A method, comprising: in a portable computing device comprising at least one processor and a memory, generating at least one information beacon (116b, 118b) from each of a plurality of applications (116, 118) installed on the portable computing device, wherein each information beacon (116b, 118b) comprises application analytics data associated with a corresponding application (116, 118) while the corresponding application is running on the portable computing device, wherein the information beacon is a data block or structure which is generated while an application is being executed on a device to provide application-related analytics; storing the at least one information beacon (116b, 118b) from each of the plurality of applications (116,118) in a common location in the portable computing device, the at least one information beacon (116b, 118b) having been collected according to a beacon collection policy implemented by a beacon collection module provided at a network device, wherein the beacon collection policy causes collection of the information beacons (116b, 118b) at a pre-determined schedule; and dispatching, in one transmission and according to a beacon dispatch policy implemented by a beacon service provided at the portable computing device, all of the stored at least one information beacon (116b, 118b), from each of the plurality of applications (116,118) to the network device communicatively coupled to the portable computing device, wherein the beacon dispatch policy causes dispatching of the collected information beacons (116b, 118b) from a beacon database to an analysis server at a pre-determined schedule. in a portable computing device comprising at least one processor and a memory, generating at least one information beacon (116b, 118b) from each of a plurality of applications (116, 118) installed on the portable computing device, wherein each information beacon (116b, 118b) comprises application analytics data associated with a corresponding application (116, 118) while the corresponding application is running on the portable computing device, wherein the information beacon is a data block or structure which is generated while an application is being executed on a device to provide application-related analytics; storing the at least one information beacon (116b, 118b) from each of the plurality of applications (116,118) in a common location in the portable computing device, the at least one information beacon (116b, 118b) having been collected according to a beacon collection policy implemented by a beacon collection module provided at a network device, wherein the beacon collection policy causes collection of the information beacons (116b, 118b) at a pre-determined schedule; and dispatching, in one transmission and according to a beacon dispatch policy implemented by a beacon service provided at the portable computing device, all of the stored at least one information beacon (116b, 118b), from each of the plurality of applications (116,118) to the network device communicatively coupled to the portable computing device, wherein the beacon dispatch policy causes dispatching of the collected information beacons (116b, 118b) from a beacon database to an analysis server at a pre-determined schedule.