges of the organization are two different things.

According to a recent article from Modern Health Care, the state of Connecticut is planning to start selling the technology solution it created to handle its acclaimed insurance exchange website "Access Health CT." This is needed because many states are mulling the complicated task of fixing sites that are crashing.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said that it is time for many individuals to start admitting to mistakes they made and move past them for workable solutions. One way that organizations can answer this is through buying the expertise of other organizations. In this case, Connecticut's website technology solution.

According to the article, Maryland is already partnered with the state and Deloitte to rebuild its online marketplace. The project will cost up to $50 million and is more complicated than just buying a system off the shelf.

"(It's) not a seamless purchase, but these platforms are already built, proven and viable," said Dan Schuyler, the senior director for exchange technology at consultancy Leavitt Partners.

He added that Connecticut's success is based on the fact that the state as a whole is a strong organization with good leadership from the top down.

Creating a custom database software solution is not easy and a quality development firm can help any business design and deploy a custom system.

Every business considering a partnership with a FileMaker developer is going to have questions. In this series we will address the frequently asked questions that our customers have about our services.                                    
 
Answer: Since 1993, electronic mail, or email as it is commonly referred to, has become one of the most popular ways for individuals to communicate with each other. You would be hard pressed to find a business or individual that was not familiar with and using this technology.

Over the last 20 plus years, the solution has evolved dramatically and led to the creation of instant messaging and text messaging. It has become a key tool for marketers and a preferred method of conversation for nearly every business individual. With the rise of mobile devices, email has been taken away from the desktop and is now always at our fingertips.

Because of this, organizations need to make sure that any system they are using can be optimized to work with an email solution.

At Kyo Logic we can help organizations with email distribution through several different solutions. These include:

Constant Contact

Having been in business since 1995, Constant Contact is one of the leading names in email marketing. The toolkit allows organizations to create and distribute targeted email marketing strategies including newsletters, announcements, offers, promotions, online events, registrations, feedback and surveys.

On top of that, the system can be paired with a call-to-actions and detailed reporting to better track purchases, registrations or any other metric that the users wants to follow. It can also help avoid spam blockers to make sure the end user actually receives the email.

MailChimp

With more than six million users, MailChimp allows users to create, send and track email newsletters. The system has been used by organizations of all sizes – from small start-ups to Fortune 500 company's. The features and integrations can suit any email marketing needs.

Around since 2001, users are able to create signup forms that perfectly match the brand's look and feel. It allows organizations to send product updates, event invitations, announcements and editorial content that can be used as part of a campaign to gain customers and inform readers. It is also effective at getting past spamming blocks.

FileMaker mail distribution

Many businesses use FileMaker as a way to create contact databases. through a series of integrated tools, businesses are able to take this list and create distribution lists. From here, companies can send targeted emails only to those customers that need to see them. They can, however be ineffective at bypassing spam blockers.

The Connecticut FileMaker Developer’s Group will be hosting the next meeting on May 21st at 10:00 AM in the Student Center at the Central Connecticut State University. Tim Neudecker from Kyo Logic will demonstrate the synchronization tool Mirror Sync 2.0 from 360works.com We will also start our special project. Rich Austin will present his needs requirements to the group for an inventory tracking system for fire trucks. The group will discuss the possible ways FileMaker can fit into the work flow, and direct Rich in the building of the solution. ——————– Connecticut FileMaker Developer’s Group Meeting Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Student Center Central Connecticut State University New Britain, CT 06053 View the e-mail meeting notice. Subscribe to the mailing list.

While New York City is trying to stake a claim as the Silicon Valley of the east, with varying levels of success, there are surrounding areas that want a piece of that title. While Boston has long been the title holder, Connecticut is starting to make some waves.

According to a recent article from The New Haven Courant, despite only being a few months into 2014, Connecticut has already experienced more venture capital poured into the IT landscape than it has in years. So far there have been three major investments that tally $189 million.

The piece cites a MoneyTree Report that found the first quarter of 2014 was more than three times as large as any quarter in the previous two years. While the focal point is on the three major deals, there are several other partnerships that total an additional $12 million.

"The large quarter for tech investments does not necessarily mark a trend, as venture capital deals don't follow a clear pattern from quarter to quarter," the article reads. "But the New York metro region, which includes Fairfield and New Haven counties, has had two straight quarters with deal levels not seen since 2001."

The article adds that so far in 2014, $9.5 billion has been invested in tech firms. That is the highest number since early 2001.

The Connecticut technology landscape is of to a stellar 2014. This is the perfect time for local companies that were considering investing in new hardware and software to start doing so by partnering with a local IT solution provide or specialty companies like a Connecticut FileMaker developer.

The business technology landscape is constantly evolving. For organizations, it is becoming increasingly important to keep an ear to the ground and make sure they are keeping up with the times. Organizations that fail to do that could find themselves outdated and suddenly scrambling to catch-up.

One area of business that has been evolving quickly over the last few years is the database. With more solutions becoming digital, the amount of information that is suddenly available is growing. However, managing all of this data has become increasingly difficult.

A recent article from Database Trends and Applications spoke with Anne Buff, a Thought Leader for SAS Best Practices at SAS Institute. The interview was held in preparation of the upcoming Data Summit that will be held in New York from May 12 through 14. Buff will be one of the keynote speakers delivering a speech called "Oh, Shift! How Big Data Is Calling for an Enterprise Data Rethink."

Her biggest point is that data strategies are evolving and many organizations need to take some time to re-evaluate what they do.

"Big data is still in its early stages. A lot of that is because people don't quite know what they are going to do with it yet," said Buff. "They know what it is, they know where they can get it but they have not quite figured out what they are going to do with it. Right now one of the biggest things is just trying to define what big data means to an organization."

With the help of a managed IT services software provider, any company can start revamping its strategies and improve how it uses data.