This week’s BBBT session with JackBe generated some great discussions surrounding the concepts of situational intelligence and dynamic real-time access to data. JackBe’s premise is the concept of providing a real-time intelligence platform to companies.  Coming from the world of Ajax development and providing enterprise mashups, the shift to BI is outside the norm. This is because no data infrastructure exists, with JackBe pushing or pulling data into customized dashboards. Basically, data is assembled so that companies can take information from a data warehouse and a variety of other operational systems so that businesses can ask questions based on what is happening within the organization.

The business benefits include the ability to be more agile in terms of consolidating data to create broader visibility.  This in turn leads to questions being asked about streaming information in real-time. In addition, data dependencies and security do offer some levels of control on data access and development.  The issue within BI relates heavily to the fact that real-time data access does not necessarily lead to better or broader business insights.  Within an intensely structured market place, the ability to create real-time access to BI-related data causes some concern.

Overall, JackBe can differentiate itself from other front-end BI/dashboard players in the market, and for businesses looking at increased awareness in real-time, accessing their free stuff might be a good way to get started.  Just beware of the fact that in order to create value out of information, the consumer needs to understand the context of what they are looking at.

The beginning of any year is a time to plan what is to come and to reflect upon past successes and challenges with the goal of planning future initiatives. BI always sees changes, such as the increasing focus on mobile BI, end user driven and managed applications, and the expansion of the data warehouse appliance market. Within the mid-market specifically, more organizations are taking advantage of what solution providers have to offer at a lower TCO than previously thought possible.

In addition to all of the expansions of use, many organizations that are new to BI are starting to look at their options and how to implement solutions that meet their business requirements while being able to meet future dynamic business needs. Unfortunately, this can cause some confusion about what solutions are available, what key differentiators exist, and how to reduce the risk of project failure. Without the ability to use external consultants in all cases, many organizations lack an understanding and general visibility into the BI for mid-market industry, available solutions, and the implications of implementing specific types of applications over others.

This year, part of WiseAnalytics’ initiatives will focus on how to decipher the market and provide best practices that not only benefit new implementations, but mid-sized companies that want to take the next step and expand their BI environments. Some topics being covered include:

• an overview of the mid-market and BI trends and adoption
• available solutions – specifically Software as a Service (SaaS) and open source
• best practices and recommendations regarding BI implementations
• demystifying the market