CFO Rapid Fire Business Analytics

Business Analytics takes center stage on Gartner’s 2013 Magic Quadrant

Business Analytics continues to drive Business Intelligence. On February 5, 2013, Gartner released their 2013 Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms. Gartner has improved the accuracy of the title from simply "Business Intelligence Platforms" to "Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms". This strengthens and emphasizes the evolving role of business analytics within organizations.

For the first time, Tableau has been positioned as a "Leader" in the Magic Quadrant. The move from Challenger to Leader in just a year provides evidence that Tableau is constantly seeking feedback and improving their product within a timely manner. From real-time to data drilling, Tableau exceeds expectations.  CFO Rapid Fire is proud to be the analytics leader in the middle market restaurant and retail arena. We strive to keep our clients on the cutting-edge on all avenues. "The Gartner 2013 Magic Quadrant validates exactly why we selected Tableau from the beginning," states Meg Potts, partner CFO Rapid Fire. "We believe Business Analytics is THE key component every executive needs to make real-time data-driven decisions for success." For more information on the Business Analytics tool created especially for C-Level Executives: visit www.cforapidfire.com

Magic Quadrant

Figure1. Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms

Sourrce: Gartner (February 2013)

Data Explorers: Mission of CFO Rapid Fire

CFO Advisors has discovered a huge pothole for companies on the road to success: THEIR DATA! Most owners/managers are in the dark when it comes to what is really running their business. They don't know 1) how to access their data, 2) how to make sense of their data, or 3) how to make decisions based on their data. We are NOT developers nor are we programmers. We are accountants with an interest in bringing valuable data to the table. There is so much insight to be garnered from this data; it just needs to be available. Executives don't have the time or resources to dig into their accounting systems, financial reports or underlying data sets. Enter CFO Rapid Fire and Tableau ...And you have our recipe for success:

Dashboards are so yesterday…

We are THE interactive intelligence C-Level Executives need for tomorrow's world!

 

Business Intelligence: Get Your Game On!

There's a new game in town: Business Intelligence. It's on everyone's lips. Google the words and you will find no less than 246,000,000 results. It can be overwhelming sifting through all the insights. How do you get in the game? Recently, the following selection was written by David Rathert for RDA Corporation. We believe he is "spot on" in his descriptions. Decide for yourself and then Get Your Game On:  Business Intelligence!

"Business Intelligence and Why You Need It"

Everybody's talking about business intelligence (BI), and with good reason. Implementing an effective and comprehensive BI strategy is critical to the success of your business.

Why do you even need a business intelligence strategy? Because you need data. You need it to make projections, identify sales trends, establish price points, analyze profits, track product trajectories, and enhance corporate efficiency. You need it to make good decisions about your products and services.

Often, gathering data for reporting and analysis is no easy task. Typically it requires a team of people harvesting information from multiple, disconnected systems, which may produce unreliable results.

Let's say a manager wants to investigate the profitability of a particular product over a specific time period. Maybe he is also interested in who had the greatest volume of sales during that time. In order to get his answer, he (or his team) will need to invest a lot of time combing through customer relationship management (CRM) data, financial and accounting system data, and a few "rogue" spreadsheets.

You probably don't realize how much of your company's workload involves performing these types of routine tasks, which crowd out more productive endeavors. Your analysts are likely to be interrupted by special requests from coworkers and burdened with revisions to reporting formats. They will need to track down data components in their various repositories and deal with the constantly changing data set that the manager wants to see.

However, establishing an effective business intelligence strategy dramatically minimizes the time needed for putting this type of report together by organizing your data in a centralized, searchable, connected system. A comprehensive BI solution provides you with the answers you need in a digestible, "business dashboard" format. It also enhances your ability to customize reporting, see new business opportunities and identify where there are problems.

A lack of business intelligence impacts nearly every aspect of your business. Without it, your team spends all of its time sorting through reports to find the right data, paralyzing the decision-making process. Smart organizations establish a unified and comprehensive system that can grow with the company instead of becoming obsolete in a couple of years. This type of system pays dividends immediately: your payroll hours are used more efficiently, your forecasting is more accurate, and your streamlined process makes everyone happier and more productive.

Data Mining, Business Analytics and Business Intelligence: Dirty Job

Data is dirty. It is rich with massive amounts of information. Some is vital some is useless. Deciphering which data is relevant and then obtaining it in the proper form is the key to success. Data Mining can be a really dirty job. But, beneath that dirt, is the data that will drive Business Analytics (BA). Ultimately, this BA gives companies the Business Intelligence they are trying to unearth.

Imagine a world where each piece of the pie was perfectly sliced and served. All with a side of pretty whipped cream. Data is delivered, but digging through it and extracting the pieces that are edible is one of the biggest challenges faced. More often than not, it appears in a form that needs to be manipulated before utilizing it in our business analysis. Many times companies don't believe they have the resources, time or patience to mine the data. That is a fallacy. In fact, companies need to realize they do not have the luxury to relegate data mining to the back burner. Take Insurance Companies utilizing Social Media data to determine if people pose a coverage risk. They have realized there is a whole lot of data waiting to be mined which will ultimately, lead to better business decisions. We are not alone in our pursuit for intelligence. As reported recently by Gartner, CIOs in Asia are making business intelligence, analytics, mobile technologies, and cloud computing a priority.

Mined data, in relevant and usable formats, can be utilized in Business Analysis (BA). This BA shines a whole new light on a company's path/direction. However, the process of Data Mining often becomes too laborious and fraught with detours, leading companies to abandon the road. We cannot stress how important it is to plan ahead. Plan for Detours. Plan Resources. Devote Time. Most importantly, persevere! Beneath that dirt is the data that will drive Business Analytics giving companies that Business Intelligence they are desperately trying to unearth.

 

InStore Sales, Counts & PPA Seasonality, Commodities and YOUR Business Intelligence!

Every day, darkness comes a bit earlier. Daylight is diminishing. Schools are back in session. Memories of frolicking on the beach are fading. Gardens have been fruitful yet, for some areas, the best has been harvested. What does this mean for your business? Do you have the Business Intelligence needed to track how the changing of the seasons affects your business?

CFO Rapid Fire helps their clients visualize how their Sales, Counts & PPA are affected by seasonality. Of course, this example must have pretty stable conditions. In a "live" situation, the client would be able to identify exactly what happened during Week 21 to cause the spike. There is also a "Comment" Section which allows the clients to detail exactly what is happening on a real time basis. No more wondering what happened during a month, document it as it happens!

* Manipulate * Drill Down * Highlight * Investigate *

With this technology, the data our clients have been waiting to obtain is readily available. Now they are asking us "What should we DO with this data?" Our answer is:

* Analyze * Adjust * Innovate *

Nation's Restaurant News reported "Restaurant operators are braced for dry, stiff headwinds in commodity costs as America's food-producing regions continue to face the most persistent drought in a half century." This will obviously play a factor when viewing commodity costs. We've got a data viz for that as well! 

What are you doing to visualize your seasonality? What are you doing with your Business Intelligence?

Business Analytics: Innovate from Within

"Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress." -- Bruce Barton

We all want to be part of progress. In fact, most of us want to BE progress! However, becoming the leader is not without risk. We have all experienced the one step forward, two steps backward mentality. This eventually leads us to abandon our current path in favor of shelter from uncertainty. As Aran Levasseur stated in his article, Teaching Innovation Is About More Than iPads in the Classroom, "To varying degrees we've all come through the traditional model of education that has trained us to seek certainty. Combine that with the fact that we are wired to look for negative information -- and uncertainty would definitely fit into the negative category for most of us -- and we have a compound society that is increasingly risk averse. Yet without taking risks, we can't have breakthroughs." Breakthroughs become the hope we seek in order to keep progressing.

By utilizing Instalytics, CFO Rapid Fire continues to make breakthroughs. Analyzing variances allows companies to investigate where they may have deviated from the budget, prior year, benchmarks, etc. The following provides you a static illustration of variance visualizations. Detailed analyses would be completed utilizing the drill down feature with the "live" version.

Visualizations provide a clearer vision that allows companies to make decisions which ultimately affect their bottom line and progress to the next level. Analytics are the newest (and scarcest) resource companies are taping. IDC reports the business analytics market will grow at a 9.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2016. The abundance of data in every aspect of business is driving a need for deeper analysis. Couple this with the increasingly mobile generation and you've got a market ripe for data visualizations available anytime, anywhere.

Remember, C.S. Lewis said, "It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." Embrace the wave of Business Intelligence! Innovate from Within!

Business Intelligence: Road to Data Discovery

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes.” -- Marcel Proust

Questions abound regarding ways to invigorate, or even simplify, the analysis of financial statements. Does anyone do a little dance when their fund prospectus or financial statement shows up in their inbox? Having a fresh perspective for viewing your financial results can be the difference between success and failure. Intelligent Business Operations (IBO) is the next logical step for integrating analytics into management’s daily activities. As Janelle Hill, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, states “Tomorrow's business operations will integrate real-time intelligence .... Using IBO -- a style of work in which real-time analytic and decision management technologies are integrated into the transaction-executing and book-keeping operational activities that run a business."

CFO Rapid Fire, through the use of Instalytics, is able to capture general ledger activity on a real-time basis. This portrays a Data Visualization that goes beyond the traditional financial statement packages. It takes the same landscape but gives the user “new eyes” with which to “See into Their Data”!

Check out the following example of how we use Instalytics to display your Period Financials.

What we cannot convey with this simple, static illustration is the fact that the user would be able to drill into their Period Financials using the navigation bar. Financial Results can be broadened to view by period or year. The user is also able to narrow the parameters to view only the current year or provide comparative financials. All stores can be selected or again, narrowed to view a specific location. Each Financial Statement category can be “drilled” into by simply clicking on the account or number to further “see into the data”. We believe this allows the user to discover their data anytime, anywhere on a real-time basis!  There are so many opportunities to view your financials in a whole new light, this illustration can only provide a simple graphic.  Imagine if you could dive deeper as needed.  Unearthing answers as you go.  The road to data discovery is in your control.

As we’ve discussed previously, changes in the Business Intelligence landscape has heads spinning. There is a constant stream of Business Intelligence (BI) terms flowing throughout organizations. Experts provided some BI definitions for Software Advice in order to better aide users on their road to data discovery.  Every additional understanding we gain, allows us to be one step closer to true Business Intelligence.

Again, as Marcel Proust stated, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes.” Let us open your eyes and allow YOU to DISCOVER YOUR data!

We are Drowning in Data … Toss us an Analytic Life Preserver!

When the alarm sounds, do you grab your mobile device to check the headlines? Check status updates on your tablet? Flip on the TV to catch the news? Check into Foursquare? Do you need a checklist for what to tackle first? If any of this rings true, you are not alone. Our clients are completely overwhelmed and drowning in data. Information is coming at them from every available source on a real time basis. What should they tackle first?

As Alexis Madrigal, senior editor at The Atlantic and author of Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology stated in his article, The Real Point of Visualizations: Managing Data Overload Without Algorithms, "It's not necessarily the amount of information that's daunting for us, but rather the form of it…. Mostly that's because the posts are made up of words, which require another level of symbolic interpretation before we know if we are interested in them."  We believe the answer lies within data visualization. Seeing IS believing!  Check out this cool word graph that highlighted how Americans were feeling about the economy in 2011, as reported by Kevin Drum on Mother Jones, Chart of the Day: Our Weak, Uncertain, Fragile Economy    

 

We are now halfway through 2012. Do you have a clear picture of where your company is headed? Where it has been? How you are going to tackle each morning? Trends in Business Intelligence point every business owner towards mobile applications and data visualizations. Our owners are in constant motion and bombarded with data at every corner.  Conrad Bates and Cameron Wall reported in the recent article, Top Six BI Trends for 2012, "Analytics will help companies differentiate themselves, it will allow them to run more efficiently, make the most of their customers and increase profitability. Analytics provides organisations with actionable intelligence. While BI has traditionally been hard to create a business case for, analytics has a direct correlation to an organisation's top or bottom line."   Analytics is key in this business intelligence era.  Data should be discovered whenever the opportunity presents itself in the hands of the user.  As reported by Forrester Research Inc., Q2: 2012 Forrester Wave: Self-Service Business Intelligence (BI) Platforms, "80% of all BI requirements should be carried out by the business users themselves".  We don't want to become yet another "task" to check off that morning to-do list. We want to provide the user with actionable intelligence!  

CFO Rapid Fire is the life preserver you need now that you are drowning in data. 

 

 

 

 

Visualize your way out of Accounting Data Overload: Instalytics

"Words and pictures are yin and yang. Married, they produce a progeny more interesting than either parent." --Dr. Seuss

The news is flooded with discussions on the topics of Data Art/Infographics versus Data Visualization. Do we understand which each one brings to the bargaining table? How do they apply to Financial Statement Analysis? Both bring very real, but very different, results to our business intelligence.

Understanding is the key to valuable data visualizations. Sure, Data Art will entertain our audience but what we truly care about is delivering Data Visualizations which will lead to deeper understandings of complex data. John Sviokla, vice chairman of Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc., impresses the benefits of Visualizations. The 3 Benefits he discusses in his article, Swimming in Data? Three Benefits of Visualization, are:

1. Great visualizations are efficient — they let people look at vast quantities of data quickly.
2. Visualizations can help an analyst or a group achieve more insight into the nature of a problem and discover new understanding.
3. A great visualization can help create a shared view of a situation and align folks on needed actions.

Instalytics^TM is the Business Intelligence tool which marries words and pictures for a deeper understanding into your complex data. The static illustrations below are provided to simply "entertain" you. However, for a deeper understanding, you would be able to Drill into this visualization. Switch between YTD to QTD. Narrow the Heat Map to show only specific location(s), etc. Accomplishing the top 3 benefits mentioned above: Efficiency, Insight and Collaboration.

This Heat Map allows the user to visualize where YTD Sales are concentrated.

Or, this Heat Map visualizes how YTD Counts are performing.

Again, these are simple infographics allowing us to illustrate the exciting Business Intelligence which can be garnered from your accounting data. It's time to Visualize your way out of data overload!