Top 5 Reasons Why Visual Fusion with SharePoint Generates Returns
in the Enterprise
by Scott Caulk
November 28, 2007
Today's most successful business leaders tend to have a knack for squeezing the most out of limited resources. Whether its budget or personnel, maximizing returns is often a chief concern for executives and managers. Learning how to draw the most value from employees can pay off big, and companies often invest in activities and equipment to promote individual growth within their workforce. Training and education investments can build knowledge and understanding, and perhaps even reveal strategies for new ways of thinking about issues. Mentoring can bring about a transfer of wisdom, smooth rough edges, and re-orient focus on the things that matter most to an organization. Equipping with tools can help with both efficiency and effectiveness and the right tool can have the most pronounced impact on the productivity of employees, but this is often the area where financial investments are the largest and bad bets the most costly. Choosing effective tools that fit the particular needs of an organization or business unit can be challenging. How can a business leader know that their investment is likely to result in quality returns? What characterizes a tool that has been successful in company after company, and is likely to be successful in any company it is used?
IDV Solutions' Visual Fusion, combined with Microsoft's SharePoint, has been shown to generate great returns for the enterprise, and there are at least 5 very good reasons why.
It's enticing.
The first sight of a Visual Fusion application typically involves seeing a map with various data elements positioned on it. Often times these elements are much more than a bunch of points strewn across a landscape, but are instead conditionally formatted to immediately convey important information. Along with the points there are usually regions shaded particular colors, or other overlays such as weather, or other business intelligence areas of the page such as interactive scatter plots, or some combination of all of the above. But the point is that the user is immediately drawn to the application. The styling is purposeful and engaging, and right away the user can sense that something important is being communicated by the themed layout and symbology. Once the user starts to interact with the application the experience gets even better. Visual Fusion puts the control over the composite view on display into the hands of the user. Layers of data can be toggled on or off, tools such as distance measurers or time zone clocks can be turned on or off, the user can draw on the map or add other annotations and save/share these notes, etc. The bottom line is that Visual Fusion absorbs you in, and information workers love to use it.
It's illuminating.
Often times Visual Fusion represents the first opportunity some users get to see their data in the context of space and time. This is an eye opening experience. Never before seen associations become obvious, trends become more clear, and unforeseen discoveries seem to materialize out of thin air. The visualization of data within the composite view is the key. There is simply no way to duplicate seeing data in the proper context of space and time via a mash-up of spreadsheets and/or charts and graphs. Leveraging an SOA allows Visual Fusion to bring data together from any source within the enterprise, as well as any qualified source outside the enterprise. This disparate data can then be woven together into a meaningful mosaic: instant high level understanding with details available at a mouse click. Drill down detail in the form of commentary and fast facts, business intelligence in the form of supporting charts and graphs, and exportable excel spreadsheet tables and PowerPoint images of the map view are all available when specifics become desirable.
It's empowering.
Importantly, users are not limited to the site architect's original view of data relevance. Visual Fusion empowers the user to bring in data feeds from the Internet, to leverage all enterprise data stores via SharePoint's Business Data Catalog, and to search the enterprise and internet through SharePoint's federated search capabilities. Users can continue to build upon their own discoveries by bringing in information relevant to whatever question they are tackling at a given moment, without being dependent upon a site administrator to facilitate their pursuit. Visual Fusion creates stunning views of data, inspires original thinking around common information, and enables previously unconsidered data to be composed into the view for enhanced understanding, but perhaps most importantly, it is applicable to the daily needs of information workers. Decision making becomes easier because the picture is made more complete. The new associations and discoveries reinforce and lend assurance to previously intuitive notions, or quite possibly to even completely new ways of thinking about an issue. Regardless, Visual Fusion gives confidence that as many angles as possible about an issue have been seen and properly considered.
It's easy to setup and maintain.
Visual Fusion leverages the Web parts concept within SharePoint to enable rapid installation, setup, and configuration of unique visual composite applications. Out-of-the-box setup--minus data configuration--is usually achieved in less than a day. Data configuration obviously depends on the number of data layers setup for the application and the sophistication of conditional formatting applied to those layers. Beyond the ease of using Web parts to quickly create an application, many other built-in advantages of SharePoint are exploited as well. Data and documents can be easily entered, catalogued, and maintained via Lists and Libraries. Information can be filtered and sorted through Data Views. Front end views can be tailored to suit specific role-based audiences by using the permissions infrastructure that runs throughout SharePoint, thereby insuring security of data down to the item level. The Business Data Catalog (BDC) can be used to surface data from any enterprise data store. Oracle, SAP, ArcSDE, etc. are all reachable via the BDC. Searching all enterprise and even Internet data is made possible via SharePoint's federated search. Visual Fusion also has built in connectors for SQL Server and ArcSDE, with a host of advanced spatial operations available for implementation. Despite a wealth of options, setup and maintenance is simplified to the configuration of Web parts and XML files. From purchase to usage, time to productivity for Visual Fusion is excitingly low.
It's easy to integrate into workflow.
Once a visual composite application is setup, data is being displayed, and users are enthralled, Visual Fusion quickly becomes integrated into the daily work lives of individuals. SharePoint can help facilitate much of this via InfoPath, where processes can be formally created and managed. Actions and conditions trigger other events to ensure that each step of an intended process happens in a prescribed order, in this way proper authorization and accountability is maintained. Whether a part of a highly formalized process or simply through the eager adoption fostered by successful usage, Visual Fusion naturally integrates into the cycle of daily activities information workers commonly perform. As a hurricane approaches the Northwestern part of the Gulf of Mexico, asset managers determine whether to move drilling rigs or evacuate employees based on the composite view of real-time weather, the projected hurricane path, ocean current forecasts, ocean floor bathymetry, etc. A government analyst quickly plots the latest avian influenza outbreak data from around the globe and discovers a new trend in the spread of the disease, just in time for a briefing on Capitol Hill. A winter storm threatens the northeast, but an auto manufacturing plant manager confidently selects an unaffected parts distributor based on weather patterns and key enterprise metrics. These are all examples of how Visual Fusion has been integrated into the daily work life of enterprise employees.
Executives are tasked with leading people and drawing the best out of them. They do this by equipping their employees through mentorship, training, and providing tools. Selecting tools that deliver the most value to the enterprise is often times tricky. Will the tool assist in finding answers? Will the tool lead to innovative thinking? Will the tool even be used? These questions lie at the heart of trying to figure out the ROI of implementing a new tool. Visual Fusion has consistently demonstrated applicability to real business needs, discovery of fresh insights, and captivation of its user base. Through Visual Fusion, IDV Solutions delivers real value to both individual business units and the enterprise as a whole. Check us out and start to envision how captivating, enlightening resources can draw out value from your workforce.
For more information, contact: Sarah Wicker, Marketing Manager, IDV Solutions, 517-853-3755 ext. 226 sarah.wicker@idvsolutions.com.
by Scott Caulk
November 28, 2007
Today's most successful business leaders tend to have a knack for squeezing the most out of limited resources. Whether its budget or personnel, maximizing returns is often a chief concern for executives and managers. Learning how to draw the most value from employees can pay off big, and companies often invest in activities and equipment to promote individual growth within their workforce. Training and education investments can build knowledge and understanding, and perhaps even reveal strategies for new ways of thinking about issues. Mentoring can bring about a transfer of wisdom, smooth rough edges, and re-orient focus on the things that matter most to an organization. Equipping with tools can help with both efficiency and effectiveness and the right tool can have the most pronounced impact on the productivity of employees, but this is often the area where financial investments are the largest and bad bets the most costly. Choosing effective tools that fit the particular needs of an organization or business unit can be challenging. How can a business leader know that their investment is likely to result in quality returns? What characterizes a tool that has been successful in company after company, and is likely to be successful in any company it is used?
IDV Solutions' Visual Fusion, combined with Microsoft's SharePoint, has been shown to generate great returns for the enterprise, and there are at least 5 very good reasons why.
It's enticing.
The first sight of a Visual Fusion application typically involves seeing a map with various data elements positioned on it. Often times these elements are much more than a bunch of points strewn across a landscape, but are instead conditionally formatted to immediately convey important information. Along with the points there are usually regions shaded particular colors, or other overlays such as weather, or other business intelligence areas of the page such as interactive scatter plots, or some combination of all of the above. But the point is that the user is immediately drawn to the application. The styling is purposeful and engaging, and right away the user can sense that something important is being communicated by the themed layout and symbology. Once the user starts to interact with the application the experience gets even better. Visual Fusion puts the control over the composite view on display into the hands of the user. Layers of data can be toggled on or off, tools such as distance measurers or time zone clocks can be turned on or off, the user can draw on the map or add other annotations and save/share these notes, etc. The bottom line is that Visual Fusion absorbs you in, and information workers love to use it.
It's illuminating.
Often times Visual Fusion represents the first opportunity some users get to see their data in the context of space and time. This is an eye opening experience. Never before seen associations become obvious, trends become more clear, and unforeseen discoveries seem to materialize out of thin air. The visualization of data within the composite view is the key. There is simply no way to duplicate seeing data in the proper context of space and time via a mash-up of spreadsheets and/or charts and graphs. Leveraging an SOA allows Visual Fusion to bring data together from any source within the enterprise, as well as any qualified source outside the enterprise. This disparate data can then be woven together into a meaningful mosaic: instant high level understanding with details available at a mouse click. Drill down detail in the form of commentary and fast facts, business intelligence in the form of supporting charts and graphs, and exportable excel spreadsheet tables and PowerPoint images of the map view are all available when specifics become desirable.
It's empowering.
Importantly, users are not limited to the site architect's original view of data relevance. Visual Fusion empowers the user to bring in data feeds from the Internet, to leverage all enterprise data stores via SharePoint's Business Data Catalog, and to search the enterprise and internet through SharePoint's federated search capabilities. Users can continue to build upon their own discoveries by bringing in information relevant to whatever question they are tackling at a given moment, without being dependent upon a site administrator to facilitate their pursuit. Visual Fusion creates stunning views of data, inspires original thinking around common information, and enables previously unconsidered data to be composed into the view for enhanced understanding, but perhaps most importantly, it is applicable to the daily needs of information workers. Decision making becomes easier because the picture is made more complete. The new associations and discoveries reinforce and lend assurance to previously intuitive notions, or quite possibly to even completely new ways of thinking about an issue. Regardless, Visual Fusion gives confidence that as many angles as possible about an issue have been seen and properly considered.
It's easy to setup and maintain.
Visual Fusion leverages the Web parts concept within SharePoint to enable rapid installation, setup, and configuration of unique visual composite applications. Out-of-the-box setup--minus data configuration--is usually achieved in less than a day. Data configuration obviously depends on the number of data layers setup for the application and the sophistication of conditional formatting applied to those layers. Beyond the ease of using Web parts to quickly create an application, many other built-in advantages of SharePoint are exploited as well. Data and documents can be easily entered, catalogued, and maintained via Lists and Libraries. Information can be filtered and sorted through Data Views. Front end views can be tailored to suit specific role-based audiences by using the permissions infrastructure that runs throughout SharePoint, thereby insuring security of data down to the item level. The Business Data Catalog (BDC) can be used to surface data from any enterprise data store. Oracle, SAP, ArcSDE, etc. are all reachable via the BDC. Searching all enterprise and even Internet data is made possible via SharePoint's federated search. Visual Fusion also has built in connectors for SQL Server and ArcSDE, with a host of advanced spatial operations available for implementation. Despite a wealth of options, setup and maintenance is simplified to the configuration of Web parts and XML files. From purchase to usage, time to productivity for Visual Fusion is excitingly low.
It's easy to integrate into workflow.
Once a visual composite application is setup, data is being displayed, and users are enthralled, Visual Fusion quickly becomes integrated into the daily work lives of individuals. SharePoint can help facilitate much of this via InfoPath, where processes can be formally created and managed. Actions and conditions trigger other events to ensure that each step of an intended process happens in a prescribed order, in this way proper authorization and accountability is maintained. Whether a part of a highly formalized process or simply through the eager adoption fostered by successful usage, Visual Fusion naturally integrates into the cycle of daily activities information workers commonly perform. As a hurricane approaches the Northwestern part of the Gulf of Mexico, asset managers determine whether to move drilling rigs or evacuate employees based on the composite view of real-time weather, the projected hurricane path, ocean current forecasts, ocean floor bathymetry, etc. A government analyst quickly plots the latest avian influenza outbreak data from around the globe and discovers a new trend in the spread of the disease, just in time for a briefing on Capitol Hill. A winter storm threatens the northeast, but an auto manufacturing plant manager confidently selects an unaffected parts distributor based on weather patterns and key enterprise metrics. These are all examples of how Visual Fusion has been integrated into the daily work life of enterprise employees.
Executives are tasked with leading people and drawing the best out of them. They do this by equipping their employees through mentorship, training, and providing tools. Selecting tools that deliver the most value to the enterprise is often times tricky. Will the tool assist in finding answers? Will the tool lead to innovative thinking? Will the tool even be used? These questions lie at the heart of trying to figure out the ROI of implementing a new tool. Visual Fusion has consistently demonstrated applicability to real business needs, discovery of fresh insights, and captivation of its user base. Through Visual Fusion, IDV Solutions delivers real value to both individual business units and the enterprise as a whole. Check us out and start to envision how captivating, enlightening resources can draw out value from your workforce.
For more information, contact: Sarah Wicker, Marketing Manager, IDV Solutions, 517-853-3755 ext. 226 sarah.wicker@idvsolutions.com.
