Knowledge Integration Dynamics (KID), a new company, has been formed to address the market`s need for business intelligence applications.
Headed by business intelligence veteran Aubrey van Aswegen, KID is focused on the use of data as an enabler of business intelligence and new-style business applications, including e-commerce, customer relationship management (CRM) and knowledge management.
"Our vision statement - delivering knowledge ahead of need - reflects our view that emerging business applications such as CRM will simply not work unless they have been fully data-enabled," says Van Aswegen. "Alongside this is a parallel business need to maximise the data opportunity currently locked up in legacy and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and leverage the data generated by Internet and e-commerce activity. We operate in this converged business/technology space."
KID has more than 70 years` combined business intelligence experience in its ranks, spearheaded by financial director Kobus Coetsee and technical director Bonzet Marais. Coetsee assists customers in business improvement, project delivery and change management, while Marais is one of South Africa`s most respected data warehouse consultants, having implemented dozens of successful sites. Fellow director Christine Marais focuses on data quality assurance.
"These complementary competencies allow us to provide the full lifecycle of business intelligence solution delivery," says Van Aswegen, "from business discovery to actual delivery and ongoing audit to ascertain the success of the solution."
KID will be product-agnostic in that it will work with multiple technologies, but have a preferred shortlist of products, adds Van Aswegen. Among these will be Red Brick, the Informix-owned relational data warehouse-specific database.
Van Aswegen predicts a boom time for business intelligence applications from next year. "All indications are that with the Y2K issue being resolved and discretionary budget being freed up, many companies are going to look to business intelligence applications to gain and sustain a competitive edge. We see unprecedented demand for business intelligence, specifically in the areas of data marts and analytic applications."
KID will work with and through market alliances and a clearly defined business intelligence channel, says Van Aswegen. The company has enjoyed early success in the business intelligence market, securing contracts at Iscor, Edgars, Medicross Healthcare, MX Health, General Accident Commercial Union, Transmed, the Road Accident Fund, Specialty Stores and Sara Lee.
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