In the past, business intelligence (BI) tools used by analysts provided poor location analysis capabilities. At best they simply extended limited data visualization to maps. Recently, more specialized Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been developed to provide the tools needed to answer more complex data intelligence questions.
Today there are more solutions than ever, offering ways to explore geolocation data, deliver consumer-friendly dashboards, and provide meaningful analytics. However, many of these solutions require at least some programming knowledge for full integration.
When considering a location intelligence solution there arefour main criteria most business decision-makers have identified as key.
- Does the product improve, automate, or enrich an existing process?
- Does the product expose problems or reveal opportunities that were previously hidden in prior BI apps?
- Does the product provide the information you need, where you are and when you need it?
- Does the product integrate with the tools and systems you already have?
As you consider your business's unique needs, we recommend a product that easily integrates with your existing BI software and combines many benefits and powerful capabilities including a custom geolocation dashboard that helps you visualize, track, report, and mapify your business KPI's. This product also provides trusted SAP security, support, and easy point and click user interface, which will get your team onboard faster, giving you the valuable business insight you seek.
What is a CMaps Analytics?
CMaps Analytics is a web-based suite of tools that offers key business insights using location intelligence. It is designed to utilize the mapping and geolocation services you already use and are familiar with. This not only allows you to utilize your existing map data but also leverage powerful data sources like Google Maps to create fresh and meaningful location analytics.
CMaps Analytics is SAP certified and fully integrated with SAP Business Intelligence. This means that you will be able to easily import and export your data to and from your business intelligence dashboard with ease, create new location analytic dashboards specific to your needs as well as share and collaborate with members of your team —giving you instantaneous insight.
10 Business Intelligence Benefits of CMaps Analytics:
1. Visualize and Analyze Geographic Relationships
Mapify your business data and gain understanding about how a subject matter’s geographic relationships including location, distance, proximity, density, and any changes over time.
2. Powerful Data Aggregation Tools
Since location is a common attribute which links multiple data sources together, when it is displayed visually it can uncover trends and insights not readily seen in other forms. Interactive mash-ups allows you to combine on-premise business data, website analytics, and social media data together in a way that tells the story of your business by illustrating highly visual correlations and patterns within a familiar map framework.
3. Real-Time Data Tracking
Location data is a critical factor for businesses that need in order to follow events in real-time. SAP Analytics opens up a new channel to better visualize business data in real-time whenever you desire.
4. Supports Your Growing Needs
As your organization scales, the number of events you need to track increases. Having a utility for geographic visualization is crucial to be able to navigate and drive your decision-making process.
5. Secure On-demand, 24/7 Access with Mobile Capabilities
Access the location and availability of your assets, when you want —no matter where you are. Cloud-based services by SAP ensure that your location data and any other integrated data is secure and fully supported.
6. Custom Geo-Analytics
Because geography is one of the most powerful ways to constrain or explore information, you need a tool for answering the most integral and sophisticated questions. Geo-Analytics, a CMaps Analytics feature, allows you to apply custom business rules, statistical analytic dashboarding, and apply numerous and varied geospatial coordinates to narrow your focus to reveal the information that is most important to you.
7. Full Integration With Business Intelligence Reports
The easy point and click interface allows you to access and visualize geographic analysis directly in your BI reports and dashboard. Integrates seamlessly with your Fiori and HANA-powered business intelligence apps, as well.
8. SAP Ease of Use
CMaps Analytics was made for interactive dashboard analytics. No servers, software, coding or barriers to creating secure location intelligence directly inside of your SAP Business Intelligence Dashboards, SAP Crystal Reports, and other existing BI software.
9. Drill Down to Uncover Hidden Data
Over 20 map layers and types plus hundreds of additional clickable properties allows you to drill-down into data to uncover informational relationships and data you may have not been aware existed previously. Through the geo-diagnostics feature, visualize exceptions and uncover trends in your business data.
10. Create Custom CMap Dashboards
A few of the dashboards creative users have made with CMaps Analytics include:
- Sales Opp Dashboard with Weather Overlay - aided sales operations for planning logistics and other activities which might be impacted by weather events.
- Executive Geo Dashboard - Supplied a bird's eye view on real-time events, strategic and day-to-day business activities.
- State Government / Demographic Based Budgeting - A simple "what-if" scenario planning dashboard used in high-level budget meetings for policymakers.
- Delinquent Delivery Console - This dashboard reviewed real-time delayed deliveries, allowing the dispatcher to identify and focus on problem areas.
- Product Sales Dashboard - This powerful dashboard allowed navigation of product sales by region. With bi-directional integration, it displayed information from the dashboard, and then provide a drill-down for what-if scenario analysis for each region.
- Marketing Dashboard - By layering custom regions, states, and regional-level marketing metrics, this dashboard used the distance and lasso selection feature to filter and combine marketing expenditures and ROI per geolocation.
SAP Integration of CMaps Analytics Is Easy
CMaps Analytics differentiates in this area by providing not only simplicity and ease of use but also seamless integration with SAP products like Business Intelligence, Crystal Reports, and Webi, as well as plugins for deep integration with data from your HANA apps and Fiori Business Suite. This means faster onboarding, improved efficiency, greater productivity which is a value proposition for all stakeholders.
Because applying traditional ROI metrics for BI can be difficult to interpret, the primary benchmark for success should be user adoption. Whether you are an executive, designing a custom dashboard or a team member creating mobile reports for a sales manager you need to be able to quickly utilize the geolocation and map data. BI applications that are difficult to integrate and use, do not add value and ultimately don’t succeed.
Increased adoption utilization means that your team is benefiting from your location intelligence solution. Furthermore, integrating your location services with your existing software and BI dashboard solutions means that you are getting the most out of your very significant business intelligence solution investment. With help from 5x Technology, you can easily integrate your SAP Business Intelligence with CMaps Analytics. Learn more about how the right BI solution can help your business overcome information challenges with our free download BI/BPM Guide for Midsize Companies.
