SMART 2.5 helps publishers do more with less

“Business intelligence and analytics emerged as the number-one priority in a survey of company CIOs carried out last year by Gartner,” said Massimo Barsotti, Eidosmedia Chief Marketing Officer.

“It was a sign that organizations in all sectors have realized that the data they generate can, when examined with the right tools, yield valuable insights into business processes across the enterprise.”

“The media and publishing sector is no exception. In fact, the pressure on news-media organizations to do more with less makes them prime candidates for the kind of data-driven optimization that can make the difference between having a viable and a non-viable business model.”

SMART is a business-intelligence tool that plugs into the Méthode digital publishing platform. It collects data on every operation that takes place across the platform and stores it in a database where it can be interrogated to answer questions like: “What’s the slowest step in the photo workflow?” or “How much are we spending on buying in video assets, and how much ad revenue do they generate?”. By giving users real-time understanding of critical processes, SMART can optimize publishing operations by eliminating inefficiencies and unnecessary costs and maximizing productivity.

SMART has a browser-based console so users can work from any location using tablets and mobile devices to launch queries. Results are displayed in table and chart format and users can ‘play around’ interactively with the charts to explore results from different perspectives.

“Méthode users with complex multichannel workflows are using SMART to streamline their operations and maximize their productivity,” said Massimo. “The new release SMART 2.5 has powerful new analytical features and a new console that gives users even easier hands-on access to data and results.”

In the financial publishing sector, where Méthode is widely used to publish research and market reporting, SMART plays an important role in ensuring that published products comply with sector regulations and norms. “SMART creates a detailed ‘audit trail’ for all content,” said Massimo. “This allows every edit and addition to be tracked, and responsibility established for documents which often contain market-moving news and analysis.”

“A business-intelligence approach is becoming essential to the cost-effective management of a publishing operation,” said Massimo. “SMART gives publishers a business-intelligence facility that is fully integrated with the workflow at a fraction of the cost of a standalone BI package.”