mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

Join us in exploring the world of modern development, evolving technologies, and the art of future-proof software

Business Analytics

How to Chat With Your Database Using AI Data Analytics

By / ,
Data Analytics with m-Power AI Studio: a user asks for top 10 states by sales and gets a chart from the database

How many report requests are sitting in your queue right now? Maybe Sales wants last quarter’s numbers broken out by state, with a chart for Thursday’s meeting. Or, maybe Operations needs a list of every order that shipped late last week, and why. Each one might be an hour of work, but the problem is that there are forty more behind them.

Meanwhile, your users have discovered AI. Some are asking why they can’t chat with company data the way they chat with ChatGPT. A few, whether you know it or not, are already exporting data and pasting it in.

Both problems have the same fix: Let people ask the database directly (securely, of course).

That’s one thing that m-Power’s AI data analytics assistant aims to solve. It lets business users chat with your data and get back real numbers, analysis, and charts. The AI never connects to your database directly. IT decides which fields it can see, whether or not the query should be read-only, and you pick the LLM.

We just published a tutorial video aimed at showing customers how it works. Here’s the full walkthrough:

…

How to Chat With Your Database Using AI Data AnalyticsRead More »

7 essential elements of embedded analytics software

By / , , ,

EducationSummary: What is embedded analytics and why is it so important? What should you look for in an embedded analytics platform? While the requirements vary by company, I believe that certain elements are essential in a good embedded analytics tool. In this article, we explore 7 essential elements you should look for in any good embedded solution.
…

7 essential elements of embedded analytics softwareRead More »

6 essential elements of modern enterprise reporting software

By / , , ,

EducationSummary: What do you look for in a reporting tool? Obviously, the requirements vary by company, but I believe that certain elements are essential in a good reporting tool. In this article, we explore 6 essential elements you should look for in any good reporting solution.
…

6 essential elements of modern enterprise reporting softwareRead More »

Weekly recap: 5 trends that will drive the future of tech, don’t be fooled by false metrics, and more…

By / , ,

EducationEvery week, I share the most interesting and useful tech articles that I’ve found over the past week. This week’s top articles focus on tech trends, false metrics, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Don’t be fooled by false metrics
As one of the points made in this recent article on reporting, false metrics are a common problem in the world of reporting and BI. While we certainly have no shortage of data, choosing the right data is often the biggest hurdle faced when building reports or BI apps. …

Weekly recap: 5 trends that will drive the future of tech, don’t be fooled by false metrics, and more…Read More »

Weekly recap: 10 time management tips, predictive analytics, and more…

By / , , ,

EducationEvery week, I share the most interesting and useful tech articles that I’ve found over the past week. This week’s top articles focus on time management tips, predictive analytics, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Predictive analytics. Making little decisions with big data
As I mentioned in this article, predictive analytics is one of the next big trends in Business Intelligence. What is it, and how is it useful? This article attempts to answer those questions. …

Weekly recap: 10 time management tips, predictive analytics, and more…Read More »

Weekly recap: 6 uncomfortable questions IT teams should ask, HTML mistakes to avoid, and more…

By / ,

EducationEvery week, I share the most interesting and useful tech articles that I’ve found over the past week. This week’s top articles focus on HTML mistakes, data visualization, and more. I hope you find them useful:

HTML tag mistakes you should really avoid
If you ever edit your web application’s presentation layer at the source level, you should read this article. It describes a few common HTML mistakes that can cause problems if not corrected.

6 uncomfortable questions IT teams should ask
Would you describe your IT staff as “innovative”? This article takes a look at some highly innovative IT departments, as well as some hard questions that IT staffs must ask themselves if they want to be on that level. While the questions are good, I’d say that most of them boil down to this: How quickly can your IT department meet your user’s needs? …

Weekly recap: 6 uncomfortable questions IT teams should ask, HTML mistakes to avoid, and more…Read More »

What is business intelligence?

By / , , ,

EducationJust the other day, someone asked me this question: “What is business intelligence?” It got me thinking…I frequently write about business intelligence (BI) and why it’s important, but I’ve never really defined the term. In this post, I’d like to take a step back and give you the what, why, who, where, when, and how of business intelligence. Sound good? Okay, let’s get started…

What is business intelligence?
Most companies collect and store data covering all areas of their business. This data sits in a database and is really pretty useless in this format. What do I mean by that? If you looked at data in a database, it wouldn’t make any sense and would most definitely overwhelm you. This is where business intelligence comes into play. Business intelligence is the process of taking that (overwhelming) data in your database and presenting it in an understandable, accessible, and useful fashion. …

What is business intelligence?Read More »

Building and using Pivot Tables (explained via video)

By / , , ,

EducationPivot tables are great analytical tools—they sum up large amounts of data and let you view it in just about any way possible. More importantly, they help you quickly analyze business information, discover trends, and make better and more informed decisions.

Pivot tables are typically found in spreadsheet software, such as Excel. Spreadsheet-based pivot tables are great as single-user tools, but you run into problems if you want to distribute, share, or let multiple users alter or view one spreadsheet. Also, if security or data accuracy are necessities, spreadsheet-based pivot tables aren’t ideal. …

Building and using Pivot Tables (explained via video)Read More »

Five essential elements every Business Intelligence solution should include

By / , , ,

EducationBusiness intelligence is a confusing subject. Generally speaking, when a company realizes they need business intelligence (BI), they aren’t clear on everything a BI solution should include. Why not? BI isn’t the same across the board. As a result, comparing BI solutions is like comparing apples and oranges. Each solution contains different elements.

So, how do you know which elements to look for in a BI solution? I think a few elements are pretty standard, like simple ad-hoc reporting, the ability to use multiple databases, and exporting data to Excel and PDF. Besides these basic elements, I’ve put together a brief list of 5 essential elements that every good BI solution should include: …

Five essential elements every Business Intelligence solution should includeRead More »

Keys to a successful BI implementation

By / ,

Save MoneyBusiness intelligence (BI) can provide incredible advantages when implemented correctly, such as agility, better decision-making, and even increased profitability. BI is not without risks, however.

How can you implement a BI solution with the greatest chance for success? Let’s take a look at our options. In the past, there were really only two: Build it yourself or buy a pre-packaged solution. …

Keys to a successful BI implementationRead More »