Business

Business Intelligence (BI) software allows you to view different components of a business using a single visual platform, which makes comprehending mountains of data easier. BI is everywhere. Applications that include reports, analytics, statistics, and historical and predictive modeling are all examples of BI. Currently, we are in the second generation of BI software—called BI 2.0—which is focused on writing BI software that is predictive, adaptive, simple, and interactive.

As computers and software have evolved, more data can be presented to end users with increasingly visually rich techniques. Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies such as Microsoft Silverlight can be used to transform traditional user-interfaces filled with boring data into fully interactive analytical applications that quickly deliver insight from large data sets. Furthermore, RIA applications now include 3D spatial-design capabilities that move beyond a simple list or grid and allow for interesting layouts of aggregated data. BI 2.0 implemented via an RIA technology can truly bring out the power of BI and deliver it to an average user on the Web.

Next-Generation Business Intelligence Software with Silverlight 4 provides developers, designers, and architects with a solid foundation in BI design and architecture concepts for Microsoft Silverlight. This book covers key BI design concepts and how they can be applied without an existing BI infrastructure. Author Bart Czernicki provides you with examples of how to build small BI applications that are interactive, highly visual, statistical, predictive—and most importantly—intuitive to the end-user.

BI isn’t just for the executive branch of a Fortune 500 company—it is for the masses. Let Next-Generation Business Intelligence Software with Silverlight 4 show you how to unlock the rich intelligence you already have.

What you’ll learn

• Design rich BI solutions for the masses
• Discover tips for using engaging BI designs for application presentation
• Consume BI data as a service
• Understand and create SaaS models in BI
• Craft BI solutions using the most advanced Silverlight 4.0 technology through C# 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010

Who this book is for

There are four core audiences for this book:

Table of Contents

1. Business Intelligence 2.0 Defined
2. Advantages of Applying BI 2.0 Using Microsoft Silverlight
3. Silverlight as a BI Client
4. Adding Interactivity to BI Data
5. Introduction to Data Visualizations
6. Creating Data Visualizations for Analysis
7. Enhancing Visual Intelligence in Silverlight
8. Applying Collective Intelligence
9. Predictive Analytics
10. Improving Performance with Concurrent Programming
11. Integrating with Business Intelligence Systems
12. Delivering Mobile Intelligence with Silverlight
13. Silverlight Business Intelligence in SharePoint 2010
14. Working with Interactive Pivot Collections
15. Appendix A - Prototyping Applications with Dynamic Data
16. Appendix B - Creating a Bullet Graph user control

Silverlight 4 has the potential to revolutionize the way we build business applications. With its flexibility, web deployment, cross-platform capabilities, rich .NET language support on the client, rich user interface control set, small runtime, and more, it comes close to the perfect platform in which to build business applications. It's a very powerful technology, and despite its relative youth, it's moving forward at a rapid pace and is gaining widespread adoption.

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"This volume offers relentlessly pragmatic solutions to help your business applications get the most out of XML, with a breezy style that makes the going easy. Mike has lived this stuff; he has a strong command of the solutions and the philosophy that underlies them." --Eve Maler, XML Standards Architect, Sun Microsystems Businesses running legacy applications that do not support XML can face a tough choice: Either keep their legacy applications or switch to newer, XML-enhanced applications. XML presents both challenges and opportunities for organizations as they struggle with their data. Does this dilemma sound familiar? What if you could enable a legacy application to support XML? You can. In Using XML with Legacy Business Applications, e-commerce expert Michael C. Rawlins outlines usable techniques for solving day-to-day XML-related data exchange problems. Using an easy-to-understand cookbook approach, Rawlins shows you how to build XML support into legacy business applications using Java and C++. The techniques are illustrated by building converters for legacy formats. Converting CSV files, flat files, and X12 EDI to and from XML will never be easier! Inside you'll find: *A concise tutorial for learning to read W3C XML schemas *An introduction to using XSLT to transform between different XML formats *Simple, pragmatic advice on transporting XML documents securely over the Internet For developers working with either MSXML with Visual C++ or Java and Xerces: *See Chapter 3 for a step-by-step guide to enabling existing business applications to export XML documents *See Chapter 2 for a step-by-step guide to enabling existing business applications to import XML documents *See Chapter 5 for code examples and tips for validating XML documents against schemas *See Chapter 12 for general tips on building commerce support into an application For end users who need a simple and robust conversion utility: *See Chapter 7 for converting CSV files to and from XML *See Chapter 8 for converting flat files to and from XML *See Chapter 9 for converting X12 EDI to and from XML *See Chapter 11 for tips on how to use these techniques together for complex format conversions The resource-filled companion Web site (www.rawlinsecconsulting.com/booksupplement) includes executable versions of the utilities described in the book, full source code in C++ and Java, XSLT stylesheets, bug fixes, sample input and output files, and more. 0321154940B07142003

WiMAX holds great promise for the future of broadband communications.

Companies and consumers are increasingly dependent on broadband and are committed to taking broadband to the next level with mobile broadband or 802.16e, the WiMAX standard. The Business of WiMAX offers a complete guide to this exciting technology, addressing the critical issues surrounding WiMAX and its future.  The author discusses the need for the technology, before explaining its architecture and deployment, modulation technology, wireless standards, spectrum issues, and network topology.  Applications and the market for these are covered in-depth, and the exciting future of WiMAX is discussed. The book provides strategy and recommendations for achieving success in such a dynamic scenario.

The Business of WiMAX:

• Offers a uniquely balanced business and technology perspective on the critical issues surrounding WiMAX and its place in the evolving broadband wireless industry.
• Explains the need, use, market, trends, business models, and the future road map for WiMAX technology.
• Provides strategy and recommendations to a variety of different players, including service providers, equipment manufacturers and chip makers.
• Supports practical insights with numerous examples and real-world case studies.

This text is essential reading for professionals, strategists, leaders, researchers, analysts, investors and others in the IT and Telecoms domain. Managers planning to deploy wireless networked computing devices in their organisations, ICT consultants, business strategists, systems engineers and architects, and final year undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics will also find this an invaluable guide to WiMax.

A comprehensive guide to analyzing the business rationale for WLANs

• Evaluate the business rationale behind the deployment of WLANs, including return on investment (ROI), net present value, payback period, and total cost of ownership
• Develop a robust execution plan to deploy and operate the WLAN
• Understand the high-level technical issues of deploying and managing your WLAN from a business decision-maker’s perspective
• Maximize the positive impact of supplementary and complementary services such as voice, video, and guest WLAN access
• Identify potential security threats and develop strategies to mitigate attacks
• Learn methodological and technical best practices from WLAN deployment case studies featuring real-world, enterprise-class businesses and institutions
• Gather information easily by referring to quick reference sheets and appendixes covering an antenna overview, a high-level sample project plan, checklists, and flowcharts   

Businesses today are increasingly adopting wireless LANs (WLANs) as a primary data transport mechanism. To determine when and how to effectively deploy WLANs, business managers, project managers, and IT executives need a clear, holistic evaluation of the business benefits and risks behind this complex technology solution.

The Business Case for Enterprise-Class Wireless LANs helps you make the right decisions by explaining the business value and cost of investing in a WLAN—from security and architecture to deployment and application. Using a lifecycle perspective, this guide covers the value proposition, cost justification, and alignment of security, design, and operational components within the business.

Written in an approachable style, The Business Case for Enterprise-Class Wireless LANs provides a baseline analysis of WLAN technologies for a large-scale deployment and includes concise real-world case studies with checklists and flowcharts that you can adapt for your needs. By recognizing the obstacles and advantages of implementing a WLAN from a strategic and justified business perspective, you can apply the economic benefits to your organization and ensure a timely and efficient deployment of your organization’s WLAN.

This volume is in the Network Business Series offered by Cisco Press®. Books in this series provide IT executives, decision makers, and networking professionals with pertinent information about today’s most important technologies and business strategies.

Networking guru, Nathan Muller takes a long, hard look at WiFi in the enterprise in this complete reference to equipment, configuration, and features for business environments. Already, there are over 300 (and climbing) certified products in this red-hot market. What's right for your organization? How do you build the network to interoperate with technology you're already deployed? What does the introduction of WiFi mean for your security strategy and applications? This book is fast-paced, easy-to-read presentation, and free of jargon. It talks about 44 per cent of businesses planning to deploy in the next 24 months, and gives down-to-earth implementation advice.

Learn to install, configure, run, and troubleshoot the professional versions of Vista in this comprehensive new guide from two leading Windows authorities. From Vista's all-new interface, 32-bit/64-bit architecture, and advanced security features to its fantastic new capabilities for audio and video recording, editing, and broadcasting, you’ll get the techniques and task-by-task instruction you need to master this dramatically different OS.