Hyperion, the world leader in business performance management (BPM) solutions, has renewed its exclusive distribution agreement with Global Technology Business Intelligence (GBI) for another three years.
In the seven years that GBI has represented Hyperion in SA, it has become the most consistently successful distributor in the world, securing deals with 15 of the top 25 companies, and many others.
"We have been delighted with the relationship to date," says Craig Manning, regional MD for central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Given the success of SA as a region, we had considered opening up a direct presence. However, after examining all the pros and cons, we have elected not to change the relationship, but rather to reinforce it."
In terms of this, Hyperion has appointed Bruce Viljoen as Hyperion national sales manager. In this role, he acts as a direct interface between GBI and Hyperion, providing sales and technical support.
GBI`s performance has continually tracked that of Hyperion, which has exceeded analyst expectations for the last seven quarters. It has got off to a strong start to the new fiscal year, securing a $1.2 million contract with Anglo American for the provision of Hyperion Financial Management (HFM), in terms of which it upgrades existing licences at key Anglo subsidiaries. This was the company`s eighth HFM success in the last year, making SA the region with the highest penetration worldwide for this financial consolidation solution.
"This level of acceptance of HFM is a clear indication that our market will adopt BPM over the next two years," says Marc Scheepbouwer, recently appointed CEO of GBI. "This is where we expect our growth to come from."
In 2002 GBI secured a total of 49 software deals, 36 of which were to existing clients, including Sasol, MTN, Telkom, Imperial Holdings and Kumba Resources.
Among these was the first sale in SA of the Scorecarding solution - a key component of BPM - to De Beers. Common among the software sales was the take-up of Hyperion`s applications along with new licences for the Hyperion Essbase XTD multidimensional online analytical processing platform.
To ensure delivery, GBI has built a team of 40 business intelligence consultants, the country`s largest. "Our consultants are booked out months in advance," says Scheepbouwer, "which underscores the level of demand for Hyperion`s solutions in SA."
Share
Editorial contacts