Accounting for Point of Sale

There are a lot of solutions available to help retail businesses get business done. From touch screen technology to mobile credit card and payment processing, retailers have many choices when it comes to selecting the right technology for the business. But even the best point of sale system can lack the critical element that makes…

Mobile BI Design Framework: Consistency Principle

In mobile business intelligence (BI) design, the “consistency principle” is the most powerful tool to effectively deliver a mobile user experience. Developing components that are both consistent and repeatable greatly accelerates the “mobile learning curve,” leading to higher user adoption.

We apply the consistency principle at two levels:

The macro level occurs at-the-project or engagement level and covers all resources or artifacts that are used to deliver and support implementation of mobile assets (like user guides, communication, online stores, and support).
The micro level deals with the design of each individual mobile BI asset (like a report or dashboard).
Here are three key design fundamentals of the consistency principle.

Q&A: Self-Service vs Traditional Business Intelligence

Anyone who knows what this photo depicts? Hint: it’s the father of self-service….

What do you find people misunderstand about self-service BI’s concept?

That it’s a very hard thing to define concretely in terms of technology implementation. The underlying business need is a very broad concept that covers a very wide range of different types of technologies and information uses, and that the distinctions between “reports,” “dashboards”, “data discovery,” etc are blurry — and the need for “business information” covers a lot more than what is stored in traditional databases (documents, external news feeds, etc.)

There’s no truly self-service BI solution.

5 Must-Have Mobile BI Features

The use of mobile business intelligence (BI) as a framework to enable faster, better-informed decision making continues to expand as the technology advances and more users become mobile ready. Whether you’re planning a project for a business app or developing a strategy, it’s critical to gauge your mobile BI app’s readiness for a complete mobile user experience.

Here are five must-have features that are critical to delivering a complete mobile BI experience.

Collaborative BI

Even in their most optimistic moments, business and IT executives will confess that there are two things that consistently undermine their confidence in their organization’s ability to execute a business strategy: - Not having access to all the relevant facts needed to make the right decision, and - By the time the organization actually can execute that…

PNC Goes Digital First in Marketing to the Tech Savvy

PNC is going after tech-savvy customers with a digital-first money management marketing campaign called #BeTheBoss. The campaign turns traditional brand approaches to marketing on its ear, said Tom Kunz, senior vice president of digital at PNC.

The campaign starts with learning about customers and prospects. The bank has an audience management platform on its Web site that tracks non-personally identifiable information about visitors and develops segments. It adds in data about online shopping habits from various sources and combines it with financial information like investments and credit information and creates a demand management capability.

The bank then goes to online sites, publishers it calls them, and it can articulate what messages it plans to deliver to specific segments. Then it uses response data to see how the campaigns impact business.

What Benefits Do CFOs Gain From Best-In-Class BI Tools?

To survive in today’s fast-changing business landscape, companies must develop exceptional skills in financial planning for the future. But constant economic uncertainty is making accurate forecasting more difficult than ever. Fortunately, planning, budgeting and forecasting can be successful with the right business intelligence (BI) tools. Powerful BI tools can decentralize the organization, optimize workflows and…