Hi all,

Greetings from Las Vegas! We are having our annual Inforum conference and one of the big announcements, one that I am personally most proud of, is Infor MyDay.  Infor MyDay is a new Web 2.0 user interface for Infor applications, but since it’s based on Infor Open SOA it can pull information from virtually any application or data source.

But calling Infor MyDay a user interface is kind of an understatement because it’s much, much more. Infor MyDay is designed to deliver persona-based content to over 150 roles we have identified in our customers’ businesses.  The content is delivered through pre-defined metrics and reports.  And because it is based on our Web 2.0 technology, the content is intuitive and personalizable to the needs of any individual’s unique requirements.

On top of this, all of the content we deliver is actionable.  What does that mean?  It means that you can drill down into the source systems for further analysis or to enter transactions.  The result is that employees have a central location to find the information that they need in real time to make decisions and complete their work.

What do we mean by persona-based? A persona is a composite of a user within an organization. A lot of vendors talk about role-based interfaces. A persona takes this concept to the next level. A role is generic, designed for a departmental role such as the “finance user.” A persona is specific to an individual user within that department, such as the VP of Finance or Controller. A persona also adds texture to that individual. At Infor, we’ve given them names and faces and built stories around their life. These are imaginary people, but they are based on the hundreds of users we studied to understand the real needs that real people need to get their jobs done. From conception, design and development to sales education and marketing, this gives us the understanding we need to build and deliver great content for people.

Let’s take a look at one of the 16 persona roles we are delivering with this first release, Bob the Production Planner. Bob is a composite of the typical production planner.  He is the choreographer of the manufacturing shop floor, managing planning and production. He determines what to produce, how much and when it’s needed. He acts as the go-between between the shop floor and the corporate side of the firm. He has a degree, probably business or engineering, and about 10 years experience with manufacturing. He knows how to use applications but he’s not an IT gearhead.   

Bob has to deal with unexpected events – late purchase deliveries, machine downtime or last minute work orders. He wants to be more proactive, but the reality is that he is in ‘reacting mode’ much of the time and plans are always changing. He has to deal with inaccurate inventories and bill of materials, and he has an avalanche of unstructured information that he needs to gather, format and assimilate to take action on. 

From our research, we have learned Bob’s typical responsibilities, his skills, his working environment, pain points and goals. We have learned how he uses his ERP software, the other applications he uses and the value he needs to get from them. We learned all of this because we’ve done our homework. A lot of it. We started in early 2007, logging thousands of hours of research into the personas of the people using our software. We’ve built-in the content they need to make their lives a little easier, so they can focus on strategic activities instead of looking for information.

These in-depth personas allow us to deliver rich and targeted user experiences, making Infor MyDay unique to the market. I’ll be talking a lot more about Infor MyDay here in the future, because there’s a lot more coming down the pipe. So stay tuned!

Posted by Jeremy Suratt, Director, Technology Marketing