Ovations` successful deployment of Crystal Enterprise at Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia has enabled the mining company to Web-distribute all its reports and create a managed information infrastructure with advanced features. These include scheduling and report parameters for more relevant information.
Konkola Copper Mines is Zambia`s biggest mining operation, and accounts for 67% of the country`s metal exports, its main source of foreign currency.
The company consists of three producing mines - Konkola, Nchanga and Nampundwe. It also consists of KCM Nkana plants, the largest primary copper-producing plant in Zambia, with a capacity to refine copper anodes into metal and convert sulphur dioxide into sulphuric acid needed in other operations.
The shareholders of Konkola Copper Mines are the Zambian government, the World Bank`s International Finance Corp (IFC) and the Commonwealth Development Corp (CDC).
"Konkola Copper Mines was already using Crystal Reports as the reporting standard within its call centre and network management software," explains Ovations sales and marketing director, George Smalberger.
"The company`s numerous financial reports were already being distributed manually from shared folders on the network or via e-mail. Konkola needed to make these reports available to a wider audience via the Web so that the information could be received quickly to increase productivity and to support decision-making."
Ovations used the following technology to develop and successfully deploy the solution: Crystal Enterprise 8.5, Crystal Reports 8.5 Professional, SQL 2000 Database and Windows NT Platform.
"As part of Konkola`s IT infrastructure upgrade, key technologies Windows Terminal server and Active Directory Services were also implemented," Smalberger adds.
"Crystal Enterprise is a reliable, Web-based platform for reporting, analysing and information delivery," he continues. "It helps Konkola make better use of its information to understand and drive business performance. The product combines tools for reporting off-relational and multidimensional data with a scalable back-end for security, processing, delivery and repository management. Its zero-client content delivery, multiple-server architecture and customisable interfaces make Crystal Enterprise ideal for delivering reports across Konkola."
"With the ability to have security integration via NT single sign-on and Active Directory services, we can now avoid security breaches and loss of information," says Koos Holl, group IT manager at Konkola Copper Mines. "Besides being able to manage our reporting and prevent duplication, we can now also distribute information to a wider audience.
"Going forward, we see benefits in implementing the ad hoc OLAP Reporting of Crystal Analysis to further enhance our information usage," he concludes.
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