Business intelligence systems promise to present one version of the truth by pulling data from multiple internal and external sources. However, getting accurate insights is challenging because data is often disparate and inconsistent. Visionet helps companies address this issue through enterprise data management practices like data standards and governance. They use a comprehensive methodology involving extraction, transformation, loading of data as well as application and metadata repository development to help organizations make informed decisions based on clean unified information.

1. Which Version of the Truth?
Is your Business Intelligence really intelligent?
For years corporate executives have made strategic decisions
based on information from multiple reports that IT compiled by
summarizing sets of frequently conflicting data. Business
intelligence systems promise to change that by pulling data
from all internal systems plus external sources and presenting
one version of the truth. The result provides decision makers
with answers to highly strategic questions.
Just one problem! Rarely is the truth in plain sight.
Real and valuable business information must be mined from
disparate and “dirty” data that resides in multiple incompatible
applications and databases across your company. Today’s
business intelligence applications are incredible tools for
helping an organization leverage their key data.
But beware: getting to the truth is not just about buying and
deploying new software tools. Instead it involves a significant
upfront and ongoing effort to institute and maintain good
corporate data practices and ensure data integrity. Otherwise
the old pattern continues: “garbage in garbage out”.
For over ten years Visionet Systems has been helping
companies mitigate risk and prepare to make the
most of their corporate data. From enterprise data
management assessment to establishing rigorous
data standards, our domain and technology expertise
has assisted companies in defining their corporate
data strategies and getting the very most out of their
BI and reporting assets.
Visionet Business Intelligence Solutions
Visionet Systems can help you:
Define your corporate data standards
Develop a Master Data Management plan
Create a centralized data terms repository
(metadata repository)
Promote interdepartmental standards
cooperation
Develop a Risk Assessment Plan
Promote corporate data governance
Perform unbiased evaluations of new BI tools
and platforms
Develop and deploy effective decision support
applications including:
Multidimensional analysis and online
analytical processing (OLAP)
Click-stream analysis
Data mining
Forecasting
Balanced scorecard preparation
Visualization
Querying, reporting, and charting
(including just-in-time and agent-based
alerts)
Geospatial analysis
Knowledge management
Enterprise portal implementation
Digital dashboard design and realization

2. Justification
Comprehensive Methodology
Business Analysis
Visionet’s comprehensive BI methodology ensures that
your organization gets the One Version of Truth through its
utilization of three parallel development tracks. Each track
manages one of the three key aspects of a successful BI
initiative.
The ETL Track
The fanciest OLAP tools in the world will not provide
major benefits if the BI target databases are not designed
properly or if they are populated with dirty data.
Visionet utilizes its proprietary VisiDataBridge® to
expedite the ETL development track. VisiDataBridge® is
an out-of-the-box, open architecture solution for data
mapping across diverse systems. It allows hundreds of
in/outbound data formats to co-exist and function
concurrently. Users do not need to pay a per transaction
fee or lock themselves into a proprietary data hub. The
tool can be installed and made functional in a very short
time. Once configured, it significantly reduces the data
errors and eliminates clean-up activities via its robust,
built-in rules engine. Its Service Oriented Architecture
(SOA) permits easy information exchange.
Visionet Systems Inc.
Global Headquarters:
Cedarbrook Corporate Park
3 Cedarbook Drive
Cranbury, NJ 08512
Phone: 609-452-0700 x1119
Fax: 609-655-5232
www.visionetsystems.com
VSI and the VSI logo are registered trademarks of Visionet Systems Inc.
Copyright © 2008 Visionet Systems Inc. All rights reserved.
ETL
Design
ETL
Development
Application
Development
Data Mining
The Application Track
The Application track delivers front end applications that
provide easy access to business data and value-added
information. These include tools for multidimensional
analysis, online analytical processing (OLAP), data mining,
forecasting, visualization, querying, reporting and charting
(including just-in-time and agent-based alerts), geospatial
analysis, knowledge management, enterprise portal
implementation and digital dashboard realization.
The Application Track team is staffed with our subject
matter experts, "power users," and programmers who can
effectively use OLAP tools, and have experience building
client/server-based decision-support applications. Some of
the enabling tools and technologies Visionet utilizes
include Oracle Hyperion BI Suite, Cognos, Data Objects,
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and SQL Server
Analysis Services (SSAS).
The Metadata Repository Track
The purpose of this development track is to design, build,
and populate a metadata repository with powerful
reporting and querying capabilities.
Metadata can be viewed as a semantic (interpretive) layer
of the BI decision-support environment. It describes the
data and serves as a navigation tool for the business users
in the BI decision-support environment. Without metadata,
business people would have a difficult time understanding
and using the transformed data in the BI target databases.
It also helps the technicians manage the BI target
databases as well as the BI applications.
Visionet understands the importance of metadata and
utilizes proven business analysis, design and construction
practices to develop and deploy effective metadata
interfaces and applications powered by a central metadata
repository.
Planning
Requirements
Definition
Data Analysis
Application
Prototyping
Metadata
Repository
Analysis
Design Construction
Database
Design
Metadata
Repository
Design
Metadata
Repository
Development
Enterprise
Infrastructure
Evaluation
Project
Planning
Deployment
Business Case
Assessment
Implementation
Release
Evaluation
Fig.1 – Visionet’s BI Methodology