e.com institute, an e-business consulting and services firm, recently concluded a full services partner agreement with business intelligence (BI) and performance management (PM) vendor Cognos.
The accreditation is a significant milestone for the company's BI Centre of Excellence (CoE), which prides itself in successfully establishing full life cycle competencies across a diverse range of commercial off-the-shelf BI solutions.
"In executing our highly successful 'invest for intellect' model, e.com institute's BI CoE is geared to deliver greater ease through the Cognos product stack which will enable us to grow and reach new heights in consulting, training, integration and outsourced services," says Schalk Roelofse, GM of the Business Intelligence & Information Management CoE at e.com institute.
"Our partnership with Cognos, a leader in the BI solution space, is strategic and of significant value to our clients," he continues. "Since our inception in early 1999, we have aggressively invested in building expertise, capacity and best practices for end-to-end BI implementations across multiple technology platforms. e.com institute's BI CoE has steadily grown in stature and market share as a result of its concerted effort to deliver success on all BI projects by leveraging only best-fit technologies. We feel Cognos is on the button in terms of these high standards.
"We have closely followed Cognos' history in line with other technology developments and firmly believe the Cognos range of products is capable of delivering good ROI.
Says David McWilliam, managing director of Cognos South Africa: "There is a shortage of BI skills in South Africa. The experience and expertise within e.com institute will assist in growing the skills base. For Cognos, e.com institute represents the ideal solution provider, offering deep expertise and non-compromising discipline in delivering success at each point of the BI journey."
While many in the industry would shy away from new BI solutions, research undertaken by e.com institute has shown the tightly integrated Cognos product stack offers seamless end-to-end functionality. The company provides services to its clients for a wide range of BI solutions.
Explains Roelefse: "Cognos is an integral part of our BI portfolio and while it may not be the best fit for every requirement, it is one of the broadest, most flexible and compatible BI platforms today. This confidence measure is reflected by most of our clients within the public and private sectors."
"A BI solution is not merely a reporting system, it's where an organisation's data (livelihood) resides. We focus heavily on the continuous development of innovative but practical methodologies. This is a key intellectual asset which, when coupled with Cognos' technology leadership, creates the perfect recipe for success at each juncture of the BI journey. It has certainly been a very long time since we last experienced the levels of excitement we have with the Cognos partnership. We have evidence of Cognos' tremendous value to our clients and welcome the integrity of the vendor," says Cassim Parak, CEO of e.com institute.
"With its client-centric approach, e.com institute not only delivers mature BI solutions, but also validates increased investments from clients wishing to establish performance management and mature levels of analytics. Our methodologies enable the smooth integration of disparate legacy systems and data sources. Our solutions are based on a comprehensive information management strategy that includes data modelling, integration, data warehouse design and front-end reporting in a dashboard environment that delivers operational and strategic management reports for ensuring accurate performance management targets. A comprehensive, well-designed system will create a single version of the truth, a reliable decision support environment and valuable insight into the business," notes Parak.
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