Millennials & Content In 2014, NewsCred's highest-performing piece of content was about the millennial demographic and how brands were eager to reach them, but they weren't impressed. We were curious what the key to their hearts, minds, and wallets was - and judging by the success of this one blog post (42K views and counting), so are you. So we commissioned a study to survey 501 millennials and the results reveal that nearly two-thirds (62%) feel a direct correlation between content marketing and brand loyalty. The problem? They are turned off by the content they’re receiving. The survey also revealed 10 proven tactics that brands can leverage in their content marketing to successfully reach this elusive demographic: 1. Tailor content to individuals’ unique cultural interests
 When it comes to engaging millennials, creating content tailored to their individual interests is extremely important. This means you need to keep in mind their age, location, and cultural interests at all times. You also need tools to help you develop a deep understanding of who they are, where they are, and what motivates them. 2. Make sure content is useful or helpful towards solving everyday problems of millennials
 Creating content tailored to their individual interests is extremely important. You also need tools to help you develop a deep understanding of who they are, where they are, and what motivates them. 3. Avoid being sales-y or self-promotional> 
 In 2014, our average attention span is less than that of a goldfish. Does that mean every article should be a listicle? No. The days of long-form content are not over. This just means that content should not feel like an empty marketing ploy. 4. Keep it short Despite the value of long-form content, 41% of millennials said the main reason they abandon content is that it's too long. Keep the context of your content in mind – are they on a mobile device looking for a quick distraction or researching for real, in-depth information? 5. Aim to be thought-provoking and intelligent
 NewsCred’s survey found that 60% of millennials only share content when it is “thought provoking and intelligent.” 6. Be funny
 Do you like to laugh? Great, so do millennials (and just about everyone). But it isn’t just about laughter, it’s about emotion. Millennials want a reason to connect with your content, and in turn, your brand. If you can build an emotional connection with someone, it means you can build trust. 7. Be authentic Aside from your content inspiring, educating, or entertaining your audience, it also needs to be a positive reflection of your brand’s perspective. 8. Don’t bank on virality or social endorsements alone When asked “What gets you to share?” over 50% responded “It’s relevant to my circle of friends.” 9. Ensure personalization by price point, location, race, etc. Keep it personal – 
54% of millennials prefer content tailored to their age, 55% prefer content tailored to their location, and 63% prefer content tailored to their cultural interests. 10. Deploy formats that are easy to digest and share The truth is, millennials consume content across a number of different platforms, and their favorite platforms change with the wind. Part of maintaining relevancy is putting your content on the right channel. In the infographic below we explore other major data points from our study: "The Millennial Mind: How Content Drives Brand Loyalty" and seven ways brands turn off millennials with bad content marketing.Please copy and paste in your browser to view. http://blog.newscred.com/article/10-proven-ways-for-brands-to-connect-with-millennials-infographic/844d5b36d7889d22abe8d90fb02dedd4?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=original&utm_campaign=10ProvenWays&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRons6zKZKXonjHpfsX66ewvXKewlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4CRcBrI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFT7jAMaZkw7gJWBk%3D Questions: Upon reading the article and viewing the link to infographic page, what are your opinions on the best way to reach today’s ‘new’ generation of society through an e-business platform? What area do you see the most potential for growth? Explain your position. What does business need to do to capture this market?

How Eroding Trust Hurts Companies Both the selling of personal information for commercial purposes, or break-ins exposing sensitive information to the bad guys are increasingly a risk today. If these problems are not solved, it will eventually hurt the end user, and if companies and industries don't protect users on their own, the government could step in and force them to do the right thing. I love all the innovation and trends in the wireless, telecom, television, Internet and tech space. However there is also a big warning light flashing ahead that no one is paying attention to...trust is eroding. Trust is a delicate thing and is being ignored. Innovation is great, but if we don't protect the privacy and personal information of users, they will lose trust and that will bite us in the end. There are so many examples. Here are three to think about. One, we learned a few days ago how Samsung Smart TV records its users' voices and they sell that information to advertisers without customer permission or knowledge. They discuss it in the terms and conditions, but who reads that? I don't know about you, but I cherish my privacy. There are times when I know there is little or no privacy and I watch what I say. However, when I am alone in my home or office, I consider that my safe zone. That was until Samsung crossed the line. If Samsung is doing it, what other TV manufacturers are doing the same, or worse? Plenty, I fear -- and likely not just from the TV. Two, Congressman Edward Markey says automobiles sold today contain information systems that can be broken into by hackers. Of course, this information can also be sold by the automobile industry for commercial reasons. Right now automakers appear to be either unaware of the dire implications, or simply don't care. That's another problem. Government Intervention Markey is asking the world's automakers to create mandatory safeguards. He says that today's cars are collecting mountains of sensitive and private information about personal driving habits, locations driven, and history. Bad guys, or even good guys such as third-party advertisers, would be very interested in getting their hands on this information. Three, Facebook put a fork in protecting user information a long time ago. They don't hide it, but they still do it. They simply state that if you want to use our service, you have to play by our rules. Fair enough. However, there is no other Facebook for users to turn to. This is another real problem. So what's the solution? Should the government proclaim that Facebook's success in owning its segment of the market makes it a monopoly -- and therefore it should be controlled by the government? This is a problem that companies are creating for themselves. They think it's OK not to pay attention to users' concerns. This sets the stage for dramatic customer action -- and that is the last thing that companies want to deal with. This is the problem that companies don't realize they are facing by ignoring the end user. Companies that don't take care of their customers, their workers and their partners, eventually pay a very high price. Companies should work hard to protect users' privacy and information if customers want this. Simple Solution The question I have is: Will users ultimately get so upset about how companies are playing fast and loose with their personal data, that they finally push back? The solution is simple: Leave it up to the customer to choose. Everything should be turned off unless the customer decides it's ok to listen in. Give the customers the pros and cons and let them make the decision. There will still be plenty who opt in. If so, they can flip a switch and let their personal information out. If not, they can protect themselves. Simple solution right? Why then, are companies not paying attention yet? Remember when the word came out that smartphones were able to track a user's location and activity? There was pushback. However, when customers discovered there was benefit to this, most opted in. Now, many people like getting location-based information and special offers pushed to them. So users are willing to make the tradeoff of privacy for features. That is what's missing currently. The choice is not given to the end user. Some people are ok being tracked, but others are not. Why don't they count? I think if the industry keeps pushing ahead with little or no regard to the personal privacy and preferences of its users, it will come back to bite them in the rear end in a variety of ways. Both the selling of personal information for commercial purposes, or break-ins exposing sensitive information to the bad guys are increasingly a risk today. As Congressman Markey noted on the automotive privacy issue, it's all part of the same ball of wax. If these problems are not solved, it will eventually hurt the end user, and that will hurt all companies that are blindly playing along. Remember, every coin has two sides. Of course, if companies and industries don't protect the end users on their own, the government could step in and force them to do the right thing. That's the threat that Congressman Markey represents. So the bell is ringing. I hope that companies and industries choose to acknowledge the problem and do the right things on their own. One way or another, something will be done. Wrapping Up One, the simplest solution is to give the customer the choice to opt in or opt out. Two, the next solution is to make sure you protect your users from break-ins. Perhaps this is something that can come from these companies themselves, or perhaps it can be a solution similar to the way that Norton Anti-Virus or McAfee protects us. There is still plenty of work that has to be done, and plenty of conversations that should be had and plans that should be made, but the bottom line is we can no longer ignore this glaring issue. Either industry must solve these problems or the heavy-handed government will do it for them. The choice seems clear to me. That's the choice we now face. Please provide you constructive feedback in respect to the article. How do you feel about the privacy issues or lack thereof that companies are now providing to you, the end user of their services? Would you like to have an opt-in or opt-out option for each website you visited? Why or why not would this work? What are the responsibilities of the business to utilize this personal information?

A Guide to Social Videos, and Where it Fits in Your e-business




http://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-social-video-for-marketing/?utm_source=content%20team&utm_medium=owned%20social&utm_campaign=content%20team%20owned%20social#pagetop


Upon reading the article and viewing the videos; 1. Please provide your thoughts on how you should best incorporate this type of content (video) into your business ideas. Is it for everyone?, Explain 2. Does the ROI for the social media justify the investment made in the website development? Explain. 3. Can you provide one other social video tip for your classmates?

China opens the door for foreign companies to operate online marketplaces While foreign companies could operate their own e-retail sites, they have not previously been allowed to own shopping portals where many merchants sell. China has strictly regulated online marketplaces, putting them into a closely regulated category that has prevented foreign companies from owning multi-merchant web shopping portals that operate in China. But the Chinese government introduced a new policy this week that will provide an opportunity for foreign companies to operate their own online marketplaces in China. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,which regulates Internet activity in China, has announced that foreign companies now can wholly own an “online data process and e-business transaction” type of business, as long as it is based in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone, an experiment in freer trade that China launched in 2013. “For the Chinese government, the e-business transaction type of business means online marketplaces,” says Shao Jun, a partner in the Shanghai law firm Yuantai, tells Internet Retailer. While a foreign company can already operate a web site to sell directly to consumers, if it wants to create a platform from which other retailers sell—such as eBay.com or Amazon.com in the United States—the business falls into the more closely regulated “telecom value-added services category,” Shao says. Foreign companies previously have been prohibited from owning more than a 50% stake in such companies. According to a Chinese government web site, in 2010 the Wal-Mart China subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. suggested that the Chinese government change the policy by removing online marketplaces from the “telecom value-added services” category. Wal-Mart is No. 4 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, which ranks North American retailers by their online sales. Wal-Mart owns a 51% stake in Yhd.com, an online retailer of food and other products that is No. 6 in the 2014 China 500. For foreign retailers that just want to set up an e-commerce site in China, there are no current restrictions based on their not being Chinese companies, according to Shao. For example, Internet Retailer has received a copy of the China business license of U.K. web-only apparel retailer ASOS Plc., No. 22 in the Internet Retailer Europe 500, which shows that it is wholly owned by a foreign company and that it operates in the field of “Internet retail.” Asos began selling online in China in 2013. To get around the strict restrictions on foreign ownership in certain fields, many foreign companies, particularly those in the Internet sector, have set up their operations in China as what are known as “Variable Interest Entities,” Shao says. In this kind of structure, the foreign company has its Chinese management team establish a Chinese company and operate the business in China for the foreign company. The foreign company signs an agreement with the Chinese company to control the business. Amazon.com Inc., for example, may have used this approach to set up Amazon.cn, which is a marketplace on which many retailers sell in China. That online marketplace is operated by a company called Beijing Century Joyo Information Technology Co. and its business license shows it is a Chinese company owned by a Chinese citizen. However, Amazon.com Inc. includes online sales in China in its financial reports. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its structure in China. Amazon ranks No. 1 in the Top 500and Amazon.cn is No. 4 in the2014 China 500. Questions, 1. Should the Government have control & regulations over how e-bu siness is done in the country? Why or why not? Explain. 2. What does this mean for foreign companies to now be allowed to operate in China? 3. Provide your thoughts on how some companies were already doing business in China prior to this announcement.

Here are 7 digital marketing trends social media managers should know Google will rely heavily on social media signals for SEO With the organic online marketing ecosystem growing, it’s no surprise that Google is relying more on social media signals to inform its search engine rankings. For many teams, the duties of people who works on SEO and those who work on social media are separate; however, this is all about to change. The two may still officially belong to separate teams, but social media marketers will need to be more informed on the SEO strategist’s agenda, so that the SEO strategy can assist with content promotion. The SEO strategist will then need to know how to work with social media marketers in order to receive the social signals it needs to make sure their company ranks on top inGoogle’s SERPs. Content marketing will be the solution to Facebook’s algorithm change While there’s no problem in using social media to promote your business, it’s important to know how much promotion is too much. Facebook’s new algorithm for its News Feed calls for timely posts about information that provides value to your social media audience. In other words, sophisticated content marketing is now the way to get engagement on Facebook. The businesses who already have a solid content marketing strategy have an advantage on the shift in Facebook’s new algorithm—they can select content from their blog to feature on the business Page. However, if your business doesn’t have a content marketing strategy or a blog, but wants to maintain a strong Facebook presence, it may be time to create a content marketing strategy for Facebook. Websites need to be more mobile-friendly You’ve probably heard, but everyone needs to make sure their websites are optimized for mobile. According to statista, mobile phone internet user penetration worldwide will be 52.4% in 2015. Which means this year optimizing your website for mobile should be at the top of your 2015 digital marketing to-do list. Social media managers need to be aware of this to ensure the format of any promotions they do (especially those that include driving people to their company websites) are optimized for mobile. On top of that, any images used on social media should also be viewable on mobile for optimized user experience. The new Twitter search engine will push for Tweets to be more optimized Twitter recently released one of its long-standing goals, the new and more powerful Twitter search engine. This new search engine will allow people to search through every Tweet ever published, which means the way you structure your Tweets is more important now than ever in the history of the microblogging social network. Including hashtags, images, and links in your Tweets will make sure that your Tweets show up higher in Twitter’s search engine results. Think of this new search engine as Google: including the right keywords in your Tweets will allow you to be more visible in search queries. Social media data will inform marketing decisions You’ve heard plenty of good reasons to use more social media data in your marketing. But social media data is pretty complex and hard to put into action. A recent survey conducted by Hootsuite found that 60% of global organizations struggle to turn social data into actionable tactics. However, this year is the year that social media marketers shift gears and add another hat to their collection: the social media analyst hat. With this hat on, you can use the social media data collected through your social media tools, and analyze this information to inform marketing and business decisions. For example, social media data can help you create customer personas to boost the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, as well as the kind of language prospects use around your product. A testing culture will be implemented in all digital marketing teams Do you have a team that works on testing landing pages, website layout, online ads and emails every day? If yes, that’s great! If no, then keep reading. Testing new landing pages, different website layouts, online ads, and email copy, allows you to make more out of your existing traffic, increase conversions and improve the user experience. You can conduct A/B tests that compare two versions of a web page to see which performs better. The one that performs the best will be the one implemented. For example, you can do this for social media ads by testing several versions of the call to action used in the ad. Investing in A/B testing can have a massive impact on lead generation, traffic, and revenue. The online experience will shift to a more “human experience” Google and Facebook have made changes to their platforms to push businesses to focus more on the “human experience.” This shift will drive digital marketers to think more about the user experience, their target audience, and the way they market their products and business. For social media marketers, your social media posts will need to be more relevant, provide more value to your audience, and the engagement needs to be more “human.” This year is going to see a lot of change in how people consume marketing online. The trends listed above are just a handful of the trends that social media marketers need to know. The need to stay on top of growing digital marketing trends will allow social media marketers to make sure their efforts on social media will provide the ROI that supports all of the digital marketing efforts for their business. And if you feel like you’re missing out, don’t worry—we’ll be right here to help you catch up on the latest trends in social media. Questions? --- 1. Provide your feedback and thoughts from reading the article. 2. Do you know of any more digital marketing trends that social media marketers need to be aware of? Add them in the comments below.

Privacy

Shore Up Your Privacy Policy Before Disaster Strikes A typical Privacy Policy may state that the website will not use any PII without the user's express permission. The FTC will enforce that obligation if it learns that PII is being used without permission, such as to commercialize it. But if the website's Privacy Policy is silent about protecting PII, then the website may use the PII freely. Last month, I discussed, from the website owner's point of view, the critical importance of using Terms of Service (ToS) and Click Agreements suited to their business. Now I will address the need for appropriate consideration of your website's Privacy Policy. What Type of Information Do Privacy Policies Protect? Personally Identifiable Information (PII) may include many details such as name, address, email address, phone numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers and the like. From a technology standpoint, every visitor to every website provides some PII about who they are and where they came from. When a visitor lands on a website, this is what the website owner can access: • the visitor's unique IP (Internet Protocol) address; • PII about the last website the visitor accessed; and • information from cookies it left on the visitor's hard drive from a previous visit to the site, perhaps including credit card information and passwords (usually encrypted). In addition, website visitors provide PII voluntarily when they register as users on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn or for services like Gmail. Also, visitors provide credit or debit card information to facilitate website purchases. The critical issue about this volume of information presented to the website from the visitor is how that information is protected and what privacy the visitor is afforded. Website Privacy Regulation In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates Internet privacy. Currently, the FTC does not require that websites have a Privacy Policy. However, if a website does have a Privacy Policy, it must adhere to its own terms. A typical Privacy Policy may state that the website will not use any PII without the user's express permission. The FTC will enforce that obligation if it learns that PII is being used without permission, such as to commercialize it. But if the website's Privacy Policy is silent about protecting PII, then the website may use the PII freely. Outside the U.S., privacy rules are very different. In the EU, Canada and Japan, for instance, there are very specific laws to restrict the use of PII on any computer, whether connected to the Internet or not. In Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act specifies the "...ground rules for how private sector organizations may collect, use or disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities. The law gives individuals the right to access and request correction of the personal information these organizations may have collected about them." In Japan the Personal Information Protection Act was enacted after conducting public surveys regarding privacy protection for individuals. The EU 1995 Data Directive (which started in 1989, in the pre-Internet era) regulates privacy for citizens and businesses that operate in the EU. The U.S. Department of Commerce established Safe Harbor rules that allow U.S. businesses to operate in compliance with the EU laws, so if your website allows users to conduct business with it in the EU, it makes sense to be in compliance under the Safe Harbor rules . TRUSTe (discussed in greater detail below) offers a specific service called EU Safe Harbor, which includes the following: TRUSTe can help you certify your compliance with the EU Directive on Data Protection. The Directive prohibits the transfer of European citizens' personal data to non-European Union nations that do not meet the EU's "adequacy" standard for privacy protection. Of course other companies offer similar EU services. What Should Your Privacy Policy Contain? Like ToS and Click Agreements, my informal surveys show that few individuals, at least in the U.S., take the time to review Privacy Policies. But that doesn't mean you should not have one. You have to consider your visitors' expectations, business issues and laws in countries where you operate. One approach to create your company's Privacy Policy is to find a website you think has similar issues to your own, and use that as a base for your company's policy (but you should be careful to not violate copyright laws when doing so). This might work, but if you guess wrong about what the Privacy Policy should be, your business may be a risk. Aggregate Data Many Privacy Policies say that they will not use visitor PII, but the website may aggregate visitor information for resale. Such information may include the percentage of visitors to the website who came from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) or The New York Times (NYSE: NYT). The largest company in the data aggregation business is DoubleClick, which was purchased by Google a few years ago. Most website visitors do not feel that their privacy is violated by such aggregation since PII that is specifically identifiable is not being shared, but even where the law doesn't require disclosure, you should consider -- based on business reasons -- whether your Privacy Policy should let website visitors know whether your website aggregates such information. Consider Subscribing to Privacy Standards A number organizations promulgate Privacy Standards. Website owners may subscribe, pay a fee, and agree to adhere to the Privacy Standards of that organization. You often see the logos for these Privacy Standards on the front page of websites and embedded in Privacy Policies. You may be familiar with the TRUSTe logo. Since 1997, that company has offered a variety of online privacy services. This is what TRUSTe has to say about its services: The company offers a broad suite of privacy services to help businesses build trust and increase engagement across all of their online channels including websites, mobile applications, advertising, cloud services, business analytics and email marketing... Based upon the comprehensive privacy model of "Truth in Privacy," which is laid on a foundation of transparency, choice and accountability regarding the collection and use of personal information, TRUSTe's privacy seal is recognized and trusted by millions of consumers as a sign of responsible privacy practices. TRUSTe claims that more than 4,000 websites subscribe, including "...top companies like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), AT&T (NYSE: T), Disney (NYSE: DIS), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), Facebook, HP (NYSE: HPQ), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Nationwide and Yelp." Among many services, TRUSTe offers website solutions for website privacy, EU Sage Harbor, Children's Privacy, Email Privacy, and downloads. Of course there are other Privacy Standards like those of the Better Business Bureau, which claims that more than 142,000 websites use its Privacy Standards, and also the Online Privacy Alliance and the CPA WebTrust Program. In Conclusion Website owners should make sure their Privacy Policies satisfy applicable legal requirements and also address business concerns, so as to give the website visitors comfort that PII will not be used wrongfully. Therefore, it is critical that each business review how it manages PII, and consider what it tells visitors to the website. Question: Is a policy important to your website? Discuss what you will do to incorporate a policy. Due Friday, February 22, 2013

Small & Medium Business Intelligence

The SMB's (Small Medium Business) BI Software Shopping Challenge Business intelligence is an umbrella term that refers to a variety of software applications used to analyze an organization's raw data. Companies use BI to improve decision-making and identify new business opportunities. However, due to their high-growth and lean organizational structures, SMBs require a different approach to BI. It's important for these companies to approach their purchasing decision with a few critical questions in mind. Even with a wide range of business intelligence (BI) solutions on the market, many don't fit the unique needs of small and medium-sized businesses. SMBs have tighter budgets, fewer technical resources and less time to spend on deploying and optimizing a business intelligence solution. For some SMBs, just getting started with a BI systems evaluation can be a challenge. What follows are five criteria to keep in mind while evaluating BI options for your SMB -- but first, a BI primer. What Is Business Intelligence and Why Would You Need It? Business intelligence is an umbrella term that refers to a variety of software applications used to analyze an organization's raw data. These applications include data analysis, enterprise and operational reports, dashboards and data mining analytics. Companies use BI to improve decision-making and identify new business opportunities. Why do SMBs need business intelligence? For the same reason large companies do: to learn more about their business performance and to better execute on their strategy. However, due to their high-growth and lean organizational structures, SMBs require a different approach to BI. It's important for these companies to approach their purchasing decision with a few critical questions in mind. 5 BI Solution Criteria for SMBs to Evaluate Software Costs: Price is often a key factor in software solution evaluations for SMBs, and some simply can't afford the high initial prices associated with many BI solutions on the market today. When it comes to software license costs, there are typically two sets of charges to consider: up front perpetual license costs and ongoing support and maintenance costs. While most BI vendors charge for both, commercial open source can be licensed at a fraction of this cost, and Software as a Service (SaaS) BI companies offer subscription-based pricing, which does not require hefty up-front license costs. In addition, the pricing metric varies among the different BI vendors. Depending on the vendor, you will typically see one of the following pricing models: User-based pricing Server-based pricing A combination of server- and user-based pricing Under a user-based pricing model, companies are faced with additional charges every time they add new users to the BI user base. Since the success of a BI initiative is strongly dependent upon widespread adoption and use of dashboards, reports and analysis views, granting access to as many employees as possible can be critical. BI tools that utilize a user-based pricing model can inhibit the success of implementation and adoption. Hence, selecting the right tool with the right price metric is essential. A server-based licensing model can be a better fit for BI, as it enables companies to grant access to more employees in a much more cost-effective manner. Using server-based pricing, companies are free to distribute BI to as many users as their servers can support, without incurring additional fees. Your Buying Checklist: Is there an up-front perpetual license cost? How much are the annual maintenance and support costs? Does the maintenance cost go up from the second year onwards? What is the pricing metric: server- or user-based? Length of the ROI Cycle: SMBs typically need proof of investment quickly, oftentimes within a few weeks. Unfortunately, "plug-and-play" in BI is a myth. Any BI solution you choose will require some level of preparation before the data becomes actionable for business intelligence. This is just as true of on-demand solutions as it is of legacy solutions. However, there's a wide spectrum of time-to-value tradeoffs in BI. Some solutions require building from scratch, while others offer components that you can leverage for a faster time-to-value. For instance, although SaaS BI solutions claim instant productivity by providing necessary resources to host and manage the application internally, from a data perspective, this option is equally or more resource-intensive than traditional BI. Prior to the initial upload, the data must be pre-processed and cleansed. This process requires significant in-house work by someone who is familiar with the data. Similarly, legacy BI solutions that are provided by mega vendors are built around complex data models and data warehousing practices that take months, even years to fully develop. To properly evaluate the length of the ROI cycle for a BI solution, it's especially important to consider time-to-value and the technical expertise that is required. 3. Ability to Adjust to Business Changes Rapidly: BI projects are not one-time, one-off projects. As business dynamics change and new requirements emerge (which is especially true of SMBs), business users need the ability to add new key performance indicators (KPIs) and data sources, or to easily change the dimensions by which they measure their metrics. o Growing sources of data: As BI requirements change -- because of mergers and acquisitions, for example -- so too do the underlying data sources. A business intelligence solution needs to remain open and agnostic to different sources of data in order to quickly adapt to change. o Changes in data or metrics: Once data has been uploaded and built into analytics, reports or dashboards, it will not remain static. BI solutions that don't have an integrated ETL and BI development environment require a cumbersome and time-consuming change management process to incorporate data changes. Your Buying Checklist: 1.Can you connect to existing data sources, or does the solution lock you into a specific databases or data warehouses? 2. How rapidly can you add a new data source? 3. How easily can you add new metrics and calculations? Plan for User Growth: The success of a BI implementation is strongly dependent upon its widespread access and use. Historically, a small, technical group within a company performed all corporate reporting and data analysis. Today, this is less often the case. Successful BI environments expand to more and more people in the organization. To plan for more widespread adoption, one should consider: o Incremental license costs: A per-user pricing and licensing model can inhibit user growth from a financial perspective. Unfortunately, the majority of BI solutions are licensed per user, with fees as high as US$1,000 to $2,000 per user. Because this is cost-prohibitive to many organizations, access to BI is often granted to only a small number of employees. The rest rely on canned reports that IT produces, which in turn creates an IT bottleneck and consequently forces users to make decisions irrespective of the data. o Ease of use for end users: It can be strategic to have a BI implementation that's adopted by as many business decision makers as possible. Business people typically come from non-technical backgrounds, so having a BI solution that is easy to understand without excessive IT involvement can be crucial, especially at the SMB level. Your Buying Checklist 1.Who needs access to BI? Do you need to expand the access in the future? 2. Do you have to pay extra for every additional BI user? 3. How much training is required for the end users to become self-sufficient? 4. How rapidly can the users adopt the solution once built? 5. Ease of Integration With Other Applications: When assessing your BI options, it is important to ensure that the vendor you choose provides the means for enhancing and extending the solution. Proprietary tools will require a lot of money and highly specialized consultants to build product integrations. Having extensible APIs and a plug-in architecture ensures that your BI solution can be easily integrated with other software products to meet both current and future needs. For instance, BI that is built to report and analyze CRM data can be embedded into that application to provide a seamless user experience. An open and standards-based plug-in architecture ensures that this integration is easily done. Your Buying Checklist 1.Do you need to integrate your business intelligence with other business applications? 2.What APIs does your BI solution provide out of the box? In Summary SMBs have a wide variety of BI options to choose from. A closer look at the different BI solutions available in the marketplace shows the benefits and drawbacks of each. The right model depends on your organization's needs, skill levels and decision-making processes. Exercise: Research one type of BI option for your business and discuss why it would be best for your business!Due Tuesday, February 19, 2013