Why use Desktop Analytics?

In this post, we’ll show benefits of using desktop analytics and the importance of measuring desktop software delivery and usage.

Develop and maintain computer software consumes lots of resources, of all kinds. In most companies, no matter what type of software is developed, they’re always interested in reducing costs and leveraging businesses to increase revenue.

Benefits of using Desktop Analytics

Web analytics services (such as Google Analytics) has evolved, and so has desktop analytics. Desktop analytics services can provide useful business and development information and can assist companies understanding the value of their desktop applications. They can apply computer technology and statistics to solve problems and make decisions. With this information, companies can boost their business and improve quality.

A company can develop and sell an application, but does it also know:

• How many people are currently using it?
• It might know how many people downloaded its software, but how often users launch it?
• Do users use it every day? Maybe only once a week, or once a month...
• Is it used mostly Monday through Friday, during the day?
• Do users have Java installed in their computers? Which version?
• Do people get lost in the user interface?
• How many people are using pirated serial numbers?

There’s also another point of view: how does an organization get reliable feedback about its users?

• Does it really get feedback, or it is intuitive?
• Is it a one-by-one understanding?
• Is it making decisions based on past experiences?
• Is information used as the basis for decisions?

To give feedback, or ask for technical support, users could choose to interact with company’s website or to make a call to a “Support Team”. But (technical) data is almost never passed through human interaction. Direct to the point: organizations need to get more detailed and standardized information about how users work with their desktop applications.

How could a company get all of these information about its customers?

Desktop analytics service, like DeskMetrics, allows to get all of them. It takes into account concepts like measuring and managing. “What is not measured is not managed” (balanced scorecard) or “if you can't accurately measure software delivery, then you can't improve it.”

The complete quantify ability of analytics data means it is easy to establish what is and what is not working well. If not, can something be changed so that it does work? Using data collected by analytics, companies can separate and understand the direction in which users tend to move and then establish a tendency. They discover which of their desktop applications features are the most valuable to users. It is intelligence; business intelligence will guide their businesses.

Fact: Some companies are focused only in the absolute number of software downloads

A report on this number is an indicator of how successful the app is, but says nothing about how engaged customers are, how to increase sales, how successful the marketing programs are...

Observing and learning about users’ behavior allows the company to find weak points, where users may be having problems. Make strategic changes to the application in due course lead to more business. It’s possible to identify and understand user behavior and then make a number of small guided changes that together provide an overall competitive advantage.

So, measuring usage reduces development costs, improves software quality, and optimizes your resources. Take desktop analytics into account when making an assessment.