Using the WebService() function in Excel 2013

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Posted on : 31-07-2012 | By : Ben Stinner | In : Analytics
Tags: , , ,

One thing that piqued my interest when looking over the new functions in Excel 2013 were the new functions available that allow you to retrieve data from a web service directly into worksheet: EncodeURL(), Webservice and FilterXML(). Here’s a brief demo of how to use them.

First, find a web service that returns XML and doesn’t require any authentication (I say that because I haven’t worked out how to pass usernames and passwords with these functions yet – I hope it’s possible, and if/when I work out how to do it I’ll blog again). The example I’m going to use is the BBC weather web service, which allows you to subscribe to an RSS feed containing the weather forecast for a particular postcode (similar to a zip code for my US readers). Here’s an example URL which returns the forecast for my home, which has the postcode HP6 6HF:

http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/en/hp66hf/3dayforecast.rss

Let’s now build an Excel 2013 spreadsheet that allows you to enter a postcode and then displays the weather forecast for it using this web service. First of all, I’ll specify cell E2 as the place to enter the postcode:

cf2f6 image thumb35 Using the WebService() function in Excel 2013

Next, in cell D4, I need to construct the URL for the web service and retrieve the data like so:

=WEBSERVICE(“http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/en/” ENCODEURL(E2) “/3dayforecast.rss”)

Here, I’ve used the EncodeURL() function to URL encode the text entered in cell E2, and then dynamically generated the URL and passed it to the Webservice() function which simply retrieves the response from the web service. If it’s successful you should see the XML returned displayed in the cell:

275f3 image thumb36 Using the WebService() function in Excel 2013

If it’s not successful, you get a #Value error:

f3dd5 image thumb37 Using the WebService() function in Excel 2013

Finally, you can get values from the response and display them in cells by using the FilterXML() function, which allows you to query the response using XPath. Here are some examples of how you can use FilterXML():

=FILTERXML(D4,”//rss/channel/title”)

=FILTERXML(D4,”//rss/channel/item[1]/title”)

=FILTERXML(D4,”//rss/channel/item[1]/description”)

And here are what these three formulae return when placed in cells D6, D8 and D9:

1b97d image thumb38 Using the WebService() function in Excel 2013

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wordpress/Cpjz/~3/gFb0shUsVxg/

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Claraview wins $16.8m contract to support the Defense Commissary Agency

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Posted on : 31-07-2012 | By : Ben Stinner | In : Analytics
Tags: , , ,

Wall Street dips after year’s best two-day run, Fed eyedReuters

Stocks finished mostly flat on Monday as investors paused following the best two-day run this year, with central …

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/claraview-wins-16-8m-contract-150000904.html

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Interactive Intelligence Positioned in Leaders Quadrant of Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide Report

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Posted on : 31-07-2012 | By : Ben Stinner | In : Analytics
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INDIANAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (ININ), a global provider of
unified IP business communications software solutions, has been
positioned by Gartner in the leaders quadrant of its 2012
Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide1
report.

The Gartner report, which can be obtained compliments of Interactive
Intelligence by visiting www.inin.com/MQ,
provides an analysis of vendors in the market based on their ability to
execute and completeness of vision.

“We’ve made significant investments over the last year to further
solidify our leadership status in the contact center infrastructure
market,” said Interactive Intelligence founder and CEO, Dr. Donald E.
Brown. “These include major investments in our cloud-based contact
center business and key international acquisitions that reinforce our
global presence.

“In addition to these investments, we’ve continued to release critical
new contact center features, such as functionality for business process
automation, real-time speech analytics, and our latest mobile customer
service offering. These innovations ensure that our customers always get
the most comprehensive, relevant and reliable solutions possible,” Brown
concluded.

According to Gartner, leaders in its Magic
Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure report are
“high-viability vendors with broad portfolios, significant market
shares, broad geographic coverage, a clear vision of how contact center
needs will evolve, and a proven track record of delivering contact
center products. They are well-positioned with their current product
portfolio and likely to continue delivering leading products. Leaders do
not necessarily offer a best-of-breed solution for every customer
requirement. However, overall their products are strong and often have
some exceptional capabilities. Additionally, these vendors provide
solutions that present relatively low risk.”

In 1997 Interactive Intelligence introduced its all-in-one IP
communications software suite, Customer
Interaction Center™ (CIC), to deliver multichannel
applications minus the cost and complexity introduced by multipoint
products.

CIC’s single-platform, software-based architecture includes applications
for contact center agents and supervisors, as well as unified
communications applications for business users. It can be deployed
on-premise or via a cloud-based communications-as-a-service delivery
model.

For more information about CIC, visit http://www.inin.com/ProductSolutions/Pages/Customer-Interaction-Center.aspx.

1 Gartner “Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure,
Worldwide” by D. Kraus, G. Johnson, and S. Blood, June 27, 2012.

About the Magic Quadrant

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its
research publications, and does not advise technology users to select
only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research
publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization
and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research,
including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose.

About Interactive Intelligence

Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (ININ) is a global provider
of contact center automation, unified communications, and business
process automation software and services. The company’s unified IP
business communications solutions, which can be deployed on-premise or
via the cloud, are ideal for industries such as financial services,
insurance, outsourcers, collections, and utilities. Interactive
Intelligence was founded in 1994 and has more than 4,500 customers
worldwide. The company is among Forbes Magazine’s 2011 Best Small
Companies in America and Software Magazine’s 2011 Top 500 Global
Software and Service Providers. It employs more than 1,000 people and is
headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company has offices
throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and
Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000
or info@inin.com; on the Net: www.inin.com.

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve
a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially are described in the company’s SEC filings.

Interactive Intelligence is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE
INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their
respective owners.

ININ-G

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/interactive-intelligence-positioned-leaders-quadrant-140000909.html

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Research and Markets: Business Intelligence for the Business of IT

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Posted on : 31-07-2012 | By : Ben Stinner | In : Analytics
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DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/thp955/business_intellige)
has announced the addition of the “Business
Intelligence for the Business of IT” report to their offering.

As continuous improvement techniques supported by data warehousing and
analytics become dominant influences in today’s business landscape, the
idea of applying them to IT is gaining traction. While data warehousing
is an IT service, typically applied to domains such as sales, supply
chain, and customer relationship management, it also can be applied to
the “business of IT” itself.

IT is a significant center of sustained, integrated operational and
economic activity in many businesses, and is an entirely suitable
subject for data warehousing. It is surprising that data warehousing, a
capability typically run by a central IT organization, has been so long
in coming to the service of the CIO.

This paper considers the application of data warehousing to enterprise
IT management, including data warehousing basics, the IT data warehouse
vs. the CMDB, continuous improvement for IT, IT metrics, IT management
dimensions, ETL, and future trends.

HP has brought forth a strong offering in this space, and stands alone
among its competitors in fully embracing the potential of business
intelligence and applied analytics in improving IT management. IT
organizations seeking to create strategic business alignment, establish
a performance driven culture, and drive continuous improvement of IT
management should evaluate this product as a unique enabler.

Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

Improving IT Performance

Data Warehousing Overview

Data Warehousing for the Business of IT

– The CMDB versus the IT Data Warehouse

– Facts Dimensions

– Data Sources ETL

– Data Quality

The HP IT Performance Suite

– Overall Assessment of IT Executive Scorecard

– The Value of IT Performance Management

– Emerging Trends in IT Performance Management

– Next Generation IT Benchmarking

– Cloud Value Management

– Systems Management Predictive Analytics

– Unstructured Text Analytics

– Demand Execution Management Analytics

Conclusion

About HP

References

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/thp955/business_intellige

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/research-markets-business-intelligence-business-140500662.html

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The Blue Book Building and Construction Network Creates Standard Industry …

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Posted on : 31-07-2012 | By : admin | In : Analytics
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JEFFERSON VALLEY, N.Y., Jul 30, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
The Blue Book Building and Construction Network has recently released
upgrades and enhancements to their online company search engine,
thebluebook.com.

Recognized in the commercial construction industry as the premier source
for finding company information on contractors, suppliers and
manufacturers in the United States, The Blue Book Network’s online
service now offers an enhanced ‘ProView’ format, making it easier for
General Contractors, Owners, Property Managers and Government Agencies
to find the business intelligence they need to make the right hiring
decisions for their projects.

Complete company details are available in an easy-to-read and standard
format, making it simple for online users of thebluebook.com to find
current information, including:

–
Contact information and branding

–
A full-color photo gallery of projects or products

–
Name brands and products installed/supplied

–
Licenses (including the issuing agency and expiration)

–
Recently completed projects

–
Scope of work — now including structure type and work type

–
LEED/BIM certification and links to spec documents

–
Additional key contacts and locations

–
Geographical areas services

–
Trade associations, memberships and government certifications

–
Reference contacts on highlighted projects

–
Direct links to social media sites

Plus, in addition to more content, the new “ProView” format offers
advanced functionality that enables users to save, print and share
information.

“The Blue Book Building and Construction Network has been
helping to bridge the gap between architects, engineers, general
contractors, owners, facility managers and government agencies and the
companies they need for their projects for nearly one hundred years. As
we near this milestone anniversary, we are working even harder to bring
products to market and add enhancements that continue to support this
mission and streamline workflow for commercial construction
professionals nationwide. The industry expressed a critical need
for a standard format that provides the core information required to
make smarter business decisions. We are proud to have introduced the new
ProView as the complete solution to that need,” explained Richard
Johnson, the company’s president.

About The Blue Book Building and Construction Network…

The Blue Book Network has been connecting the commercial construction
industry since 1913. Building from a database of over 1,000,000
classified company listings in 560 classifications – The Blue Book
Network today provides digital information and communication solutions
designed to enhance the daily workflow of the entire construction
industry. For more information on The Blue Book Building and
Construction Network, visit thebluebook.com
or call 800-431-2584.

SOURCE: The Blue Book Building and Construction Network



        
        The Blue Book Building and Construction Network 
        Deena King, 800-431-2584, ext. 3076 
        Marketing Communications Supervisor 
        dking@thebluebook.com

Copyright Business Wire 2012

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-blue-book-building-and-construction-network-creates-standard-industry-format-for-delivering-business-intelligence-online-2012-07-30

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7 Tools for Agile Business Intelligence

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Posted on : 31-07-2012 | By : admin | In : Analytics
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July 30, 2012
By Wayne Kernochan     Feedback

Wayne Kernochan, president of Infostructure Associates, recommends seven different types of tools that can go a long way toward enabling agile business intelligence.

Tools used to enable and facilitate agile business intelligence are constantly evolving and changing. Moreover, agile tools are often multi-purpose, applying to BI app development or to marketing projects using BI with somewhat equal facility; so you may be more familiar with them if you are not dealing with business intelligence. With those caveats, here is a list of some of tools used for agile business intelligence that clients and others have found useful.

Full-Process Development Tools

These tools are for the general agile developer applying his or her skills to rapid BI-app generation. These tools are aimed at supporting the individual developer doing his/her job during the BI-app project – generating user-liked code rapidly and incrementally.  It may seem as if agile business intelligence marketing has no use for these tools. However, it is possible that other areas do, for two reasons:  first, as generating or finding usable software becomes easier, it is very possible that any task will be done better by simply generating code to do parts or all of the task (for example, generating a draft video of the latest TV spot), and second, because the agile-tool-supported process has something to teach us all about doing any task in a more agile fashion. Two such tools:

IBM WebSphere Portal. IBM will tell you that Jazz is an agile tool, but Jazz is more about a general agile process, with agile project management. WebSphere Portal is a nice example of a tool that allows you to create a user interface and then automatically generate all the middleware. You may be surprised at how easy it is for a naïve user to create something cool.

Thoughtworks Go and CollabNet TeamForge. These allow specific development and testing tools to be substituted or interchanged, so they’re not exactly “generate and go.” However, their focus is on agile and on the development process as the individual developer sees it (design, code, test, deploy), and each has an interesting twist.  Thoughtworks emphasizes transparency of developer activity to everyone else (including “management”) – not control, but transparency. CollabNet emphasizes infusing the process with the ability to collaborate with other developers – collaboration in the service of agile.

Sharing/Whiteboarding Tools

These tools are about creating business intelligence apps (or using BI in a marketing process) in an agile process while sharing information. Many readers will envision a vague picture of an agile process as a “scrum,” with multiple players pushing forward individually with all their might and “combining” by interlocking arms. That’s not quite accurate. An agile process is a bit more like combinations of Brownian motion, with individuals heading off as fast as possible in one direction vaguely resembling the direction of others, until they bump into other developers or the end user. At that point, they redirect.

Sharing and whiteboarding tools minimize the need to interact with (or bump into) other developers by making everyone’s actions and usable information visible to everyone else, in one place. No need to contact others sequentially; just look at the common summary. When you have something to add, put it on the whiteboard. Several tools that enable this:

Trello, Asana and AgileZen. And Moovia, which is more in sync with the Scrum model.

For those who want to look at really sophisticated whiteboarding/sharing, IBM Lotus has been doing it for 20 years, and can give readers some ideas about other ways that sharing can be done effectively.

Collaborative BI Development Tools

Over the last decade, collaboration tools have considered extensively the case where developers are physically separated, and have begun to support a model of “loosely coupled” developers operating off a central website. Several such tools:

CollabNet in particular has aimed its collaboration tools at agile development. Both TeamForge and Subversion (nominally a software configuration management tool), both tools associated with CollabNet, include this kind of “loosely-coupled” coordination.

BI Project Management Tools

Three general types of tools are useful for business intelligence project management:

Software configuration management tools. These include not only the “check-in/checkout” discussed above, but also versioning: Agile developers go off on different tracks, and reconnect/re-integrate in new “versions.” While there are many such tools, almost all are based on two 1980s tools called RCS and (the desktop variant) VCS. Amazingly, the original tools are quite useful for handling multiple people writing drafts of a document.

Gantt-chart tools. These are the “overlapping arrows” we all know and love. (OK, maybe love is a strong word.)  Now, there are several “open-source” ways of muddling through.

Scalable tools. These are aimed at very large, un-agile projects, but some are moving briskly in the direction of stripping down oversight to a minimum. CA Clarity, according to recent reports, appears to be “agilifying” nicely.

Project management tools also act as a sort of “umbrella,” unifying other agile software development tools. These tools therefore also consider the stages of the traditional “waterfall” development process (design, code, test, deploy) as separate tasks – which can be useful as well, as long as the tool doesn’t force you into doing these tasks sequentially.

BI Project Portfolio Management Tools

It may seem odd of me to be enthusiastic about the potential of agile PPM tools, but I like the way these consider your agile efforts as a whole, across the company, and the way in which participants can move across projects as appropriate.  However, the original focus of PPM tools was “more efficient use of developer resources” and “better reporting and comparison of development projects,” so agile is not typically in their DNA.

I would point again to CA Clarity as a PPM tool with agile potential. In fact, all PPM tools could be used in an agile fashion, if you simply turned off most of the requirements for developers and project leaders to report upwards and instead used the PPM for “skills management” – i.e., ensuring  participants are evolving in an agile way. To put it another way, you can think of the PPM tool as a cross-project Scrum Master.

BI Information Agility: Data Virtualization

As I’ve written before, data virtualization is today’s pre-eminent software tool for improving data agility by auto-discovery of new Web data and data types. It also allows you to query once for widely disparate data sources. The two tools with the most DV in their DNA are:

Composite Software (e.g., Composite Information Server)  and Denodo.

Agile BI Marketing Tools

A company called Valtech has an interesting take on useful agile-marketing tools that are less about supporting the agile BI process and more about delivering its marketing products rapidly.  They call it a “customer-responsive platform” and they divide it into approximately three parts:

  • Digital Asset Management (e.g., providing a base of audio, video, etc. for marketing campaigns)
  • Product Information Management (e.g., providing a common set of information across media about the product that you are marketing)
  • Web Content Management (e.g., providing ways to rapidly generate and monitor key types of Web content from the other two data stores)

The goal is effectively to “generate” marketing content for multiple “channels” (within the Web, such as websites and social media, and across media, such as parallel TV ads). In this case, business intelligence is crucial to customer targeting. The aim of these tools is to: deliver to multiple channels in parallel, deliver on-the-fly (in rapid response to a need) and to allow incremental releases and experimentation.

Valtech cites Adobe tools for these purposes, but it appears there is now a rich set of such tools out there.

Wayne Kernochan is the president of Infostructure Associates, an affiliate of Valley View Ventures that aims to identify ways for businesses to leverage information for innovation and competitive advantage. Wayne has been an IT industry analyst for 22 years. During that time, he has focused on analytics, databases, development tools and middleware, and ways to measure their effectiveness, such as TCO, ROI, and agility measures. He has worked for respected firms such as Yankee Group, Aberdeen Group and Illuminata, and has helped craft marketing strategies based on competitive intelligence for vendors ranging from Progress Software to IBM.



7 Tools for Agile Business Intelligence





Article source: http://www.enterpriseappstoday.com/business-intelligence/7-tools-for-agile-business-intelligence.html

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SAP Authorizes Distributors To Carry Its Business Intelligence Software

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Posted on : 31-07-2012 | By : admin | In : Analytics
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SAP is adding distributors to its authorized reseller program to carry the company’s full line of business intelligence software, part of the company’s effort to increase sales of those products to small and midsize businesses.

The expansion of the SAP PartnerEdge program to recruit distributors for SAP BusinessObjects software kicked off late last week at the company’s China Sapphire conference in Beijing.

ACA Pacific, a leading Australian distributor of specialized IT systems, and China National Software Services Co. Ltd., a Chinese global IT service company, are the first distributors enlisted for the initiative, said Kevin Gilroy, SAP senior vice president, global indirect channels, in an interview.

[Related: Partners See Progress In SAP's Evolution Into A Channel-Friendly Company]

While the effort began in Asia/Pacific, Gilroy said SAP is recruiting distributors in all regions to resell the BusinessObjects product line. “This will be global,” he said. “We’re in deep discussions with distributors around the world. You’ll see this in all regions.”

Before now, the only SAP business intelligence software resold through distributors has been Crystal Reports, the ubiquitous report writer package that Business Objects bought in 2003. SAP acquired Business Objects in 2008.

Under the new arrangements, solution providers and VARs who have a relationship with an SAP-endorsed distributor can obtain all SAP BusinessObjects, Edge edition software through those distributors. Edge edition products are releases of the BusinessObjects software packaged specifically for the channel.

Adding distributors to the pipeline will help SAP expand its reach into SMB markets for BusinessObjects products, Gilroy said. For solution providers, the move to authorize distributors will provide a single point of contact for VARs that don’t want to negotiate a reseller deal directly with SAP. VARs also gain more access to financing options, Gilroy said.

Gilroy said the distributor effort would be expanded to the U.S. and other regions during the next few quarters.

PUBLISHED JULY 30, 2012

Article source: http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/240004575/sap-authorizes-distributors-to-carry-its-business-intelligence-software.htm

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Judgment Calls: Analytics’ Cousin for Business Intelligence Success

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Posted on : 30-07-2012 | By : admin | In : Analytics
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Small Business Trends

89c9b small business trends Judgment Calls: Analytics Cousin for Business Intelligence Success

Over the past few years business strategy has been revolutionized by the use of analytics and business intelligence. So it is understandable that successful decision making would receive an equivalent reset.

Thankfully, one of the first books to examine strategy execution in a post-analytic world comes from a leader in business intelligence.  Judgment Calls: 12 Stories of Big Decisions and The Teams That Got Them Right, by Thomas Davenport and Brook Manville, examines the businesses that are developing smarter cultures that lead to business success.

Davenport, a leading Babson College IT  and business intelligence professor, co-authored a number of books on analytics, including one I reviewed for SBT, Analytics at Work. I requested a Judgment Calls review copy from Harvard Business Review when I heard about his latest effort.  Its 12 cases implies an analytic address to the most limiting qualities that occur with decision management.

Learning From the Collective Now Means Profits Instead of Geekiness

The authors’ approach in Judgment Calls reveals decision making from a process and systematic view, called organizational judgment:

“The collective capacity to make good calls and wise moves when the need for them exceed that of any single leader’s direct control.”

Davenport and Manville note that four trends  that will define good judgment making have emerged:

  • The recognition that none of us is as smart as all of us.
  • Tapping not only the wisdom of the crowd but the leadership of the crowd.
  • The use of analytics to support and sometimes actually make decisions.
  • Information technology is an enabler of the first three aspects.

The phrasing of the second concept fascinated me, because it captured the sentiment of  current online human behavior.   Success with content marketing, for example, is based on leadership the crowd places on the source.  The more social shares of a blogpost or a pic imply a crowd’s conference of trust on a piece of material, that the author shows wisdom in what they produce.

Judgment Calls examines 12 cases from organizations probably more diverse than the data they collectively analyze.   The organizations run the gamut from NASA, health care, and education.  The cases are grouped into 4 segments.

Most likely, the case most relatable to a small business owner  is the last one, a focus on a decision facing 1990′s beauty products start up, Tweezerman.  The example showed that:

“There is an unusual power in people with complimentary skills working together for a common performance objective.”

Although large in size, organizations featured, such as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, still provide useful examples to small businesses.  They display that degree analytics and business intelligence has grown such that judgment capabilities can be examined to understand high-performing organizations.

The analysis reminds that personal calls, even from experience leaders,  can be rightfully questioned:

“How can we make sure those calls are made well?  Is it enough to choose smart leaders who seem to have people’s interest at heart, and trust their wisdom?  Human judgment is frail and fettered, no matter which humans the judgment comes from.”

Some Leaders Challenge Data But For The Wrong Reasons

Given the above quote, I appreciated the authors’ note that the world has not changed for many business execs. Many are resistant to data that says to keep learning from collective sources.  The authors share at the beginning how, despite notable advancement from analytics:

“…insecure senior execs are simply reminding themselves and insisting that only their judgment and decisions count. On social technologies, instead of figuring out how they can facilitate collaboration and group judgment, many firms still ban their usage altogether. One survey of chief information officers found that 54 percent ban all social media use at work (though it’s likely that many of their employees find a way to access Facebook anyway).”

Judgment Calls makes a strong effort to raise decision making into less of an individual basis and more of a cultural practice within a team.  It makes a solid follow up to analytic books such as Jim Sterne’s Social Media Metrics, Performance Marketing with Google Analytics, and of course, one of Davenport’s earlier books Analytics at Work.

The authors note that businesses seeing results are:

“Consulting more people…adopting some form of collective leadership.”

It’s an understandable offshoot from the increase in analytics and business intelligence.  While the material in Judgment Calls focuses on large enterprises, small business readers should take note of the examples to learn how their experiences can be better handled.  After reading it, any reader’s decision making prowess will be improved.

From Small Business Trends

Judgment Calls: Analytics’ Cousin for Business Intelligence Success

Read more posts on Small Business Trends »

Article source: http://www.businessinsider.com/judgment-calls-analytics-cousin-for-business-intelligence-success-2012-7

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Noetix Voted a Best Workplace for Recycling and Waste Reduction by King County for Fourth Consecutive Year

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Posted on : 29-07-2012 | By : Ben Stinner | In : Analytics
Tags: , , ,

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Noetix Corp., a world-class provider of business intelligence (BI)
software and services for enterprise applications, today announced it
has been selected for King County’s annual list of Best
Workplaces for Recycling and Waste Reduction for the fourth
consecutive year.

King County’s Solid Waste Division initiated the list six years ago to
recognize businesses for strong internal recycling programs and for
their commitment to making recycling a priority for their companies. In
2012, 92 local businesses, from arts and entertainment to technology
companies, demonstrated fulfillment of the listing’s criteria and
provided individual stories about how successes were achieved.

“Four cheers for Noetix for being included on our list for the fourth
year in a row,” said Karen May, project manager, Recycling and
Environmental Services at King County Solid Waste Division. “The steps
Noetix is taking to reduce and eliminate waste have a positive effect on
our community and feed recycled materials back into the economy.”

Tweet This: @NoetixCorp
voted a best workplace for recycling waste reduction by King County (@kcnews)
for a 4th time: http://noetix.com?u=s42hg.

To qualify as a Best Workplace for Recycling and Waste Reduction,
companies must meet at least 10 criteria from a list of more than 30
best practice business recycling processes that range from placing
recycling bins by every desk to collecting food scraps for composting.

Currently in its fifth year, the Noetix Green Committee has transformed
the company by making recycling and waste reduction a top priority.
Noetix currently recycles all paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum
products, as well as batteries, plastic grocery bags, cell phones, and
compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). Noetix also composts all food scraps,
coffee grounds, and coffee filters, as well as corn-based plates, bowls,
and utensils.

This past year, Noetix received the title of “Eco-Products Influencer”
with Eco-Products, Inc., a provider of disposable products that can be
recycled. The title is awarded to companies that purchase compostable
plates, bowls, cups, and eating utensils. Noetix continues to be a
member of Terra-Cycle’s
Recycling Brigades and recycles all coffee packaging, Papermate pens,
Expo Dry-Erase markers, computer keyboards, and mice. All of these
products are recycled into new products by Terra-Cycle.

“We are proud to once again be included in King County’s Best Workplace
for Recycling listing,” said Mark Verner, business and operations
manager at Noetix. “The Noetix Green Committee continues to come up with
innovative ideas for ways to recycle and reuse everyday items and we
look forward to expanding our program in the years to come.”

Join the Noetix community on Facebook,
LinkedIn,
Twitter,
Google+,
YouTube,
and the Noetix
Blog.

About King County’s Best Workplaces for Recycling and Waste
Reduction List

King County releases the Best Workplaces for Recycling and
Waste Reduction list annually. The goal of the list is to recognize
the top recyclers and waste reducers, and help motivate others in the
local business community to improve recycling and waste practices. To
learn more about what these businesses are doing to improve recycling
programs, visit http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/garbage-recycling/best-workplaces.asp.

About Noetix

Noetix
provides instant operational reporting and packaged analytics for Oracle
Applications. For nearly 20 years, Noetix has helped customers worldwide
to quickly and cost-effectively access the enterprise application data
necessary for critical decision-making. Noetix’s proven technology is
being used by 1,500 industry-leading customers including: Cummins,
Starbucks, Toshiba, Welch’s, and Visa. The company is headquartered in
Redmond, Wash., with international operations in London and Hyderabad,
India.

Noetix is a registered trademark of Noetix Corp.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/noetix-voted-best-workplace-recycling-130000360.html

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New Technology in San Antonio Allows for Fast, Insightful Business Relocation Intelligence

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Posted on : 29-07-2012 | By : Ben Stinner | In : Analytics
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Business owners and site selectors can immediately access available properties and deep demographic data through San Antonio Site Locator at http://sanantonio.zoomprospector.com

San Antonio, Texas (PRWEB) July 26, 2012

Businesses considering investing in San Antonio have a new high tech resource to help them make smarter decisions. The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation (SAEDF), the City of San Antonio, GIS Planning and Xceligent have launched a cutting-edge economic development tool, the San Antonio Site Locator (SASL) at http://sanantonio.zoomprospector.com.

“Whether you’re a small business owner looking to grow or a multi-national corporation scouting for a new headquarters, this new tool will make it easier for potential investors to consider San Antonio,” said San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro.

Using Geographic Information System (GIS) software, the free website provides immediate access to dynamic real estate, demographic and industry data and displays available commercial properties on an interactive heat map.

“We continually work to be the most progressive, welcoming and accessible market for businesses who are considering expanding or relocating their operations,” says SAEDF President Mario Hernandez. “This great new online platform is one of the many resources our community provides those businesses, to help facilitate economic development and job producing investments.”

The San Antonio Site Locator (SASL) allows visitors to:

  •     Search for available buildings and sites using very specific criteria, and display properties on an interactive map that can also show specific points of interest, demographic information and more.
  •     Explore existing businesses in San Antonio by general and specific industry classifications, and by size and performance.
  •     Find locations in San Antonio that match specific demographic, labor force, transportation and geographic profiles.
  •     Easily save property, demographic, community and business reports.

San Francisco-based GIS Planning created the online software that powers the new system, which connects to the State of Texas’ website, http://www.texassitesearch.com.

“We’re thrilled to serve the nation’s seventh largest city and one of the fastest growing regions in the country with our software as a service technology,” said Anatalio Ubalde, CEO of GIS Planning. “San Antonio joins the state of Texas in employing our ZoomProspector technology to attract, retain and grow business.”

The GIS-powered website is built using state-of-the-art site selection mapping capabilities including ZoomProspector Enterprise and Google Maps technologies.

About the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation

The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation is a private, non-profit organization responsible for attracting new business and industry to San Antonio. The organization has been responsible for the recruitment of more than 360 companies that collectively employ nearly 95,000 San Antonians. For more information, about the SAEDF please visit Sanantonioedf.com. For more information about San Antonio’s business landscape, Like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/SanAntonioEDF or follow us on Twitter @SanAntonioEDF.

A Model City for all America: San Antonio

San Antonio is a model city for the new face of America—a diverse, progressive and globally competitive city with a solid vision for national and international economic development. The City of San Antonio maintains a strong financial position with a “AAA” general obligation bond rating from all three major rating agencies. The Milken Institute has ranked San Antonio No. 1 on its Best-Performing Cities list. As the seventh-largest city in the United States, San Antonio is experiencing solid economic growth in 21st century industries such as bioscience and healthcare. Biotech companies and healthcare systems in San Antonio contribute billions to the local economy. The Aerospace industry remains a dominant economic strength in San Antonio with the presence of several aviation and aerospace corporations, including the military. The military has had a significant relationship with San Antonio for more than 200 years and is home to several military commands. The city is also a cybersecurity hub; nationally recognized as a leader in the field of information security. San Antonio is positioning itself to be at the forefront of the New Energy Economy in the United States, committed to investing and creating employment opportunities in green industries. The travel industry also remains a consistent growing economy for the city, as millions of people visit San Antonio on a yearly basis. For more information, visit http://www.sanantonio.gov.

About GIS Planning

GIS Planning, http://www.gisplanning.com, is the world leader in online economic development solutions. More than 13,000 U.S. cities in 42 states are served by the company’s GIS software, which provides real estate, demographic and industry data to help site selection professionals. GIS Planning invented ZoomProspector.com, a free website that enables companies to identify the best locations to start-up, expand or relocate, and SizeUp.com, a free tool to help businesses grow. GIS Planning is an exclusive partner of the International Economic Development Council, and has been on the Inc. 5000 list for the past four years.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/7/prweb9734707.htm

Article source: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/business/press-releases/article/New-Technology-in-San-Antonio-Allows-for-Fast-3737415.php

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