Products

The rationale behind an alternative to traditional BI system implementations

The steps involved in implementing a BI system are depicted in the diagram below.

Corporations typically have operational data housed in systems like their ERP, CRM and other Home Grown Legacy applications. Additionally it is not uncommon to find corporate operational data in corporate websites, partner websites (for example salesforce.com), spreadsheets, partner corporate databases (for example a corporation’s data in their banks, suppliers, and customers databases), etc.

Before the advent of Business Intelligence tools, corporate management needs for analytics, budgeting, forecasting and planning were typically addressed by tools like spreadsheets created by business analysts. The shortcomings of spreadsheets are well documented and the most common ones are:

1. Difficult to collaborate
2. Difficult to garner data for multiple sources quickly and easily
3. Error Prone
4. Unwieldy
5. Contains out-of-date data
6. Difficult to manage
7. Time-consuming to correct

The advent of BI tools alleviated to a great extent many of the shortcomings of spreadsheets. The implementation of a BI system using BI typically entails the following five steps. 

1. Gathering management’s requirements for analytics, budgeting, forecasting, planning, etc.
2. The design of a data-mart schema and implementing the data-mart in a multi-dimensional database that facilitates quick data access analytic processing purposes. This is commonly referred to as the backend.
3. Populating the data-mart using applications designed to cull the data from a wide variety of sources.
4. The design of dashboards and reports as per the corporation’s requirements also commonly referred to frontend.
5. The distribution of the dashboards and reports to management and business analysts.

Each of the five items listed above requires corporations to commit thousands of dollars for consulting and implementation in addition to the time invested in the project by in-house management, analysts and IT staff.The end-to-end implementation of BI tools is represented to by the graphic above. Although most corporations buy into the promise of BI, successful implementation of BI tools is often hampered by the following major causes:

1. Limited management and analyst understanding of the scope and limitations of BI tools.
2. Underestimating the funding required to implement each of the 5 steps listed above.
3. Very lengthy implementation cycles that takes result in the delivered BI solution unable to account for operational business changes that might have transpired in the interim

Click here to download the “Why BI Projects Fail” document from the Sapphire presentation in Berlin.

Facing the challenges and overcoming the hurdles – the Financial Quick-Mart Approach

Picture this – Your organization is keen to harness the power of advanced BI analytics and would like to do it within a couple of weeks, a week or even less. This is possible with Infinity’s Financial Quick-Mart solution.Infinity’s Financial Quick-Mart is an out-of the-box solution to help jump-start your corporation’s BI initiative. 

It features:

1. A robust multidimensional data-mart fully integrated with Lawson.
2. A semantic data layer that business analysts and IT staff can comprehend and work with.
3. Immediately deployable CPA designed dashboards for what-if analysis.
4. Immediately deployable CPA designed web deployable intelligence reports with stunning graphical views of the data providing deep insights into data.
5. Built using the Business Objects BI technology platform – the choice of 80% of the fortune 500 companies.
6. The ability to integrate all your data-sources into the data-mart.
7. Rapid implementation in less than a week.
8. Database neutrality – Create the data-mart in your choice of DBMS including the free MySQL database and use any other reporting solutions like Microsoft.
   Reporting Services if your organization does not prefer the Business Objects BI platform.
9. And much more – Click here to download the Financial Quick-Mart brochure.

The choice of the Business Objects BI platform (Crystal Reports is one component of it) provides the following features.

• Ad hoc reporting, query, and analysis for business –

  Your decision makers benefit from flexible ad hoc reporting, query, and analysis via the Web-without relying on IT. Through an intuitive Web interface, any business professional can access company data – presented in business-friendly terms – analyze it using simple point-and-click, and format it to meet personalized requirements. You have complete flexibility to access, format, and interact with their data both online or offline. "Gut-feel" decisions are replaced by accurate, data-driven decisions.

• Live data access within Microsoft Office for business analysts –

  Users can conveniently access and use live company data directly in familiar tools like Microsoft Office and SharePoint, making it easier to incorporate that data into presentations, spreadsheets, and documents. Because the data is live, it can be instantly updated while retaining all formatting and calculations in the Microsoft Office document. Plus, the information is secured to ensure colleagues can only view and access the data they have the permissions to access.

• Interactive dashboard viewing for executives and managers –

  For executives and managers, deliver personalized business dashboards and visualizations built using Xcelsius, an award-winning dashboard design tool. With simple point-and-click, users can interact with visual sliders and gauges to easily identify new opportunities and challenges. Plus, "what if" analysis lets managers proactively understand the impact of their decisions before they are made. Users can also present multiple business intelligence content in a single view, so you can gain quick, consolidated insight into your business performance.

• Mobile BI for end users on the go –

  The capability to deliver content over any wireless device. You can drill and interact on reports and metrics and take immediate action. Deployment is quick, easy, and secure, requiring no additional servers. Your users can be notified when a new report has been scheduled or modified. Plus, they can define what types of alerts they want to receive right through their mobile devices.

• Secure, easy-to-understand data for rapid decisions –

  Information is useless unless you can access and understand it. Your business users don't have to spend time trying to understand the complexities of their data environment. They can benefit from robust data abstraction which presents data in standardized business terms that are easy to understand and trust. End users are empowered with self-service reporting and analysis based on relevant, easy-to-understand information.

• Rapid deployment options for faster time-to-value –

  The financial Quick-Mart is designed for rapid deployment so you can quickly start realizing the benefits of business intelligence. This affordable package gives you everything you need to get started with your BI needs.

The Business Object BI platform features the following: