Recent research calls the business intelligence (BI) market one of the fastest-growing sectors in today's tech industry, which means more and more organizations are realizing the value of deep insight into performance. We consistently hear from our software and high-tech customers that real-time analytics, is a particularly high priority. For example, no sector consistently demands and embraces our dashboards more than our software clients. So I gave some thought to why real-time visibility is so important for the software industry.
High-tech businesses are most likely to be technology-driven themselves—they want to know everything that can be known, and they want to consume that data from anywhere in real-time. That's why NetSuite's comprehensive mobile access is so highly prized: we don't dumb down our capabilities just because you're using a smaller device. Static, offline reports simply won't do the job for companies with rapidly changing business models and very competitive markets. Your customer insights cannot be constrained by your location or choice of computing device. So we don't ask you to make those kinds of compromises.
High tech executives understand the value in knowing how the business is performing MTD, QTD and YTD. They need to know how that performance compares to forecast/plan, as well as to the same time period last year. Real-time pipeline data is hugely important because tech companies need to know not only when sales will close, but also how quickly revenue is growing as that will impact professional services and support organizations. Ask any executive at an emerging tech company and they will tell you that one of the keys to their success is a laser-focus on the metrics that are critical to the success of their business.
Real-time analytics also make it possible to create powerful benchmarks about your customers. Since the early days of CRM, vendors have touted the importance of being forewarned and forearmed with key facts about clients before an important call or visit—if they are past due on payments, if they have any outstanding critical support tickets, and so forth. By pairing a powerful and comprehensive real-time analytics engine with flexible, customizable dashboards, you can present a consistent, rules-based and easily understood value to client-facing personnel. Some companies use color-coding, others a star rating or a numerical value. Whatever your approach, these benchmarks give your organization a consistent voice when dealing with customers, making it easier for employees to make good decisions about highly strategic interactions.
Real-time dashboards that deliver critical information on your business performance as well as actionable insight into the value of each customer – that’s the real value of a real-time analytics engine.
Kimberly Odom - Director of Vertical Marketing, Software