Do Away with Unwieldy Warranty Challenges: BI & Data Warehousing
Business processes become complicated due to inefficient data sharing. Smart technologies may have brought some improvements with real-time insights about your business ecosystem, but it gets much tougher in the case of an organization dealing with large after-market operations, like in the event of warranty administration and management. A more efficient warranty management system should enhance OEM’s reach to its customers. Numerous factors are affecting the warranty domain. And managing these factors becomes the primary goal for any manufacturing organization. The latest advancements in technology use cutting-edge Business Intelligence (BI) and corresponding Data Warehousing (DW) techniques. These methods are bundled into an advanced management system, which can help you establish more control over your business. Stakeholder experience Business houses willing to maximize their revenue function must empower their stakeholders such as service centers, dealers, distributors and so forth. It is necessary to exploit the capabilities of a linear integrated workflow, which will help reduce warranty costs. Organizations need to aim for maximum customer satisfaction, which can only come from a pleasant, hassle-free warranty claim experience. Automation Technology in this context should be advanced enough to process 90% claims in an automated manner with the help of BI. Such a system can manage complex processes, application data inputs, historical claim trends, data mining, and predictive analysis, and churn out useful results and reports in no time. DW for benchmarking With the use of advanced data warehousing techniques, coupled with robust warranty technology, your organization can keep track of the entire life cycle of the product, which would be beneficial in benchmarking the critical quality parameters. Where does your current technology stand? Does your warranty technology automatically draw references from the claim data with the benchmark data and churn out automatically generated quality reports? That is not the only aspect which is necessary. The technology should aid product development based on claims history as well. Setting up the technology should also be simple. Industrial standards require it to be carried out within minutes and without the support of your internal IT department. A modular, in-house, platform-based architecture should help speed up the integration of the software with your organization’s IT landscape, which might include legacy systems. It should allow cost-effective future expansions as per your business needs as well. It’s all about customer experience! With the use of BI and advanced analytics, your customer can get the power of a mobile-based application, which can be used to make a claim. After a claim is recorded, instantaneously the software should analyze the policies and the procedure for claim disbursement. If it is necessary to summon a field staff, then the message should automatically be sent to the nearest available personnel. Only then can the customer walk away with an enhanced experience, helping create a better brand image and market reach. Meet Tavant warranty experts at Booth #3 at 13th Annual Warranty Chain Management Conference (WCM) on Mar 7th-9th, 2017 in Tuscon, AZ
Gaining Competitive Edge with Connected, Data-Intensive Warranty Systems
Since raw data hardly serves any purpose, it needs to be analyzed. One of the biggest problems with the warranty business is huge quantities of data getting generated every second. This data, coming from various sources, needs to be analyzed. Data makes sense when channeled to specific points of input. Once the data is processed into actionable insights, business units can develop enough intelligence to improve the decision quality. How intensive is data? Data normally comes from business transactions and social media, besides other capture points like sensors. Ideally, reporting and analysis should match the speed at which data is being generated. Data proves useful when various thoughtful points are developed for it to be translated into effective strategies—through real-time knowledge of workflow and market parameters. Data-intensive warranty management solutions The term data-intensive computing is used to describe applications that are I/O bound. Such applications devote the largest fraction of execution time to leverage the movement of data. They can be identified by evaluating “computational bandwidth”—the number of bytes of data processed per floating-point operation.[1] Warranty management applications being conceived these days belong to that category and handle big data to help us understand the core problems. One of the most important goals of such technology is to reduce decision-making liabilities. For good decision making, it is preferable to use data that covers a vast expanse of the warranty ecosystem and enables insights closer to reality. Without big data, quantity and quality of insights become limited to just some transactions and the immediate ecosystem. A warranty management application must be connected to the maximum possible data input points for the best possible analysis. The application should cover all possible operational, monetary, mechanical, and market-oriented data sources such as public records of other competitors, telematics, manufacturing methods, and customer touch points. Gaining customer preference, cutting cost, and competitive edge With the help of a connected, data-intensive warranty management system, it is possible to cut down costs. Once we have surrounded our system with a set of technologies to handle big data, and thereafter enabled warranty analytics, we are able to analyze the causes of product failures and make improvements—eventually cutting the cost borne during warranty services. Data and analytics also help us to predict optimal allocation for warranty reserves more accurately. This results in smoother business operation with accurate budget allocation. Data-capture technology also let us implement customer service through faster electronic medium such as mobile apps and cut a great amount of service costs. In the long run, the right analytics platform helps us facilitating effective monitoring of all activities, including Claims registered per user, in real time. With software improving real-time visibility into our ecosystem and customer-facing processes, the rate of success in decision making is growing manifold. It also helps us in identifying the genuine claims faster with more accuracy. Eventually, generating more values for customers by reducing the endless waiting time for the verification to be completed. The damaged parts can be tracked and recovered, if needed, using radio frequency. And therefore, the supplier performance can be rated accurately. Using such an approach, notifications are timely, allowing value chain partners to identify areas of improvement and realize more value. This helps in improving overall efficiency to bolster the bottom line for a business. [1] Reagan W. Moore, Arcot Rajasekar, et. al., Data Intensive Computing, (Association for Computer Machinery Digital Library, 2007), Chapter 5.1.
Unlocking Revenue Potential with Header Bidding: What, Why & How
To bid or not to bid? The challenges Consider yourself a publisher who has ad space to rent out on your website. Now the usual process is that your site reaches out to its ad server to get an ad and the ads served first are generally those that are handled by your marketing team. The leftover space is then made available through an ad server in way that is referred to as the waterfall sequence. Unsold inventory is offered to the top-ranked ad exchange, and then, if it remains unsold, it goes to the second-ranked and so on. This process is far from flawless as it works on volumes where the highest bidder gets allotted the best space. Also, several publishers who use Google’s DFP ad server employ a setting that allows its Ad Exchange (AdX) to outbid any of the winning waterfall bidders because AdX gets the last bid. All this adds up to inefficiencies in the entire buying process. This model thus ignores high-value inventory opportunities and reduces competition. In short, advertisers don’t really get the space they are worth and publishers’ capacity to earn revenues becomes artificially capped. Making way into programmatic buying: Header Bidding To make operations fairer, transparent and far more effective for all parties, the digital ad industry is delving into technologies that allow exchanges to bring in demand before the ad server call. To achieve this, publishers insert a piece of java code in the header of their site pages. The code then reaches the supply side platforms (SSPs) for bids, even before its own ad server’s direct sales are called. Here the entire process of bidding is simultaneous. Here’s how it works: User requests a website After request, the user is redirected to one or many SSPs User reaches out to one or many SSPs in parallel SSPs conduct auction with DSPs and internal network demand DSPs respond with bids SSP determines winning bid value and returns to the user User passes bid value into ad request and calls Publisher Ad Server Ad server determines final line item to serve and redirects User to Marketer Ad Server User calls Marketer Ad Server Marketer Ad Server returns final creative/advertisement User calls track back to SSP Transparency, visibility & efficiency: Benefits unsurpassed With header bidding, publishers have the option of letting any ad exchange beat a direct impression. This entire process focuses on all available impressions and not just direct sales. Programmatic buyers can now have visibility into publishers’ inventory. Increased visibility into premium inventory greatly increases conversion rate. Also, more accurate inventory insights build better forecasting capabilities to understand the true availability of a buyer’s target audience. By opening up inventory in smaller global markets, or highly specified ones, header bidding enables buyers to achieve campaign goals in a highly targeted and efficient manner. Another great advantage is that programmatic buyers no longer have to depend on Google’s ad AdX and DoubleClick. Google’s dynamic allocation is a huge obstruction for publishers and with header bidding, the latter can bypass this and not depend on AdX to cherry-pick inventory. The future is here Many in the ad industry contest that header bidding increases the load time of webpages for me and many others like me vouch for such advanced technologies that enable visibility into premium inventories and allow for developing disruptive forecasting and predictive models, that can unlock valuable insights into high value marketplace. Header bidding is the future of programmatic buying and the future has indeed arrived.
5 Tips to Survive Dreamforce 2016
It is that time of the year again. In less than a week more than 150000 people will take the city of San Francisco with a storm to attend one of their favorite software conferences, Dreamforce 2016. So what are you to do if you are one of those enthusiasts? Here are some tips that might help you sail through dreamforce without missing the important activities. 1) Read and study the FAQs diligently before you enter the conference arena. The FAQs on dreamforce website cover everything from badge collection to the shuttle timings. This will save you a lot of time and avoid last-minute confusion. The last thing you want is to end at the wrong location for badge collection. 2) Plan the sessions that you are interested in attending much in advance. With over 2000 sessions in this year’s dreamforce, it is very important that you make optimum use of the agenda builder and mark the sessions that you would like to attend. 3) Preschedule your meetings with key vendors that you would like to meet during the conference. The expo hall is huge and spans across multiple floors. With all the different activities and sessions happening around the event, it helps to have at least 5-6 confirmed vendor meetings on your agenda. 4) Study the trail map before getting to the conference and follow the trail while stopping at the signposts. By doing this, you will not only do a huge favor to your feet but also make sure that you don’t miss the important salesforce solutions. 5) Make sure you download the Uber app. If your hotel is not connected by Shuttles to Moscone Center, it can get quite challenging to get around. To avoid the frustration, Uber app on your phone can come in very handy. Among all the dreamforce enthusiasts, Tavant Technologies will be showing its salesforce solutions in the Meeting room- MR124B. We will also host an Industry Session on ‘Streamlined Warranty Management: What your customers want’ on October 4, 3.00 p.m.-3:35 p.m., Moscone, South, Industry partner Theater. Drop an email on [email protected] or call +1866-9-828268 to pre-schedule a meeting.
Measure What Matters: 8 Ways to Measure Content Marketing Success
Content marketing has become so crucial, that it alone can make or break a brand. As consumers go through blogs, websites, and social media before investing in new products and services, organizations need to figure out what people want to know. It is vital to drive content that answers questions, even if they are lurking only in the minds of people. Good content tells consumers what adds value. It helps understand what you offer and drives your audience toward purchase. Marketers use white papers, infographics, visuals, videos, and slideshows depending on who is likely to use it and when. Such content is distributed on suitable platforms for maximum reach, but you need to check if you are actually getting closer to your goals. Here are 8 ways to do it! 1. Website metrics The website is one of the first channels that prospects visit to gain more information about a company. Web analytics helps you understand the kind of content that works and pages that need improvement. It helps you understand what fluctuations in Page view, Time on site, Crawl rate, and Bounce rate actually mean for your business 2. Organic traffic Content is distributed across various platforms for people at large to reach your web assets. Measure the organic traffic from search engines for specific keywords. It will give you an idea about how well users connect with your content. Utilize a healthy mix of SEO and social media to get your content before the right audience. 3. Social media metrics Social media is one of the largest sources of big data. Analyze social activities to get a pulse of the kind of thoughts users might have. Analyze metrics such as likes, shares, comments, reach, re-tweets, mentions, and views to understand what will make your content click. 4. Email metrics Organizations regularly send brochures and newsletters through email-marketing platforms. Media technology can help you understand metrics such as email opens, CTRs, and conversions to gauge how relevant your campaigns are proving to be. 5. Qualitative analysis Combine dry data with qualitative analysis. Incorporate sentiment-analysis tools to scan conversations. Turn your web properties into communities, and foster discussions and brand loyalty by incorporating their feedback. Aim to convert all negatives into positives, thereby becoming a responsive, responsible customer-centric brand. 6. Leads and subscribers A heavy fan following is not good enough. Users need to be converted into revenue generators, and hence, measuring leads becomes essential. One way to gather leads is using sign-ups on websites, sending emails, and freemium offers. Such information can be part of your CMS and those prospects can be cultivated into paying customers. For example, it is reported that a company enjoyed 35% conversion by combining email with valuable content as a strategy. 7. Thought leadership A good content marketing strategy can turn a business into thought leaders. Informative case studies, high-quality brochures, and out-of-the-box whitepapers can give businesses an edge. Measuring thought leadership is important. Monitor if other companies reference your content and how often experts wish to contribute to your content base. If you are receiving requests to participate in thought leadership and panel discussions, it is a sign that your content is generating enough traction. 8. Conversions The ultimate measure of success through content marketing is revenue. Conversions can occur across many touch points in the consumer marketplace and they help drive your brand value. Keeping the strategy in focus will ultimately lead to sales. Like any other strategy, a content strategy needs to be aligned with its objective. Organizations need to define a string of metrics that can give insights into how well the company’s content is performing. By referring to analytical reports on a frequent basis, the strategy can be altered and redesigned to align with the end goal of revenue.
6 Easy Steps to Create Mobile-Optimized Copy
With desktop websites going obsolete and Google’s ‘mobilegeddon’ setting the stage for some revamped algorithms, it’s time for marketers to shift focus. The world of communication has undergone a vast transformation. Mobile devices rule the roost and research reveals that consumers spend close to 6 hours a day on the internet. Of those, 2.8 hours are spent browsing on mobiles. Marketers are in no position to ignore it. But if you believe simply maintaining a mobile-responsive site is enough to help you through Google’s war zone, it’s time to think again. Content is king, even in the mobile space. But how do you create mobile-optimized copy? Here are my picks on what makes mobile content something very easy to create: 1. Use condensed headlines Copywriters should stick to short, but strong headlines. When reading on smartphones, users want to get straight to the point. There should be ample focus on font size and headlines to make them easy to scan instantaneously. Using a content management system gives you the WYSIWYG advantage and copywriters can see how their ideas will finally appear on the mobile screen. 2. Short paragraphs work the best Long paragraphs demand effort—something people using a mobile device generally don’t like. Too long a paragraph can lead the interest to fizz out. On a desktop website, six to seven lines of copy may not seem much. But on mobile devices, that kind of length can appear tiresome. Copywriters should focus on shorter paragraphs that carry the entire message. This might take a bit of practice. Blaise Pascal once said, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.” Mobile content writing is all about writing less, but writing better. 3. Crisp and clear call to action Good content invokes certain behaviors. Whether it is a newsletter subscription or a purchase, the call to action must be clear, concise, and easy to locate on a smartphone screen—preferably without scrolling. Whenever content is time-bound, use appropriate messages by including the date and time. The whole point of a good copy is to induce the right action from readers. 4. The zing and links Mobile devices are very personal. Use that to your advantage and add a personalized touch by using more of ‘you’ than ‘I’. Psychologically, it works well. Use appropriate fonts and formatting to appeal to your audience as well. 5. Fitting the screen Instead of trying to fit large pieces of content on a single page, make space for buttons saying ‘Click here to read more’. Optimized layouts are available in content management systems, and they can help you figure out the best strategy from a host of options—depending on your campaign style, target audience, objective and other factors. 6. SEO for mobile content The content of a mobile website should be search-friendly. For that, relevance and customization are paramount. Desktop users may find it convenient to scroll through the first search results page, even the next page perhaps, but for mobile users, you’ve got to be extra lucky if they did that. Keeping it relevant will help improve your search ranking. To ensure you do it consistently without fail, you can measure your content’s relevance score through add-on features in your platform. Rethinking copywriting Research shows that 38% users are impressed when a local business has a mobile site, and 61% of users are more likely to contact a local business having a mobile-responsive site. This reflects how important it is to write engaging copies for smartphones and tablets.
Importance of Platform Specific UI Design for Mobile Applications – Part2
Here, I have listed a few basic differences between iOS and Android screen layout and will explain how minor changes in the design will affect user experience and adaptability. 1.Back Navigation – Usually, an Android user expects the hardware back button to be functional for him to navigate to the previous screens in the app. The system back button present on the Android phones helps them to go back to the previous screens, but this is not possible with iOS. There is generally a back button on the header bar (or as we call it a navigation bar) which helps the user to navigate to the previous screen. Back Button in app (iOS) vs. Hardware Back Button (Android) An alert pop-up shown (iOS) vs. Toast shown to notify user (Android) 2.Gestures – There is always some user expectation set for gesture based interaction on each platform. Unlike iOS user, Android users expect a horizontal swipe to switch between tabs. If we consider deletion of an item from a list view/table view, Android incorporates horizontal swipe on the item to delete it from the list whereas iOS has a pre-defined right to left swipe which makes the “Delete” button appear on the list item to delete it. Unlike iOS, there is no snapping or bounce back effect on the page boundaries while scrolling to the end on Android. Unlike Android, where left to right swipe is reserved either for opening the navigation drawer or any on screen swipe-able content, on iOS, this gesture can be utilized to take you back to the previous screen. Menu items present as tabs in the bottom vs. A navigation drawer available on left-to-right swipe 3.Segment Controls – When it comes to switching between different content in a single view, iOS uses Segment control whereas Android has a visually very distinctive style to show the same control as shown below. Segment Control vs. Tabs in the form of line buttons These are a few basic examples which I have discussed here. There are a lot of other important differences in terms of user controls like drop down in android vs picker in iOS, action sheets, icons, button styles, search bar, animations, etc. For an iOS developer, replicating native controls of any other platform on iOS might increase the complexity of the development. Users’ Perspective – When people tend to go with a common design for both the platforms, it leads to user experience problems irrespective of how aesthetically the app is designed. Users will expect an experience aligned with their platform. Finally, it is the end-user who decides how to navigate to a certain page, how to slide the menu in, what effect to expect on tap of any button etc. When the users get to interact with their platform specific components, they need to spend less time and effort on learning how to use it. The reason being that they are already quite accustomed to the platform conventions. Important takeaways from the blog – The app should use the UI components which follow the platform-specific guidelines just like the rest of the system. It’s a bad idea to redefine them. It is important to achieve consistency across apps for a single platform. It becomes easy to revise or expand the design if the specifications are kept separate. The focus should be on making the UI different and unique to the platform while retaining the look and feel that unifies the brand. Creative and a good design comprises of a balanced combination of brand and platform-oriented design. The focus should be on both – the look and the usability of the app. Custom experience is good to have feature in the apps for the users to explore something new or different from their default platform, but sticking to the standards always wins when it comes to saving the time of the product team and saving the time of the products’ end-users by not making them spend extra time in learning the new controls. Please note we, as developers, have a clear understanding of UX and UI. They are not the same. UX Design refers to the term User Experience Design, while UI Design stands for User Interface Design. When we design any app, we should remember that our prime focus should be end-users, their ease to use the app and how quickly and well they adapt to the app. References – https://www.prlog.org/12254771-top-7-reasons-why-mobile-users-uninstall-apps.html http://iosdesign.ivomynttinen.com/ http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/a-tale-of-two-platforms-designing-for-both-android-and-ios–cms-23616
How Automation of Warranty Processing Adds Happiness to Dealers, Service Centers, and Customers
The sheer volume and complexity of warranty claims can be overwhelming for organizations. This makes fraud-check on claims quite cumbersome. But if precision is your motto, start by re-engineering slow manual processes. Wonder why? They are prone to errors and impede productivity. Strive to achieve maximum automation in the processing of claims. Automation comes with several benefits: Meticulous data extraction followed by validation Quicker claims processing Single version of truth across manufacturer/dealer/service-center locations, thus improving efficiency Transparency in the process Let’s examine how the process flows with automation The automation of warranty processing begins with claims. Technology allows customers to submit claims from any location. On the other hand, the organization is able to track the claims. The system allows manufacturers to set rules, so that claims on every product can be processed in a unique way, if necessary. With the system automated, it is easy to validate claims efficiently. Minute details across various dealer locations can be confirmed in real time. It is also possible to route the claim details according to specific job codes, both within and outside the organization due to the cross-functional integration available in the system. The system helps track suppliers of the parts under claim. This speeds up parts-return and supplier recovery, and upholds trust and transparency. Further, payments can be made according to specific prevailing rates for a particular claim. Here is how you stand to gain A user-friendly platform that simplifies and speeds up the claims process makes life easier for customers and service providers Total automation of processes that were earlier manual—submission of claim, routing of claim, parts return, supplier recovery, payments—ensures accuracy, reduces the drudgery of long-drawn paper work, and improves efficiency Accurate and reduced warranty payouts result in optimal performance Visibility and communication at every step of the lifecycle is improved The overall cost of warranty processing and associated administration comes down Errors related to warranty claims are reduced to a minimum Parts return and supplier recovery are made simpler and more transparent Fraudulent and duplicate claims are actively screened and totally eliminated Down there, do you see happier customers, saved money, and more efficient delivery of services? I think I do.
Configure SSO on AEM instance: AEM- Shibboleth integration
Objective: To create a Single Sign-On platform for web applications developed through AEM. The entire blog is divided into three parts: Part I: Pre-installation: To make the user familiar with the technologies used and the underlying architecture. Part II: Installation: The next part, i.e., part II of the blog provides a step by step installation guide. Part III: Configuration: Part III lists the basic configurations that need to be done to integrate all the entities. Part III: Post-Installation: The last part, i.e., part IV of the blog provides post-installation guidance and description of major challenges faced during the integration. Part I: PRE-INSTALLATION Entities involved: Shibboleth(Idp): Shibboleth is an open-source project that provides Single Sign-On capabilities Open-DS: OpenDS Software implements a wide range of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and related standards. Tomcat Server: To host the shibboleth application. AEM: Adobe Experience Manager, where the application is deployed Technology/Standard/Protocols Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is an XML standard that allows an online service provider to contact a separate online identity provider to authenticate users who are trying to access secure content. The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a directory service protocol that runs on a layer above the TCP/IP stack. Underlying Architecture: II. INSTALLATION 1.1 Install OpenDS-2.3.0-build003 Launch control panel and Configure user id and password and business group 1.2 Install Shibboleth IDP (shibboleth-identityprovider-2.4.0-bin) Unzip the provided binary and run install.bat 1.3 Install tomcat (specifically apache-tomcat-6.0.37-windows-x64.zip) 2. Configure Tomcat 2.1. Create an SSL self-signed certificate Run the following commands: Openssl genrsa –des3 –out tomcatkey.pem 2048 Openssl req –new –x509 –key tomcatkey.pem –out tomcatcert.pem –days 1095 openssl pkcs8 -topk8 -inform PEM -outform DER -in idp.key -nocrypt > pkcs8.key When you are asked for password, Put Your name everywhere for simplification 2.2. Apply the certificate to apache-tomcat-6.0.45/conf/server.xml. <Connector port=”8443″ protocol=”HTTP/1.1″ SSLEnabled=”true” maxThreads=”150″ scheme=”https” secure=”true” clientAuth=”false” sslProtocol=”TLS” SSLEngine=”on” III. CONFIGURATIONS Configure Shibboleth IDP 3.1 Open attribute-filter.xml and add the following tags: <afp:AttributeRule attributeID=”uid”> <afp:PermitValueRule xsi:type=”basic:ANY” /> </afp:AttributeRule> <afp:AttributeRule attributeID=”group”> <afp:PermitValueRule xsi:type=”basic:ANY” /> </afp:AttributeRule> <afp:AttributeRule attributeID=”mail”> <afp:PermitValueRule xsi:type=”basic:ANY” /> </afp:AttributeRule> 3.2 Open attribute-resolver.xml and configure in the following way: Uncomment attribute definition tags with id : uid, group and mail. Add LDAP credentials in the data connector tag: <resolver:DataConnector id=”myLDAP” xsi:type=”dc:LDAPDirectory” ldapURL=”ldap://localhost:389″ baseDN=”ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” principal=”cn=Directory Manager” principalCredential=”YOUR PASSWORD”> <dc:FilterTemplate> <![CDATA[ (uid=$requestContext.principalName) ]]> </dc:FilterTemplate> </resolver:DataConnector> 3.3 Open handler.xml and uncomment UserNamePassword Login handler and comment RemoteUser login handler 3.4 Open login.config and add the following entries for LDAP configuration ShibUserPassAuth { edu.vt.middleware.ldap.jaas.LdapLoginModule required ldapUrl=”ldap://localhost:389″ baseDn=”ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” bindDn =”cn=Directory Manager” bindCredential=”YOUR PASSWORD” ssl=”false” tls=”false” userField=”uid” userFilter=”uid={0}”; }; 3.5 Open relying-party.xml and add the following tags: <rp:RelyingParty id=”tavant.com” provider=”tavant.com” defaultSigningCredentialRef=”IdPCredential” defaultAuthenticationMethod =”urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:ac:classes:PasswordProtectedTransport”> <rp:ProfileConfiguration xsi:type=”saml:SAML2SSOProfile” includeAttributeStatement=”true” assertionLifetime=”PT5M” assertionProxyCount=”0″ signResponses=”never” signAssertions=”always” encryptAssertions=”never” encryptNameIds=”never” includeConditionsNotBefore=”true”/> <rp:ProfileConfiguration xsi:type=”saml:SAML2ArtifactResolutionProfile” signResponses=”never” signAssertions=”always” encryptAssertions=”never” encryptNameIds=”never”/> <rp:ProfileConfiguration xsi:type=”saml:SAML2LogoutRequestProfile” signResponses=”conditional”/> </rp:RelyingParty> Add the following tag under the metadata tag: This is for further linking to AEM which we’ll discuss later. <metadata:MetadataProvider xsi:type=”metadata:FilesystemMetadataProvider” xmlns=”urn:mace:shibboleth:2.0:metadata” id=”AdobeCQ” metadataFile=”c:\saml_idp/metadata/adobecq.xml”/> 3.6 Open saml_idp\metadata\idp-metadata.xml Replace the certificate with the value present in saml_idp\credentials\idp.cert 4 Configure AEM 4.1 Create a new file adobecq.xml under saml_idp\metadata with the following text: <md:EntityDescriptor xmlns:md=”urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata” xmlns:ds=”www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#” entityID=”tavant.com”> <md:SPSSODescriptor protocolSupportEnumeration=”urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:protocol”> <md:KeyDescriptor> <ds:KeyInfo xmlns:ds=”www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#” Id=”SPInfo”> <ds:X509Data> <ds:X509Certificate> Put your certificate value here </ds:X509Certificate> </ds:X509Data> </ds:KeyInfo> </md:KeyDescriptor> <md:AssertionConsumerService Binding=”urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-POST” Location=”localhost:4502/saml_login” index=”1″/> <md:SingleLogoutService Binding=”urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-POST” Location=”tavant.com:8443/idp/Authn/UserPassword”/> </md:SPSSODescriptor></md:EntityDescriptor> 4.2 Under /etc/key in the repository, create a node called “saml”. Inside this node, add a new binary property called “idp_cert” of “BINARY” type for the public certificate of the IdP. That is, upload the file from C:/saml_idp/credentials/idp.crt. 4.3 Add a new binary property called “private” of “BINARY” type containing key for public certificate of the metadata (adobecq.xml) file. That is, upload the file: C:\saml_idp\credentials\pkcs8.key 4.4 Open localhost:4502/system/console/configMgr ->Adobe Granite SAML 2.0 Authentication Handler 4.5 Now open Apache Sling Referrer Filter in the same console and configure it likewise. SSLCertificateFile=” C:\demo\appserver\apache-tomcat-6.0.45 /tomcatcert.pem” SSLCertificateKeyFile=” C:\demo\appserver\apache-tomcat-6.0.45 /tomcatkey.pem” SSLPassword=”<Your password>” /> 2.3 Copy “idp.war” from saml_idp/war/idp.war to apache-tomcat-6.0.45/webapps 2.4 Create the directory apache-tomcat-6.0.45 \endorsed and copy the .jar files included in the IdP source endorsed directory into the newly created directory. Hit localhost:8443/idp/profile/Status, it should return OK. IV. POST INSTALLATION Configure domain name Open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts Add the following entries: 0.0.0.0 tavant.com 127.0.0.1 tavant.com localhost Make a request to AEM at http://<host>:<port>/, it would redirect to this login page: Login with the user name and password that you configured in Open DS Successful login will take you to the AEM home page. If you want to get the details of the user, its login session, login/expiry time, you can create a filter/servlet. One of the biggest challenges was to capture the SAML response since it always got redirected. Therefore, login time and expiry time could be picked from the user node that’s under “home/users” and user configured through Open DS is throughout referenced as remote user in AEM. Major Issues faced while integration: > Troubles in integration/interaction of software. — Get the right combination of software versions. — Incorrect LDAP URL, user name and password in configuration files > Deployment of Shibboleth war at Tomcat. — Corrected by taking care of jar files > Right permissions for the user group in AEM configuration. > Unavailability of required SAML jars at run time — Create a bundle of those jar files using bnd.jar and upload the bundle in felix to remove this error. > Problem in fetching SAML Response in AEM from Idp since the response got forwarded always Used CRX node structure to fetch the response.
No Business for Intuition: Marketing is All Data-Driven Now
In the old days, data played a major role, but business decisions often had to be based on intuition. But data technology has improved so quickly in the last few years, businesses have had to revamp the way they think. Although marketing experts cannot afford to leave their intuitive skills at home, even the smallest decisions are expected to be backed by data. Big data analytics has become pivotal for driving decisions. Companies need to rapidly respond to market changes, understand customer preferences, and focus on targeted efforts. This calls for technology to channel customized marketing campaigns to the right users at the right time. Companies are excited about data-driven marketing. With Internet of Things and digital and mobile devices, the amount of data making way into companies is huge, and going to be even bigger. But it’s not just about gathering data; it’s about using it effectively. Although sales, online surveys, and consumer feedback produce boatloads of data every day, not all are of equal value. Marketers need to separate good data from bad ones. Here are three simple steps that outline how brands can build an analytical culture to reap more value from their repository of data: Set the objective of the business. It’s not about what data can do – it’s more about what the business goals are. Work out which questions need to be answered in order to achieve set business goals. This way, companies can focus on the kind of data required. After setting the questions, identify the data that would be needed to fill the gaps. Tools & technologies Programmatic solutions make extensive use of data to track and target customers. With immense brand proliferation, consumers don’t only want precise information, but content that is relevant. Ad-tech and content management solutions churn huge amounts of data to present valuable insights on consumer behavior, market conditions, and trends, and also automates what has to be done based on that data. Thus, with a programmatic platform, a brand needs to click just a few buttons to ensure the right people view the right ads. Building relationships Big data works great for reaching ideal customers, but it has the scope to take marketers beyond prospecting—building lasting relations is just a part of it. Analytics makes it possible to have consistently personalized marketing. Thus businesses can connect with prospects intimately, offer them services that blend with their lifestyles, and build a loyal network of satisfied customers. While it is difficult to tell whether or not new technology will be prone to errors, programmatic software is designed to scan cloud and real-time data, and avoid the mistakes humans tend to make with large data. Programmatic solutions are also designed to automate buying, selling, and publishing of ads while keeping the accuracy of insights absolutely intact. That is why data-driven marketing is good enough to replace intuition.