A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
Hello and welcome to the second issue of InTune, our customer newsletter that gives you up-to-date information on developments at Attunity and the latest thinking on the new exciting software area of Workplace Applications.
Ever since we first started talking about workplace applications, I’ve never doubted that they have a valuable role to play in today’s knowledge economy. But after reading the results of the research we commissioned from independent research company Loudhouse, I believe the need for these applications – which focus on improving the non-routine activities within an organization – is greater than it has ever been before.
This issue’s ‘Interview Chair’ with our VP of Marketing, Andy Bailey, takes up the cause as he discusses the findings of the research we launched in January. I don’t want to spoil your read, but here are a couple of statistics to whet your appetite: 63 per cent of business managers believe that better managing unplanned events can improve competitiveness. Yet 46% of companies had no best practice in place for managing the unexpected.
Workplace applications aren’t about automating the routine, systematic processes within your company. They address the knowledge-focused, complex and unplanned events that currently occupy so much of managers’ time. This is clear from our ‘Focus on the Workplace’ case study, which, in this issue, looks at Norandal, a US manufacturer of aluminium. Norandal is using Attunity InFocus to gain a competitive edge by improving access to key performance metrics, which were difficult to monitor.
Providing faster access to information and helping people find the data they need is one of the ‘four pillars’ of workplace applications. The other three ‘pillars’ focus on enabling collaboration, learning from past performance and deploying workplace services quickly.
In our ‘Next-Generation Workplace’ article this issue, we examine the fourth pillar – rapid delivery and configurability – in more detail. Attunity’s Director of Product Marketing, Itamar Ankorion, explains why speed of delivery can bridge the gap between IT and business, and enable business agility.
Corporate agility is a common theme in this issue’s newsletter. It also comes up for discussion in the ‘Data Integration’ article, which analyzes the benefits of a service oriented architecture (SOA) in helping organizations respond to change, minimize support costs and reduce the risk of deploying new IT solutions.
It’s also the subject of a roundtable dinner we’re hosting on April 25 at the Stafford Hotel in London. The theme for the evening is: ‘Business Agility: this year’s buzzword or the key to competitive business?’
I know what Attunity has to say on the subject, but I’d love to hear any feedback you have at marketing@attunity.com.
Until next time,
Aki Ratner
CEO