S ER VFIUC U R E
T ES Sanjay MEhta, CEO, MAIA Intelligence
Business Intelligence to address
recession
Business Intelligence (BI) is made for times like these! “When cash runs out that’s when thinking
starts.” This statement is very true in downturn or recession times Sanjay MEhta
T The decision-mak-
h i s ye a r h a s b e e n a ye a r o f BI solution that delivers reports anytime,
economic slowdown and reces- anywhere, in the format you require. Data
sion. The current scenario is like
cost of operations are escalating, finan-
ing process requires value within transaction based applica-
tion like ERP; CRM will be unlocked by
cial markets have tanked, liquidity crisis human thinking, but BI. Support decision making across entire
is prevailing, growth demand is at lowest, enterprise at every level: strategic, tactical &
sentiments are shaken, uncertainty is felt, when supported by operational. BI technology will be the criti-
fear factor is visible, inflation growing.
Overall it’s a global meltdown. Everybody technology it gener- cal catalyst lever for growth. BI provides an
early-warning system around key indicators
is searching for direction in these uncer-
tain times. It will be stupid to predict how
ates far more value of exposure and risk. Implement BI with a
compelling user experience that requires
the economy will move. Enterprises can in multiples than gut little / no training and no reliance on IT to
surely control how their company will write reports / queries for business users.
move. It is possible to grow in economic felt decisions Forbid use of spreadsheets for MIS report
recession times. It is possible to insu- publishing in meetings and presentations.
late the impact of downturn to your BI Technology helps understanding data for
company. How can I ensure accurate, timely actionable information. BI makes data visu-
Today you don’t have time to introspect reporting? alisation easy for quick decisions.
all of the business and you also cannot
ignore even the smallest action in your Effective decision support
company. In the current time where every How do I filter extrane-
action is happening so fast you need tech- ous data and focus on
nology solution which do not your waste relevant information?
time and resource and help you grow. How can I access and
It’s more important than ever to see what rationalise disparate,
the data says and indicates. The decision- fragmented data?
making process requires human thinking,
but when supported by technology it gener- Efficiency and cost
ates far more value in multiples than gut control
felt decisions How can I sustain /
The business pressures in the recession improve profitability?
times are highest. Efficiency, cost control, How do I keep
effective decision support, accountabil- information
ity, transparency, regulatory compliance, current?
rapidly changing conditions are some of BI is going
the business pressures. to be the
BI Technology helps understanding data foundation for
for actionable information. BI makes data fighting back &
visualisation easy for quick decisions. BI insulate from
has the answer for most of the business bad economic
pressures. times. CEO
Creative think-
Rapidly changing conditions ing kick starts in
How can I accelerate my planning and deci- economic down-
sion cycles? tur n by imple-
How do I monitor conditions and take early menting BI. It’s
corrective action? more important
than ever to see
Accountability, transparency what the data says
H o w d o I c o m p ly w i t h c o r p o r a t e & indicates.
governance requirements? Implement
july 2009 83 DIGIT CHANNEl CONNECT

FUTURE Sanjay MEhta, CEO, MAIA Intelligence
trade spend analytics - Order Fill Rate With BI, executives can look internally
One can’t spend money like crazy to catch - On Time Unit Delivery at their spending patterns to find greater
a few customers. One really has to think efficiencies and cost savings. Executives can
about which customers he wants and which Operations cost index – overcome the major obstacle of access to
products will carry him through. It vendor management goals relevant, timely and consistent data with
- Segmentation and differentiation of - IT Contract Cost Value BI and analytical systems in place.
customers is important for trade spend - IT Project Completion The sheer quantity of data captured and
analytics. It is not about saving cost it is - IT Lead time in days analyzed by organisations has grown expo-
about getting best possible value on every - IT Vendor On time nentially, and many of them are unable to
penny spent on customer acquisition - SLA Performance successfully compute extensive data sets in
- Trade spend efficiency and ffectiveness sync with a quickening market. Another issue
- Trade Send Uplift – Sales & margin Overhead cost index stems from data being broken up into many
- Spend by Merchandise Method – Benefit cost goals disparate IT systems. Not only does this hinder
- Promotion ROI - Benefit Cost Increase firms’ ability to get a single point of truth of
- Promotion Over/Under-spend - Benefit Cost Value its exposure at any given point in time, but it
- Promotion Impact – Cannibalization& - Benefit Payroll also has a negative effect on customer service
Halo effect – as it’s hard to take a holistic view of a large
Roles: Marketing Manager; Customer Inventory management enterprise or high-net-worth customer, and
Account Managers; Sales Execs; Finance; - Inventory Aging Days they are demanding that kind of 360-degree
Promotional Analyst; Business Unit Heads; - Inventory ABC Analysis Value service these days. BI can determine what
Category Manager; Brand Managers - Inventory Turns Ratio to cut, trim and scale back from operations
Decision-makers can have access to while, hopefully, minimizing adverse impacts
Metrics and dimensions speedier responses (information) from on the business.
Volume; Revenue (and growth); Total data. Companies who can understand Organisations in the channel (traders, deal-
Promotion Profit; Targets; Market (volume their customers and their suppliers can use ers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers)
$s); Market Share; Price; Margin percent; with BI can be well-armed with reporting,
Trade Spend; Promotion ROI; Promotional
Uplift; Order Fulfillment percent;
BI offers a wide range dashboard, KPI, what-if modeling, interac-
tive visualization, and other analytics for
Consumer pass throughpercent; Stock of reporting and sifting through operational data and identi-
Cover Customers; Events; Sales Channels;
Products; Brands Categories; Promotion; analysis interfaces for fying promising areas for business optimiza-
tion. Indeed, with BI financial consolidation
Media types; Time; Locations
Precision, providing (FCM), CFOs can have an increasingly sophis-
ticated tool for determining where to apply
Financial management insights into business the budget scalpel.
analytics: asset efficiency BI offers a wide range of reporting and
- Balance Sheet Goals: Capital Employed performance across analysis interfaces for Precision, providing
Value, precentages of debt to Equity
Ratio, ROCE. the company insights into business performance across
the company. BI analyzes the effectiveness
- Cash Flow Goals: AR in Days, Net Cash of Sale to Customers, Stocks & Inventory
Flow Value perecentage and working that knowledge to negotiate skillfully, and Analysis Profitability Analysis, which need
Capital Ration percentage use knowledge of their products to reduce to be continuously monitored & controlled
- Treasury Goals: Borrowing Cost percent- service costs have a big advantage. BI makes for increased profitability.
age, Investment Yield percentage, Net it possible. Likewise, for supplier relationship
Liquidity Value Companies can reuse operational data to management BI can let companies under-
one-up the competition with better market- stand their options for dropping marginal
Customer profitability analytics ing and branding. vendors in favor of those that can offer
(Customer = King or Customer = With BI, businesses can not only cut back preferential pricing. BI delivers similar
Liability) operations, but they can provide a smart optimization benefits across the full range
- Find which customers are destroying and powerful analytics in the hands of the of business functions.
profits, eating away your earnings business users across the organisation. Clearly, BI is a key asset in the ongoing
- Incorrect information about customers’ With BI, one can quickly come up with a business optimization struggle, both in good
profitability, efforts to grow sales directed single view reporting from disparate data- times and in bad. There are many BI initia-
toward customers that are unprofitable. sources. Whatever the economic cycle, tives that can help organisations consoli-
In reality, earnings will be low even with there is always a need to reduce cost and date, spend modestly and tweak existing
growth maximize profit. processes within fiscal constraints.
- The real value is not in the money saved, By understanding business through the Today, companies need to access vital
but how you use information to adapt in data generated on a daily basis, organisa- customer data, including order histories,
challenging environments such as today’s tions are more efficient and better equipped delivery information, and pricing histories,
economic situation to re-engineer the company for competitive in order to have a competitive value. Those
edge. With BI they can have better under- companies that invest in BI get a competi-
Expense management analytics standing of the operations and fine tune the tive edge. It is the action time now. Let’s
Supply Chain Cost Index - On Time Delivery processes for cost efficiency. By understand- act and beat the recession and make our
Goals ing the business better they can re-engineer growth certain with BI technology. n
- Average Lead Time in days it for competitive edge. The author is CEO, MAIA Intelligence
DIGIT CHANNEl CONNECT 84 july 2009