The Consumerization of Enterprise Software
We frequently hear vague claims that enterprise software is becoming ‘consumerised’. Exactly what this means is unclear, but buzzwords such as ‘real-time collaboration’ and ‘self-service’ are thrown around. What is clear though, is that there is a concerted effort on behalf of enterprise software developers to ship cleaner, simpler software that emulates the products almost everyone is familiar with nowadays.
The Netflixes and Facebooks of the world have invaded every corner of our lives. Those who work within the enterprise are no longer finishing work to go home to software just as complicated as those they operate in their workplace. Instead, they go home, take a seat on the couch, relax, and open the Netflix app on their ‘Smart TV’. From here, they begin casually sifting through taste-profiled content in a smooth, satisfying fashion. The algorithm does much of the heavy lifting. If they’ve watched a ‘true crime’ series or two in the past, you best believe there will be the latest and greatest new series a la ‘Tiger King’ helpfully planted at the top of their screen. Not only is the information conveniently hierarchic — a short, sweet trailer starts to play automatically, allowing them to make up their mind in 30 seconds or less. Once they’re finished with the odyssey of one Joe Exotic, Netflix once again automatically suggests similar content, playing trailers and hoping to keep you moving efficiently through their platform with as little effort as possible.
How this relates to enterprise software will be clear to our bright readers: Just as consumer technology has embraced automation, simplicity and familiarity-of-use to power growth, enterprise software is now catching up. You’re probably aware that employees are no longer fiddling their thumbs waiting for their enterprise to upgrade from antiquated legacy software systems. More and more, employees are pushing for ‘bottoms-up’ decision-making on the tools they use at work. While tools like Dropbox have made file-hosting, sharing and collaboration seamless across the enterprise, Data Users have had to wait for similar innovations to occur in their tech-heavy space. Legacy technologies are increasingly outmoded by software that puts ease-of-use, collaboration and AI first.
That’s where Alex Solutions excels. The Alex platform has been built with a focus on cutting-edge AI and automation capabilities from the very start — years ahead of the trend toward consumerization in enterprise software. Leveraging data to personalise and anticipate user needs is as core to Alex as the Catalog itself. The experience of each user is fully configurable to their specific role and working habits, with high-value, low-clutter user interfaces that make it easy to analyse and act. End-to-end social functionality connects Users and teams across the enterprise, allowing for seamless information sharing. Workflows ensure processes are visible, tracked and compliant — enabling even the newest members of your team to contribute to complicated internal procedures. Self-service from day one, Alex is ‘always on’, allowing Data Users to swiftly discover, access and act on the relevant data to their tasks. Through powerful automation, Alex radically reduces the time Users spend on exploration and discovery, leaving more time for formulating the critical decisions that take you closer to strategic aims. Our Connectors automatically scan and profile systems of any size so that data is easy to identify and understand. Gone are the days of lengthy access requests and waiting for IT to take action. Alex’s customisable controls allow non-technical and business users to quickly find and use the data that matters to them, while securing sensitive areas of the system to those responsible. In this way, Alex can provide a tailored suite of solutions to even the most multi-disciplinary and agile teams made up of technical experts and business analysts alike.
In an increasingly fast-changing and evermore complex world, ease of adoption and minimal barriers to entry are practical requirements that every enterprise tool needs to satisfy. Before it was even clear how untangled Big Data would become, Alex was designed with this at the forefront of the experience. Whatever you need to do with your data, Alex is always ready to help. It feels less like ‘enterprise technology’ and more like an app you use to complete a task. If you’re looking to consumerize your enterprise data systems, get in contact with our team to arrange an Alex demonstration addressing your specific needs today.
