SAS, ECsoft IMPLEMENT COLLABORATIVE BI SOLUTION
SAS Institute UK and ECsoft have announced the first UK partnership to implement collaborative business intelligence solutions that combine data warehousing and knowledge management capabilities. Collaborative Business Intelligence combines number-based information generated by business intelligence processes with text-based materials that describe that information. The end solution allows organisations to capture elements of their decision making process and to make that corporate knowledge available to a much wider audience, including front office decision makers.
The partnership between SAS Institute and ECsoft combines SAS Institute's Collaborative Business Intelligence technology with ECsoft's consulting expertise in knowledge management. Collaborative Business Intelligence allows 'communities' of users to use reports from business intelligence as the basis of discussions, to model and predict 'what if' scenarios based on real data and to include electronic documents such as emails, word processed files, etc, that capture the context in which decisions were made. It effectively extends the reach of business intelligence from business analysts to executives and other employees.
By using SAS Institute's custom interface, the SAS Collaborative Server (see related announcement), companies will be able to provide a single, web-based interface that will enable their employees to exchange both data and ideas. It functions as a business intelligence portal, allowing knowledge workers to access, share and re-use information consistently. It ensures direct access to underlying data and reports that allow users to make confident and informed decisions.
Peter Dorrington, principal consultant, ECsoft, said, "The problem today is not access to information, it's being able to use it intelligently, share it with everybody who needs to see and comment on it, and then use it to make business decisions. This is what Collaborative Business Intelligence brings to businesses. It delivers the promise of more informed decision making, gets true value from business information and realises effective knowledge management. Our partnership with SAS Institute is a very important step towards helping companies capture and leverage decision-making processes by integrating analysis and activity into a single system."
Collaborative Business Intelligence allows all employees to put data and comments in one repository without having to convert them to another format such as HTML. Virtually any digital content can be captured, including information from data warehouses, business intelligence systems, ERP systems, desktop applications, web documents and email. Information within the Collaborative Business Intelligence Server is organised within an objectoriented database management system along the lines of a traditional filing system with common headings and consistent categories of information. An advanced search system allows users to define and locate only the information that they need.
"SAS software brings together the wide range of data that is spread throughout the organisation and converts that data into understandable business information", said Alastair Sim, Head of Strategy at SAS Institute UK. "However, business users need information in context, such as who wrote a report, why they wrote it, and what the report means. This is the essence of knowledge and our attraction to ECsoft as a partner is not only its reputation as implementers of knowledge-enablement solutions, but because it is helping us make Collaborative Business Intelligence real today through its expertise in knowledge management."
ECsoft Group plc (Nasdaq:ECSGY; London: ECS) is an independent European IT services company specialising in the practical application of advanced technology and in turning client's E-business vision into technical reality. Its customer base includes many of Europe's top 500 companies. Using a unique knowledge management framework called Practicology, ECsoft delivers a broad range of consultancy, application development and systems integration and information systems management services. It has a specialist unit dedicated to implementing business processes and systems that exploit an organisation's corporate intellectual and information capital, taking in Intranets, knowledge management and decision support. The company is headquartered in London with eleven offices in the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. It has a workforce of 900 throughout Europe. More information about ECsoft Group can be found on the Web at http://www.ecsoft-group.com.
SAS Institute, the world's largest privately held software company, is the leader in decision support and data warehousing, providing integrated enterprise information-delivery solutions. Founded in 1976, the Institute markets packaged business solutions for vertical industry and departmental applications, as well as an integrated suite of software tools and consulting services. These allow companies to transform the wide variety of data within their organisations into information that business users and researchers need to make better decisions. SAS software and services are used at more than 33,000 business, government, and university sites in 115 countries. SAS Institute achieved 1998 revenue of $871 million.
SAS Institute is a member of the Institute of Knowledge Management, a commercial research consortium made up of senior executives from major corporations and knowledge management experts and research organisations. Research conducted by the IKM will focus on how companies can leverage employee experience and knowledge, which will lead to the creation of innovative knowledge management tools and solutions.
Further information about SAS Institute's range of products and services can be found at http://www.sas-com.