Tag Archive for: Business Intelligence

Technology Trends in 2019

Important Technology 2019

The innovations & updates to expect from the world of technology in 2019

While we made predictions about the latest electronics in preparation for CES 2019, our team started discussing the most important technology trends to expect in 2019.

In the last few years, innovation happened often and at a fast pace. In 2019, we anticipate an equally impactful year in the world of tech.

As a custom software and IT company, amshot is always looking to stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest technology. So, we have picked out a few tech trends that we predict will take center stage in the year to come.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) & MACHINE LEARNING

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer automation are constantly becoming more deeply ingrained in day-to-day business operations.

Machine learning is saving hours of human time spent programming information as computer systems are taught to interpret data and make decisions based on past successes and failures in a process quite similar to human learning.

In recent years, machine learning has been able to mimic the human brain through artificial neural networks which can be woven together in complex layers. This allows for “deep learning” to occur, meaning that computers can process information and self-improve far more quickly and efficiently.

This year, AI will become more tightly interwoven into our daily lives as the capabilities of AI assistants become increasingly more sophisticated, efficient, and accessible.

MULTI-CLOUD & HYBRID CLOUD 

Cloud services have come a long way since they first debuted about a decade ago. Used by both individuals and a wide range of organizations, cloud technologies are used for storing data, hostings websites and blogs, downloading software, audio and video streaming, and more.

For a crash course on cloud technology, read our blog, but here’s what you can expect from the cloud this year.

Multi-cloud strategy is the use of multiple cloud computing services from any number of vendors. A multi-cloud environment could be all-private, all-public, or a hybrid. A hybrid cloud combines elements of both private and public clouds.

The tech community expects hybrid clouds to become the model of choice for businesses in 2019.

While a public cloud is available to the general public, a private cloud can exist either on the internet or on a private internal network and is only available to select users. Hybrid cloud computing service allows files to transfer between private and public clouds.

Plus, hybrid cloud services also include a feature known as cloud bursting. An application or resource can run within the private cloud and “burst” into the public cloud when there is a spike in demand.

BLOCKCHAIN

In 2019, we expect the use of blockchain to grow in behind-the-scenes development and in publicized applications. IBM has already developed its own blockchain platform that lets developers build decentralized apps.

Also, there is a lot of chatter about gaming platforms set to release within the next year that will reward players in cryptocurrency and allow them to use those crypto tokens to purchase new games and merchandise.

The popularity of Bitcoin (blockchain’s most forward-facing application) first brought attention to the technology that was developed as a ledger for the cryptocurrency. The transaction information could be distributed, but not copied.

While blockchain was a super hot topic in 2018, some members of the tech community became skeptical of the technology when Bitcoin prices fell.

However, there is still a huge amount of potential value to discover for a distributed ledger that’s protected by encryption and provides an indelible record of transactional activity.

INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT)

As “smart” products grow in popularity, we find ourselves in an increasingly connected environment with millions of devices. 2019 will likely see a rapid increase in IoT platforms, with vendors narrowing focus onto specific use cases.

Quick recap: the Internet of Things (IoT) is the concept of connecting any and all devices to the internet so that they can communicate with each other.

In our previous blog about the IoT, we looked at how the expansion of these connected devices also presents a new cybersecurity threat.

In 2018, cyber attacks targeted home devices such as burglar alarms, security cameras, and door locks. In 2019, as traffic lights and public transportation systems join the IoT, we expect cybercrime to target smart city implementations.

Plus, there will likely be an increase in the practice of bundling service offerings by businesses as well as the emergence of a market for IoT managed services.

WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY (5G & BEYOND)

2019 will see the launch of 5G, which will be very different from previous generations of wireless technology.

The applications for 5G are broader than prior generations as it includes several wireless technologies such as sub-6GHz, mmWave, and NB-IoT. Cell towers equipped with 5G will have a much greater capacity, allowing more devices to communicate at a given time.

Due to its greater number of connectivity options, higher bandwidth, lower latency, and other improvements, 5G will provide newer and better ways to connect as well as new applications. It will make way for improvements in hybrid cloud technology and allow for greater developments in the IoT.

APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE IS CHANGING

From increased network speed and reliability to the development of cloud technologies that have revolutionized the way we store data, the last few years have seen dramatic innovations in the world of technology.

As our technologies continue to grow and evolve, the architectural designs of our applications must change to meet new demands.

Based on our research, there are four main principles that architectures must meet to stay relevant in modern technology:

1. Direct focus toward increasing the speed at which data is delivered to applications.

To avoid slowing down the system, the architecture must be memory- and network-centric to keep the data closest to where the computing is occurring.

2. There will likely be a rise in computing architectures offering workload isolation.

This allows different types of workloads to run on the same deployment and the same set of servers without competition. Plus, it keeps applications operating at optimal levels and makes it easy for developers to independently scale parts of the system.

3. Data should be available at the point of interaction.

Not all data can be on the device and must be properly protected, but for the most part, data needs to be on the device as much as possible. The next generation of applications requires dynamic flexibility, and the key to that is data on the edge.

4. We need deployment-unaware computing architectures to take full advantage of the flexibility offered by the cloud.

Deployment-unaware means that applications can run in any environment (cloud, multi-cloud, on premise, bare metal, and virtualized containers), removing the limitations traditional databases experienced on the cloud due to vertical scaling.

 

It’s Kind of a BIg Deal

The importance of Business Intelligence (BI) to companies of all sizes


We all want to know where our business is going, what we can expect for the future and, better yet, the margins of success we will see in the upcoming months. But in order to see the future, we need to know “the now” of said business. Business Intelligence (
BI) provides us with that knowledge whether your business is small, medium, or large—BI is a one-size-fits-all tool.

At amshot, we focus strongly on being able to customize software to meet the individual needs of our clients—and that includes BI. Keep reading for a crash course in all things BI and why it’s worthwhile.

BREAK IT DOWN NOW

The formal definition of Business Intelligence refers to tools, technologies, applications and practices used to collect, integrate, analyze, and present an organization’s raw data in order to create insightful and actionable business information. Basically, Business Intelligence is a system for turning your business data into info that can help you make informed business decisions. BI allows us to pinpoint areas of weakness and strength in real time to gain further insights and tackle any opportunity to enhance business output.

That was a lot of loaded words, so think of it as an update. Updates to a cellphone let users see what Apple or Samsung or Google have been working on to make their experience better. Each upgrade has new benefits such as new gadgets, faster loading speeds, increased battery life, etc. All of those changes were made by looking and analyzing the current, ongoing issues within the software. Business Intelligence is like a non-stop, ongoing update to your business that leads to more overall success.

HELP YOURSELF

There are numerous benefits of using BI. As we mentioned, it provides real-time feedback that allows businesses to identify and achieve efficiencies in their organization, but that’s not all. Our team looked at the ways BI helps businesses, and here are just a few that stood out to us:

  • More accuracy when reporting, analyzing and planning – No matter how much you do something, it won’t matter unless you are accurate on every account. BI allows you to organize data without the potential for manual error and make decisions in real time.
  • Faster analysis, planning, and reporting – Efficiency plays a big role in business profitability. BI allows companies to make business decisions in a more timely matter, especially under pressure. It consolidates a lot of data and gives us a single perspective.
  • Improved data quality – You know the saying “quality over quantity”? With BI, businesses have access to both. It gathers the entire quantity of big data and transforms that into accessible figures in a high quality way.
  • Increased competitive advantage – It is important to understand that Business Intelligence is not the same as competitive intelligence. BI scans internal data within your business, which leads to a competitive advantage, while competitive intelligence looks at other people’s business. Knowing everything about your current state of business and tackling the issues that arise puts you ahead of competitors on its own, even if you don’t know the ins-and-outs of your competitors’ business.
  • Reduced costs and increased revenues – Of course, this is the ultimate goal for any business. BI lets you determine who your customers are by collecting data at high speed, which allows businesses to know them inside and out. Understanding their consumer behavior can result in a faster point of sale in a more accurate way.

USE IT OR LOSE IT

The ability to focus on the current state of your business becomes increasingly easier when utilizing everything BI has to offer. Every company want to be aware of where they stand as an individual part of the larger market, and BI helps companies analyze their systems, employees, and functionality. While this type of technological support may be new to some industries, the opportunities for growth and profitability that BI provides should be considered by any business looking to upgrade.

No two businesses are alike—we know that. BI helps us make your business more successful by blending this cloud of big data with the individual needs our software can provide. BI is the overhead macho-man of business analytics that can help companies grow and succeed, and amshot can help implement it. Contact us for a free consultation.

The Empirical Elegance of Data

Our modern lives have been built on the back of unwavering certainty. Steam engines allowed us to spread out, trade, and communicate across vast distances. Modern medicine is built on guaranteed biological reactions within us. That’s the kind of definitive cause and effect we’re finding in big data and data analysis. Couple that with the computational prowess of machine learning, capable of sifting through billions of business variables in seconds, and suddenly you have a resource that is not simply additive, but multiplicative, and free to shift and scale according to any demand.

Business Driven Data/Data Driven Business

A company is comprised of every decision made at every level by management and staff. We can only make decisions based on the information we digest, and in the past the direction of a business was driven by obvious bits of information that most people could interpret. 10,000 products sold is an effective indicator that there’s a market for that product, but what about the unseen, mercurial undercurrents that drive a consumer economy? That’s what a data driven business model employs to insure success and profit. With data, you don’t have to take a single step without knowing the ground on which it will land.

The Internet of Things and Data For Customers

Computers are a part of everything now, and everything is communicating. We’re able to draw statistics about how products are being used by utilizing consumer input. The context of this usage can be extracted to form a perfect picture of a consumer’s relationship with a product. It’s not just for the business, either, because making select information available to your consumer enriches their experience with a product or service. Examples of this include exercise watches that track your progress and shows how you compare to other users, and a streaming service that makes suggestions based on what others with similar viewing histories also watched.

Information, Learn Thyself

The most world-changing aspect of data is its ability to build on itself by way of machine learning and automation. With little input from the user, systems can gather, sort, and interpret data at speeds and in ways that a human could never fathom. With the inclusion of products capable of obtaining data by themselves, what we find is that a well-nurtured, but more hands-off approach to data is becoming increasingly prevalent. To put it simply, it’s the difference between picking fruit and planting a seed.

One Size Fits All

Data is flexible, too. Data analysis can be a panorama or a microscope, depending on business needs. A small company cannot afford to miss any scrap of usable information, like recurring complaints, common user issues, or simply what color of product consumers in a particular region are more likely to take home with them. Likewise, a large company receives such an incredible amount of information that interpreting patterns and trends from this chaos is the only way this company can stay mobile and ensure growth.

The beauty of data is not from form, but function. The form that data takes is increasingly massive heaps, growing into mountains, of information that make increasingly less sense to decision makers concerned with the broad, immediate path. The function, however, is an assured honesty, an empirical statement that can be the answer to any question a business may have. That’s what makes data beautiful.

There’s so many sides of data, so many angles from which to extract, and this only grows with our ability to collect it. Every day at amshot we are devising new ways to make this process seamless for the end user, be it business or consumer. Get in touch with us and start your way down the certain path that data can lay before you. Give us a call at (405) 418-6282 or send an email to consult@amshot.com for a free consultation.

Mobile Save

Big Data and Predictive Analytics: The Competitive Edge

How does using data/business intelligence give businesses an edge over those who don’t utilize customer or company data?

Data is the most valuable commodity for any modern business. Small bits of information — such as customer age, consumer habits, and location — all add up to a bigger picture. Minute, seemingly disposable data accumulates to form what we call “big data”, an ocean of information gathered by a company’s day-to-day interactions with a consumer. Business intelligence is the practice of forming this bigger picture, making vast quantities of information easily digestible and actionable. Here are a few questions that data analysis can answer for you and your company.

Who is our customer?

Millions of people are regularly engaging with millions of products and services. Each and every day, a single consumer interacts with dozens if not hundreds of businesses by way of advertisement, digital applications, brick and mortar establishments, and subscription-based services. Add in what they’re not partaking in and you’ve got a much more vivid picture of who your customer is. By knowing the habits of your consumer, and by way of predictive analysis, a business can know how the market will respond to an idea before it’s even rolled out.

How are customers interacting with our product or service?

People’s personal relationship with and perception of your brand can make or break your business. Do you find that more of your sales come from older people or younger? Do they sell especially well at a certain time of day or time of the year? Do customers frequently pair another product or service with yours? These details can seem like minutiae, but they form the trends that will completely determine your success.

What is our public image and what do consumers expect from us?

Data analytics aren’t just important for the direct interaction consumers have with your brand. They also help summarize how those customers are responding after those interactions take place. Posts and digital reviews — across social media platforms and Google listings — give you the most honest, unfiltered representation of how your brand is perceived. Be it positive or negative, this data allows a company to self-reflect and apply tweaks to their image that will foster a positive relationship with consumers.

Who are our competitors?

Mistakes are the growing pains of any business, but data analysis of the mistakes of others is a much more painless experience. In today’s world everything is shared, and deep in the data trail are the reasons why others have failed or succeeded. For example, if a similar company’s product failed, look and see if the mistake wasn’t in targeting the wrong demographics, or casting too broad a net when choosing an audience to advertise to. These are the foundation of what is called competitive intelligence, and it is a vital practice. If you aren’t learning from others’ mistakes, they are most certainly learning from yours.

Knowing your customer, how they perceive and interact with your brand, and how you compare to your competitors are some of the answers that can steady a business during turbulent times or take profits to the next level for even the most successful business. Information is the single most important asset, and it’s just waiting to be taken.

That’s what we at amshot aim to do for your company. We know where to look, and our expertise is in creating custom programs and applications that make it possible for this data to be gathered, deciphered, and interpreted for easy understanding by decision makers within a business. If this sounds like something your company needs, email consult@amshot.com or give us a call at (405) 418-6282 to set up a free consultation.

Mobile Save