The proper use of analytical tools and protocols can help a business of any size discover important trends, and when trends are unveiled, behaviors can be established that take the best advantage of those trends, leading in turn to the best shot at a healthy bottom line. To that end, Analysis Solution has brought out its new Sales Forecasting & Analysis solution out at Salesforce.com's (News - Alert) annual Dreamforce event in San Francisco.

The Sales Forecasting & Analysis tool can be found on Salesforce.com's App Exchange, which is in turn the most popular cloud marketplace for business-related social apps, according to reports. What this particular app allows businesses to do is to take the various strings of data that their activities generate, and turn that data into forecasts with improved accuracy, as well as provide better collaboration systems among various management teams, and use accompanying cloud-based technologies with the new forecasts to improve the rate of revenue growth.

The app also allows sales managers to bring in outside data without altering the CRM data that's currently in place, as well as the ability to compare multiple parts of a pipeline by taking snapshots of different parts of it to compare to each other. Top-down adjustments can be made to a bottom-up forecast, and there are several other options from there.

The app is immediately available, and it's already got plenty of buzz behind it. The CEO of Adaptive Planning, John Herr, described the value of his app in his remarks, "While tens of thousands of companies have automated their sales and customer interactions with Salesforce, a huge percentage are still using manual, Excel-based processes to create and analyze sales forecasts and plan corporate revenues. Our solution enables companies to move beyond spreadsheets, enhance collaboration among marketing, sales, and finance executives, and drive dramatic improvements in sales forecasting and execution."

While forecasts have often been regarded as unreliable at best--just ask how many times the weatherman has been wrong?--not forecasting is every bit as wrong as relying on the accuracy of forecasts. Forecasts make businesses cognizant of the future, providing that critical bit of perspective that tomorrow may not be the same as today. In a time when there are problems enough to deal with today, leaving tomorrow to handle itself is a tempting--but ultimately dangerous--philosophy. The improvements in forecasting technology represented by the Sales Forecasting & Analysis tool may not represent profit next quarter, but it will certainly improve the chances when used properly.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.