Harvey Jones Systems, KPMG Consulting, Microsoft announce partnership

Microsoft South Africa, Harvey Jones Systems and KPMG Consulting have announced a partnership which delivers a high-level business performance management and business intelligence (BI) solution to the South African market.

"The toolset offered through this alliance will enable our clients to leverage their existing investment in Microsoft technology. Our partners have the track record and business skills to ensure that clients are delivered a solution in a fraction of the time and at a lower total cost of ownership than other platform offerings," says David Ives, business productivity advisor at Microsoft South Africa.

Harvey Jones Systems is the exclusive distributor of the ProClarity and ISM Solutions Products in SA. These products are designed to draw on the full functionality available from the Microsoft platform and are the only third-party products included on the Microsoft Business Intelligence Accelerator programme.

ProClarity is the award-winning business intelligence platform, designed specifically for the Analysis Services cube. ProClarity is the most successful product on the Microsoft Analysis Services platform globally.

ISM is the business performance management solution that was the first of its kind to market on the AS cube. It links into ProClarity and is designed to leverage all the functionality available through Microsoft. The ISM product, BusinessOfficeXP, is positioned as "business office" on top of the Microsoft environment by integrating all information and linking directly into Enterprise Project Management and MS Project.

The grouping of the above tools provides the most scaleable Microsoft platform solution on the market. The combination allows BI solutions to be delivered in a fraction of the time of competitive products and easily scales up to enterprise solutions.

Keith Jones, managing director of Harvey Jones Systems, states: "Business performance management and business intelligence is now a `must have` solution. Having data is no longer enough; clients need to use the data they have to deliver real business benefits. Companies have to understand the factors that are driving their business and must ensure that they are agile enough to fully exploit new opportunities and meet any new threats. This solution allows clients to ensure their strategy is implemented in a way that measures its value and effectiveness. We believe that with our product offering, and its affordability, we will become the dominant player in this market space in Africa. "

Hubert Wentzel, director of Business Intelligence and Systems Integration at KPMG Consulting, states: "This partnership strengthens our Microsoft solutions delivery capability. It allows us to offer solutions that best meet our clients` needs. We can convert their data into meaningful information and provide them with real value in a very short timeframe. The information provided by the tools will enable us to identify the key drivers in our clients businesses and assist them in achieving their strategic goals. Microsoft is a key player in this space offering products that are extremely well-positioned on this platform."

ProClarity clients in SA include Pick `n Pay, Health Pharmacy, Metro Cash and Carry, Rand Merchant Bank Asset Management, Dell, Eskom Enterprises, Technology Services International, etc.