BI Smarts: Affordable BI a reality for the SME

Say 'business intelligence' and the average CIO or CEO will think 'significant investment required'. However, with its BI Smarts solution, business intelligence specialist Synergy Computing is offering small to medium sized enterprises (SME) the opportunity to affordably deploy a complete BI solution for as little as R5 000 to R10 000 per month.

According to Synergy Computing managing director Christo Bredenkamp, the company is able to bring Microsoft-based solutions to a broader base of South African companies. This is made possible through its innovative application of the outsourcing concept to the combination of technologies necessary to create a BI solution.

"With BI Smarts, we have combined software, hardware, development and a suite of reports into an easily-deployed automated system which delivers key business insights for our clients," he says.

Bredenkamp says key questions face customers in a variety of industries, the answers to which can often be found in data. "Executives need to know if they are getting the right information to drive profits.

This goes beyond raw data, such as that from point of sale (POS), inventory and supply chain systems. What is required is the ability to quickly and intuitively gain access to relevant data to answer queries which may include comparative sales, performance of line items, the impact of specific dates and times on business and many more."

Since BI is increasingly recognised as the means to this end, he says many executives are investigating the possibility of introducing analysis to their data environment. However, despite the fact that IT costs have consistently come down over the years, he says considerable investment is still required for an in-house solution. "You'll find that you need a server, some software, a developer and the time of an IT staff member to maintain the system. A few quick calculations will show that such a solution could cost upwards of R250 000 per annum," Bredenkamp remarks.

While this is not an outrageous sum, it is beyond the means of most SMEs.

"BI Smarts solves the problem of capital outlay and high deployment and maintenance costs. Providing BI as a managed service means it is not only affordable, but also risk-free. With no upfront fees, no developer or IT staff member necessary to maintain the system, clients can address their information needs for a fixed monthly cost," he says.

The solution includes all BI hardware and software, a suite of interactive reports, which include automatic delivery, consolidated data for historical trend analysis, the ability to author custom reports, toll free support and secure online access.

"With BI Smarts, we set out to make BI an accessible and affordable reality for data-intensive SMEs. At the price of a junior staff member, and without the associated admin, advanced reporting is today within the reach of any South African business which needs it," he concludes.