On a recent visit to New York, Enterprise Times caught up with Brian Berns, CEO, Knoa Software. The conversation focused on the use of user analytics as it applies to the use of enterprise software.

This is not a new topic and one that has been around for several decades. However, it is fair to say that few companies spend a lot of time trying to understand how their users are using the software they have. There are good reasons for this. Many are struggling to support existing software and meet demands for new solutions. Spending time understanding how users work with software is not a priority.

Berns believes that this is a mistake. He points to the productivity gains that can be made from understanding how users are working with software. Making it easier for them to use a product means they spend less time struggling to get work done. It also has an impact on software support. If features are not being used and are no longer needed that code can be removed. This speeds up software and removes any risk with those features.

More importantly there are licensing issues to be considered. If companies are paying for features and enhancements that users do not use, there are two questions. The first is why are we paying for these features? The second is why are they not being used? Costs can be lowered by getting rid of unwanted features.

There is another area that is often misunderstood. When users call the help desk they often don’t have all the information the help desk teams wants. User interaction software can provide a view of what they have done, what has happened and that speeds up problem resolution.

Tracking users, however, is fraught with privacy and other issues. This is something that Berns is well aware of. Interestingly Knoa’s software is resold by SAP. Given the sensitivity of the German government and workers councils it is possible to find a line between tracking users and improving how they work. This is something that companies have to learn to overcome.

To hear more of what Berns told Enterprise Times you can listen to the podcast here. Alternatively you can download it to your local machine and listen to it on your personal device. Our podcasts are also available for Android devices from play.google.com/music/podcasts. You can also access our podcasts via the Enterprise Times page on Stitcher or through the Enterprise Times page on Podchaser.