A new version of EidosMedia's business intelligence tool adds analytical features and a new console-style interface.

Chief marketing officer Massimo Barsotti says users of its Méthode content management system with complex workflows are using the Smart tool to streamline operations and maximise their productivity: "The new Smart 2.5 release gives users even easier hands-on access to data and results, and is a powerful aid to process optimisation and cost saving."

He says business intelligence and analytics emerged as the top priority in a Gartner survey of company CIOs last year. "It was a sign that organisations in all sectors have realised that the data they generate can, when examined with the right tools, yield valuable insights into business processes across the enterprise.

"The pressure on newsmedia organisations to do more with less makes them prime candidates for the kind of data-driven optimisation that can make the difference between having a viable and a non-viable business model."

Smart is a plug-in for the Méthode platform, collecting data on every operation and storing it in a database which can be interrogated to answer questions such as, '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?'.

A browser-based console enables users to work from any location using tablets and mobile devices to launch queries, with results displayed in table and chart format.

In the financial publishing sector, Smart ensures that published products comply with sector regulations and norms, creating a detailed 'audit trail' for all content.