May 2009: A Note from Jeff Mack
The Bottom Line: Is Your Mobile BI MIA?

We hear so much these days about BI (business intelligence), dashboards, business analytics, KPI’s (key performance indicators), business alerts and notifications, etc. I think this stuff is what the everyday Joe would call business information. A lot of attention is focused on eliciting bigger and bigger WOWs with Hollywood-like production of charts and drill downs. Here, for example, is a very powerful illustration of a strong suite of business analytics for Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

If you are a desk jockey, you have got to be impressed by those tools. However, what if you are not a desk jockey? What if you are that everyday Joe I mentioned earlier who has to go out in the real world and face customers? Perhaps you are in sales, or service, or warehousing where you are away from your desk a lot or out in the field. Or perhaps you are a traveling executive. Either way, you are in a critical customer facing role of one type or another. So why should all the folks sitting behind the fancy desks get all the fancy tools? Don’t you deserve some fancy tools also? Or at the very least some highly functional tools. After all, you are in a daily fight for survival in the real battle zone.

Besides receiving emails and phone calls while you are away from your desk, you may be wondering what else is really possible in terms of providing powerful business information at your finger tips. And more importantly, what’s really practical and what’s the real impact? All good questions to be sure.

Let’s start with what is really creating the pressure and drive to achieve the delivery of better business information to the mobile worker. Here is a summary of the key drivers as compiled in a recent Aberdeen Group report.

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We all know that carrying around a laptop and trying to get a secure Internet connection while at a customer’s facility or elsewhere on the road is not always a quick and hassle-free experience. Yet, the reality is that customers expect us to be always on anytime/anywhere and ready to provide immediate answers. By default then, that means we resort to our phone devices.

Excluding the laptop and sub-notebook devices, there are three fundamental types of phones in use today.

1. Smart phones, which can utilize all of the Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Live Search and Internet Explorer
2. Feature-based phones (common mobile phone device)
3. Specialized handheld devices (e.g. a Symbol smart device)

Most of us have access to either option 1 or 2. Given that, what’s the best way to deliver timely, relevant and actionable business information to these devices?

First of all, we need to be ever mindful of the display screen real estate limitations. We also need to realize that most users of these devices enjoy the feeling of being in control, so the more often they can dictate the schedule and content of information delivery, the more they will embrace it. In other words, the closer the delivered content precisely pertains to their role and needs, the better. The use of automated alert messages based upon pre-determined business rules will help support this desire. Static reports and/or spreadsheets can be delivered to these mobile devices. More importantly, up to the minute reports and analytics can be delivered covering a range of information conceivably as broad as that referenced in the first paragraph of this article. And as long as the reporting remains role based, it will be perceived as valuable.

Here’s an indication of the results being achieved by organizations deploying these devices and technologies.

Table 1: Top Performers Earn in Best-in-Class Status

Definition of Maturity Class	Mean Class Performance
Best-in-Class: Top 20% of aggregate performance scorers	• Achieved a mean average customer satisfaction increase of 5.39%, over 4.8-times greater than average companies • Improved year-over-year mean average employee productivity by 3.61%, over 20-times greater than average companies • Increased year-over-year employee retention by a mean average of 4.33%, over 10-times higher retention rate than average companies • Increased the flow of new opportunities into the sales pipeline by a mean average of 4.81%, over 3-times greater than average companies
Industry Average: Middle 50% of aggregate performance scorers	• Achieved a mean average customer satisfaction increase of 1.11% • Improved year-over-year mean average employee productivity by 0.18% • Increased year-over-year employee retention by a mean average of 0.41% • Increased the flow of new opportunities into the sales pipeline by a mean average of 1.46%
Laggard: Bottom 30% of aggregate performance scorers	• Suffered a decline in mean average customer satisfaction of -2.73% • Saw a decline in year-over-year mean average employee productivity of -2.80% • Experienced declining year-over-year employee retention at a rate of -2.90% • Suffered a decrease in the flow of new opportunities into the sales pipeline by a mean average of -2.68%

Source: Aberdeen Group, November 2008

The potential conclusion from this data table is that benefits go beyond the ability to respond more quickly to customer demand, but also to achieve higher efficiencies, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities (aka bigger pipeline), and improved workforce stability. What business owner or manager wouldn’t put these things high on their priority list?

Of course with all this empowering data traveling through the ether, one must ensure that appropriate security practices are in place. At a minimum, this must include enforced data access policies based on role, access type and authentication. Additionally, data encryption and over-the-air lock down for stolen or lost mobile devices must be in place.

As you can see, there is no free lunch for all the significant results cited in Table 1. However, the rewards are so significant to the bottom line that the mobile BI opportunity can no longer be ignored. And that’s the bottom line.

 

Benefits go beyond the ability to respond more quickly to customer demand to include achieving higher efficiencies, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities (aka bigger pipeline), and improved workforce stability.