The Mega-App, Dark Cockpit and the Evolution of Integrated Analytics

Earlier this year I wrote about the Mega-App – the trend of integrating enterprise software programs into one overarching application. Connecting the supply chain with ERP and CRM. Marketing automation with the back office. And at the time, we noted that integrated analytics was the driving force.

In fact, it’s happening faster that many initially thought. Our analytics analyst Anne Moxie took a closer look and identified a tipping point for analytics integrated into core business apps. We are now predicting that 90 percent of all analytics solutions will be embedded within business applications over the next five years.

It’s not all that surprising if you think about it. A stand-alone app poses interoperability issues, whereas integrated analytics are optimized for the solution. Ready to go right off the bat. This is a huge advantage in promoting usability, which is really the most important factor for business users.

What’s more interesting is how this integrated approach is going to evolve. Our report found that in about 7 years, nearly all business users will be interacting with analytics at least once per day but only 15 percent of users will be aware that they are even using analytics. It’s that integrated.

Which ties into another big trend, where enterprise software is getting more and more complex, yet vendors are making sure it’s easier and easier to use. Companies, like IBM, are incorporating analytics under the covers of core business applications, such as CRM, ERP, or SCM. The goal is to make the software “smart” or “cognitive.”

This reflects what Nucleus calls the Dark Cockpit principal. The aviation industry is always developing better solutions to fly planes and make them safer. In the 80’s, they added more functionality and controls for the pilot in the cockpit. In fact, the dashboard went from a fairly simple and straightforward set of gauges and switches in the early days to a highly complex and even confusing wall of instruments. Pilots were starting to get overburdened and those new features aimed at boosting security were starting to threaten it instead.

Then the industry responded by automating the process and guiding the pilot. The cockpit went dark and only those features needed during a particular stage of the journey would light up. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the large number of tools on the dashboard, the pilot was directed by the intelligence of the system, and safety went back up.

Enterprise software is undergoing a similar process. Smart vendors are realizing that automating the experience and guiding users to take full advantage of features will add more value. The vendors that can pull this solution into their own business user applications will be the most successful.

Imagine that all your employees were smart(er). If a vendor can make the software intelligent, it will make the users of the software more intelligent too. We need tools that can facilitate that, tools that are able to recognize patterns that humans wouldn’t necessarily detect. It won’t replace the actions and the creativity that humans bring to the table, but it will help people perform more optimally.

In a nutshell, instead of just throwing analytics tools at users and hoping that a few of them will actually use the application, we should focus on incorporating a higher level of intelligence into the core business applications. It’s not going to be easy – vendors will need to really know how they can help individuals in many different roles across many different industries. But the vendors that can do it first will be the definitive leaders in the market.