As communications service providers (CSPs) grapple with how to deploy mobile data analytics, Dr Rado Kotorov, suggests seven key requirements they should demand from their systems
The Ericsson Mobility Report predicts that total mobile data traffic will have a compound annual growth rate of 45% in the next five years. Real Wireless consultant, John Okas, points out that this increase in mobile data will take a toll on operator capex and opex. As a result, he concludes that mobile operators need to apply data analytics to enable them to prioritise network investment and manage performance, in order to maintain user experience and minimise churn. In fact, mobile data analytics offers all customer-facing organisations the opportunity to generate insight and foresight that allows them to continually improve user experience, enhance productivity and increase revenue. Mobile working, social media, streaming, mobile banking apps and mobile commerce present an opportunity for operators, service providers, enterprises, app vendors and merchants to identify meaningful patterns from data transactions that allow them to plan future services. Ventana Research has been tracking the evolution of mobile data analytics and business intelligence (BI) tools for the past few years and asserts: “Today’s mobile workforce requires the ability to access and analyse data simply, straightforwardly and through a mobile interface.”
Select the best tools for mobile data analytics
Ventana Research recently published its 2016 Mobile BI and Analytics Value Index, which contains its analysis of 13 vendors’ technologies and how well they meet the requirements of organisations. Ventana assesses vendors’ mobile BI technologies based on seven categories: Integration, Reliability, Usability, Capability, Adaptability, Manageability and TCO/ROI.
1. Integration
For BI to deliver added value, it is crucial that it integrates with existing applications and systems so that it can draw information from them. The best technologies enable organisations to rapidly and cost effectively build mobile BI capabilities that can be deployed anywhere.
2. Reliability
For its reliability rating, Ventana assesses products’ performance and scalability and the extent to which they support employees accessing BI data remotely on mobile devices.
3. Usability
Data analytics is moving beyond being the preserve of the data scientists. Its increased use by business people has driven the requirement for BI tools that are easy to use by technical and non-technical staff alike. Ventana Research’s usability criterion examines how much effort BI vendors have put into the human interface of their products and the level of support for mobile, web and voice. Interestingly, Ventana also assesses the usability of BI products by employees from different generations.
4. Capability
This criterion involves assessing how well the product supports different roles within organisations, from c-level executives to line managers. Analysts also assess each BI product’s data access, integration and modelling capabilities. Analytic discovery, information optimisation, collaboration and performance management are also evaluated.
5. Adaptability
Ventana also rates vendors’ BI products on how well they can be customised and configured to the needs of a particular business.
6. Manageability
Vendors are assessed on how easy it is to install, deploy and administer their mobile BI products and the sophistication of IAM security measures built into their technologies.
7. Total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI)
More than two thirds of the organisations Ventana Research surveyed seek BI technologies that enable better decision making, through improved knowledge sharing and communication. Ventana Research believes that this, in addition to usability, helps to deliver better value.
As organisations work to gain maximum return on their mobile investment and operators strive to ensure the best user experience, mobile data analytics offers the opportunity to transform business data into business value.
Mobile BI and data analytics technologies are constrained by the processing and storage capacities of mobile devices, demanding lightweight technologies that allow mobile users to visualise relevant and timely data on small screens.
While previous versions of BI were not always optimised for mobile visualisation. Today’s mobile workforce demands BI tools that are designed for use on tablets with touch-screen capabilities, to enable easy access to BI analysis and visualisation tools.
As the mobile data market matures, it would appear that mobile data analytics is no longer a nice to have. In fact, Maribel Lopez, principal analyst at Lopez Research, believes that mobile data analytics is a crucial factor in the success of an organisation’s mobile strategy because it provides employees with the information they need to be able to make timely business decisions.
