BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
The implementation of Business Intelligence (BI) systems can help companies deal with a number of strategic issues.
With a general reduction in
marketing budgets, companies need to focus their dollars on new customers who are most likely to purchase and existing customers who are most likely to purchase more; making such decisions requires the insight that can only come from BI
systems.
Companies are also under increased public scrutiny: decision makers (and industry analysts) want instant notification of business anomalies so they can track a company's performance against accepted indicators. Large
companies have data spread throughout their organization, and need to integrate it to provide an enterprise-wide view of operations.
Today's databases can store and retrieve massive amounts of information, while automated
Extract/Transform/Load (ETL) tools have simplified information gathering and integration; new reporting and access mechanisms can analyze terabytes of information and support thousands of concurrent users.
INSYS CAPABILITIES
InSys can provide resources with knowledge of Business Intelligence Tools (Cognos, MicroStrategy, Siebel Analytics, Business Objects, Oracle Discoverer and Information Builders
WEBFOCUS) and ETL Tools (Data Junction, Informatica and UDICo TierBroker), combined with experience in mainframe and client-server platforms.
Our BI practitioners have experience in the full life cycle of Data Warehouse deployment,
from discovery through implementation. We have also worked to re-architect existing BI systems and deploy new software.
The Mission A global logistics organization was dependent on an outdated data warehousing package for the Windows environment. It needed help in three areas: analyzing the requirements, recommending
a replacement package and participating in its implementation. This was a job for a seasoned data warehouse professional, with experience in data mining, hardware/software selection and project management. It was a large effort in terms of time and
money, and involved both contract personnel and internal employees. The Approach This project began with a review and analysis of the current tool's capabilities, as well as the development of a Request for Proposal (RFP) that would closely match the required capabilities while also providing
for an ROI analysis. While the RFP was being reviewed by management, our consultant began documenting the current system, including the capture of metadata that could be used with its replacement. This parallel approach made it
possible to move the project forward as soon as a product was selected. A similar parallel approach was used for the conversion, allowing the replacement system to be implemented and tested while the old system continued to support day-to-day data warehouse functions. Once implementation was underway, our consultant assumed a Technical Lead role, providing training and support for internal team members. A gradual roll-out was scheduled over an eight-week period. This approach
allowed for a series of testing phases, beginning with employees identified as power users. The Results The client realized uninterrupted data warehouse functionality throughout this project thanks to the parallel conversion strategy. By understanding the complexities of the current data warehouse architecture, our resource was able to provide solid recommendations and insights. Open and on-going communication among all users facilitated buy-in and resulted in a smooth conversion to a system that closely matches the client's business processes.
INSYS CAPABILITIES
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
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