Description
Connecting Customers Business Intelligence
Microsoft and the Microsoft logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation in the US and/or other countries.
© 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All other products and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved. M514
S2 Connecting Customers
Business Intelligence
S2 Connecting Customers
For Business Decision Makers
Business Intelligence
Microsoft’s Technology Solutions
Microsoft
®
technologies help you develop and deploy end-to-end solutions. In this guide you
will find a detailed overview of Microsoft’s Business intelligence Solutions; enabling the
delivery of intelligent, relevant and appropriate information through a portfolio of simplified
and integrated services.
Solutions for the Agile Business:
Connecting Customers
I
Business Intelligence
I
Internet Business
Empowering Employees
I
Collaboration
I
Mobility
I
Corporate Intranet Portals
Integrating Business
I
Enterprise Application Integration
E-Business Infrastructure
I
Systems Management
I
Server Consolidation
I
Security
For further information on Business intelligence and other Microsoft Solutions visit:
www.microsoft.com/uk/servers
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 03
Microsoft’s Business Intelligence Solutions
We have been hearing about the significance of Business Intelligence, and of timely analysis and
action for years. Today, we’re entering a new era where Business Intelligence is truly becoming a
“must-have” technology, driven by the importance of securing competitive advantage by developing
a thorough understanding of the customer.
Microsoft’s vision for Business Intelligence is to improve the speed and quality of decision making
through Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft .NET. These enable the rapid delivery of
intelligent, relevant information through simplified, integrated services and the provision of open
interfaces to access and share data, both internally and with partners, in mixed-technology
environments.
Business value
The pressure for good Business Intelligence has increased as the pace of business has accelerated.
On top of this need for speed, the nature and dynamics of business are changing.
Customers increasingly expect outstanding – and often personalised – service; businesses are
outsourcing more and more non-core functions; and the market demands better planning
and less uninformed risk-taking. In short, knowledge workers are often expected to do more in
a shorter period of time with fewer resources.
Gone are the days when large teams of analysts supported major business units within an
organisation. Today, analysis has become part of all knowledge workers' jobs, so they need access to
relevant information and analytical tools tailored to their needs.
On the following pages, you will find details of how Microsoft provides the power to turn
information into business insight. Working with partners, we enable Business Intelligence
to be delivered to anyone, anywhere and on any platform at the lowest cost.
04 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
Microsoft’s Business Intelligence platform provides
the power to turn information into business insight.
Better information, better decisions, increased profits.
It all comes down to Business Agility: the more readily you can access relevant, useful intelligence
about your business, your customers, your partners and your operations – the more your
organisation can make better decisions and increase competitive advantage.
The value of Business Intelligence systems
By providing an accurate portrayal of your customers, Business Intelligence provides critical
competitive advantage, allowing you to make business decisions quickly and with confidence.
The impact of Business Intelligence is realised throughout your organisation, in increased
revenue, lower operating costs and improved customer relationships.
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 05
I
Reduced operating costs. Business
Intelligence minimises the time required to
collect relevant business information
(including financial, inventory, and
procurement data). By bringing powerful
analysis and reporting tools to the desktop,
these solutions empower decision makers to
easily conduct their own queries, prepare
reports, and in many cases implement new
campaigns or changes to an e-commerce
site – with minimal support from database
administrators and IT specialists.
I
Streamlined customer acquisition.
Business Intelligence enables marketers to
identify and target potential customers and
to present effective, focused campaigns,
dramatically reducing the per-customer
costs of marketing and advertising.
I
Increased customer loyalty. With
competition for customers only a click away,
your business must focus on optimising its
relationships with existing customers.
Building trust with these customers will
positively impact their relationships with
your company, and in turn, increase
customer loyalty. Understanding who those
loyal customers are is the first step, but
developing an individual, one-to-one
marketing message for the customer
demonstrates a level of personalisation
that provides competitive advantage.
Business Intelligence tools that combine
customer insight with rapid marketing
deployment build trust, inspire loyalty, and
prove to the customer that they are truly
valued by the organisation.
I
Business agility. Accurate Business
Intelligence enables your business to
respond faster to new opportunities and
changing demands. Combining intelligent
prediction mechanisms with rapid
execution gives your organisation the ability
to move from concept to implementation as
quickly as possible – the key to survival in
today’s dynamic new economy.
I
Increased profitability. Business
Intelligence provides an accurate snapshot
of the profitability of specific customer
relationships, allowing you to focus your
energies on your most lucrative customers.
By integrating systems that span the
enterprise – e-commerce, CRM, and point-
of-sale – you can create a complete profile
of your customer and offer insight into their
buying patterns, sensitivity points, and
preferred methods of contact and
communication. Profitable customers are
coveted customers; understanding their
value to the organisation, their motivations
and preferences, and finally, how you can
increase their spending and interactions
with your company, are all critical to
retaining them.
06 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
I
Speed to insight. For Business
Intelligence to have maximum value, it
must be fast. Timely access to data and
analysis requires high performance
software on a robust platform.
I
Fast time to benefit. The faster your
organisation deploys its Business
Intelligence solution, the sooner it captures
additional revenue and cost savings.
In todays fiercely competitive economy, fast
time to benefit is a must.
I
Ease of use. With more people using
Business Intelligence, the solution must
have a familiar user interface and be
understood by the broadest audience. This
speeds up knowledge workers’ productivity
and minimises the downtime and costs
associated with training or retraining.
I
Offline/remote access. An increasingly
mobile workforce needs continuous access
to the corporate Intranet in order to remain
productive on the road, at home, or even in
the air. This means providing data and
services to both online and offline users,
and to the full spectrum of non-PC devices,
such as wireless PDAs or mobile phones.
I
Distributed, self-service data marts.
With more employees conducting their own
analysis, Business Intelligence has to be
immediately available to any authorised
user. This often means maintaining
separate satellite data marts, which
replicate and are synchronised against the
enterprise data warehouse.
Technological requirements for Business Intelligence
An effective Business Intelligence solution must offer exceptional performance, robust tools and
services, and fully developed Web capabilities. The points below identify the demands placed
on Business Intelligence solutions by today’s dynamic business environment.
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 07
I
Web access. Corporate Intranets rely on
Web-based technologies. Web access is the
fastest, least expensive way to make data or
tools available to employees, vendors, and
suppliers, and can create new profit centres
as a result of customer or market data and
Business Intelligence.
I
Clickstream analytics. To maximise the
power of e-commerce, companies must be
able to capture the unique information
generated by their Web sites, and to
translate it into actionable intelligence.
A Business Intelligence solution must be
specifically designed to store and analyse
the rich data of e-commerce clickstreams.
I
B2B commerce. Business Intelligence
plays an important role as companies
evaluate their supply chains and partner
interactions. Traditionally considered for
business-to-consumer interactions, Business
Intelligence solutions can support business-
to-business activities and contribute to
increased profitability and partner loyalty.
I
Customised and third-party
applications. Availability of third-party
products and add-ins, as well as the ability
to integrate custom applications and
components, ensures that your Business
Intelligence solution can meet the unique
needs of your company or industry.
I
Integration with existing systems.
For a complete business picture your
Business Intelligence solution should
integrate seamlessly with all of
your systems. These include both ERP
(such as inventory management) and
customer-facing systems (such as CRM).
Decision-makers can then access all
relevant information from anywhere in the
company, while you leverage your
investment in legacy systems.
I
Extendable platform. To adapt to
changing business needs, your solution’s
component parts need to be easily
modified to add functionality or to work with
other systems. Open, extendable software
interfaces, which allow integration with
third-party systems, custom applications,
and future technologies, help create a
future-proof Business Intelligence solution.
08 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
Microsoft’s complete integrated platform
uniquely delivers Business Intelligence as a
fundamental component of your enterprise
infrastructure. In providing a proven computing
platform, rather than a single application,
Microsoft provides key advantages:
I
Agility. Microsoft enables your
organisation to implement new business
initiatives as quickly as your strategies
change. By providing a comprehensive set
of ‘building blocks’ for business solutions,
Microsoft ensures that your systems can
adapt quickly to a constantly changing
business environment.
I
Fast time to benefit. Whether you’re
starting from scratch or updating existing
systems, you can deploy Business
Intelligence faster with Microsoft software.
Fast time to benefit. Ease of development,
straightforward integration with legacy
systems, manageability, and use of familiar
tools for analysis and reporting ensure
rapid delivery at every level.
I
Reliability and scalability. Microsoft’s
new generation of .NET servers is the
cornerstone of the agile enterprise in today’s
dynamic business environment. Unparalleled
reliability means your systems are available
when you need them. .NET servers scale both
up and out, expanding their ability to support
growth and take advantage of market
opportunities.
Business Intelligence and Microsoft
Business Intelligence solutions on the Microsoft platform unleash opportunities to improve
customer service, control costs, maximise profits and make better and swifter decisions.
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 09
I
Integration with Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Office Tools are familiar fixtures
on millions of desktops worldwide. With
their built-in support for SQL Server
Analysis Services, they provide a powerful
front-end for enterprise data and Business
Intelligence. This brings two benefits: it
increases the productivity and efficiency of
nearly every employee, and it saves the cost
of retraining in specific analysis tools or of
outsourcing analysis and reporting.
I
Web-based access to information.
As your business becomes increasingly
global, you need Business Intelligence
solutions that deliver knowledge over the
Internet. Microsoft software is designed for
the Internet, so you can harness the
Web more quickly to work with customers
and partners in innovative ways.
I
Support for mobile users. SQL Server
2000 Analysis Services provide offline
access to multidimensional data via the
Multi-dimensional Microsoft PivotTable
®
Services component (client components).
Because it is available for Pocket PC, SQL
Server 2000 allows mobile users to access
enterprise data directly from a handheld or
portable device.
I
Customised solutions. When you require a
completely customised analysis or reporting
solution, the Microsoft platform offers
further opportunities for integration and
customisation, serving as a powerful
development platform on its own.
Figure 1. Microsoft provides a truly comprehensive Business Intelligence platform. Using the
Microsoft platform and tools, you can build your own complete solution directly, or extend the
platform with ready-made products and services from Data Warehousing Alliance vendors.
10 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
Case studies
GAB Robins roars ahead with SQL Server 2000
GAB Robins wanted to provide leading insurers with bespoke claims information in real time.
Its existing system was slow in drawing together data from the company’s various databases.
Using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Internet Information Server 5.0, GAB Robins
was able to overcome this problem and get accurate data to its clients quickly.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
The integrated Microsoft systems solution makes
for efficient distribution at Simms International
UK and Australian customers of Simms International are benefiting from the company’s recent
investment in an integrated business solution based around Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and
Microsoft Commerce Server 2000. The solution delivered by Metaphorix Ltd and based on the
award winning Navision Financials ERP solution is revolutionising the way that Simms
International do business.
“I felt that my business needed to be based on Microsoft products
if we were to be at the cutting edge of technology. In addition,
Microsoft products offer a low cost of ownership, are user friendly
and inexpensive to maintain.”
Andrew Henderson, Managing Director, Simms International Plc distributor of memory products
to the UK computer reseller market.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
AT&T growth markets
This $8 billion business unit of the AT&T Business Services division provides field sales
personnel with access to the vast amounts of internal and external data that is used to quickly
identify and target new business opportunities across the business telecommunications market.
The solution stores over a half of a terabyte of information in the data warehouse.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
For more information on Microsoft Solutions and .NET Servers,
go to: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/servers
For more information on case studies, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
For technical information on Microsoft .NET services, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/technet
To find out about other Microsoft products and services,
downloads, licensing, training, events and much more, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/askIT
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 0870 60 60 600
How to find out more
doc_263662280.pdf
Connecting Customers Business Intelligence
Microsoft and the Microsoft logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation in the US and/or other countries.
© 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All other products and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved. M514
S2 Connecting Customers
Business Intelligence
S2 Connecting Customers
For Business Decision Makers
Business Intelligence
Microsoft’s Technology Solutions
Microsoft
®
technologies help you develop and deploy end-to-end solutions. In this guide you
will find a detailed overview of Microsoft’s Business intelligence Solutions; enabling the
delivery of intelligent, relevant and appropriate information through a portfolio of simplified
and integrated services.
Solutions for the Agile Business:
Connecting Customers
I
Business Intelligence
I
Internet Business
Empowering Employees
I
Collaboration
I
Mobility
I
Corporate Intranet Portals
Integrating Business
I
Enterprise Application Integration
E-Business Infrastructure
I
Systems Management
I
Server Consolidation
I
Security
For further information on Business intelligence and other Microsoft Solutions visit:
www.microsoft.com/uk/servers
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 03
Microsoft’s Business Intelligence Solutions
We have been hearing about the significance of Business Intelligence, and of timely analysis and
action for years. Today, we’re entering a new era where Business Intelligence is truly becoming a
“must-have” technology, driven by the importance of securing competitive advantage by developing
a thorough understanding of the customer.
Microsoft’s vision for Business Intelligence is to improve the speed and quality of decision making
through Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft .NET. These enable the rapid delivery of
intelligent, relevant information through simplified, integrated services and the provision of open
interfaces to access and share data, both internally and with partners, in mixed-technology
environments.
Business value
The pressure for good Business Intelligence has increased as the pace of business has accelerated.
On top of this need for speed, the nature and dynamics of business are changing.
Customers increasingly expect outstanding – and often personalised – service; businesses are
outsourcing more and more non-core functions; and the market demands better planning
and less uninformed risk-taking. In short, knowledge workers are often expected to do more in
a shorter period of time with fewer resources.
Gone are the days when large teams of analysts supported major business units within an
organisation. Today, analysis has become part of all knowledge workers' jobs, so they need access to
relevant information and analytical tools tailored to their needs.
On the following pages, you will find details of how Microsoft provides the power to turn
information into business insight. Working with partners, we enable Business Intelligence
to be delivered to anyone, anywhere and on any platform at the lowest cost.
04 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
Microsoft’s Business Intelligence platform provides
the power to turn information into business insight.
Better information, better decisions, increased profits.
It all comes down to Business Agility: the more readily you can access relevant, useful intelligence
about your business, your customers, your partners and your operations – the more your
organisation can make better decisions and increase competitive advantage.
The value of Business Intelligence systems
By providing an accurate portrayal of your customers, Business Intelligence provides critical
competitive advantage, allowing you to make business decisions quickly and with confidence.
The impact of Business Intelligence is realised throughout your organisation, in increased
revenue, lower operating costs and improved customer relationships.
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 05
I
Reduced operating costs. Business
Intelligence minimises the time required to
collect relevant business information
(including financial, inventory, and
procurement data). By bringing powerful
analysis and reporting tools to the desktop,
these solutions empower decision makers to
easily conduct their own queries, prepare
reports, and in many cases implement new
campaigns or changes to an e-commerce
site – with minimal support from database
administrators and IT specialists.
I
Streamlined customer acquisition.
Business Intelligence enables marketers to
identify and target potential customers and
to present effective, focused campaigns,
dramatically reducing the per-customer
costs of marketing and advertising.
I
Increased customer loyalty. With
competition for customers only a click away,
your business must focus on optimising its
relationships with existing customers.
Building trust with these customers will
positively impact their relationships with
your company, and in turn, increase
customer loyalty. Understanding who those
loyal customers are is the first step, but
developing an individual, one-to-one
marketing message for the customer
demonstrates a level of personalisation
that provides competitive advantage.
Business Intelligence tools that combine
customer insight with rapid marketing
deployment build trust, inspire loyalty, and
prove to the customer that they are truly
valued by the organisation.
I
Business agility. Accurate Business
Intelligence enables your business to
respond faster to new opportunities and
changing demands. Combining intelligent
prediction mechanisms with rapid
execution gives your organisation the ability
to move from concept to implementation as
quickly as possible – the key to survival in
today’s dynamic new economy.
I
Increased profitability. Business
Intelligence provides an accurate snapshot
of the profitability of specific customer
relationships, allowing you to focus your
energies on your most lucrative customers.
By integrating systems that span the
enterprise – e-commerce, CRM, and point-
of-sale – you can create a complete profile
of your customer and offer insight into their
buying patterns, sensitivity points, and
preferred methods of contact and
communication. Profitable customers are
coveted customers; understanding their
value to the organisation, their motivations
and preferences, and finally, how you can
increase their spending and interactions
with your company, are all critical to
retaining them.
06 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
I
Speed to insight. For Business
Intelligence to have maximum value, it
must be fast. Timely access to data and
analysis requires high performance
software on a robust platform.
I
Fast time to benefit. The faster your
organisation deploys its Business
Intelligence solution, the sooner it captures
additional revenue and cost savings.
In todays fiercely competitive economy, fast
time to benefit is a must.
I
Ease of use. With more people using
Business Intelligence, the solution must
have a familiar user interface and be
understood by the broadest audience. This
speeds up knowledge workers’ productivity
and minimises the downtime and costs
associated with training or retraining.
I
Offline/remote access. An increasingly
mobile workforce needs continuous access
to the corporate Intranet in order to remain
productive on the road, at home, or even in
the air. This means providing data and
services to both online and offline users,
and to the full spectrum of non-PC devices,
such as wireless PDAs or mobile phones.
I
Distributed, self-service data marts.
With more employees conducting their own
analysis, Business Intelligence has to be
immediately available to any authorised
user. This often means maintaining
separate satellite data marts, which
replicate and are synchronised against the
enterprise data warehouse.
Technological requirements for Business Intelligence
An effective Business Intelligence solution must offer exceptional performance, robust tools and
services, and fully developed Web capabilities. The points below identify the demands placed
on Business Intelligence solutions by today’s dynamic business environment.
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 07
I
Web access. Corporate Intranets rely on
Web-based technologies. Web access is the
fastest, least expensive way to make data or
tools available to employees, vendors, and
suppliers, and can create new profit centres
as a result of customer or market data and
Business Intelligence.
I
Clickstream analytics. To maximise the
power of e-commerce, companies must be
able to capture the unique information
generated by their Web sites, and to
translate it into actionable intelligence.
A Business Intelligence solution must be
specifically designed to store and analyse
the rich data of e-commerce clickstreams.
I
B2B commerce. Business Intelligence
plays an important role as companies
evaluate their supply chains and partner
interactions. Traditionally considered for
business-to-consumer interactions, Business
Intelligence solutions can support business-
to-business activities and contribute to
increased profitability and partner loyalty.
I
Customised and third-party
applications. Availability of third-party
products and add-ins, as well as the ability
to integrate custom applications and
components, ensures that your Business
Intelligence solution can meet the unique
needs of your company or industry.
I
Integration with existing systems.
For a complete business picture your
Business Intelligence solution should
integrate seamlessly with all of
your systems. These include both ERP
(such as inventory management) and
customer-facing systems (such as CRM).
Decision-makers can then access all
relevant information from anywhere in the
company, while you leverage your
investment in legacy systems.
I
Extendable platform. To adapt to
changing business needs, your solution’s
component parts need to be easily
modified to add functionality or to work with
other systems. Open, extendable software
interfaces, which allow integration with
third-party systems, custom applications,
and future technologies, help create a
future-proof Business Intelligence solution.
08 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
Microsoft’s complete integrated platform
uniquely delivers Business Intelligence as a
fundamental component of your enterprise
infrastructure. In providing a proven computing
platform, rather than a single application,
Microsoft provides key advantages:
I
Agility. Microsoft enables your
organisation to implement new business
initiatives as quickly as your strategies
change. By providing a comprehensive set
of ‘building blocks’ for business solutions,
Microsoft ensures that your systems can
adapt quickly to a constantly changing
business environment.
I
Fast time to benefit. Whether you’re
starting from scratch or updating existing
systems, you can deploy Business
Intelligence faster with Microsoft software.
Fast time to benefit. Ease of development,
straightforward integration with legacy
systems, manageability, and use of familiar
tools for analysis and reporting ensure
rapid delivery at every level.
I
Reliability and scalability. Microsoft’s
new generation of .NET servers is the
cornerstone of the agile enterprise in today’s
dynamic business environment. Unparalleled
reliability means your systems are available
when you need them. .NET servers scale both
up and out, expanding their ability to support
growth and take advantage of market
opportunities.
Business Intelligence and Microsoft
Business Intelligence solutions on the Microsoft platform unleash opportunities to improve
customer service, control costs, maximise profits and make better and swifter decisions.
Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence 09
I
Integration with Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Office Tools are familiar fixtures
on millions of desktops worldwide. With
their built-in support for SQL Server
Analysis Services, they provide a powerful
front-end for enterprise data and Business
Intelligence. This brings two benefits: it
increases the productivity and efficiency of
nearly every employee, and it saves the cost
of retraining in specific analysis tools or of
outsourcing analysis and reporting.
I
Web-based access to information.
As your business becomes increasingly
global, you need Business Intelligence
solutions that deliver knowledge over the
Internet. Microsoft software is designed for
the Internet, so you can harness the
Web more quickly to work with customers
and partners in innovative ways.
I
Support for mobile users. SQL Server
2000 Analysis Services provide offline
access to multidimensional data via the
Multi-dimensional Microsoft PivotTable
®
Services component (client components).
Because it is available for Pocket PC, SQL
Server 2000 allows mobile users to access
enterprise data directly from a handheld or
portable device.
I
Customised solutions. When you require a
completely customised analysis or reporting
solution, the Microsoft platform offers
further opportunities for integration and
customisation, serving as a powerful
development platform on its own.
Figure 1. Microsoft provides a truly comprehensive Business Intelligence platform. Using the
Microsoft platform and tools, you can build your own complete solution directly, or extend the
platform with ready-made products and services from Data Warehousing Alliance vendors.
10 Connecting Customers: Business Intelligence
Case studies
GAB Robins roars ahead with SQL Server 2000
GAB Robins wanted to provide leading insurers with bespoke claims information in real time.
Its existing system was slow in drawing together data from the company’s various databases.
Using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Internet Information Server 5.0, GAB Robins
was able to overcome this problem and get accurate data to its clients quickly.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
The integrated Microsoft systems solution makes
for efficient distribution at Simms International
UK and Australian customers of Simms International are benefiting from the company’s recent
investment in an integrated business solution based around Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and
Microsoft Commerce Server 2000. The solution delivered by Metaphorix Ltd and based on the
award winning Navision Financials ERP solution is revolutionising the way that Simms
International do business.
“I felt that my business needed to be based on Microsoft products
if we were to be at the cutting edge of technology. In addition,
Microsoft products offer a low cost of ownership, are user friendly
and inexpensive to maintain.”
Andrew Henderson, Managing Director, Simms International Plc distributor of memory products
to the UK computer reseller market.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
AT&T growth markets
This $8 billion business unit of the AT&T Business Services division provides field sales
personnel with access to the vast amounts of internal and external data that is used to quickly
identify and target new business opportunities across the business telecommunications market.
The solution stores over a half of a terabyte of information in the data warehouse.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
For more information on Microsoft Solutions and .NET Servers,
go to: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/servers
For more information on case studies, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/casestudies
For technical information on Microsoft .NET services, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/technet
To find out about other Microsoft products and services,
downloads, licensing, training, events and much more, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/askIT
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 0870 60 60 600
How to find out more
doc_263662280.pdf