Panorama Business Intelligence

Panorama recently unveiled its latest business intelligence application. While Necto version 11 already contained cutting-edge business social networking features, Service Pack 2 increases the software’s integration with Microsoft SQL Server, bringing a wealth of data into the analytics picture. Combining the widely-used SQL Server 2012 with advanced BI features on a base level means that companies can turn their existing data stores into agility-building insight.

New features

The recently released second service pack for Necto version 11 brings full integration with Microsoft SQL Server 2012. Companies currently using the 2005 or 2008 version of SQL Server will find the transition quick and easy. Powerful new features such as in-memory data analysis are now supported, meaning that users can work through enormous data sets, using their systems’ RAM to draw insight far faster than was previously possible.
The BI world’s focus is on big data analytics. With SQL Server and the new Necto release, applying analytic tools to large and unsorted data sets becomes simple. Accurate and useful insight is the end goal of any BI project and Necto makes sure that companies get there, no matter how unwieldy the data.

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The Retail Technology Conference 2012, held in Orlando, Florida, served as an excellent platform for Panorama to spread the word on its cutting-edge business intelligence software. The show played host to many software solutions representing the future of retail and Panorama, as a platinum sponsor of the event venue, was proud to be among them. It was the sixth annual convention, held By Retail Information Systems.

Panorama at the conference

The purpose of the convention is to connect the companies behind innovative new retail technology and the companies eager to use it. Panorama is excited about the connections made at the conference, as we believe that our BI platform represents the future of business intelligence and a tremendous opportunity for retailers. It is always a positive feeling to take the floor of a well-managed industry meeting with a product that truly represents the state of the art.
The convention’s mission statement incorporates educating sellers on the finer points of information technology that could help capture customer attention and dollars. Everything from marketing to operations was covered at the conferences numerous panels, both large sessions open to the media and focused meetings behind closed doors between highly focused members of the retail industry. Due to BI’s applicability to many aspects of the retail experience, Panorama’s North America team were in their element at the event.

BI in retail

Business intelligence and the retail field have long been an excellent match for one another. There are many elements of the retail experience that can benefit from the application of analytic tools. Customer wants and needs, the status of the global supply chain and everything in between can be managed more efficiently with the use of a strong business intelligence solution.

When industry writers refer to a field that has seen strong BI adoption, they often illustrate the example with retail. Large-scale sellers pioneered the collection of data with the introduction of loyalty card measures. These cards still stand as an example of an elegant information gathering tool, offering sale prices in exchange for accurate usage data. Statistics have evolved, however. The advent of big data has unleashed numerous new sources of insight and the rise of self-service and mobile BI dashboards mean the information is being consumed more widely than ever. Panorama is proud to say that we remain at the forefront of the industry, in retail and beyond.

Innovation in business intelligence software is one of the hottest technology areas for companies. Companies want the latest tools to analyze their data because they know their rivals are doing the same. Panorama recently had the pleasure of meeting the BI-using public face to face at a joint open house with Microsoft Israel. The star of the event was the new Necto business intelligence application, which delivers social BI contextual discovery and advanced analytics features to a wide variety of enterprise users.

The event’s 120 attendees got a chance to hear the effect that Necto can have on businesses. The spotlight went to Israel Aircraft Industries’ Miki Lumnitz who took the stage to describe the positive effects that Necto adoption has had on his company’s productivity. IAI has deployed Necto to 2,732 users who, Lumnitz said, they are finding the new system easy to use and intuitive despite its large number of features. The company uses 14 separate modules and the users have become adept with them, despite a very short training period.
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The latest and greatest database offering from Microsoft officially went live at the SQL Server 2012 Virtual Launch Event on March 7, 2012. And Panorama was proud to be a part of the launch. The new release offers many upgrades from its predecessor and is ideal to address the latest data trends.

During the launch event, Microsoft vice president Ted Kummert shared this sentiment and spoke about how SQL Server 2012 can address these needs moving forward.

“Data is being generated faster than ever before, and organizations need a way to process and analyze all that data,” said Kummert. “Whatever the type or size of data, SQL Server 2012 delivers the platform and familiar tools to manage data, generate actionable insights and help drive business impact.”

Enthusiasm surrounding the release of SQL Server 2012 was also much higher than other Microsoft events. Early statistics have shown that traffic regarding the launch was 10-times higher than past events, with more than 345,000 page views, more than 8,000 partner check-ins and 58,000 video session views.

The excitement Panorama and other partners experienced also translated into social media platforms like Twitter. In fact, the social media website accounted for 83 percent of all mentions regarding the event, followed by news outlets with 12 percent.

Panorama announced for the SQL 2012 launch, that its socially-enabled BI platform Necto is now on SQL Server 2012, Microsoft’s cloud-ready database software. Necto analytics allows enterprise users to receive the full power and value of SQL Server 2012. Working on both MDX and DAX languages, it can handle the combination of both organizational OLAP data and in-memory user data with seamless migrations. Complex enterprises with multiple data sources can utilize Necto as a connection point to develop broader insights, which are all viewable in a web-based workboard.

“We are very pleased to offer Necto on SQL Server 2012 for beta testing download, and firmly believe this combination will have a transformative effect on enterprise analytics,” said Eynav Azarya, CEO of Panorama Software. “Our collaboration and integration experience with Microsoft enables Necto to be a perfect complement to SQL Server 2012, a combined solution that quickly produces relevant data insights.”

Microsoft said the product has already been adopted by several high-profile companies, including Volvo, LG Chemical, Revlon and Klout. Engineering vice president of Klout David Mariani said the business has already benefited from the new product.

“With SQL Server 2012 and integrated business intelligence tools, we’re processing massive volumes of data queries in near real time. Microsoft’s data platform has continued to advance and help us keep up with the evolving world of data,” Mariani said.

Although some businesses are in the process of adopting SQL Server 2012, the virtual launch event page will be available for the next 90 days to help organizations making the transition. To visit the Panorama booth at the SQL 2012 Virtual Launch event, please register here.

On March 7, the world will be introduced to the next version of Microsoft’s SQL Server database offering, formerly codenamed Denali, and Panorama Software is happy to announce we’ll be participating, as the only Business Intelligence Sponsor, in the global launch event.

As a close partner of Microsoft, we’ll demonstrate how SQL Server 2012 will benefit users of business intelligence solutions such as our innovative Necto product. Necto analytics allows enterprise users to receive the full power and value of SQL 2012.

Working on both MDX and DAX languages, Necto can handle the combination of both organizational OLAP data and in-memory user data with seamless migrations. Complex enterprises with multiple data sources can utilize Necto as a connection point to develop broader insights, which are all viewable in a web-based workboard.

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Please don’t take that headline literally, it was merely a stab at making a retail pun to describe Panorama Software’s experience at last month’s BIG Show, put on for the 101st time by the National Retail Federation. Don’t worry, Panorama certainly didn’t change ownership during the four-day event at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

What we mean is that attending the event alongside our close partners Microsoft and retail solutions provider ITR Software gave us the opportunity spread the word about the benefits of Business Intelligence 3.0 and further tout our cutting-edge BI offering – Necto.

Just ask our CEO, Eynav Azarya, about the BIG fun we had at the BIG Show – OK, no more puns.

“We were ecstatic to have been invited to participate in the Microsoft booth at NRF and were very pleased with the results,” he said. “With the traffic generated to our pod and the joint meetings with Microsoft, not only were we able to showcase our joint offering but we have also added a number of customers to our pipeline – with one customer already quickly moving to the proof of concept stage.”

The show also bolstered our already tight-knit affiliation with Microsoft.

“The partnership between Microsoft and Panorama has always been fruitful and NRF 2012 is another excellent example of the success we can achieve when collaborating,” Azarya added.

In an industry so marked by change during the past several years – in terms of shopping and spending habits as well as demand for certain products (Who doesn’t own a smartphone these days?) – real-time insight into these trends can’t be more beneficial. By analyzing your stored customer, sales and product data, your company will be better prepared to know exactly what consumers are looking for and how they go about purchasing goods.

And these capabilities will be bolstered even further with the next-generation functionality we’ve built into Necto. Adding in social aspects and relevancy means that end users can collaborate and drive greater value out of information, while being presented with all the data that is necessary for their responsibilities and job functions.

So give Necto a try to see what it can do to grow your business. After all, you don’t want to sell yourself short (couldn’t help the pun). Download a free version of Necto at http://www.panorama.com/trial/necto-trial-1.php.

Our friends at Microsoft have long topped the content management and collaboration market with their wildly popular SharePoint solution. As a single platform for structured and unstructured data, SharePoint has been a favorite of companies looking for a tool that can help them both get organized and promote a team-first environment.

So it’s easy for you to see why Panorama Software is excited about its latest endeavor.

We recently announced enhanced integration between the cutting edge Necto business intelligence solution with SharePoint. Necto and Sharepoint are the peanut butter and jelly duo in the collaborative & Social BI space.

The collaborative capabilities of SharePoint are combined with the social aspects of Necto, and hat you get is the sleek and user-friendly interface of Necto combined with the heavy-hitting content management power of SharePoint.

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Given their increasing production of data and reliance on the insights it holds, retailers are among the most serious users of business intelligence technology in the world. From customer information and tracking the performance of certain products to targeting specific marketing campaigns, analytics is key for just about any retailer.

That’s why we’re particularly excited about participating in the National Retail Federation’s upcoming conference, Retail’s BIG Show. The NRF has been promoting retailers for a long time, this is the organization’s 101st annual gathering. Panorama Software is looking forward to the opportunity to showcase how our solution can help retailers of any size.

We will be presenting along with two of our partners – Microsoft and retail solutions provider ITR Software – at the event, which takes place at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on January 15-18.

Conference attendees should make it a point to stop by to find out how ITR Software has incorporated Panorama Necto into its SPIN offering to provide retailers with a well-rounded and highly effective analytics solution. SPIN, which is a key piece of ITR’s Buyer’s WorkMate Suite, delivers relevant, timely and detailed analytics to retailers to allow for better decision-making that can be applied to a wide range of different processes.

Using the SPIN Data Repository, all pertinent performance-related metrics are housed in a central location. That supports decisions based around size optimization, store grading and seasonal forecasts. All are important for a high-performing retailer.

It’s all made possible through Panorama Necto’s cutting-edge analytics capabilities. That’s because SPIN is built on top of Necto and takes advantage of the Panorama application’s Business Intelligence 3.0 functionality. It enhances the overall analytics experience by focusing on relevancy, as well as social and self-service capabilities.

Combine that with ITR Software’s retail industry-specific expertise, and companies have access to technology that provides the insight necessary to increase sales, while giving them a leg up on the competition.

So stop by the Microsoft booth #1337, and visit Panorama at the BIG Show and see how a retailer of any size can benefit with the help of Panorama, ITR Software and Microsoft.

Some can still doubt the value of Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), others question data security but the numbers exemplify a rapid growth rate for Mobile BI! And it seems pretty reasonable if some of the obvious benefits of Mobile BI are taken into consideration. Aberdeen Research analysts are firm that it will help companies to:

• Get into real-time decision-making
• Improve operational efficiency
• Create and manage flexible work-flows
• Increase their responsiveness to customers

Moreover, Gartner, one of the most advanced and reliable research organizations, predicts one-third of all BI functionality will be accessed mainly through devices like mobiles and tablets within one to two years. This isn’t a question anymore. Vendors need to hurry to get on-board this train!

Here at Panorama we have never doubted the importance of mobile BI. When Necto was introduced to the market and Social BI started to catch up, there was no chance the platform would not be available on mobile. The only question was how we would offer our application in the most secure setting.

With development of iOS and other platforms dozens of companies have developed BI applications of all sorts in effort to get business intelligence at the fingertips of users while they are on the go. But the main challenge they all faced is the fact that their Apps are not the same as desktop BI – They create a totally different user experience. Many of the apps are even limited by the data volumes they can analyze in order to grant the stable performance on a mobile device. Don’t get me wrong here, it’s not that all Apps are bad, they are simply different. Different interface, navigation and other limitations require from users have additional knowledge which creates more frustration and leads us to a well-known road to low BI adoption numbers.

Here’s another interesting fact: despite the growth and attention from the media, still only 30% of the companies surveyed allow their business data to be accessed by smart phone users and only 19% by tablet users as was revealed by another study conducted by research company Vanson Bourne. This is understandable as companies strive to protect their data, which is compromised if a device gets lost or stolen. And as we dive deep into the world of Mobile BI excitement, we have to remember about the other side of the coin. Mobile devices are easy to learn, more fun to play with, easy to carry around and much easier to loose.

With all that in mind Panorama has developed a Mobile BI solution that enables organizations not only to place the business data at the fingertips of its employees while they are on the go, but also to eliminate 2 major pitfalls on the road to Mobile Enterprise future: Security Issues and Interface dissonance.

Necto Mobile creates the same self-service and intuitive user experience throughout all desktop and mobile platforms. Creating the same cross-platform interface ensures the increase in overall technology adoption which correlates with the main goal of Necto – always deliver powerful and innovative Business Intelligence technology in an efficient and simple manner.

Using advanced virtualization technologies we have lead everything to a common denominator and created a virtual environment where all platforms are seamlessly integrated for Necto user. He has no need to worry about data transferring as it is done automatically every second.

The world around us is inevitably becoming more pertinent. Even big companies like Google are striving to provide users with the most relevant information in order to avoid the messy alternative that comes with large volumes of information. Finding and retrieving relevant information is becoming increasingly difficult in the age we live in, as information is being created at exponential rates.

I remember when its convenience first made Google so famous. Google easily dominated the market by providing people with the most relevant information according to their needs and in a matter of minutes. Previously, the alternative was searching for information in huge archives such as a library.

Likewise, business intelligence has become a valuable asset for organizations as it also provides information and insight from stored data. Such capabilities are essential because highly relevant insights are needed for companies to make better strategic decisions to run their business.

Today BI platforms are no longer limited by the technology assets, like physical memory. Nowadays the possibilities are endless. From this, however, arose a new problem. Companies are struggling to separate and identify which insights are key to their business, due to the high volumes of information stored by companies. BI industry experts are saying this is the major problem, and we need to fix it.
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