Business Intelligence
Would you like to gain better insights into business processes, into the success levels of marketing campaigns, or the development of your business? Would you like to react early to negative trends by taking proper action? Would you like to optimize and streamline your business planning, e. g. with contingency analyses and automated planning models?
Business Intelligence helps you to gather the necessary information, mold it into the desired form and analyze it.
At the Business Intelligence department, we assist you in reaching your goals. For this purpose, Serrala draws on many years of experience – among others in data collection at the Data Warehouse, in ETL processes for feeds into reporting-optimized Data Marts, in cross-platform metadata modeling, and in report composition.
Data Warehousing
The first step toward an evaluation of business-relevant information on the basis of reporting or data mining consists in the setup of a standardized database, such as a Data Warehouse or a Data Mart. Ideally, the information relevant to your sector will be historicized and made available in a format that is optimal for reporting.
Serrala supports you with modeling and implementing a Data Warehouse containing common databases, e. g. Oracle, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL server, and Sybase. Together, we will identify the database schema most suitable for your requirements – regardless of whether that would be a snowflake, star or galaxy schema.
ETL Processes
ETL processes relate closely to Data Warehousing. They comprise the processing steps extract, transform and load. Relevant data are extracted from various sources and subsequently transformed through calculations, aggregations, formatting, or data quality improvements.
The standardized database is then loaded into the Data Warehouse. This process is supported by automated software with routine operations. Besides, it is modeled transparently and therefore trackable, as well as adjustable in case of change requests. Viable software products to support this process are, for example, IBM InfoSphere DataStage, SAS Data Integration, Informatica PowerCenter and Oracle Warehouse Builder.
Metadata Modelling
In Metadata Modeling, potential joins between tables, filters and indexes are already primed. Therefore the user can create reports and analyses by drag&drop also without being aware of the exact database. There is no need for knowledge of an access language such as SQL. Additionally, there is the possibility to label data structures more descriptively and to include annotations. The definition and generation of OLAP data cubes comprises another useful function. These are readymade cross-sections of the data which users can employ for ad-hoc analyses with drill-down, drill-up, slice, and dice functionality. Since data is deposited in memory multidimensionally, analyses in real-time are possible. As a result, a self-service BI landscape is created on the basis of which users can generate reports and analyses without IT support.
Serrala will undertake the creation and maintenance of metadata and cubes with tools from various BI platforms, e. g. IBM Cognos BI and TM1, SAP Business Objects, MicroStrategy, SAS BI.
Reporting
For complex reporting demands that cannot be realized by your department staff without assistance, Serrala provides the necessary expertise to assist you in the creation of pixel-precise reports and dashboards. We generate standardized reports for you, which can be distributed throughout your company via a web portal or by email.
These reports come with a granular access rights distribution so recipients will only get to see the parts of the report that concern them.
Together with you, we will create dashboards that display all relevant KPIs accessibly and at a level of abstraction suitable for management. Thus you can keep all parameters in view at any time, detect negative tendencies in advance and introduce appropriate countermeasures.
Business Planning
Business planning constitutes an important field of application for reporting. For this purpose, we offer software assistance in order to facilitate comprehensive and precise business planning. Planning software supports you in the creation of contingency analyses and automated planning models.
Serrala provides know-how for your reporting and business planning needs in a broad range of BI landscapes, e. g.
IBM Cognos BI and TM1, SAP BusinessObjects, MicroStrategy or SAS BI.