Izenda Embedded Analytics and Technology Blog

Jul 29
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embedded business intelligence for saas applications

Why Your SaaS App Needs Business Intelligence

By | Embedded BI
For SaaS customers, it’s not about ownership – its about outcomes.

When it comes to features and functionality, your product may tick all the boxes. But maybe your customers didn’t ask for all those boxes. In fact, maybe all those cool buttons are actually hindering your product’s usability.

That’s because when it comes to SaaS applications, success relies on user adoption. And user adoption relies on user empowerment. Customers look for the value they can get out of your application. Does it truly make them more efficient and productive?

In other words, what matters is the benefit, not the button.

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Mar 22
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web based reporting tool

Web-Based Reporting with Izenda

By | Ad Hoc Reporting
As more and more organizations migrate to cloud-based solutions for business processes such as data analytics, web-based reporting tools have become increasingly popular. Here, we’ll discuss what it means for a reporting tool to be web-based, how to choose the best one for your business, and what value you can expect.

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Jan 18
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gusto asana lastpass saas

3 SaaS Companies Radically Optimizing Business Operations

By | For Product Managers, Industry Trends | No Comments

With the rapid growth of cloud computing in the business world, software as a service, or SaaS, companies are taking their capabilities further than ever before. New companies are being launched and older companies are engaging in reinventions and innovations as SaaS providers work to stay ahead of this competitive, growing market.

Still, some companies are finding new solutions to problems and putting themselves ahead of the pack. Here are three of the best SaaS companies that are radically optimizing business operations.

LastPass

Ranked among the top four by the 2017 Consumer Report, LastPass is a comprehensive password manager that saves users’ passwords and logins on behalf of the user on password-protected websites, providing secure access virtually anywhere. LastPass makes it easy for new employees to manage access and coordinate passwords within minutes, which dramatically streamlines business processes. It can also customize permissions to keep passwords secure to certain folders or employees.

LastPass offers personal use for online shopping, Wi-Fi access, vital documents, and more, but its applications are far more apparent for business. Passwords are the most significant source of data breaches, so LastPass provides unparalleled password protection and data security.

Asana

Receiving a 4.5/5 and an Editor’s Choice award from PC Magazine in 2017, Asana is a work management platform that business teams use to stay focused on projects, goals, and day-to-day tasks. It also has a collaborative platform to keep every employee aware of work progress and aligned with goals. Features for this software include reporting tools, file attachments, calendars, and more.

Asana can integrate with over 100 different platforms as well, including Google Drive, Gmail, Outlook, Slack, and many other vital business tools. It’s SOC 2-certified as well, delivering performance, stability, and security to the platform to keep data secure and private.

Gusto

Named the top-rated online payroll software of 2018 by PC Magazine, Gusto is a platform for payroll, human resource management, and administration capabilities. It offers an excellent user interface and navigation system that simplifies these complicated processes. Employees onboard online, sparing business owners tedious paperwork, and the payroll taxes are automatically filed. If there are any problems, the experienced customer service representatives are available to help.

The all-in-one HR management service expands on the standard benefits administration capabilities. Document management, 401K management, and an employee directory are available, as well as integration of payroll and medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability coverage.

Take Your Business Further

As you can see, the best SaaS companies are working to provide services that optimize business processes and make day-to-day tasks seamless, allowing businesses to focus on vital tasks.

Izenda is doing its part as well. With our embedded, modern, self-service BI software, you can streamline your data analytics and get more insights from your data, saving you time and resources. We do the work for you, so you focus on your core competencies and grow your business. Learn more about the features and benefits of our BI software and request your demo today!

Aug 09
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a pile of old tools, a real life example of the problem with using too many SaaS products

The Downsides of SaaS Tools

By | Business | No Comments
Easy to get into, difficult to get out of. In some ways, SaaS applications are like bad relationships. Recently I did a bit of auditing of the SaaS tools our marketing department uses, and the results are sobering. SaaS products promise a fast path to a solution, but there are consequences to relying on them – things you don’t always think of while typing in that credit card number. Read More

Aug 28
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Who Should Be the Next Microsoft CEO? Sanjay Bhatia Weighs In

By | Microsoft

Who should take the helm post-Ballmer?

Those of us in and outside of the Microsoft community have had plenty to talk about since last Friday’s surprising announcement that the company’s CEO Steve Ballmer will be retiring sometime in the next twelve months.

Was he forced out after the debacle of a $900 million loss on the Surface RT tablets? Why is he leaving right after Microsoft’s major reorganization? What will his legacy look like? Will his exit bring a fresh wind to the company, a chance for reinvention?

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Jun 20
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The Great Shift to SaaS, for Consumer and Enterprise Alike

By | Business, For Developers, IT and Engineering, Microsoft, The Cloud

The Shift to SaaS

Maybe you’ve noticed the shift. If you haven’t yet, give it a year or so and you’ll definitely be seeing it (and probably experiencing it firsthand).

SaaS which stand for Software as a ServiceWe’re entering the SaaS era. Software as a Service (SaaS) structure allows you access to software and its functionality remotely, which you pay for with a monthly subscription fee and access via the web. You pay less overall for full use of the software, saving on licensing fees, while the company over time gets a sustainable revenue stream, rather than one-time payments every few years. This is how it is supposed to work, in theory.

SaaS has been an ideal model for the enterprise software industry for awhile already. We offer it for our partners and customers, as do many others. But it’s been making a big splash in the world of home consumer electronics and home and professional software recently, with the conversion of two giants: Adobe and Microsoft.

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Nov 09
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Windows Azure: A Top Contender in Cloud Platforms

By | Microsoft, Tips

Izenda was one of the first companies to deploy applications on Azure as part of the Azure incubation week in 2009. At the time, Platform as a Service (PaaS) was the only option. This limited the customers who were willing to have their data and applications on Microsoft cloud to smaller businesses. With the addition of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), you can quickly and easily create virtual machines and give customers direct access if needed for security and compliance reasons. Once this became available, there was no reason not to move everything at Izenda to Microsoft’s cloud. Between IaaS, Skype and SkyDrive, we are running out of legacy on-premise infrastructure.

It makes us wonder if we will even need a server room or data center in 2013.

This article featured on ZDNet summarizes the latest release of Windows Azure and why it has become a serious contender for the top spot in cloud platforms.