Thursday 29 December 2011

Building a "BI" Command and Control Centre for your Supply Chain

A recent study carried out by the Aberdeen Group has found that companies with top performing supply chains significantly outperformed their peers.

Specifically:

•  Their cash conversion cycle was 50% faster
•  Their customer service levels were 17% higher
•  Their forecast accuracy was 36% better

Not only that, but these Best-in-Class companies were able to decrease their warehouse operating costs by 2%, while the same costs at other companies increased. Operational business intelligence is one of the keys to their success. Best-in-Class organisations are far more likely than others to have near real-time visibility into their supply chain performance so that they can react faster when business conditions change, or unexpected events occur.

To learn more about how Business Intelligence can optimise your supply chain performance, contact our BI Team today on 0800 652 4050.

Blog Writer:  Lee Grogan, Sales Manager, DSCallards

Source:  If you'd like read the white paper, you can register for a copy here - http://v1.aberdeen.com/includes/asp/sponsored_registration.asp?ci=/launch/report/benchmark/7059-RA-supply-chain-intelligence.asp&spid=30412020&camp=

Thursday 15 December 2011

Your Business Intelligence Choice is Now Crystal Clear

In business, knowing that you're able to access business data is critical. While our revamped version makes it possible to access the most recent information, adding the our new version module allows you to do even more.

That's because it is designed to help you access your business data and share it in the best possible ways. The software works seamlessly with our other version, and ensures that you're able to:

Customize report templates to reflect your business and the goals that your company has set. Not only will you be able to present the most recent, relevant information, but also you will be able to create branded reports and showcase that data in a way that makes sense.

Produce multiple reports quickly, which allows you to tailor the information that you present to each team or department within the company so that everyone is able to be given the information that will have the greatest impact on them. This also ensures that reports can be used to foster strong relationships with other members of your team as you demonstrate your commitment to understanding where they're coming from and what they need.

Effectively access and communicate data throughout your organization, without needing to bring in those who are technically savvy. Our solution is designed to be easy to use without the need for coding or development; just access the information that you need, and creating reports will be able to be done exclusively with the interactive dashboard.

Because it's simple to create visually appealing reports with our solution, you will find that you are in a position to share information effectively. More importantly, however, you will quickly discover that you are able to do far more than just help others become aware of where the company stands and the progress that you're making toward achieving goals. Instead, you'll be able to make an impact, connect with your team, and help everyone become more invested in working together and seeing results.


Source:  SAP PartnerEdge

Using SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI to Simplify the Process of Increasing Cash Flow

When it comes to increasing business cash flow, you've got options. For example. you can:
  • Reach out to investors with the info that you have, the plans that you've made, and hope that your company's track record speaks for itself.
  • Empower your sales staff to offer promotions and reward loyalty and hope that, in time, those efforts add up.
  • Limit production and warehousing in an effort to test out "just in time" manufacturing.

All of these efforts, however, force you to wait and see whether or not you get the results that you're looking for. But there is a far better way to simplify processes, communicate with your team and investors, and increase the cash flow for your business: our solution can help.

With our solution, it's possible to access data from various areas of your business and from across locations. As a result, you'll be able to examine whether or not your production and warehousing efforts are on target and quickly make corrections if you're not getting closer to achieving your goals. You'll be able to create reports that clearly convey your company's efforts and progress toward achieving your goals so that stakeholders - investors and those within your organization - are able to see progress and better work with you. More importantly, however, you will have the opportunity to perform ad hoc reporting - testing what if scenarios so that you can identify the likely success of each option you might pursue in an effort to increase capital.

In other words, you will be able to increase cash flow by gaining real business intelligence. You'll be able to drive decisions, communicate effectively with others so that they're on board, and know that you're not only working toward increasing cash flow but also doing it in a simple way that's sure to help you reach your goals.

Source:  SAP PartnerEdge

Share Information Effectively with SAP Crystal 2011

In business, knowing that you're able to access business data is critical. While our revamped version makes it possible to access the most recent information, adding the our new version module allows you to do even more.

That's because it is designed to help you access your business data and share it in the best possible ways. The software works seamlessly with our other version, and ensures that you're able to:

Customize report templates to reflect your business and the goals that your company has set. Not only will you be able to present the most recent, relevant information, but also you will be able to create branded reports and showcase that data in a way that makes sense.

Produce multiple reports quickly, which allows you to tailor the information that you present to each team or department within the company so that everyone is able to be given the information that will have the greatest impact on them. This also ensures that reports can be used to foster strong relationships with other members of your team as you demonstrate your commitment to understanding where they're coming from and what they need.

Effectively access and communicate data throughout your organization, without needing to bring in those who are technically savvy. Our solution is designed to be easy to use without the need for coding or development; just access the information that you need, and creating reports will be able to be done exclusively with the interactive dashboard.

Because it's simple to create visually appealing reports with our solution, you will find that you are in a position to share information effectively. More importantly, however, you will quickly discover that you are able to do far more than just help others become aware of where the company stands and the progress that you're making toward achieving goals. Instead, you'll be able to make an impact, connect with your team, and help everyone become more invested in working together and seeing results.

Source:  SAP PartnerEdge

Tuesday 15 November 2011

The Crowded BI Bubble


Like CRM and ERP before, BI is the IT bubble growing far greater than any other. We are led to believe it will continue to grow and take the majority stake of any  IT investment for the foreseeable future.

This economic insight has seen the BI market space reshape dramatically over the past 5 years.

We have seen the acquisition of the leading independent BI specialists by the major Global IT vendors to consolidate the space. More recently new innovations in areas such as in-memory computing and SAAS as well as the resurgence of Open Source products devoid of the historical one man band stereotype giving rise to a growth with many new bright and gleaming Business Intelligence software offerings.

As a business owner no matter where you look or who you talk to, the message is clear. The message is telling you that your companies needs to harness its data to empower the business to make timely informed and insightful decisions or else… OK, OK, I hear you!

I would suggest this message has largely been accepted. The question now for the business is where to go? Who to trust? What will be my return on investment? And here lies the problem! Before we look at answering these questions what has been learnt.

Well the biggest lesson learnt is to recognise that many BI project failures are emanate from an incorrect expression or interpretation of requirements at the initial stages. Typically these might include:


  •    Lack of relevance to project objectives
  •    Ambiguity and lack of clarity in the project outline
  •    Conflict between departmental/line of business requirements

So with this knowledge…

Where to go?
Here comes the hard sell you were not expecting!

DSCallards recognises that it is often difficult for organisations to justify the upfront investment necessary to engage in the end-to-end delivery of a BI solution. Coupled with the current economic climate as a result equipped with this understanding and in addition to incorporating PRINCE2 processes, DSCallards has developed its own Project Methodology to ensure the successful delivery of BI projects that meet its clients’ expectations.

DSCallards can provide a means to identify and measure the ‘value’ of implementing a BI solution. This is what we call ‘Value Management’ and as part of our project methodology helps a business to map requirements to targeted outcomes. It can then be used as a reiterative method to help measure the success of not only the initial project implementation but the on-going use of a BI Solution. It can also be used to form the basis of a Business Case to justify a proposed investment. All in all we help a business identify the ROI in achieving its goals… You could almost call it a strategy!

Who to trust?

There are many BI products and delivery partners out there so my advice would be to go out and review the ‘reviews’. Start with the independent trusted sources such as online tech websites, magazines, the independent research organisations. Then make a short list… a short list, no more than 3! It’ll help to discuss and agree what type of solution would best suit your business, on-premise? On-demand? Web Hybrid? Open or closed source? Once you have your contenders ask your network for advice (whether that be social, work, friends or family). If you are responsible for reviewing IT solutions its very unlikely you don’t know someone directly or indirectly that can offer some impartial advice. If not or as the next step, review the vendors websites for awards won and relevant industry case studies.

If the vendor sells through a channel the best partners will usually have a presence on the vendors website. Look at recent PR about awards to see which partner is winning, look at the case studies as many will be delivered through and therefore mention a partner.

As a last resort why not speak with the people who could potentially deliver value back to your business?! Call the vendor, call the partner, ask to talk to the people that deliver the services, are on the helpdesk, the people that will be working with you. Ask yourself are these my type of people? Do they have the experience, processes and professional approach that will fit with your business?

What will be my return on investment? 

Unlike the implementation of ERP and CRM systems it is very difficult to know with BI what you’re going to get out the other end. That said I don’t believe that is an excuse to not try? As I’ve highlighted ROI for implementing a BI strategy can be understood upfront through the process of requirement gathering. However, we must also be aware the ROI is often found after implementation. The unforeseen ROI is my view is the most exciting. A key component of what true BI should deliver is the ability to explore and question or ‘drill through’ your data for this ability is what leads to ‘insight’ and ‘insight’ is what can bring the greatest rewards. 

That ‘insight’ might be identifying your most efficient supplier which has an immediate cost saving for the fulfilment of your service. It might be ‘insight’ shows you who your most profitable clients are and help focus your marketing activities in the right areas, cutting marketing spend, reducing the cost of sale and ultimately increasing revenue. There has been examples of businesses saving or making revenue into the tens of thousands through just one insightful exploration of their data. Are you getting excited?!

So clearly there are wins to be gleaned from implementing BI however these are not always visible from the outset.

Therefore, the initial efforts to identify ROI must apply the lessons learned from past projects failures. Be focused define your businesses requirements across the organisation. Determine what are the reporting issues? Does it take an inordinate amount of time to format a report every week? Do I have to wait for someone else to provide the dataset I want? Do I just put a finger in the air as I know I’m not going to get the information I need for that meeting? Whatever it might be, only through understanding the businesses reporting issues and requirements will you then start to understand the potential ROI. From past projects RIO pre implementation is typically identified through: 

  • Improved operating efficiency
  • Improved accuracy of information
  • Improved audit of data lineage
  • Improved ease of access to information
  • Improved usefulness of information

So whether you are going it alone or are investing in help from a specialist I hope there are some useful points enclosed and by all means feel free to contact DSCallards!

Written by Ben Hedger, Senior Business Development Consultant, DSCallards

Monday 31 October 2011

Is Information a Tool for Democracy?

Senior BI Consultant, Angus Menter, explains how democracy’s central premise is carrying out the will of the people, meaning people get access to services that meet their needs. To achieve this they following steps need to happen:



1.     Understanding what the needs are

2.     Finding good ways to deliver the services

3.     People being able to access those services



Information is important to each aspect. It takes two main forms, narrative and fact-based. Business analytics can help to get a fact-based view, which of course for right or wrong we then often express via a personal or political narrative.

Read this White Paper to gain an insight into how DSCallards believes that information supports democracy:

Source:  Angus Menter, Senior BI Consultant, DSCallards
About Angus:  Angus Menter worked in SAP & Business Objects public sector for ten years. He joined DSCallards in 2010 to contribute to the way the company engages with their customers, including defining the company’s BI project methodology.







Thursday 27 October 2011

Part 1: “Data, Data everywhere...but not a drop when I need it!”

How many times have you asked IT to provide you with a report on inventory levels, or gap times in processing, or even a dashboard to provide a "at a glance" status view of current product and process flows?

As manufacturing businesses increase or decrease their production, change their processes, hire/train new employees, develop new methods and shift their vendor mix, huge amounts of data are generated. Add to this a constant stream of customer and product data — and your data quickly becomes a growing tangle of information distributed across disparate applications and systems — data that could be critical to decision-making, if it were available quickly!

In our experience a key tenet to making information more manageable is a Data Integration strategy. Data Integration is both process and product — using the best tools but not the best strategy to organise and flow data can result in inaccurate data and incorrect assumptions. Likewise, a great process for managing information can be hindered by tools that don’t work fast enough, require a large team of consultants for maintenance, or are so difficult to manage that they just aren’t used.

Key Warning Signs of Manufacturing Data Bottlenecks

• Multiple, disparate databases are used to support customer, production or financial data, but are not sharing information
• Difficulty in making critical information available for reporting — ie, real-time data demands
• Limited IT resources constantly tied up in accessing data, rather than managing data flow
• Critical processes are slow — hindered by data availability

If your organisation is currently using a data integration solution, the following questions can help determine if the solution is working satisfactorily, or not.

1. Is fresh data available in time for reporting?
2. Are your data requests promptly serviced by your IT team?
3. Is all data about customers, suppliers and employees available when needed, or does it require more customised handling by the IT team?
4. Can your company improve the speed of the current solution for data retrieval/reporting without adding any expense?
(This refers to either hiring additional staff, purchasing new hardware/systems, or reworking existing processes)

If the answer is “No” to these questions, then I really recommend that you come along to our free 1/2 day event on the 7th of December in Maidenhead, UK. 

To register, visit the link below.

Hope to see you there.
Lee Grogan

Source:  Lee Grogan, Sales Manager, DSCallards


Wednesday 2 March 2011

Five Ways to Use Your Data for Profitable Growth

Some report requests come with far too little lead time. And, it’s these instances that tend to be the most urgent. To fulfill the request, you have to drop everything, pull the necessary data and format the report in a way that will highlight the right information and resonate with the target audience. Meanwhile, other tasks continue to accumulate. Figure out how to accelerate report design, and you’ll deliver a higher level of analytical services while also recapturing time to address your other responsibilities.

SAP Crystal Presentation Design can take the stress out of short-lead report requests. Use this solution to design complex reports quickly, and you’ll save time you can use for other tasks, while also increasing the visual quality of your reports. Here are five ways you can use SAP Crystal Presentation Design to accelerate results.

1. Plan ahead: create presentation templates for reports you run frequently. You don’t have to start from scratch every time.

2. Use automation: SAP Crystal presentation design includes a number of tools that are ready for use immediately, obviating the need for repeated manual efforts.

3. Go interactive: use SAP Crystal Presentation Design to bring data to life … without having to engage a designer or programmer. Interactive tools will help presenters illustrate key points, making your reports far more effective in the decision-making process.

4. Mitigate risk: reduce the manual involvement in presentation design, and mistakes become less likely. Increased accuracy naturally results in better reports.

5. Cut costs: there’s an implicit cost associated with everything you do. Faster presentation design can alleviate workload, making it possible to defer hiring and make existing employees more productive.
 
Source:  SAP
For more information visit:  www.crystalreports.co.uk 

Monday 7 February 2011

It's That Time of the Year Again at SAP - Name Change Anyone?

Over the next few weeks you’ll be hearing a whole raft of new product names coming out of SAP for their upcoming BusinessObjects 4.0 release.
This is nothing new of course, we’re all becoming use to it by now right? (ever since Crystal Decisions became Edge Series etc).

The reason behind this we’re told is that SAP like to use descriptive words to define their products (well, most of the time anyway). So without spinning it to sound like a good idea, or conversely, knocking it for bringing yet more confusion to the market place, I would simply like to outline many of the new product names, and what they were referred too before. If you have any specific questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

SAP BusinessObjects 4.0
This is the name of the complete BusinessObjects release, including BI & EIM
(aka SAP BusinessObjects XI 4.0, SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.x, etc…)

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0
This is the name of the Business Intelligence components of the release

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform
This is the name for the BusinessObjects product bundle for Enterprises
(aka SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0, SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.x, etc…)

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence
This is the ad hoc reporting component of the Business Intelligence suite.
(aka SAP BusinessObjects Webi)

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
This is the version of Xcelsius designed to be part of a larger SAP BusinessObjects deployment. Other ‘flavors’ of this tool are branded under the SAP Crystal solutions banner.
(aka SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard Design, SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius, Xcelsius Enterprise)

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for OLAP/edition for Microsoft Office
This is a new product that replaces the Voyager product.
(aka SAP BusinessObjects Advanced Analysis Web/SAP BusinessObjects Advanced Analysis Excel)

SAP BusinessObjects BI Launch Pad
This is the new name for the out-of-the-box portal that’s used by end-users to access content, create reports, etc…
(aka SAP BusinessObjects InfoView, Infoview)

SAP BusinessObjects BI workspaces
This product is replacing the functionality of Dashboard Builder.
(SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard Builder)

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer
This is the highly visual and interactive data exploration tool, previously called BusinessObjects Polestar 

That’s about it for now, but be sure to follow us on Twitter etc for updates as they’re released. 

Source:  Lee Grogan, Sales Manager, DSCallards

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Hints and Tips February 2011


Changing the Default Fonts and Colours for Web Intelligence on the SAP BusinessObjects Edge Platform
There are no default settings options in Web Intelligence, so to change the colours and fonts, you have to edit some .xml files. Search for *AppletConfig* on your SAP Business Objects Edge server.

A number of folders will appear.

In each of these folders there is a file called defaultConfig.xml. Make a copy of each of these files before any editing takes place.

In Web Intelligence, take note of the colour schemes that currently exist in the data header and details. The images on the next page show where to record this information.
 This is for the detail or row information.

This is for the header information.

Now you need to edit the defaultConfig.xml files in the folders shown above. Below is an example of the file that I have changed. The original font was Arial.

At the top of each block of code is the font ‘Trebuchet’. Work through the file changing the default, (Arial) to the font name of your choice.
When the fonts have been changed, search for the first number in the colour scheme you noted earlier. In my case, the ‘Red’ value of my header was 218. Change the Red, Green, Blue values to match the colour scheme you require.
Once all the changes have been made, the file can be copied to all the other locations listed in the folders above. Below is an image of the ‘new look WebI’ after I changed the defaults. I also restarted all the servers after I had made the changes.

Source:  Steve Chapman, Senior Business Intelligence Consultants, DSCallards

For more information, visit:  www.dscallards4bi.com

Thursday 20 January 2011

Free BI Seminar: Fishing for Information: Feeling Hungry?


  • Date: Wednesday 6th April 2011
  • Time: 9.30 am to 1 pm
  • Venue: SAP Business Objects, Maidenhead, UK
FishIt is highly likely that the internal rate of return your organisation is reaping from its investment in Business Intelligence is less than it could be, due to some mundane, real life challenges which may not be mentioned in the boardroom or corridors of power.

Many people in your organisation only need to analyse corporate data sporadically and If it’s outside of their routine work they may have limited time to dedicate to the task.

Silver Bullet Approach?

There are several recognised methodologies for getting people the numbers they need, yet these problems persist. Whilst there may not be a silver bullet, could there be a silver fish?  We know from history that “give a man a fish he will eat for a day; teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime”. 

Join us on the day to see how this has been applied to BI.

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Five Benefits of Faster Report Design

Some report requests come with far too little lead time. And, it’s these instances that tend to be the most urgent. To fulfill the request, you have to drop everything, pull the necessary data and format the report in a way that will highlight the right information and resonate with the target audience. Meanwhile, other tasks continue to accumulate. Figure out how to accelerate report design, and you’ll deliver a higher level of analytical services while also recapturing time to address your other responsibilities.

SAP Crystal Presentation Design can take the stress out of short-lead report requests. Use this solution to design complex reports quickly, and you’ll save time you can use for other tasks, while also increasing the visual quality of your reports. Here are five ways you can use SAP Crystal Presentation Design to accelerate results.

1. Plan ahead: create presentation templates for reports you run frequently. You don’t have to start from scratch every time.

2. Use automation: SAP Crystal presentation design includes a number of tools that are ready for use immediately, obviating the need for repeated manual efforts.

3. Go interactive: use SAP Crystal Presentation Design to bring data to life … without having to engage a designer or programmer. Interactive tools will help presenters illustrate key points, making your reports far more effective in the decision-making process.

4. Mitigate risk: reduce the manual involvement in presentation design, and mistakes become less likely. Increased accuracy naturally results in better reports.

5. Cut costs: there’s an implicit cost associated with everything you do. Faster presentation design can alleviate workload, making it possible to defer hiring and make existing employees more productive.


Source:  SAP

Visit www.crystalreports.co.uk for more information.