The Future of Software Analytics at New Relic's FutureStack Conference

There was a time when software performance and business decisions belonged to different worlds. There was nothing tangible that connected them and brought them together. That is no longer the situation in software business. New Relic is what is changing the tides.

In 2008, a former Apple employee, set out to change how software performance was tracked. Looking at the growing market of SaaS (Software as a Service), Lew Cirne saw a need to gather all the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) data. His vision was to empower developers and businesses to solve problems faster, improve performance and ultimately make better data-driven decisions. This is how New Relic (an anagram of his name Lew Cirne → New Relic) was founded in San Francisco.

What can Barcelona SaaS startups and companies learn from tracking user experience on servers, networks, desktops, and apps?

4 Lessons about Data from FutureStack

1- Start tracking the data before you think you will need or know how to understand it.

As Startups grow, they will be hunting for insights and implementing tools to gather data. The problem is, you missed out on a lot of important data if you start tracking once you have the budget and team in place to understand it. That’s why startups need to start tracking early. You’ll be glad you did and the insights will pay in dividends!

2- Customer Experience improvement is at the heart of Data Trends.

APM stands for application performance management in the cloud, which is exactly what the New Relic suite is all about. When applications crash or deliver error messages this directly impacts the customer experience. APM helps to improve experience from how fast your API’s connect to the ease of use, reducing the same time complexity and increasing clarity.

3- Advanced data is easier than you think.

New Relic strives to make the data intelligible and easy to understand. With features like the Visual Data Explorer. Beginners and experts can uncover insights that will improve business decision making. For transaction tracking you can see what kind of errors happen exactly where and when. You can see if the Star Wars storm trooper mug in your online store is getting a lot of attention, or if the Death Star ice cube maker (Thanks Rackspace!) is what’s drawing the crowd. If you decide to take that data and move these items to the front page of your online store – you might suddenly have a flux in traffic. This puts your site at risk for crashes and errors – but New Relics suite helps you stay on top of that. So down time, lag time or errors are kept to a minimum. The force is with you!

4- Time and speed are [still] the Gamechangers.

The amount of data that New Relic aggregates is only stored for 8 days. Did somebody say “digital disruption?” things are moving at lightspeed! And so is New Relic. This means that tracking and fixing problems as fast as possible will be the essential ingredient for DevOps and business decisions makers.

Beside the technical aspects of their products, New Relic also hosts FutureStack a conference for their users and data nerds. I was able to attend FutureStack 2015 in San Francisco just a few weeks ago. The conference showcased successful companies that have been using New Relic’s software analytics, such as News Corp., Slack, MLBAM, Time, Inc., Rackspace and several others.

But did you know that New Relic acquired the Barcelona startup Ducksboard last year? Yes, and they also were there, totally integrated covering one of their products. After FutureStack I made a point to visit New Relic HQ in downtown San Francisco to help further forge connections between the two offices and networks. What can I say, I’ve felt pretty inspired seeing the collaboration and new business growing out of this successful acquisition.

The reason why this happens is because they don’t stop improving and finding new ways to solve client’s problems, this is why their business is about people, software and analytics.

When I got back on the plane to head home to Barcelona, there was one idea that really stuck with me. Tracking data is no longer optional. If you want to be in business tomorrow you best start thinking like a data nerd today.

Thanks to Frederic Paul and the Barcelona New Relic team for being collaborative and helping forge stronger connections between Barcelona, Silicon Valley and startup ecosystems around the world. It’s a pleasure knowing passionate people like you.

Watch this video if you are a baseball passionate or sports in general, data is all in:)