What I'm looking for in a tool of social analysis - InformationWeek

I still meet the criteria for evaluation of the analysis of social media tools. Final specifications? As Ovum analyst Tony Baer, "it is everywhere, but provide defined.".

Companies spend well on ADM tools, too often with analytics tools low and weak interfaces. I was shocked by a tool I've seen recently, by the scanning tool both shallow feelings and analysis capabilities of the 1990s - vintage by ignorance of the same demo Manager. (Nevertheless, the company recorded $ 62 million in 2010, total revenues for all products.)

I assume that excuse is that social platforms are fairly new, and expectations should not be high. Lame.

We will raise the bar. I know a worthy challenge when I see one, then that's what I look for in a tool of social analysis.

Not to elevators, yes the BI

Start with the idea that most of us is not really interested in the analysis of social media, are we? Our real interest is the commercial value of social content, which is in the messages, people and networks, not in the platforms themselves.

We are best served by a conception of social networks that transcends any particular or medium, platform that bridges the mediate business systems and record business transactions value generators ($ $$).

Yet most of ADM tools deal with social media in a mode in a vacuum. They recognize the mutualité related social points and conventional - people poster they ate in restaurants, and conversely our purchases are influenced by what we read on social networks. Tools also tend to silo of data from each social platform (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums, etc.).

As a rep for customer support or marketer, business analyst, I would like to know not only that said where online, that I would also like to know who heard the message, if a message across platforms, for example naming a blog or forum to Twitter, and what listeners have done in response.

Elevators mean walls. Low walls. Enough with the elevators. Understand and explain networks!

Analysis of the data is not to continue with the admission that while Facebook and Twitter and similar are still young, adapted to the business. Modern BI dates late 1980. All the main BI tools offers not only the paintings of dashboard and reports, but also three-dimensional models and PivotTables for interactive, exploratory data analysis, visual. You would know by looking at the many notable tools of the SMA (or, by the way, to mid-market survey tools). Their best is static for dashboards and reports offering a limited capacity for reporting and filtering of data parameterization. They offer nothing approaching drag them and drop, multidimensional tables crossed that supports all the major BI tools.

The example more disappointing that I've seen is strongly promoted launched software ADM year last by an analytics giant, the 3.0 version is always displayed not step to benefit from deep BI vendor and the jurisdiction of analytics.

What I expect

ADM grain elevators and weak interfaces are my big two points. Now we skip a level. I will offer a series of criteria in six categories. Warning: neither the categories nor the criteria are supposed to be comprehensive or deeply explained. I'm looking for gaps, so the criteria that i list here relate to elements lacking in much of the analysis of social media tools now on the market. Any given tool did not cover any function that I will list - I am not a fan of lists of control requirements - but each tool should cover a good selection of criteria, regardless of the combination of the operational objectives will support the tool.