Emphasis on Intuitive User Experience Stems from Open Source Technologies

A recent TechCrunch article makes bold statement in "The Enterprise: I'm Not Sexy And I Know It." Yes, the enterprise may not be the most alluring of all sectors, but the increased emphasis on user experience and mobility in enterprise software seems to be a game changer. Perhaps this means a change in the appeal of enterprise software.

Authored by Rodney Rogers, chairmand and CEO of Virtustream, the article is written from the perspective of the typical large enterprise, giving the audience insight into common perceptions in the enterprise on topics such as cloud computing and open source.

On the latter, the personified enterprise states:

I hear those that vigorously espouse the virtues of open source technology. The obvious benefits of accessible source code often carry support and extension technology costs with them. I’ll use open source all day if a) the software works, b) its capabilities align with my use-case requirements, and c) the math makes sense.

If there is one cause that we could point to the current influx of user-friendly and efficient interfaces and platforms in enterprise software, it would be open source technologies. One product we have had our eyes on consistently raises the bar in this arena. That would be PolySpot's Information At Work.

Megan Feil, October 9, 2012

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext

Connectors in PolySpot Technology Allows for Contextualized Information Delivery to End Users

Ideally, a company should be able to rely on information management technologies to lead their employees to the proper information they need in order to draw up analysis on important business decisions. Unfortunately, some technologies are underdeveloped and lack the semantic enrichment capabilities that are necessary for business intelligence. Smartlogic released a whitepaper discussing this topic according to "The Search For Meaning: Why Enterprise Information Management Needs Enterprise Semantics – New Whitepaper From Smartlogic."

Smartlogic CEO Jeremy Bentley advocates for the adoption of a platform approach to enterprise semantics:

Embedded solutions that offer point solutions for a specific application but are inaccessible to others cause work to be repeated, opportunities missed and benefits diminished. Documented, published interfaces are key to easy integration, high performance and reliability is needed to support enterprise volumes and adherence to industry standards avoids vendor lock-in.

And the answer to these issues lies in finding an infrastructure component that delivers intelligent information to end users. Connectors are the key in making efficient and near real-time information access a reality. And equally as important, the information available to users will be contextualized and teeming with insights and opportunities if technologies such as those from PolySpot are utilized.

Megan Feil, October 9, 2012

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext

PolySpot Technology Securely and Immediately Delivers Information Across the Enterprise

The astronomical growth of information needed for making everyday business decisions has been a hot topic of conversation on many levels. From how IT will deal with information managment strategies as mobility becomes a necessity to how enterprise software must indulge users in an inuitive user experience, the primary concern remains: how will businesses increase ROI? A Forrester blogger shares some insights in the recent posting, "Focus Your Information Strategy on Business Impact."

The article posits that disseminating information to the right people at the right time is the fundamental task at hand:

Does the loyalty of the customer on the phone warrant waiving your standard policy on returns? Is there a pattern to the process errors you’re experiencing in part of your operation? Is there conflicting information in the forms you’ve collected to comply with regulations before launching an expensive initiative? A well-defined information architecture tells you where that information is, and a well-executed information strategy provides the tools to access it to the staff that needs them, when it needs them.

We could not agree more with this particular article on the assertion that information must be accessible and available to the appropriate users with immediacy. We have seen information management technology from PolySpot capable of securely delivering information near-real time across the enterprise and beyond.

Megan Feil, October 8, 2012

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext

Insight Enabling Infrastructure Allows for Increased Efficiency in Findability

Recently, the Forbes article “The Knowledge Revolution Is Not About Big Data, It's About Well-Connected Little Data” gave another perspective on what some software developers knew when the Big Data buzz first started. The point of exploring Big Data is to find more relevant data to help businesses grow, become more efficient and generate ROI.

Mining Big Data is not difficult, however businesses face issues when fine tuning search and capture programming:

What digital technology has enabled are platforms through which we can build mental models and play with them. Once engaged, this playfulness can extend to what other people know. It is when we begin to map what we know into what others know (or vice versa) that truly powerful and revolutionary things can start to happen. But we only get there by, on some level, writing our own code.

A company that writes their own code to farm Big Data will most assuredly find success, but hiring professional coders can be a costly venture. A much simpler and more cost effective way of achieving success would be to utilize software that offers an insight enabling infrastructure with a friendly user interface. The unique component allows the user secure, enterprise-wide access to relevant information while continuing to store and break down insights and opportunities from Big Data. Software like this increases efficiency by implementing user parameters for finding information.

Jennifer Shockley, October 8, 2012

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext

Business Intelligence Plans Increase Efficiency with Insight Enabling Infrastructures

Companies are trying to generate ROI from technical and analytic resources using Big Data but a realistic analytic intelligence plan is necessary for success. Harvard Business Review's article “Get Started with Big Data: Tie Strategy to Performance” gives entrepreneurs some insight into how to best benefit from Big Data.

Before dipping into the resources of Big Data, companies need to review four basic strategies:

1. Size the opportunities and threats- Opportunities may range from improving core operations to creating new lines of business.
2. Identify big data resources and gaps— framing the basics of a big data strategy leads to discussions about the kinds of information and capabilities required.
3. Align on strategic choices— once companies identify an opportunity and the resources needed to capitalize on it, many rush immediately into action-planning mode.
4. Understand the organizational implications—note that the threats and opportunities associated with big data often have organizational implications that only senior-executive attention can address.

The utilization of Big Data in business intelligence has become increasingly necessary for near real-time decisions to be made effectively and efficiently. Companies are realizing the importance of finding versatile intelligent software to mine Big Data and retrieve, sort and store relevant information. Polyspot offers software with an insight enabling infrastructure that provides secure, enterprise-wide access to relevant information within parameters set by the user. Innovative software such as this can be an asset to any Big Data plan by performing basic IT tasks, improving efficiency and generating ROI.

Jennifer Shockley, October 8, 2012

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext