Phil Hearn: Blogger, Writer & Founder of MRDC Software Ltd.
Resolve Premium: Giving more flexibility to your survey analysis
Online surveys may have made conducting surveys easier, but survey analysis and reporting have undoubtedly become more complex. The reason? There is more choice about how researchers deliver findings and, consequently, buyers of research expect more flexibility. Resolve Premium, which we released early in 2021, offers a new alternative to the possibilities available.
Stepping back and looking at the software market
There is an increasing number of products that aim to offer ‘complete solutions’. By that, I mean they collect data, process data, provide analysis, generate reports and allow clients access to the data. That sounds great, but the problem with most general-purpose tools is that they are, well, general-purpose and have inherent weaknesses. They might be ideal for simple projects or clients with basic expectations or, perhaps, for free. However, most research agencies need to deliver something that best meets their clients’ needs. Resolve Premium aims to fill a gap that is growing as clients change.
Changes in survey data processing
Survey data processing has changed rapidly over the last 10 to 15 years. The days of producing a volume of tables passed many years ago, but delivering tables and a PowerPoint report is also rightly passing or, arguably, has already passed. Online dashboards have given research buyers greater access to their survey data, but dashboards have limitations. These limitations include:
- Inability to explore to the depth required
- Inability to explore all of a survey’s data – dashboards typically only contain the key data
- Time-consuming/costly/impactical for research agencies to provide refinements/improvements
- Meeting the needs of multiple stakeholders can be difficult or impossible
Dashboards, however, are an excellent way to distribute information that is (or should be) intuitive to explore.
Ways of processing data
As software suppliers, we have noticed that more research data users and buyers are comfortable producing analyses themselves. This change is partly due to improved computer literacy, not just among younger survey users but also among all age groups. Secondly, companies and individuals have a general desire to get their hands on their data to use either as a separate source of data or as part of a more wide-ranging system.
What Resolve offers
Resolve allows anyone with basic market research skills to explore survey data and produce crosstabs or charts. The software is particularly suitable for tracking studies or multi-country projects. This offering, of course, is not new. Plenty of products allow you to produce tables and charts, using filters on analyses to dig deeper into the data, so where is Resolve is different? Well, it is different in three BIG ways.
- Firstly, Resolve is free to use
- Secondly, if you are handling your project using MRDCL or QPSMR, you can make your project available in Resolve at the press of a button. If you have used some other product, you can make it available in Resolve for a one-off fee of around US$100 to US$200 in most cases. I’ve heard of some companies charging US$5000 – US$10000 for this service.
- Thirdly, you can upgrade to Resolve Premium so that more or less any tabular analysis and charting output are possible. Whereas all the other products will have limitations, Resolve Premium has almost no limitations in terms of the complexity of analyses you can produce or the way you want it customised. This means you can deliver customers exactly what they want.
What Resolve Premium offers that is different
This customisable extensibility of Resolve Premium is something that no other off-the-shelf product offers. Resolve Premium allows you to have add-ins that give users of the data complete flexibility and the capability to produce any analysis you or your clients need. Nothing will be too complex! The add-ins allow you to build intuitive interfaces that give your clients the power they need. Resolve Premium comes with over 20 free add-ins, but there is no limit to the number of custom add-ins you can provide.
OK, so Resolve Premium is presumably expensive???
Although Resolve Premium is not free, it is far cheaper than alternatives that cannot match its capabilities. At GBP400 for a licence and with huge discounts for multiple licences, Resolve Premium is a compelling offering. Indeed, we have recently introduced a low-price project licence for larger projects that you want to distribute to many users, possibly worldwide.
What solution does Resolve Premium offer?
Resolve Premium does not offer the right solution for every project. It provides another way to deliver your market research project to clients at a competitive cost. Those who wish to explore data and produce tables or charts will find Resolve unmatched. Buyers of research can dig deeper into their survey data without the restrictions that a dashboard, for example, may apply.
What’s next for Resolve Premium?
We have not finished with Resolve Premium’s development. In 2022, Resolve Premium will go beyond producing charts by allowing users to automate PowerPoint reports. This development will mean that research agency clients will be able to build PowerPoint reports for internal presentations. For example, they can update a presentation in seconds for a tracking study or distribute reports to offices worldwide.
Expanding what you can offer
Research agencies need to keep expanding what they can offer. Client expectations will not diminish; companies that ignore this progress do so at their peril. Resolve is not suitable for every project or every client. However, for clients who wish to explore data with complete freedom, it is a unique product in a cluttered market where many software suppliers claim they have complete solutions.
Summing up
Resolve is easy, fast and friendly, but so are other products. However, Resolve goes a big step further. Resolve offers good value (free in most cases), compatibility with other systems, choice and practical extensibility. Find out more by contacting nikki.sunga@mrdcsoftware.com.