The KPI Dashboard – Evolved
1-877-233-6149
Contact Us

KlipBlog.

The official Klipfolio weblog.

future

Mashup in a Business Intelligence World

May 26, 2010, by Gregory A. Quirk

BusinessWeek declared 2007 as the year of the mashup.  But that year came and went and then some, so looking at 2010 the question is “What is a mashup and are people interested in using them?”

Last week, Allan Wille joined industry leaders to discuss the idea of The Last Mile: Data Visualization in a Mashed-Up World.  An MP3 of their discussion can be found on the DM Radio website.

According to Wikipedia, a mashup is an “…application that uses or combines data or functionality from two or many more external sources to create a new service”.  However, that definition could be used for nearly everything.  And the term becomes a bit more grey when you consider what can be constituted as part of a mashup – must it be totally dissimilar data, or can it also include historical data to put things into context?

Technically any location where data is co-located can be considered a mashup.  You iGoogle page is a mashup of RSS feeds from different sources.  A website that includes a company’s twitter feed and a calendar to display upcoming events could be considered a mashup.

In business intelligence (BI) terms, a mashup is something that combines information – enhancing context – to provide understanding.  As with any BI system everything needs to be placed into context.  Mashing up sales revenue and temperature would not provide relevant data, unless you were running an ice cream store.  But mashing up something like revenue and hours of overtime can provide some very relevant contextual information.

Mashups have traditionally promised two benefits.  The first is to provide accessibility, which has been achieved through introduction of visualization.  The idea is that more users can take advantage of the data because they can understand what is being portrayed through the graphics.  The second point, and one that mashups have only had limited success at delivering upon, is ease of implementation.  This is the idea that any non-technical user could create their own mashup.  Today, however, this is mostly limited to RSS feeds which a user can set up, such as an iGoogle page.

While people are not necessarily using the term “mashup” many are implementing the concept whether they realize it or not.  More companies are combining data from not only their own data sources, but also 3rd party systems, especially as more SaaS systems are deployed. 

There are dangers associated with mashups.  As more data is available, it can be overwhelming to determine what information, and from what source, is relevant to the key performance indicators (KPIs) that a company should track.  The idea is to really think about what matters as opposed to what can be mashed together.  Data quality can also be a concern as information is pulled from multiple sources, which may or may not be qualified and cleansed.  The final issue to consider is when drawing relationships.  Is the data correlated, as in the case of sales and temperature, or causal, which means that there is an actual relationship between the data points.

The future of mashups will include adding more relationships in clearly displayed formats.  The new relationships will include things like sentiment and social data to understand the impact of these activities.  And improved visualization will enable more users to benefit from BI without a technical background or in depth understanding of how it works.

posted in:   |   add comment

SMS. We want your opinion.

Apr 14, 2010, by awille

What if Klipfolio Dashboard could send alerts to your mobile phone? Alert me if a new opportunity from a key customer comes in, or if our inventory levels fall below a certain threshold.

Sounds good doesn't it? And technically, it's quite possible. However, who pays for it? We've been debating this question and perhaps more importantly - will you (and by that we mean the company you work for) pay for it?

Let us know what you think. Complete the survey and see the results.

Allan

 

posted in:   |   1 comments

We'd like your thoughts

Jan 19, 2009, by awille

We'd like your input. You may have already noticed that we have placed this six-choice poll throughout the site, asking a question that is on our minds right now - and a hot subject area for dashboard vendors. Indicate which smartphone you use, and view the results.

If you're in the mood for a meatier survey, we can serve that up as well. We are also asking how your company shares its KPIs and important business information. Answering these questions might take you 5 minutes - so if you have the time, we'd appreciate your help. Start this survey here.

Thanks
Allan

 

 

 

posted in:   |   add comment

Heads Up! Changes are coming in Q1.

Mar 13, 2008, by bogrady

If you’ve been following the discussion on the KlipFolio forum, you know Jeremy is rolling out fun updates to the personal version of the KlipFolio desktop dashboard. These include new layouts, features that help you find your favourite Klip items, and lots more.

But Serence isn’t just updating the personal dashboard. Jeremy’s changes are working hand in hand with our next release of the enterprise version of KlipFolio. Maybe you’ve already taken a sneak peek at KlipFolio Enterprise 5?

If you like what you see there, we’re also prepping a few short videos to demonstrate the new enterprise features. I’ll post them here when they’re ready to go. We’re pretty stoked about this release because it will help both business people and IT people to get their jobs done.

Business people can use KlipFolio Enterprise 5 as a heads-up display to see, decide, and act on their most important priorities. And they can do it all on the desktop! Likewise, IT folks that are managing ERP or CRM deployments will love KlipFolio Enterprise 5 too. It turns out that a desktop dashboard is a great way to drive adoption of these systems.

Everybody wins.

 

posted in:   |   add comment

KlipFolio 4 System Monitors & Frame Klips Preview - YouTube

Dec 04, 2006, by awille
Here is another KlipFolio 4 sneak peek. This time we are showcasing our new system monitoring Klips, as well as a new Klip style called frame layout.



Won't be long now ...

posted in:   |   1 comments

Liquid Klips & Sidebar Preview - YouTube

Nov 13, 2006, by awille

Hi Folks ... as mentioned last week, we promised to upload a video sharing with you some of the things we are working on with KlipFolio 4. Here it is ...

Enjoy ... good things are coming!

posted in:   |   add comment

KlipFolio for Symbian Smartphones

Nov 06, 2006, by peterM
2006-11-062006-11-06

Today we're announcing a new project: KlipFolio for Symbian smartphones.

With this new version of KlipFolio you'll be able to take your Klips with you, wherever you go.

What's really neat about this project is that it leverages both the small size and device-independent nature of Klips. Our plan has always been to keep Klips small and device-independent. KlipFolio on the desktop provides Klips with the best UIs for the desktop context. KlipFolio for Symbian gives Klips the best UIs for a smartphone.

What this means is that developers don't have to worry about the UI. And, most importantly, users get the best interface regardless of what environment they are running.

From day one (in 2001!), we envisioned Klips running on a wide array of devices, from desktops and PDAs to mobile phones, TVs and even voice systems. They're your services, and you should be able to use them with whatever device you have handy. We're now realizing the vision. The hard work in keeping things small, lightweight and device-independent is starting to pay off, and every Klip developer, KlipFolio Branded customer and KlipFolio user will benefit.

KlipFolio for Symbian will use the exact same Klips that run in KlipFolio on the desktop: over 4000 Klips available for you to choose from to take on the road.

Look for an announcement this winter about the availability of KlipFolio for Symbian.

PS. If you see Allan or James at the Widgets Live! show, ask them for a demo and see KlipFolio running on a Symbian smartphone for yourself!

posted in:   |   add comment

New in KlipFolio 4: Sidebar

Nov 05, 2006, by peterM

We've got another KlipFolio 4 preview for you! Here's the brand new KlipFolio 4 sidebar. Now you'll be able to keep an eye on your Klips at all times and leave plenty of screen real estate to get stuff done.

In the tradition of all things KlipFolio, this sidebar can be resized to be really, really small, with your Klips remaining visible and usable. So there won't be a need to minimize anything, restore anything or bring anything up just to stay informed; it'll all be right there, using up just the tiniest amount of screen real estate, keeping you connected.

More previews and sneak peeks throughout the day!

posted in:   |   add comment

KlipFolio 4.0 and Real-Time System Monitoring

Oct 20, 2006, by peterM

Time for another sneak peek at KlipFolio 4.0! This week we've got system monitors for you. With 4.0 you'll be able to monitor your CPU and memory usage as well as the strength of the WiFi signal of the access point you're connected to.

KF 4.0 System Monitors Screenshot 

One of the key things here is that Klips will no longer have to refresh to do stuff. It's a new timer event. It opens up the door to lots of new Klip presentation capabilities.

There's lots more 4.0 on the way. Stay tuned!

 PS. Check out the new Flickr Klip on KlipFolio.com

posted in:   |   5 comments

A First Peek at KlipFolio 4.0

Oct 05, 2006, by peterM

KlipFolio 4.0 development has been under way for weeks now. We thought it was time to let you all in on some of what's coming. It's going to be a great release!

Our 4.0 focus is on what people have been asking for. Richer data in Klips. Easier Klip movement and arranging. More tools for developers. Massively improved Klip visibilty. System monitoring. And of course we've added some snazzy eye-candy.

Here's a screenshot of an internal build of KlipFolio:

Preview of KlipFolio 4.0

There's so much more to it than you see here. We'll keep posting more previews over the coming weeks as we get closer to the first public release.

This will be the one.

posted in:   |   1 comments

Help Decide the Future of KlipFolio!

Jul 27, 2006, by peterM

We're hard at work on the next major release(s) of KlipFolio (after 3.1, due very soon). We've got a bunch of features we're working on already but before we finalize the entire feature list we thought we'd ask for a little help from the KlipFolio community.

We've put together a short survey detailing some proposed features for future versions of KlipFolio. What we want to know is if they interest you, and if so, how much.

To participate in the survey, you need to have a KlipFolio.com account, and you need to be signed in.

Thanks in advance to all of you who help out!

Take the Survey

 

posted in:   |   add comment

Spread it Thick

Jun 27, 2006, by awille

We're really happy with how many of you are helping us spread the word. To put it in perspective, just yesterday alone, there were over 120 people who are helping the KlipFolio cause! That's pretty cool.

We increased the visibility of the "Big Talkers" list yesterday, and it's now visible on the Blog, and also the Explor Sets page. Over time, we will try integrating it into other areas as well.

We also want to hear from you ... how can we get everyone talking about KlipFolio? Do you have some creative ideas that we can share with other KlipFolio users? Let us know here.

Because we also have a shipment of new T-Shirts, we will be cloathing the Top Big Talkers with the latest in KlipFolio fashions (see for a pic of the T-Shirt).

Thanks!
Allan

posted in:   |   add comment

Resurrecting the Wish List

Jun 19, 2006, by awille

One of the things we know about using KlipFolio is that great Klips are key. And it only takes one really great Klip to make someone a believer. Yes, having all your stuff in one handy view is the icing on the cake, but that's not as important as that one killer Klip you could not live without. For me, it's the currency monitor. I know it's geeky, in a sad sort of way, but this is the Klip I reference the most and what I would install first if I was reinstalling KlipFolio from scratch. So, herein lies a problem - matching users to their personal killer Klip.

We used to have a "request a Klip" feature on the old KlipFarm site, but after receiving a few thousand emails (and then a few thousand more), it was just not possible to manage and act on the requests. We also know that users use the forum to post their ideas for killer Klips - but it does not really get them any permanent visibility or weight from other likeminded users.

So, with this pseudo-social slant to KlipFolio.com, we've been thinking about resurrecting the "Klip Wish List". But this time around we'll make the whole thing public, and include the number of requests per Klip. Perhaps we'll even include other data, like a history of development effort, or comments. Some food for thought.

posted in:   |   1 comments

New KlipFarm on the Way

Feb 21, 2006, by awille

KlipFarm.com is only a few weeks away from a major upgrade---you won't even recognize it. In fact, it won't even be called KlipFarm anymore. It'll be easier to find great Klips, you'll be able to provide feedback for Klip authors, you'll have the ability to mark Klips as favourites and even put together sets of Klips you like using and share them with friends.

Everything to do with KlipFolio will be under one roof. No more going to Serence for support, KlipFarm for Klips and Klip Provider for documentation. It'll all be together.

The site is being built from scratch using PHP and Ajax, and this time we're using lots of slick CSS to define layouts instead of tables. All that, plus a new, optimized database, means the site is fast fast fast.

In the next few weeks we're going to launch a beta of the new site. Stick around for more info!

posted in:   |   add comment
« prev