Sanlam has contracted with the IBD Group for enterprise-wide implementation of Essbase and Wired for OLAP in a strategic commitment to multidimensional analysis. The deal is worth more than R1m. Sanlam`s marketing department will be the first to realise the benefits of analysis of the group`s mainframe-based data. Other departments are expected to follow suit during 1998. The initial order is for a 100-user licence of Essbase and various tools, and a 100-user licence of Wired for OLAP, the front-end tool which Essbase author Arbor Software acquired in December.Essbase will be deployed as a data mart on a dual-Pentium server, running under Windows NT, says Barry Leo, software manager at Sanlam. It will access DB2-based data on Sanlam`s IBM mainframes at periodic intervals. This data will be analysed by marketing people seeking to find trends and patterns in the business through data mining, and to improve management reporting.In considering a multidimensional solution, Sanlam performed an exhaustive market survey. Topping the list of functionality was the highest possible speed of response. "This was especially important for us as we will be accessing our data mart across our intranet," says Leo. "Essbase`s performance, and speed of implementation, were both key factors for us."He adds that Wired for OLAP was chosen after it won a front-end tool shootout. The marketing department is "very excited" by the possibilities offered by Essbase, adds Leo. "Our people have been remotivated by the technology. The new information available us to us makes us better positioned to compete locally and globally."
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