Business intelligence revamp at Tiger Brands

Previously the group had used IBM's Cognos business intelligence service, running on an Oracle database, to interrogate and report on the company's data. According to Peter Walsh, the company's chief application office, despite the service being entrenched in the business, it had functionality issues, as it was running two versions of the same platform.

Based on the supplier's proof of concept, the group kicked off a migration plan, and less than a year later MicroStrategy and its integration partner, BITanium have replicated the existing BI system and are now poised for additional rollout.

Walsh and his team are already seeing benefits from the new BI platform. "Because the service speaks directly to our data warehouse, sales' reporting is far faster than before," says Walsh. "Previously month-end reports were initiated on a Sunday, with the data only available to users on Tuesday, now we have all the data available on Monday. In addition, we have new functionalities, such as improved executive dashboards with heat maps that allow data to be viewed in a visual way. Executives can quickly review data in an easy-to-understand format."

Integrating mobile

The next steps include adding in the strategic executive reporting layer, as well as mobilising its business intelligence. Walsh is currently testing the supplier's iPad application, noting that the same reports will be accessible wherever the group's executives happen to be.

MicroStrategy channel alliance manager, Brent Aitken, advises companies that may not yet ready to mobilise their BI, to make sure that their chosen BI vendor has the correct vision in place to provide a mobilised business intelligence service when they are ready.

The supplier brought in an international trainer to train the group's super-users. This initially education was backed up with power training sessions for users where they were helped with setting up their specific reports. "This ensured buy in," says Walsh. "There was no negative feedback, the learning curve was reduced and everyone is very happy."

Aitken also points out the group's users no longer have to rely on IT to generate its BI reports. "With the system, users are now in a self-service environment away from IT." This both encourages buy-in to a new system, and speeds up reporting, allowing the company to be far more proactive in a competitive marketplace.

"The group's executives now have a concise overview of the business they didn't have before. The robust infrastructure and end-to-end solution covers all BI requirements, allowing fast and effective decision making," he concludes.