Vodacom Service Provider Company, SA`s biggest cellular service provider, has implemented the Actuate e.Reporting Suite 6 in a multimillion-rand contract with Comparex Africa Customer Oriented Applications, the principal system integrator for Actuate`s information delivery tools in SA.
Actuate`s enterprise reporting solution will enable the company, which represents over 70% of Vodacom`s customer base of some 8.5 million subscribers, to provide its internal and external customers with a new level of service that taps the power of the Internet.
"With Actuate we now have a platform for retrieving business information from our database and applications across the company and delivering it as interactive Web pages and Excel spreadsheets in the form of reports to our staff and customers," says Willie Ellis, Director, IT and Billing at Vodacom Service Provider Company. "Actuate has automated the generation of information across the organisation and it delivers that information as an integrated component of our Web site, enabling access to any kind of e-report and effectively allowing us to reach thousands of users over the Web."
"Over 80% of all information reporting requirements were developed and published in our previous reporting environment, with employees running around 2 250 report instances a month. In addition, more than 70 000 Vodacom subscribers use our portal to view and print billing and other account information. Over the last year stability became an issue and reports were unacceptably long."
Vodacom Service Provider Company investigated the options available and found that industry analysts Gartner, Meta Group and DM Review all recommended Actuate e.Reporting as the enterprise reporting solution of choice. The company approached Comparex Africa as the primary reseller and supporter of Actuate in SA.
High availability was an important issue for subscribers in particular, and the company had to ensure that its information delivery platform would meet the requirements of users logging onto the Web site to view their monthly statements. Internal users too are dependent on information delivery to support critical business decisions.
"As an information delivery platform, Actuate enables organisations such as Vodacom Service Provider Company to provide all users with the information they need in the form in which they need it, in a secure, timely and cost-effective manner," says Rodney Hood at Comparex Africa COA. "It enables the generation, management, and secure delivery of reporting content to all the company`s information seekers."
Hood says the adoption of the Internet has set new standards for finding and viewing information. "Customers and employees expect to get information on the Web and they expect to get it immediately and in the format they require. An effective information delivery platform must be able to take advantage of the Internet to deliver information to consumers by adding value to applications and data sources throughout the organisation. Actuate meets these requirements by delivering high-resolution, personalised content that users can view from their browser of choice without the need for plug-ins or extra software."
"Actuate is perfectly aligned with Vodacom Service Provider Company`s future strategy which will focus increasingly on Web-based technology," said Hood.
Comparex Africa is the leading integrator of ICT-based business solutions that make its clients more successful. Based on a strong customer-centric approach, Comparex Africa delivers technology-business solutions from the full range of competencies within its group that align its clients` strategic and operational business needs.
Comparex Africa`s client-centric structure stems from its Systems Integration Model, a methodology that allows for flexibility and close client relationships.
Offering business solutions that address all areas of its clients business, Comparex Africa services organisations within the corporate and large enterprise, government and parastatal markets as well as within the medium enterprise sector in all vertical markets.
As an organisation with its roots firmly embedded in Africa, Comparex Africa reflects a cultural diversity, relying on the unique contribution of each of its skilled employees to succeed. Transformation is an overriding business imperative for Comparex Africa and as such it has dedicated resources from across the organisation to drive employment equity, economic empowerment and social investment programmes.
For more information on Comparex Africa, visit www.comparexafrica.co.za.
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