BCW (Business Computing World) Review – March 9, 2012
Visual KPI is ideal for operations-driven businesses like energy utilities, oil and gas, manufacturing, data centers, e-commerce, retail, and more. It provides real-time critical situation alerts on Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and other devices, allowing users to react quickly to optimize their business, save assets, or take advantage of new opportunities.
Because the technology is operable across so many mobile platforms, it allows users to access it from almost any smartphone or tablet. This eliminates the need to learn two devices, reduces capital expenditure for the employer and means that access to information on the move isn’t limited to senior staff with corporate Blackberries. It’s available to anyone who needs it, providing they own a smartphone. Read more…
All new mobile alerting software includes customizable alert content, escalating alerts with multiple contacts and groups, and alert templates to improve flexibility and save time during configuration.
Since we first released Visual KPI in 2006, alerting and alarms has been an important feature and one that sets our product apart from many other mobile BI software products. Several of our customers have even used Visual KPI to eliminate dedicated alerting software (which we are quite proud of we must admit). Well, it’s just like our software developers to never leave things alone for long and this time they targeted the Visual KPI alerts feature and rebuild the entire thing. Let’s have a look at a video and then some details below:
The new alerts feature includes the following:
Alert Templates – these let you set up an unlimited number of alert types (what statuses to alert on, when, time in state, reminders, etc.) and then apply them to individual KPIs with a simple drop down. You can now apply different alert scenarios to hundreds of KPIs in just seconds.
Custom Alert Content – We have always prided ourselves on providing more than ‘something went wrong’ types of alerts and providing the context in the alert message itself (and that ever-so-valuable link to the real-time trend) and now you can choose what you want to appear right in the alert template. Content options include Alert History, Limits, Source Tag (for historians like OSIsoft PI, GE Proficy, Wonderware Historian and Aspentech IP.21), KPI attributes and what groups the KPI is a member of. All of this is done with a quick true/false setting in the Visual KPI Designer.
Escalating Alerts – You can now choose to alert multiple people or groups of people based on alert conditions. For example, you might want to alert just operators or line staff if a KPI goes into a ‘high’ condition, but alert supervisors if ‘High high’ is reached and the plant manager if it reaches a critical state. There are three contacts (or groups) associated with each KPI.
Last September (or was it October?) we released a powerful new mobile BI feature called ‘GeoMaps’ that let you view any type of data or object on a map, using any device. You can see videos about GeoMaps and other features here. People have responded to this feature in droves and seem to love it, but we always considered just half finished. We are pleased to report that with Visual KPI version 4.10.2.572 we have completed the other half…
‘Near Me’ further blurs the line between an installed app and a web app by using your smartphone or tablet’s GPS from the browser to visualize your data in the context of your current location. Simply put, it lets you filter anything in your system by what is “Near Me.”
Here’s a quick video of the feature in action:
This new feature can be used in combination with GeoMaps (to map the data near you) or on its own (e.g. a list of KPIs sorted by their distance from you) and it takes advantage of the W3C Geolocation API so most newer smartphones and tablets (iOS – iPhone/iPad, Android, BlackBerry OS 6+) already support it and just about every new device being released does as well. It even works with some desktop browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera, using your IP address to provide an approximate location (unless you have a PC with a GPS in it).
Configuration is very simple. Once you assign GIS coordinates (latitude and longitude) to any object in the system via the Visual KPI Designer, just go to the features tab and turn on ‘Near Me.’ That’s it. Using the feature is just as easy: from your phone, tablet or browser using Visual KPI, just click the filter icon and below the status filters you will see the option to filter by location. Choose the distance and the unit of measure (e.g. feet, meters, miles or kilometers) and say ok.
We have quite a few customers who helped us define this feature (you know who you are, and thanks!) and we look forward to getting more feedback from the rest of you.
Just a short post today, but a very important one. Our tenacious development team has been chasing a nasty bug in the Visual KPI Designer for some time and we are pleased to report that it, like most others they come across, is dead and gone.
I won’t bore you with the details, but it involved using the query builder after rows had been deleted in the Designer, and the result was that you had to restart Excel to get back to work. Many of our customers never noticed and it was (almost) never reported, but we are just as happy to see it gone.
So why a blog post on this one bug? Simple. If you are a customer or even using our free trial software, you will want to upgrade to the latest build (4.10.2.572) to exterminate the bug on your own deployment. We are also reaching out to offer help with the upgrade (via the web) for those that want it. Really, why upgrade it yourself when you can get one of us on the line to do it for you? Unless you don’t want to talk to us. Really? Wow. We thought you liked us.
Anyway, we are here to answer any questions. Oh, and there have been some serious features added in the last few weeks so be sure to view the release notes to see what you might be missing.
A few months ago one of our customers helped us out with a webinar to show others how they saved quite a bit of time and money (millions, actually). When we got into the details with them, a really amazing mobile business intelligence (#mobilebi) story emerged that we thought warranted more coverage than just that audience. Thankfully we recorded the webinar so here it is in all of its shining glory.
Customer: Alyeska Pipeline
Speakers: Darryl Hammond, Former Maintenance Lead at Alyeska and Michael Saucier, CEO of Transpara
Primary Data Source: OSIsoft PI System
Basically, the Alyeska story runs for the first 20 minutes or so and then it switches to a demo of the Visual KPI Mobile BI software, but even the demo is done in the context of how Alyeska uses it. It also happens to be a great case study of how the new GeoMaps feature can really be put to use with GIS / geographical mapping of assets and KPIs using latitude and longitude. All of the data is demo data, but the mapping is real.
A survey by the document management software company, Version One, reveals that only 55 percent of senior management are able to access corporate IT systems via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Version One surveyed 149 senior professionals, including managing directors, finance directors and IT directors/managers, from a cross-section of UK public, private and third sector organizations.
28 percent of respondents stated that they are unable to access their corporate IT systems via their mobile devices and 17 percent stated that they “didn’t know” whether they had mobile access to their IT systems or not.
Julian Buck, managing director of Version One, says, “I find it astounding that given the commonplace nature of mobile devices in the workplace and the flexible hours many staff work, almost half of the senior professionals surveyed do not have access to critical IT systems via their mobile devices. More organizations need to be harnessing mobile technologies to enable business on the move.”
Of the 45 percent of respondents who are unable to access their organization’s IT systems using their mobile devices or “don’t know” whether they can access them or not, only 9 percent of these were aware of their companies’ plans to enable mobile access to IT systems.
Buck adds, “Enabling secure, mobile access to IT systems at any time and from anywhere delivers efficiency benefits, enhancing productivity. Having to wait for staff to be sat in front of their PCs before they can access corporate systems is an archaic approach which is stifling for business.”
…and why enterprise solutions like Mobile BI are doomed without them.
Real-time Operational Intelligence has become quite the hot topic and quickly. This is great for vendors like us, but it also means the market can look forward to many of the growing pains that come along with chaotic growth. The primary problem is that every vendor will take a different approach because the market is immature and there are no standards established, or at least that’s what you might think. And you would be wrong.
The first thing to do is ignore mobile BI for a minute. Successful mobile apps are successful mobile apps. Period. What’s more is that all of the top mobile apps, for consumers or business, all share similar traits. If you can capture most or all of these in your mobile BI app, chances are you have a winner. This post is intended to highlight those characteristics in the context of mobile BI and dashboard applications, but frankly, this applies to mobile apps of any kind.
Definitions: Apps? Mobile? Success?
Apps: well that is still a big debate (web apps vs. native apps) but it doesn’t matter for this post because it applies to any mobile situation (standing in line, working in the field, on a plane, on the couch, etc.), using any device (smartphones, tablets, notebooks, etc.), and via a downloaded app or the browser. Why don’t these things matter? Read on…
“Fundamentally, ‘mobile’ refers to the user, and not the device or the application.”
Wow. We could not agree more, and we are continually shocked by how many vendors get this backward. You might be using a giant notebook with a 17” screen, but if you are using it in a taxi on the way to the airport you are still mobile, so mobile app characteristics still apply. The same is true in reverse, so if you are using your iPad at your desk these factors might not be a priority. Conclusion – it’s the user that matters more than the device.
Success: mobile apps are ranked on lists everywhere and while each uses different criteria (downloads, time spent, visits, etc.) the winners are usually the same. The real factor for businesses and Mobile BI is “are they continuing to use it and get value” and therefore “getting their job done more effectively.”
So lets get to the meat of this post…
What do successful mobile apps have in common?
Below is an explanation of the top 10 success factors for any mobile app (native and web apps), including Mobile BI, and some examples of each (in no particular order):
1. Timely information
When a user is mobile, they are way more interested in what is happening right now, just happened, or is about to happen. Giving them planning data about whether you should put a new restaurant in a particular city a year from now is best left for the desktop. This is why Twitter, Facebook, SMS, email, stock ticker and weather apps are always at the top of the most successful apps lists. Most importantly, timely = addictive.
2. Small chunks
This is critical for Mobile BI and difficult for most vendors, especially if they come from a traditional BI / analytics background. You might be used to giving users access to every permutation of data possible on the desktop, along with all the number-crunching tools in the world, but that is a recipe for disaster for mobile users. Mobile users have limited time, and the need to accomplish something or check on something quickly and move on. This is why Twitter and small posts on Facebook are so much more popular than reading full articles or books while mobile. Even successful mobile games (like Angry Birds or Farmville) are broken into very small chunks When the task is business related, this is amplified further.
3. Alerts
Not only must your app be great for people to want to use it, but real success comes when people don’t even have to proactively open the app to know when something has happened. Remember, timely information is critical, so alerting someone that there is new information or that something has changed has a huge impact on the usefulness and overall usage of a mobile application. Examples should be obvious, but here are a few: new emails vibrating your phone or popping up on screen, a new SMS makes your phone vibrate telling you your flight has been delayed, new Facebook messages are highlighted on the app icon itself, and breaking news stories pop up over the core application. In Mobile BI applications like Visual KPI, you can not only alert people to state changes of KPIs or other metrics, but you can define a different ‘who’ to alert for every metric so you know you got the right person (or group of people). This is a huge deal – no question.
4. Location-aware
Top app lists always include mapping, directions and GPS applications like Bing and Google Maps. What is more telling is how many other applications now highlight location as one of their top features. Foursquare is all about checking in (as is Facebook), Twitter has geo location, photos are geo-tagged automatically, weather apps follow you, etc. Think about how you use technology on the go and what questions you ask of your devices: How do I get THERE? WHERE am I? What is the weather going to be like HERE this afternoon? WHERE are my friends? Is there free wi-fi NEAR ME? This is also true with business applications. Visiting your Paris facility? What is going on there? It is no secret that all of the assets and data you will track in the future will be geo-tagged, so success with mobile data apps will also take advantage of this. Here’s a screen shot of geo-located KPIs (tank levels) at an oil refinery in France. Makes sense, right?
5. Context is king
Related heavily to timeliness, alerts and location, putting information in context for users is critical. If you on the TripAdvisor application or site and you are checking hotels in Hong Kong, it wouldn’t make much sense to show restaurant reviews in Sydney. The same is true with Mobile BI and along with showing small chunks of information, the utility of the application relies on showing the right information, to the right people, and surrounded by relevant information that puts it in context. If you see a sexy trend of data without any targets or limits shown, it is fairly useless. If you get an alert that says something went wrong but it can’t tell you if it was a temporary blip vs. getting worse, along with what led up to that point, the alert also has no context that might help you make a decision. The tough part is keeping things simple and providing small chunks while still providing enough information for context.
6. Changes frequently
This is another big debate in the BI world. Traditional BI is throwing all kinds of data into their mobile apps and some customers ask for that, but we would disagree. Again, look at the most successful apps; the ones you always have open or constantly check. Compare that to apps you have that collect dust. Notice a difference? How often do you check email, or your stocks? If you are like me (and most people) you do this constantly. Every time you open up Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn there is new information, even if you just checked 10 minutes ago. Applying this to Mobile BI software tells you more about what type of data you should be focused on rather than a feature of the app per se, but it is critical. Speaking of critical, operations data inside of a company is what changes most and what often leads to critical situations and expensive mistakes if they aren’t exposed in time and in context. That is why operations and other fast-moving data is the place to start in mobile BI. Quarterly or monthly reports? Even weekly? Why bother putting that on your phone? How about “is my manufacturing line still running?” or “how much cash do I have?” or “is the AC still on at the data center and how much bandwidth is available?”
7. Simplicity
I’m not just referring to the concept or the data, but also the number of features. The winners here give people just enough information to be satisfied, entertained or to get their task accomplished and usually no more (unless they ask for it). Some of the best ones won’t even give additional information (Apple is notorious for this and Windows Phone 7 does a great job as well). This doesn’t mean you need to skimp on data in Mobile BI, but it means you need to think carefully about how to present that data given the user’s objective. Information rich = good. Feature rich = not so much. Removing features is painful for a vendor and most are incapable, but those that master simplicity are often rewarded.
8. Multiple devices
If you look at the top 10 lists of mobile applications and websites by device, you instantly notice that the winners appear on almost all of them. Why? Because unless you make a solution that only Android users care about (maybe “find other Android users near me”) then you are severely limited your potential for success. This ties in well to the native app vs. web app debate. Netflix has decided that even their native apps will just be containers that present a web app that works on any device, and we do the same (if someone really wants an app). Oh, and don’t forget that a mobile user is not the same as a smartphone user. They could be on a tablet or even a notebook. In the corporate world, you used to hear that “BlackBerry is our standard” message, but as soon as one exec demands an iPad or someone convinced their boss they need a Windows Phone or Android, the standard is blown. Believe me, we talk to customers all day and there is no such thing as a standard. Get over it.
9. Sharable
When dealing with content, the best thing you can hear is “it went viral.” This is true in mobile applications as well. The stickiness and share-ability are directly related to their success. The social networks would be dead without this, but almost all successful applications have this feature built in. I know what you are thinking – why would I let my users share my sensitive operations data? Think about it – if there is a fire on your oil rig or a Tsunami is impacting your nuclear power plant, you want people to know and quickly. Not the public, but the people inside of your organization or anyone else who can do something about it. I’m not talking about cutting and pasting data into an unsecured email, but instant sharing of exactly what you are looking at (like a trend or alert). If you get this wrong, you just lost half or more of the value of having the solution in the first place.
So there you have it. The nine success factors of the worlds best mobile applications. Hey, wait… You said there were 10. Agreed, but if you re-read number seven you’ll see we cut a “feature” because it wasn’t important enough.
Agree? Disagree? Please add your feedback below and share it with your pals.
Agreement Further Extends Visual KPI Real-Time Dashboard Software to Industrial Market
Transpara Corporation, a real-time dashboard and operational intelligence leader, today named Gray Matter Systems as a master representative for the company’s global channel. Gray Matter Systems, a leading provider of solutions for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing industry assets, will offer Visual KPI to companies in the manufacturing, utilities, oil and gas and water/wastewater sectors. Visual KPI enables users to monitor and interact with fast moving data on any web-enabled device, thereby improving operational efficiency and decision making.
“Industrial users are clamoring for more mobility,” said James Gillespie, President of Gray Matter Systems, “and productivity applications used in the front office have quickly migrated to the industrial side of the business. With Visual KPI, our customers can access real-time operations data at their fingertips so they can make changes on the go, regardless of location or device.”
Visual KPI is the only web-based mobile BI solution that allows users to monitor metrics from almost any data source and on any mobile device – including iPhone / iPad, Blackberry, Android, Windows Phone, PC, Mac and more. With its innovative Microsoft Excel™ -based design environment, Visual KPI can be deployed in less than a day. It allows users to rapidly create KPIs, scorecards, trends and alerts in a single web-based experience without coding or changing mobile security requirements.
“Gray Matter Systems has worldwide contacts in various distribution networks and visionary leadership for managing the distribution of industrial software,” said Michael Saucier, CEO of Transpara. “This makes them an ideal partner to extend our well-hewn track record of channel management and help put mobile BI in the hands of more industrial users. Their shared focus on process-intensive industries and ability to help users crack the code on emerging technologies makes for a winning combination that will generate rapid ROI for the customer.”
Give us 90 minutes and we’ll show you KPIs working on your mobile device. Visit http://www.graymattersystems.com/VisualKPI for more information on a Visual KPI pilot.
About Gray Matter Systems For over 20 years, Gray Matter Systems has delivered data management, operations supervision, and process automation solutions to manufacturers, utilities, oil and gas companies and water/wastewater management systems. Gray Matter Systems’ catalog of hardware and software solutions includes GE Intelligent Platforms, Azima DLI reliability as a service and Idus IS maintenance management system. For more information, visit http://www.graymattersystems.com.
About Transpara Corporation Transpara’s Visual KPI real-time dashboard and alerting software for operationally-driven companies in industries such as energy, oil and gas, data center, financial services and manufacturing. Visual KPI monitors operations information from multiple, existing data sources and delivers KPIs, scorecards, trends, dashboards and alerts to any device. By helping users discover problems and opportunities before it’s too late, Visual KPI supports real-time decision making for improved performance, reduced operating costs and lowered business risk. Visit www.transpara.com for more information.
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Transpara is a registered trademark of Transpara Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Technology Evaluation Centers Blog – September 27, 2011 It appears that many organizations are rapidly adopting mobile business intelligence (BI), and the technology promises to become a natural component of every BI application in the near future. And this has only been made possible by the hard work of a number of software companies over the past several years in establishing the foundation, changing mindsets, and applying new mobile-based techniques to the BI space.
One such company is Transpara, a provider of a product called Visual KPI, a software application that enables organizations to monitor and manage dashboards, alerts, and analytics using mobile devices. In this interview of the Thinking Radically series, we speak with Michael Saucier, chief executive officer (CEO) of Transpara and Robert Hylton, vice president (VP) of Transpara. Take a minute to read both Mr. Saucier’s and Mr. Hylton’s thoughts on their product Visual KPI in particular and on the mobile BI space in general. Read more…
BeyeNetwork – September 19, 2011 Imagine this: an operations manager at an oil refinery will soon be able to walk around a facility and view alerts based on his proximity to under-performing processing units. His mobile device shows a map that depicts the operating performance of all processing units based on his current location. This enables him to view and troubleshoot problems first-hand rather than being tethered to a remote control room. Read more…
Visual KPI is ideal for operations-driven businesses like energy utilities, oil and gas, manufacturing, data centers, e-commerce, retail, and more. It provides real-time critical situation alerts on Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and other devices, allowing users to react quickly to optimize their business, save assets, or take advantage of new opportunities.
Just a short post today, but a very important one. Our tenacious development team has been chasing a nasty bug in the Visual KPI Designer for some time and we are pleased to report that it, like most others they come across, is dead and gone.
4. Location-aware