Top 3 Location Analytics Uses and Best Practices

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1. Mash-ups

A “mashup” combines multiple layers of business information originating from different sources. Geography is a common attribute that can link multiple data sources together, and when displayed visually unlock spatial correlations. An interactive geo mash-up can combine on-premise enterprise, web, and unstructured data together using a common location attribute. A key component of a mashup is the ability to view regions, assets, events, and other visual elements at one time. Best Practice: The value of a mash up is not to display as many layers together as possible. The visual interference caused by visualizing too much data the same effect as trying to display more than 5 trend lines in a chart or more than 5 slices in a pie chart. The best practice is to approach mash-ups by asking the question of what information is required to reach a conclusion or drive action.

2. Real-Time

Real-time in this case, refers to access to current conditions or events needed for split second, decision making. Location is becomes a critical decision factor for organizations that need to track and prioritize real time events as they occur. As the number of events increases, so does the value for geographic visualization to navigate and drive and prioritize the decision making process for “where” you will take immediate action.  Real-time dashboards are typically used for operational decision making. The value of geographic visualization for viewing real-time is when there are lots of events occurring in parallel. Best Practice: The term “real-time” carries a variety of interpretations among businesses and vendors who supply technology. For example, real-time analysis for emergency management or transportation typically requires real-time messaging down to the second. In contrast, “real-time” for business dashboards typically reflects the desire to have the latest available data from a transactional system like point of sales or customer relationship management (CRM) which still could reflect past events. Regardless of your interpretation, gathering and setting expectations is extremely important when considering geographic visualization for real-time dashboards.

3. Analytics

Analytics provides the business logic and algorithmic calculations to help identify where you should focus your time and resources. Geography is a powerful way to constrain or explore information when asking sophisticated questions of your data. Geo Analytics allow you to apply business rules, statistical analysis, and geo-spatial constraints to narrow your focus to what is most important. Best Practice: While advanced predictive analytics are the ultimate goal for organizations to anticipate where events or exceptions will occur, the first step is mastering diagnostic analytics. Combining raw data with business logic can help your business users understand outliers, exceptions, and other indicators where action is required. This level of diagnostics eliminates the need to hunt and peck for data, allowing business to reach the thought plateau of problem solving. Do you need technology to introcue these capabilities quickly to your users? That is where we come in with CMaps Analytics, formerly GMaps Plugin. We can show you live in 30 minutes how to get started on all of these fronts. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE