An Introduction to Data-driven Sales Planning

Most organizations still conduct sales planning as a manual, once-per-year exercise, due to the painful and time-consuming nature of the process. Since this is traditionally viewed as a burdensome task, it’s common that once sales plans are set in motion, companies rarely go back to evaluate accuracy or make adjustments. It’s at that exact moment that performance starts to suffer and companies put themselves at risk to miss their goals. This static approach puts today’s organizations at a disadvantage due to lack of insight and agility. With the adoption of automated and data-driven sales planning solutions, companies can modernize three key areas of their sales planning process: building, planning, and execution.

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Motionloft

Motionloft is an exciting technology that captures real-time pedestrian and vehicle traffic data to create engaging analytics. Our products are widely used by market researchers, property owners, brokers, retailers, cities, and government agencies. Motionloft's analytics help you understand how the real world is impacting your business.

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IoT Security

How Will IoT Revolutionize Pharmaceutical Manufacturing?

Article | June 28, 2023

Pharma is big business, but what it’s not generally recognized is, in large part, a manufacturing business with complex supply chains, finicky chemical processes and products that have to meet stringent quality controls. Few of those outside the industry think about how drugs are made safely, efficiently and at scale with reliable quality and in precisely measured doses. Even more interesting is the simple fact that pharma often produces sophisticated drugs using manufacturing processes that are decades out of date, and which are being phased out in comparable industries, such as chemical manufacturing.

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IoT Security

What Is the Impact of IoT on Supply Chain Management?

Article | October 11, 2023

Every major industry, including retail, transportation, banking, healthcare, and energy, has significantly benefited from the Internet of Things. Processes like supply chains are where the Internet of Things best demonstrates its promise. Applications for management, forecasting, and oversight aid fleet managers in increasing distribution's operational effectiveness and decision-making openness. Some of the primary goals for IoT deployment in supply chain management include tracking and monitoring. For example, warehouse and fleet managers can use technology to keep an eye on their stock and freight. Reasons to Use IoT in Supply Chain Management Real-time Location-tracking Thanks to the Internet of Things, managers have access to a consistent stream of real-time data on the product's location and the environment surrounding transportation. You may keep track of the delivery of both finished items and raw materials, and you will be informed if the product is transported in the wrong direction. Monitoring of Storage Conditions Environmental sensors allow management to monitor cargo conditions and take immediate action when something changes. One of the most popular IoT supply chain systems, for example, collects data on pressure, humidity, the temperature inside vehicles, and other factors that could harm the goods and then automatically adjusts the environment. Enhance Your Emergency Planning Supply chain managers can design routes with the use of IoT and data analytics, taking into account traffic, weather, potential accidents, and other delay-causing events that may occur along the way. The Internet of Things collects all the data required to create adaptable backup plans and identify the source of any current delays. Also, supply chain managers can get alerts from the system in real time, which speeds up reducing risks. Forecast Goods Arrival and Movement IoT devices and data analytics systems are used by managers to enhance the decision-making process and boost the accuracy of delivery estimates. Real-time tracking lets businesses keep track of products as they are shipped, predict when they will arrive, and plan for and reduce the risk of delays. Conclusion There are many different IoT applications for supply chain management. For example, it improves communication between parties, makes it easier to track and monitor commodities, and makes planning more precise. As long as you have a clear goal for what you need the technology to achieve for you, an IoT-based platform is an excellent investment for both small and large organizations. It's also essential to bring on a talented team for the design and development phase.

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IoT Security

5 IoT Trends for Marketers to Watch in 2021

Article | July 5, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic turned the tides towards remote work and virtual connectivity. And even though growth seemed to have slowed down in 2020, experts see double-digit growth in the next few years. The tides may be turning but virtual connectivity and the tools required for remote growth are not slowing down in demand. As the tech world adapts to new shifts, IoT is among one of the most anticipated technologies to prosper in 2021. Digital transformation has rapidly accelerated in the past year and if the experts are to be believed, 2021 shows promise for an even better year for technological advancement. According to IDC’s 2020-2024 forecast, spending will reach an annual growth rate of 11.3 percent. And with this, the number of connected devices is likely to grow up. Take a look at what will be the focus of IoT industry trends in 2021. Privacy & Security As smart homes are becoming the norm and you cannot throw a stone without hitting a smart device, one thing is clear—IoT devices are everywhere. People almost always forget smartphones when talking about IoT devices, but the fact is that smartphones are very much a part of the IoT ecosystem. And with the infusion of IoT in our everyday lives, questions about privacy and security are cropping up. Just recently, as WhatsApp announced its new privacy policy, millions of users planned to migrate to other alternatives. This led to WhatsApp pushing back its privacy update and tech businesses taking note of changing winds. In 2021, privacy and security will be at the forefront of IoT industry trends, as devices infuse further into the everyday lives of people. According to recent research, 90 percent of consumers lack confidence in IoT device security. And the onus of bolstering consumer confidence will be up to IoT businesses. Workforce Management According to Gartner’s “Top Strategic Technology Trends For 2021” report, IoT will be a large part of the office experience in 2021. As businesses are trying to avoid the losses that occurred in early 2020, workplaces are being geared up with RFID tags, sensors, and monitors to ensure social distancing measures, whether employees are wearing masks and overall health monitoring. Additionally, many organizations have decided to move permanently to a remote mode and will rely more on IoT devices for connectivity. So we can expect better automated scheduling and calendar tools, more interactive video conferencing, and virtual meeting technology. In the case of fieldwork, IoT will offer an added factor of monitoring behavior. Greener IoT Experts predict that energy will be a crucial factor in the IoT industry trends in 2021. With smart grids, metering, and restoration resilience being powered by IoT, 2021 will move towards optimized energy consumption and devices that are designed to encourage energy-friendly practices. What’s more? Smart engines and automobiles can be optimized to reduce their carbon footprint and become energy-friendly. As evidenced by the Paris summit and the wildfires in 2020, the world is becoming ecologically conscious. IoT devices in 2021 will focus heavily on reduced emissions, lowering air and ocean pollution, and minimizing power expenditure. Location Data As COVID-19 limited human interaction, location-based services soared during the pandemic. Businesses started leveraging location data to offer curbside pickup, virtual queues, and check-ins for reservations to enhance the customer experience during the pandemic. According to experts, the use of location data will continue to be crucial for customer service and convenience in 2021. As people prefer being safe even as the vaccines are being delivered, location data will allow businesses to cater to their customers without compromising on customer or employee safety. Digital twins IoT is being helmed as the perfect technology partner for creating digital twins in many industries. As IoT collects a large amount of data through physical devices, this data can be reinterpreted to create the perfect digital twins. Also, IoT can offer visibility into the full product life cycle and unfold deeper operational intelligence. Companies like Siemens are already leveraging technologies like AIoT to design and create digital twins for product design and production. Coupled with AI, IoT will be used more commonly for creating digital twins in 2021. A technology as dynamic as IoT can be leveraged for almost any application. Therefore, it may surprise us all in the way it progresses in 2021. However, experts believe that the above 5 IoT industry trends will rule 2021 for sure. Frequently Asked Questions What are the latest IoT industry trends? The use of IoT in Healthcare, Artificial Intelligence, workforce management, and ecological conservation can be deemed as some of the latest trends in IoT. What is the future scope of IoT? As experts believe there will be over 85 billion connected devices by the end of 2021, and the numbers are promising for upcoming years, we can safely say that the future of IoT is indeed bright. What industries are most likely to use the Internet of things technology? IoT is a dynamic technology with applications in almost every industry. However, industries like healthcare, construction, manufacturing, tech, and resource management are most like to use IoT right now. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the latest IoT industry trends?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The use of IoT in Healthcare, Artificial Intelligence, workforce management, and ecological conservation can be deemed as some of the latest trends in IoT." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the future scope of IoT?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "As experts believe there will be over 85 billion connected devices by the end of 2021, and the numbers are promising for upcoming years, we can safely say that the future of IoT is indeed bright." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What industries are most likely to use the Internet of things technology?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "IoT is a dynamic technology with applications in almost every industry. 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Hitachi, Infineon promote IoT tech for viral detection

Article | April 16, 2020

Tech companies are stepping up Internet of Things technologies to protect against COVID-19 and future viruses by using LiDAR and infrared cameras to detect a person’s body temperature from a distance or even handwashing. Keeping the data secure in such detection is also going to be a challenge. One approach is to put a chip inside an IoT device when it is manufactured to enable strong authentication and secure communication, mainly to guard against device counterfeiting. Hitachi Vantara has touted forward looking infrared cameras (FLIR) cameras to detect the temperature of a person from a distance. That way a passenger on a train or a worker or a customer in a store can be non-intrusively screened, according to a blog from Mark Jules, global vice president of smart spaces and video intelligence.

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Spotlight

Motionloft

Motionloft is an exciting technology that captures real-time pedestrian and vehicle traffic data to create engaging analytics. Our products are widely used by market researchers, property owners, brokers, retailers, cities, and government agencies. Motionloft's analytics help you understand how the real world is impacting your business.

Related News

Xactly Unveils AI-powered Solution to Deliver Real-Time Data-Driven Insights for Sales

Xactly Corp | June 13, 2019

Xactly, the leading innovator of cloud-based sales performance management (SPM) software, today announced a major enhancement of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across its core Sales Resource Planning & Capacity Management solution. This announcement follows the release of Xactly’s Rep Attrition prediction solution, and is the result of the company’s commitment to enhancing AI capabilities across its SPM platform. Demonstrating the power of the company’s deep dataset curated over 14 years, Xactly is using AI to answer some of the most pressing challenges the industry faces about pay structure, optimization, and planning. Xactly relies on user-defined historical data to illuminate organizational patterns in sales, bookings and employee attrition, giving sales leaders precise insight into the ebb and flow of their sales activities and workforce. The product’s new capabilities predict factors that affect seasonality, such as headcount, new hire ramp-up, and early-stage quota-setting to help align planning with broader business objectives. Customers can leverage these predictive capabilities, tailoring them to their needs, including breaking down resource planning by territory and information type to simplify the process for users and drive value more quickly.

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Xactly to Participate in Five Panels During Eighth Annual Denver Startup Week

Xactly Corp | September 13, 2019

Xactly, a leading innovator of sales performance management (SPM) software, today announced its participation in Denver Startup Week 2019, on Sept. 16-20 in downtown Denver. The largest free entrepreneurial event of its kind in North America, the annual Denver Startup Week brings together innovators and entrepreneurs across the city in a series of break-away sessions, keynotes, workshops, and celebrations. With over 300 events, attendees will have the opportunity to learn from one another and discuss the future of tech in Denver, from hiring the next generation of talent to sustainably growing the tech community. Xactly Founder and CEO Chris Cabrera will discuss the experiences, challenges, and triumphs associated with founding a startup and scaling it for the past 14-years during Startup Cribs - People Reveal Space, Culture & Why Denver. The panel will have a distinct focus on culture-building, employee engagement, and community, and will take place Sept. 18 from 12:00-1:30 pm. Xactly CFO, Elizabeth Salomon will lead a panel titled Reality Check: The Future is Female with a group of exceptional female leaders discussing what it means to be a woman in the modern workplace, sharing untold stories and advice about the future of women in tech. The panel will take place on Sept. 17 from 4:00-6:00 pm. Elizabeth will also be on the panel Her Workplace: Exploring Women in the Denver Workforce, on September 17, from 2:00-3:30 pm.

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Xactly Named Bay Area Top Workplace

Xactly Corp | June 26, 2019

Xactly, the leading innovator of cloud-based sales performance management (SPM) software, has been named a Top Workplace by the Bay Area News Group for the seventh time. The list is based on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by research partner Energage, LLC, a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools. The anonymous survey measures aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution, and connection. Xactly’s strong culture is based on its company-wide commitment to live by its core values: customer focus, accountability, respect, and excellence. “Developing an inclusive, collaborative, and positive work environment has remained a pillar of our leadership philosophy since the company was founded,” said Chris Cabrera, founder and CEO of Xactly. “After an incredible year of growth and momentum, our repeated recognition as a top workplace demonstrates that the Xactly culture remains steadfast.” Xactly has more than 600 employees worldwide and over the past year saw a significant office expansion in Denver. The company was ranked by the Denver Business Journal as one of the 2019 Largest Tech Employers in Denver. Xactly also increased in total headcount by more than 50 percent across the US, UK, Canada, Romania, Australia, and India.

Read More

Xactly Unveils AI-powered Solution to Deliver Real-Time Data-Driven Insights for Sales

Xactly Corp | June 13, 2019

Xactly, the leading innovator of cloud-based sales performance management (SPM) software, today announced a major enhancement of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across its core Sales Resource Planning & Capacity Management solution. This announcement follows the release of Xactly’s Rep Attrition prediction solution, and is the result of the company’s commitment to enhancing AI capabilities across its SPM platform. Demonstrating the power of the company’s deep dataset curated over 14 years, Xactly is using AI to answer some of the most pressing challenges the industry faces about pay structure, optimization, and planning. Xactly relies on user-defined historical data to illuminate organizational patterns in sales, bookings and employee attrition, giving sales leaders precise insight into the ebb and flow of their sales activities and workforce. The product’s new capabilities predict factors that affect seasonality, such as headcount, new hire ramp-up, and early-stage quota-setting to help align planning with broader business objectives. Customers can leverage these predictive capabilities, tailoring them to their needs, including breaking down resource planning by territory and information type to simplify the process for users and drive value more quickly.

Read More

Xactly to Participate in Five Panels During Eighth Annual Denver Startup Week

Xactly Corp | September 13, 2019

Xactly, a leading innovator of sales performance management (SPM) software, today announced its participation in Denver Startup Week 2019, on Sept. 16-20 in downtown Denver. The largest free entrepreneurial event of its kind in North America, the annual Denver Startup Week brings together innovators and entrepreneurs across the city in a series of break-away sessions, keynotes, workshops, and celebrations. With over 300 events, attendees will have the opportunity to learn from one another and discuss the future of tech in Denver, from hiring the next generation of talent to sustainably growing the tech community. Xactly Founder and CEO Chris Cabrera will discuss the experiences, challenges, and triumphs associated with founding a startup and scaling it for the past 14-years during Startup Cribs - People Reveal Space, Culture & Why Denver. The panel will have a distinct focus on culture-building, employee engagement, and community, and will take place Sept. 18 from 12:00-1:30 pm. Xactly CFO, Elizabeth Salomon will lead a panel titled Reality Check: The Future is Female with a group of exceptional female leaders discussing what it means to be a woman in the modern workplace, sharing untold stories and advice about the future of women in tech. The panel will take place on Sept. 17 from 4:00-6:00 pm. Elizabeth will also be on the panel Her Workplace: Exploring Women in the Denver Workforce, on September 17, from 2:00-3:30 pm.

Read More

Xactly Named Bay Area Top Workplace

Xactly Corp | June 26, 2019

Xactly, the leading innovator of cloud-based sales performance management (SPM) software, has been named a Top Workplace by the Bay Area News Group for the seventh time. The list is based on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by research partner Energage, LLC, a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools. The anonymous survey measures aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution, and connection. Xactly’s strong culture is based on its company-wide commitment to live by its core values: customer focus, accountability, respect, and excellence. “Developing an inclusive, collaborative, and positive work environment has remained a pillar of our leadership philosophy since the company was founded,” said Chris Cabrera, founder and CEO of Xactly. “After an incredible year of growth and momentum, our repeated recognition as a top workplace demonstrates that the Xactly culture remains steadfast.” Xactly has more than 600 employees worldwide and over the past year saw a significant office expansion in Denver. The company was ranked by the Denver Business Journal as one of the 2019 Largest Tech Employers in Denver. Xactly also increased in total headcount by more than 50 percent across the US, UK, Canada, Romania, Australia, and India.

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