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BI to prophesise Harry Potter sales

Nikita Ramkissoon
By Nikita Ramkissoon
Johannesburg, 05 Nov 2010

BI to prophesise Harry Potter sales

Worldwide sales of Harry Potter DVDs have brought in almost double the films; $3 billion, according to Box Office Spy, and forecasting is key to making this work, writes CIO.

In the past decade, as Harry and his friends grew up, so did the business intelligence (BI) capability at Warner Home Video. The company has fine-tuned its sales forecasting models to ensure retailers will have enough stock to satisfy every consumer willing to plunk down $20 or so for a disc or tape, says Thomas Tileston, the company's vice-president of business decision support.

Movie companies do about half of their new DVD sales in the first five days after release, so picking the right week can be the difference between profits and losses. Hot property like the latest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I could forego lots of revenue.

Canon outsources BI to Capgemini

Canon Europe has signed a deal with Capgemini for the outsourcer to support a business information management programme, called One View, says Computer World.

The programme aims to consolidate management information and BI functions across all business units within Canon Europe, creating standard processes. Canon expects One View to drive significant operational cost cuts. The initiative will cover Canon UK's operations located in Surrey, London, Birmingham, Livingston and Belfast.

As part of the move, Capgemini will help Canon Europe set up a BI Competence Centre, in addition to building and maintaining a new enterprise data warehouse. Capgemini will support these facilities using its own onshore and offshore IT capabilities.

Tibco gets iPad BI

Tibco has unveiled its latest Spotfire Web Player update, providing any iPad-toting Web admin a new way to show their daily stats, reports CMS Wire.

Since Tibico's transition from desktop to the cloud, the company has seen rising success with its Spotfire analytics package. It now moves to the iPad to become a status symbol for Web 2.0 admins that want to keep track of their sites' numbers and analytics without resorting to the humble keyboard.

Tibco Silver Spotfire was released in July, taking the company's sizeable analytics package into the cloud. Thanks to an update to Spotfire Web Player, it now makes its appearance on Apple's tablet.

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