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  When making big decisions, most business don't rely on assumption or suggestions.  Decisions require careful consideration and planning.  They need to be support and defended by concrete information and strong evidence.  Bottom line, they need ... [More] to be backed by data and not the Magic 8 Ball.   The purpose of using metrics is to help you make well-informed decisions for the future of your business - especially when it comes to budgeting.  A strong budget is imperative for the overall function and success of your business, and determining where and when money should be spent is essential for meeting both short and long-term goals.   Allocating money appropriately can be a challenging - and often a daunting task.  But when you utilize the right tolls and access the right data, it doesn't have to be.  Metrics help make reasoned financial decisions by comparing projected budgets with "actual," a key determinate in financial planning.   Actual data provides the information needed to create, defend and support a budget.  Summarize and analyze past trends related to spending, distribution and performance so you can identify specific areas that have been successful or need improvement.  These trends - such as ROI or incremental revenue per employee - indicate where and how much money was spent, whether or not it was benefice and if it should be allotted elsewhere in the future.   "Assigning and utilizing budget can really be like shooting in the dark; especially when you have limited guidance and rely on hearsay for your strategy. Analytics is the tool to understand cause and effect. It puts the power back in your hands and provides the context to create a story from the numbers," explained Dilip Ramachandran, Data Analyst of GoodData.  "In this day, defending a budget with analytics is the status quo. Reports and the metrics have been a key component of influencing business strategy and maximizing return on investment."   Keep these three tips in mind when using metrics to support and defend your company's budget: Knowing the number of website hits per hour isn't going to tell you anything about your company's quarterly incremental revenue.  As always, metrics should be tailored to fit the specific interest in mind.  In this case, only data related to your budget plan need to be analyzed. Don't bank your budget on metrics if you can't tell what is being indicated.  Have a firm understanding of what exactly is being communicated.  What is represented on the graph?  How does the relate to your budget?  If the information needed isn't being indicated, don't use it; metrics are supposed to provide evidence, not ambiguity. Have a firm understanding of the context surround your metrics.  In what timeframe was this data collected.  If there is a drastic increase or decrease in numbers, what were possible causes of this change at that particular period of time?  Understanding factors that contribute to data outcome is just as important as understanding the data itself. Your budget doesn't have to control your company.  Metrics give you the power to choose how and when to spend money so you can meet business goals and avoid under - and over - estimating financial distribution. Do you company's budget and metrics align?  In what ways can those metrics defend and support changes to your budget?   [Less]

ExactTarget + Google Analytics is the latest offering to GoodData's rapidly growing suite of analytics applications. Designed for ExactTarget's B2B and E-Commerce marketers, this best-in-class marketing analytics app helps marketers uncover the ... [More] successes (and failures) of their marketing activities. If you missed our live webinar, ExactTarget + Google Analytics: Turning Marketing Data Into Dollars, catch up on what you missed here.   Why You'll Love It Data savvy dashboards for ExactTarget B2B and E-Commerce customers Closed loop ROI analysis of campaigns - from send to click to conversion Top 10 dashboard view to quickly see which campaigns perform best Detailed tracking utilizing GoodData visualization components Fully customizable to achieve the level of detail unique to you GoodData's sharing features keep everyone within your organization in the loop Let us show you how GoodData can help you gain closed-loop marketing insights from your marketing campaign efforts. Your marketing success is only a GoodData Dashboard away! Schedule A Demo [Less]

San Francisco, CA, February 2 , 2012 (PRWEB)  -- GoodData, the world’s fastest-growing cloud-based Business Intelligence (BI) platform, today announced that Cliff Cate has been appointed as the company’s Vice President of Customer Success. Cate joins ... [More] the company’s executive team and will lead GoodData’s expanded customer support, training and implementation organizations around the globe. “GoodData is 100% committed to getting maximum business value for every single customer,” said Cate. “The GoodData platform is absolutely transformative: we love helping customers access and interact with critical data previously out of reach. I am thrilled for the chance to work with all of our customers to drive incredible adoption and satisfaction.” GoodData’s  Customer Success teams are located throughout the world and ensure all customers experience rapid time-to-value with the cloud-based Business Intelligence solution. Companies like Time Warner Cable, LivingSocial, Pandora, Enterasys and Gazelle, rely on GoodData to understand performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and make critical operational decisions every day. “Customers are the center of the GoodData universe, and we want them to wring every ounce of business value out of our platform,” explained Roman Stanek, founder and CEO of GoodData. “Phenomenal growth in our customer base demands best-in-class support, implementation and training. Cliff will scale our services organization and maintain an unwavering focus on the customer.” Prior to joining GoodData, Cate served as Vice President of Customer Success at CaseCentral, where he was responsible for the company’s overall leadership, strategy and execution of the Services organization. Before CaseCentral, Cliff held senior-level Services roles at Oracle, Stellent and Viant. About GoodData GoodData is a disruptive, cloud-based enterprise platform for business intelligence. The GoodData technology is intuitive, secure and fast. It helps convert big data into profitable insights and strategies for business executives. GoodData is trusted by companies like Enterasys, Capgemini, and Software AG, and embedded into offerings from cloud innovators like Zendesk, Get Satisfaction and Pardot. Headquartered in San Francisco, GoodData is privately held and backed by leading venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners, and Windcrest Partners. [Less]

Record-Breaking 600% Revenue Growth 2011 was a record-breaking year for GoodData! With 600% year-over-year revenue growth, GoodData continued full speed ahead with a four-fold increase in the number of direct customers. GoodData's founder and CEO ... [More] , Roman Stanek, sums up the year perfectly, "GoodData customers are at the forefront of a business revolution. Instead of getting buried by data, our customers harness data to drive great performance." With over 800% growth in active business users and 13 million reports created, GoodData kept pace with the explosive customer demand by opening offices around the world and is now offering 24/5 customer support. GOODDATA 2011 MOMENTUM HIGHLIGHTS > Celebrating National Pie (Chart) Day Did you know Monday, January 23rd was National Pie Day? Why wouldn't you? While pie is beloved, its ugly stepsister, the pie chart just doesn't hold the same appeal. Maybe because it lacks delectable fillings or it can't be served warm with a glass of milk? Either way, the pie chart just doesn't cut it. There are several circumstances under which the pie chart should never be used.  DON'T CONFUSE YOUR LOVE OF PIE WITH YOUR LOVE OF PIE CHARTS > Meet A GoodData Customer: BELL Transforming the lives of over 10,000 children a year, BELL is a non-profit company that runs after-school and summer academic programs in under-resourced cities. Before implementing GoodData, BELL collected much of their regional business data based on percentage assumptions and past performances. Thanks to GoodData, actionable data emerged, allowing BELL to obtain an accurate picture of company performance. Andy Manson, Senior Manager of Systems, explains, "Dashboards, point to one number. In a meeting you can say, This is how we're doing and this is what we do to improve." DEFINITIVE DATA YIELDS ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS > An Introduction to KPIs Simply put, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are predefined measurements used to monitor company performance and progress. These quantifiable and practical measurements track your progress toward goals and play a critical role in helping you make smarter decisions to meet objectives. CHOOSING WHICH KPIS IS THE HARDEST PART OF THE PROCESS >  Webinars The Top 5 KPIs for Social Media & Web Analytics Thursday, February 2nd at 10:00am (PST) In this webinar, we'll help you identify the top 5 KPIs you need to track and we'll explain how to regularly measure them in ways that make sense. Register today GoodData Office Hours Friday, February 3rd at 9:00am (PST) Do you have a GoodData questions? Or perhaps you just want to learn more about what you can measure within GoodData. Join us to learn more about your project. Register today ExactTarget + Google Analytics: Turning Marketing Data Into Dollars Wednesday, February 8th at 10am (PST) GoodData's app makes it simple for you to track revenue, analyze campaign activity and measure marketing performance. Register today Getting Started with GoodData: Reports, Dashboards, Collaboration & More Thursday, February 16th at 10:00am (PST) Join GoodData’s Director of Customer Support, Ray Light, and Product Marketing Manager, Michelle Urban for an introductory session intended to give new users a quick tour of GoodData.  We will get you up and running and metrics focused before you know it. Register today   [Less]

When was the last time you read a really good book? What do you remember about it? What made it good? A good book is compiled of carefully chosen words and expertly crafted sentences that tell a story from beginning to end, and includes details ... [More] incorporated by the author to bring that story to life. At GoodData, we like to tell stories. But instead of using books, we use dashboards. And instead of using words, we use numbers. Whether you’re informing your team about the progress of a recent marketing campaign or sharing a year-end sales report at a staff meeting, your business has countless stories to tell. However, these aren’t stories made up of flowery, entertaining language—they are comprised of facts and figures unfolding tales of growth, progress and performance. In business, stories need to be informative and supported with plenty of details—or data. They should be told with charts, reports, statistics and quantitative information to solidify claims, send a memorable message and provide actionable insight. With the right visuals, numbers can simplify complex information into something manageable and understandable. Instead of relying on text-heavy descriptions, numbers allow businesses to summarize information into concise stories that can be accessed and shared without the trouble of sorting through useless information. Dashboards make it easy to tell your story by summarizing your company’s activity into numbers and bringing it to life on your screen. Using interactive tables, charts and graphs, words are replaced with metrics to help you create meaningful messages in just a few characters. With a click of the mouse, the story of your business’ sales performance can be summarized into a simple percentage or line graph. Don’t let the story of your business turn into a novel. Instead, focus on creating at-a-glance summaries using numbers to create a solid snapshot, jam-packed with relevant, engaging, and maybe even awe-inspiring content. What numbers best tell your story? [Less]

Meet Ayesha, a Customer Success Manager at GoodData. Ayesha manages the success of a GoodData customer's project from start to finish. She works with client like Gazelle, Pandora, and Enterasys on planning and implementing their project requirements. ... [More] From what to measure, how to visualize and how to analyze the data, Ayesha ensures best practices and domain expertise are incorporated into every project. One of her favorite GoodData features is the ability to snapshot. Data is interesting and becomes extra valuable when analyzed from a trending perspective. The gauge report, on the right, reveals the actual quarterly opportunities against a quota and shows only a "point in time" view into the revenue. The missing piece to the gauge report is the ability to measure revenue at any point in time and analyze overtime. The line charts on the left reveals closed business versus the quarterly goal, with the blue line indicating the total revenue closed by week.  By capturing a full snapshot each week, it is possible to identify trends in the overall movement of the data. The following two line charts go well beyond the "point in time " view of the sales pipelines and reveal changes in pipeline over the quarter.  This snapshot report answers the question, “When did we close the most revenue?”  Weeks four and eleven presented the biggest jumps in closed revenue.  The final report is set with a defined drill-in. In this case, clicking on the W6 revenue will create a new chart, breaking down the specific point by sales reps. The new chart answers, “Which sales reps have closed the most revenue this quarter?” What will snapshots tell you about your data? [Less]

San Francisco, CA, January 25, 2012 (PRWeb) -- GoodData, the world’s fastest-growing cloud-based Business Intelligence (BI) platform, today announced the company achieved over 600% year-over-year revenue growth in 2011. More than 11,000 business ... [More] users now rely on GoodData operational dashboards, with over 50 large enterprise organizations moving to GoodData in Q4 alone. “GoodData customers are at the forefront of a business revolution,” explained Roman Stanek, founder and CEO of GoodData. “Instead of getting buried by data, our customers harness data to drive great performance. GoodData delivers the information businesses have been searching for—quickly and without an army of analysts.” In addition to breakneck customer and revenue growth, the company attracted $15 million in new venture financing to fuel its expansion. Andreessen Horowitz led the company’s most recent round along with existing investors: General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners and Windcrest Partners. The company added two key new members to its board: John O’Farrell, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz; and Dave Girouard; vice president, apps and president, enterprise at Google. Capital raised now totals $28.5 million. “2011 was a hockey stick year for GoodData user adoption and revenue growth,” said Stephane Panier, chief financial officer of GoodData. “We experienced an unprecedented ten-fold increase in Powered by GoodData partnerships, a four-fold increase in the number of direct customers, and strong renewals and upgrades from existing customers.” To keep pace with explosive customer demand and support global customers, GoodData opened offices around the world. In addition to the company’s worldwide headquarters in San Francisco, new locations include: New York, Boston, Portland (Oregon), and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). GoodData 2011 Momentum Highlights Game-Changing User Adoption: GoodData users created over 13 million business-critical reports in GoodData. Number of active business users grew by over 800% year-over-year. GoodData is the source of truth for over 5,000 dashboards.  Relentless Commitment to Agile Product Development and Operational Excellence: GoodData delivered over 20 new releases in 2011. Key releases included enhanced UI, reporting, dashboards, charting, and expanded API capabilities. GoodData customers experienced over 99% uptime. Direct Customer Wins: Industry leaders in the high technology, ecommerce, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), and financial services industries adopted GoodData faster than any other Business Intelligence technology platform. Key customer wins include Carbonite, Living Social, Pandora, Time Warner Cable, and Zinch.  GoodData Embedded in More Solutions (Powered by GoodData):  Market changers, including Coupa, Pardot, Genius, Compare Networks, Twilio, and Demandware, choose GoodData to power vital reporting, data visualization, and analytics. About GoodData GoodData is a disruptive, cloud-based enterprise platform for business intelligence. The GoodData technology is intuitive, secure and fast. It helps convert big data into profitable insights and strategies for business executives. GoodData is trusted by companies like Enterasys, Capgemini, and Software AG, and embedded into offerings from cloud innovators like Zendesk, Get Satisfaction and Pardot. Headquartered in San Francisco, GoodData is privately held and backed by leading venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners and Windcrest Partners. [Less]

San Francisco, CA, January 25, 2011 (PRWeb) -- GoodData, the world’s fastest-growing cloud-based Business Intelligence (BI) platform, today announced the company achieved over 600% year-over-year revenue growth in 2011. More than 11,000 business ... [More] users now rely on GoodData operational dashboards, with over 50 large enterprise organizations moving to GoodData in Q4 alone. “GoodData customers are at the forefront of a business revolution,” explained Roman Stanek, founder and CEO of GoodData. “Instead of getting buried by data, our customers harness data to drive great performance. GoodData delivers the information businesses have been searching for—quickly and without an army of analysts.” In addition to breakneck customer and revenue growth, the company attracted $15 million in new venture financing to fuel its expansion. Andreessen Horowitz led the company’s most recent round along with existing investors: General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners and Windcrest Partners. The company added two key new members to its board: John O’Farrell, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz; and Dave Girouard; vice president, apps and president, enterprise at Google. Capital raised now totals $28.5 million. “2011 was a hockey stick year for GoodData user adoption and revenue growth,” said Stephane Panier, chief financial officer of GoodData. “We experienced an unprecedented ten-fold increase in Powered by GoodData partnerships, a four-fold increase in the number of direct customers, and strong renewals and upgrades from existing customers.” To keep pace with explosive customer demand and support global customers, GoodData opened offices around the world. In addition to the company’s worldwide headquarters in San Francisco, new locations include: New York, Boston, Portland (Oregon), and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). GoodData 2011 Momentum Highlights Game-Changing User Adoption: GoodData users created over 13 million business-critical reports in GoodData. Number of active business users grew by over 800% year-over-year. GoodData is the source of truth for over 5,000 dashboards.  Relentless Commitment to Agile Product Development and Operational Excellence: GoodData delivered over 20 new releases in 2011. Key releases included enhanced UI, reporting, dashboards, charting, and expanded API capabilities. GoodData customers experienced over 99% uptime. Direct Customer Wins: Industry leaders in the high technology, ecommerce, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), and financial services industries adopted GoodData faster than any other Business Intelligence technology platform. Key customer wins include Carbonite, Living Social, Pandora, Time Warner Cable, and Zinch.  GoodData Embedded in More Solutions (Powered by GoodData):  Market changers, including Coupa, Pardot, Genius, Compare Networks, Twilio, and Demandware, choose GoodData to power vital reporting, data visualization, and analytics. About GoodData GoodData is a disruptive, cloud-based enterprise platform for business intelligence. The GoodData technology is intuitive, secure and fast. It helps convert big data into profitable insights and strategies for business executives. GoodData is trusted by companies like Enterasys, Capgemini, and Software AG, and embedded into offerings from cloud innovators like Zendesk, Get Satisfaction and Pardot. Headquartered in San Francisco, GoodData is privately held and backed by leading venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners and Windcrest Partners. [Less]

A favored dessert around the world, pie is so loved that there's an entire day dedicated to it. But unlike its flavorful friend, the pie chart doesn’t have quite the same appeal. Maybe it’s because it lacks any delectable fillings. Or maybe it’s ... [More] because it can't be served fresh out of the oven with a glass of milk. Either way, the pie chart often doesn't cut it—just ask GoodData’s own Hubert Palan. While pursuing his MBA at Berkeley, Palan’s statistics professor told the class that whoever submits a paper with a pie chart in it would automatically fail. So, instead of dedicating an entire day to it—and to ensure the graduate students of Berkeley pass statistics—we give it room to shine under the dashboard spotlight—sometimes. Don’t confuse your love of pie with your love for pie charts. There are several circumstances under which pie charts should not be used: Too much data. When it comes to dashboards, data should be displayed as simple as possible. If there are a lot of components within a given set of data, don’t try to cram them all into one pie chart. As a rule of thumb, pie charts should not display more than six different categories of data. Too-similar data. If you are working with values that are similar to one another, avoid using pie charts altogether. Unlike a real pie, pie charts should be sliced and served disproportionately for clear and easy comparisons. Negative numbers or actual values. A complete and functional pie chart needs to include 100 percent of the data collected. If you are working with numbers that are negative or need to be displayed as actual values, choose a chart that allows for more flexibility. Limited space. Pie charts can take up a lot of space, so they should only be used if there is room and don’t interfere with other dashboard metrics. Remember, your data should always be displayed on a single screen with attention given to the most important data first. Don't cop out. It’s important to remember that there are many different ways to display data—and 99% of the time they're better than a pie chart. So before settling on a pie chart, exhaust all other options.  As for you, apple pie, you’re welcome around anytime.   Graphic: Image of an actual pie as a pie chart (from Daniel Pink) [Less]

Dashboard filters allow users to filter by date or attribute and have it applied to every report on the dashboard tab (or only for those reports specified).  These interactive filters are completely customizable - filter by a specific date, date ... [More] range, email campaign, account type, lead source, and the list continues.  These favored features were recently revamped, making it an extra popular dashboard item. Let me introduce you to floating filters….. With GoodData's floating filter feature, the filters can be placed anywhere on the dashboard tab.  Displaying only a subset of data provides intuitive and user-friendly reporting. Below is one instance of how to use floating date filters.  The examples shown are taken from a Consumer Package Goods (CPG) dashboard.  The top headline reports reveal revenue, goal, profit, customers and items.  The reports that fall under the headline reports reveal further breakdown for sales vs. profit and key revenue drivers. These reports have greater benefit when dates are presented by weeks (or perhaps for your organization monthly or quarterly). The filters are applied and the selected reports are excludes.  In this example, we excluded all headline reports and dragged to the desired location on the dashboard.  Now, the headline reports will still provide the week's Key Performance Indicators and the following reports will be broken down by weeks.  By moving the filter to the corresponding location, users have a clear representation of where the filters are applied.   Where are you going to put your floating data filter for improved visualization?       [Less]