Whitepaper 5 Dos and Don ts of Embedded Analytics
Who Needs Embedded Analytics? Whether you re producing automation software, SaaS products or cloud applications, it s likely to assume you re collecting a lot of data in the process. With more and more companies and individuals understanding the value of using data to improve different aspects of their business, the ability to offer a powerful data analytics and dashboard reporting (i.e., Business Intelligence) feature within your existing product can give your software product the competitive edge that it needs and greatly improve the value you offer to customers. This paper will guide you through five essential steps in selecting, purchasing and implementing embedded analytics software, with some specific dos and don ts for each stage. CONTENTS Click on the title skip to the relevant section Step 1: Considering Whether To Buy Or Build An Analytics Platform Step 2: Defining Your Requirements From Embedded Analytics Step 3: Choosing Between Different Embedded BI Vendors Step 4: Integrating Embedded Analytics in Your Products Step 5: Building a Customer Support Model
Step 1 CONSIDERING WHETHER TO BUY OR BUILD AN ANALYTICS PLATFORM Buy vs. Build So you ve decided your software could use an analytics and reporting feature. Great! The first thing you ll want to think about is whether to buy existing embeddable software and integrate it in your own product, or to develop an analytics platform in-house. In a world of unlimited resources, you d probably want to develop your analytics platform in-house to retain full control of your product and include the exact kind of functionality you feel that you or your clients require. However most businesses don t operate in such an ideal environment, and the reality is that Business Intelligence isn t one of their core competencies. Hence it would take years of R&D work, as well as immense financial investments, to develop the same kind of platform that is readily available to purchase from vendors who live and breathe BI.
Nevertheless, it s important to take note of the type of software you re purchasing, and to make sure it will be easy enough to implement and use without incurring extensive and unexpected costs. Do: Consider the costs, time to market and end-product functionality of developing in-house It s important to note that Business Intelligence is about more than just displaying fancy visualizations on the user s screen: It handles joining multiple data sources, running fast queries on large datasets and allowing users to explore their data by questioning it in a wide variety of ways. This type of analytics platform is no cakewalk to develop. Building a robust BI system that can handle the demands of Big Data would require immense resources (in terms of time and money) and might still fail to achieve the same level of functionality as an out of the box solution. Don t: Overlook the possible hidden costs and time-sinks in some embedded solutions Problems with integration between your own software and the embedded analytics platform have the potential to greatly increase your costs and production time. This could mean prolonged periods
that will have to be devoted to development and iterations between you and your BI provider. Additionally, some BI software is so complex to implement and use that it will require extensive training on your end before the system is actually up and running, further extending your costs, time to market and proving to be a major headache on its own sake. Next step: Defining Your Requirements From Embedded Analytics
Step 2 DEFINING YOUR REQUIREMENTS FROM EMBEDDED ANALYTICS 50 Shades of Business Intelligence After you ve decided to go ahead and purchase an embedded analytics solution to integrate with your existing product, it s important to define what exactly you ll be hoping to achieve with it and what the different types of BI software have to offer you. There s a seemingly endless amount of BI products in the current marketplace, and to the untrained eye they could all appear to be promising the same essential things. However a closer inspection which might actually require downloading a trial version of the software or requesting a proof of concept will reveal substantial differences between the different types of software. For example, Front end tools such as data visualization software focus on dashboard reporting, whereas end to end tools also handle data preparation and have a built-in querying and analytics engine. The type of tool you ll require depends, among others, on the volume, variety, and velocity you plan to process.
Do Consider your current needs Ask yourself what exactly will be required from your embedded analytics feature. Here are some guidelines to take into account: Size: How much data will you need to handle? Hundreds of megabytes? Gigabytes? Terabytes? Some BI tools performance can suffer when handling large datasets. Reporting: Will it be enough to generate a few predetermined reports, or will you want users to be able to generate custom queries and reports? Security: Which permissions will you be able to set, and how difficult will it be to do so? Can you set permissions on database, table and row levels? Don t Underestimate your future needs Even after thoroughly defining your exact plans for your embedded analytics app, don t forget that Business Intelligence is, to a large extent, the realm of the uncertain. The amounts and types of data we collect today would have been incomprehensible a few years ago, and there s no reason to believe they will remain identical in a few years time.
To avoid the need to repurchase, re-implement and re-train your staff when you discover the solution you ve chosen can no longer fully satisfy your requirements, make sure that whichever embedded analytics platform you choose will be scalable. Assume your datasets will grow and your querying and reporting needs will also expand, and make sure that the software you integrate will be able to handle the larger workload. Next step: Choosing Between Different Embedded Bi Vendors
Step 3 CHOOSING BETWEEN DIFFERENT EMBEDDED BI VENDORS Finding the Best Offer After determining your exact Business Intelligence needs, it s time to start making a shortlist of possible vendors that offer embeddable software which can adequately address these needs. As this is usually going to be a costly transaction, insist on a Proof of Concept and trial period before making a purchase. If more than one vendor offers you an embedded analytics solution that you think would be a good fit for your own software, it s time to see who can make you the best offer. Do Look for a vendor that offers full-featured software with fast implementation The whole reason you started your embedded analytics project was because you were looking for a faster and cheaper alternative to inhouse development. If the embedded BI software you ve landed upon can t promise you these two factors, you probably need to reconsider your choices.
This doesn t mean you should settle for a mediocre product. As we ve mentioned above, even if your BI needs seem modest at the moment, you can t be sure they won t be tenfold greater within a mere few years. Hence you should choose an embedded analytics solution that covers all the features you currently plan on using, as well as ones you might want to implement further on. Don t Compromise on less than a full Proof of Concept before purchasing Bear in mind: quality software isn t cheap, so expect an OEM license (which will allow you to redistribute the vendor s Business Intelligence tool under your own label and as part of your product) to be a medium to large transaction in terms of software costs. This is exactly why you should be sure you re making the right choice by choosing a vendor that lets you try their software on your database and experiment with its API before actually spending any of your organization s money. Insist the vendor provide you with a trial version of their software and runs a full Proof of Concept on your own data to see that it really can do all that the vendor s representatives claim it can. Next step: Integrating Embedded Analytics In Your Products
Step 4 INTEGRATING EMBEDDED ANALYTICS IN YOUR PRODUCTS Create a Seamless Customer Experience Now that you ve purchased an OEM license for embedded analytics, it s time to think of how you want to integrate your shiny new software within the framework of your existing products. Aim to create a single sign-on (SSO) experience in which your users don t even realize they re using embedded software. Embedded dashboard software should enable you to fully white-label the tool you ve purchased under your own branding. This should include adding your logo and controlling the color scheme, fonts and general design to keep it in tune with your product. We recommend you supply regular users with several built-in dashboards and widgets that will answer the common questions they would usually ask about the data you provide them with, while still enabling power users to build custom dashboards and expressions and gain deeper insight into their data. Make sure the embedded BI tool you have chosen allows you do this, as well as set different permissions for different users.
Do Give your users the freedom to explore their data If you ve purchased embedded analytics, it means you wanted to enable your customers to reap the benefits and insights of true Business Intelligence, not just a few pre-generated reported. You should enable users to perform queries on the whole of their data, mash-up different data sources and get fast answers for on the fly questions that they come up with after their initial analysis. The whole idea is to add to the value that customers gain from your product. True value derives when end-users can reach their own insights, not from flashier versions of the same charts and graphs which your built-in reporting platform could have produced. Don t Confuse your users with overly complex interfaces Most software products have a learning curve. For some (e.g. word processing programs) it s fairly shallow, and for others (e.g. central logging tools) it can be extremely steep. If your embedded analytics make your current product much more complex than it previously was, this might deter parts of your audience and should serve as a warning sign. What you re aiming to achieve is an analytics platform that is in-line with your users level of technical expertise. If your software is not
meant solely for IT use, your embedded analytics should have the same level of usability. Next step: Building a Customer Support Model
Step 5 BUILDING A CUSTOMER SUPPORT MODEL Leave No Customer Behind Adding new features to your software will mean additional training and preparation is required from your technical support staff. This is especially true when it comes to features that your company didn t develop and isn t fully familiar with their inner workings. Tackle this issue in a joint effort with your vendor. While certain adjustments will most likely be required, this needn t be a major issue. If handled correctly, it should not be too big an obstacle for your organization. The first key is to reduce the number of problems which lead customers to contact CS: Choose software that integrates with your own smoothly and doesn t create new issues that stem solely from API incompatibilities. It also helps if the embedded software has a simple GUI which doesn t require coding or scripting, allowing non-technical users to complete simple tasks on their own.
However, as with any software, issues will arise, and the key to handling them without crises is preparation: make sure the price you ve agreed upon with your vendor includes training for your staff, as well as support from the vendor s own representatives when the need arises. Do Train your staff to properly handle common issues Before you make the embedded analytics software operational, make sure your onsite staff are ready to support customers who run into more common and simple problems. Training your support team can and should be the vendor s responsibility but it s best to have your own reps ready and able to provide direct answers to the bulk of your customers issues when they arise. Don t Settle when it comes to ongoing support from your BI vendor It should be absolutely clear that your vendor s responsibilities towards your organization have not ended upon you purchasing and implementing their software. After all, the vendor is the one who built the product and as such, should commit to provide ongoing support,
maintenance and training when your customers have problems running it, and all within a reasonable timeframe. So while your own employees should be able to take care of the simple stuff always rest assured that if something more substantial arises, the original manufacturer of the software will be there for you and your customers. Next steps Embedding Sisense BI Software