Spurred by major new deployments of ERP, CRM and other enterprise software packages, business intelligence (BI) software vendors are moving rapidly to meet the growing need for analytics software integrated with enterprise applications.
Heading the list is Business Objects, which this month added three new analytic application modules - Source Analytics, Deliver Analytics and Revenue Cycle Analytics - to its portfolio of analytics applications.
"The biggest advantages of analytics are the focus and speed they offer to managers. Rather than providing a full range of analysis and reporting tools, the analytics dashboard presents only the information that applies to managers` jobs and that helps them make better-informed operational decisions," said Gary Lawrence, country manager of Business Objects in SA.
"Properly planned and implemented, analytics can help managers make better and faster decisions on the spot."
BusinessObjects Source Analytics helps companies analyse their inbound supply chain to manage supplier relationships, optimise the procurement processes, and monitor inventory levels and costs. Deliver Analytics is designed to help companies analyse the outbound supply chain to improve delivery costs, optimise inventory levels, and deliver on customer demand cost-effectively. Both are part of BusinessObjects Supply Chain Intelligence, a new analytic application to that enables companies to analyse the entire supply chain from the initial source through to the final destination.
Revenue Cycle Analytics enables companies to reduce revenue cycle time and improve revenue cycle planning to optimise business performance.
"Finance, sales, and marketing managers can use Revenue Cycle Analytics to analyse and understand revenue cycle profitability, cycle time, and inefficiencies, for example determine operational bottlenecks, improve revenue target planning, and gain timely information on revenue drivers," said Lawrence.
"A year ago we announced our strategy to build analytic applications that would cover a broad range of business issues but would be integrated to offer companies a complete and accurate view of their businesses," said Lawrence.
"We have delivered the first eight analytic application modules that give unprecedented analysis of the data that matters the most to a business: its customers, products, suppliers and operations. These analytic applications will enable customers to get value from their corporate data, by seeing the information and how it changes over time, and using that information to quickly make strategic decisions."
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Business Objects is the world`s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions. Business intelligence lets organisations access, analyse and share information internally with employees and externally with customers, suppliers, and partners. Business intelligence helps organisations improve operational efficiency, build profitable customer relationships, and develop differentiated product offerings.
The company`s products include BUSINESSOBJECTS 2000, the industry`s leading integrated business intelligence toolset and platform, and BUSINESSOBJECTS ANALYTICS, an integrated suite of enterprise analytic applications.
Business Objects pioneered the modern BI industry in 1990 by inventing a patented "semantic layer" that insulates users from the complexity of databases. In 1995, the company was first to focus on enterprise-scale BI deployments and today supports customers with more than 20 000 users. The company moved aggressively to the Internet in 1997 by pioneering the market for BI extranets, a market that it continues to lead today. In 2000, the company delivered the industry`s first interactive wireless BI solution. Today, Business Objects continues to innovate, creating and delivering a unique vision for enterprise analytic applications.
Business Objects has more than 14 000 customers in over 80 countries. The company`s stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols Nasdaq: BOBJ and Euronext Paris: code Euroclear France 12074, and included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.
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