Credit Guarantee, the domestic and export credit and reinsurance company, has implemented data warehouse software, supplied by Sagent SA, for the collation and analysis of strategically important data.
Mike Truter, executive director and chief operating officer of Credit Guarantee says a fully flexed data warehouse in times of a downturn in the business cycle can make a considerable difference to the quality and speed of strategic decision-making. He points out: "The credit insurance industry has experienced the worst underwriting conditions in the last 24 months with an unusually high level of underwriting losses. Consolidated and current information is a prerequisite for effective risk assessment."
Credit Guarantee, with premium income of R500 million and insured turnover of R63 billion, is the largest credit insurance company in Southern Africa with a market share reaching 80%. Owned by a consortium of large financial institutions, it has partnered the South African Government in its export credit insurance scheme.
The decision to initiate a data warehouse project followed a 1997 prioritisation study. A full sizing and high level analysis was done. Sagent SA was commissioned at the beginning of 1999 to supply and assist in installing the data warehouse software at a cost of R700 000. Sagent V4, an end-to-end data warehouse solution provides complete functionality: data extraction and cleansing, warehouse design and population, and reporting and analysis. The first phase, providing debtors book information, was completed in September 1999. The second phase, currently underway, enables an analysis of claims.
The data warehouse software runs on a Windows NT platform. Data comes from an ADABAS operational database and industry related data sources and is housed on a SQL Server database. Initially, 40 management and operational users are being catered for. Sandro Vita, general manager information systems at Credit Guarantee, says, "we have started with a smaller kick-off platform, but the software is completely scaleable and we will add to the hardware as data requirements and number of users dictates."
Sandri Jordaan, Sagent director and project manager, says that a critical success factor is the buy-in on the part of users and management. "A good relationship with business users results in accurate and practical design and analysis. Following development, the real value of the data warehouse was demonstrated using on-line presentations. With practical and functionally aligned training, users can quickly apply the information and analysis to their tasks."
Truter regards the ability to make strategic decisions quickly, in response to changing business conditions, as the most important benefit. "The old methods of collecting data and writing special programs meant that decisions were made some time after an event. We will (quickly) identify changes in risk profiles of industries, industry segments and sectors. We will have current information on countries and their trade level, and be able to identify weak links in the manufacturing chain. We then re-examine our product rates, re-look at our marketing strategy and decide how to direct credit decisions in areas with failure trends."
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