Business Intelligence efficient and effective

More flexibility, more clarity, more efficiency: These are central user wishes when it comes to business intelligence (BI) and analytics. As a supplement to SAP systems, Bissantz & Company from Nuremberg has made a name for itself in this area, and its front-end products DeltaMaster and DashBoard are well-known in the market.

In particular, they are made available to users in the specialist departments and in management so that they can meet their information needs themselves - a kind of "management self-service" based on a quality-assured data warehouse with SAP data.

Front-end and back-end

Less conspicuous and yet so important for successful BI applications are the back-end tools with which Bissantz consultants, partners and also quite a few customers build and maintain their data warehouse systems. They are always used when the Bissantz front ends are not to access SAP Hana or SAP BW directly, but an additional database system is required as a data warehouse. This is often Microsoft SQL Server or the associated Analysis Services OLAP module.

The reasons for such an architecture - Microsoft alongside SAP - are manifold. For example, it is hoped that this will make it easier to integrate non-SAP data, and there are advantages for dynamic budgeting and planning - and last but not least, performance always plays a role.

For the development of data warehouse systems based on Microsoft, Bissantz has been offering its own modeling and integration tool for years: DeltaMaster ETL. It helps to quickly build models and transformation procedures in a standardized way and ensures that the system remains easy to maintain in the long term, even if the requirements (or the BI team) change.

The Bissantz ERP Solutions are an add-on to this. They provide everything needed to map the most important SAP modules in Microsoft as quickly as possible - and then make them accessible with the familiar Bissantz interfaces (DeltaMaster and DashBoard) in such a way that the departments and management can handle them independently. The effort required for this is low: after just two days, the central analyses and reports are available on the smartphone, the tablet, in the web browser or in the Windows client.

But first things first: Why do SAP customers who already have everything choose Bissantz? And how does this benefit users?

Closing the gaps

The first question is quickly answered for Michael Nordhausen, Sales Manager at Bissantz: "We close the gaps: between ERP and other systems, between IT and management, between specialist departments and the board, between PC and smartphone, between analysis, planning and reporting, between man and machine, between mind and emotion - and between aspiration and reality."

Man and machine, mind and emotion - this alludes to Bissantz's background: Founded in 1996 as a spin-off from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, the company still invests in its own basic research in order to transfer its findings into standard software.

For some years now, the fields of research have even included neurobiology. It is about the question of how humans process information, where the limits of human perception lie - and how information must be offered so that it is properly understood and motivates action. Bissantz is considered a pioneer in data visualization and information design.

Attention bottleneck

Of particular importance is Bissantz's approach to "human-centered business intelligence" for mobile solutions. "Business intelligence is committed to the attention economy," says Dr. Nicolas Bissantz, the company's founder and CEO. "There are much stricter rules for the successful 'app-ization' of business intelligence than for a cab call, for example.

Understanding numbers takes an especially large amount of scarce attention and is more exhausting than people usually admit. Mobile apps lack ergonomics when they're just shrunken versions of their desktop big sisters." That's why the Bissantz DashBoard was designed specifically for the smartphone.

The app for Android and iOS combines data navigation, variance analysis and key figure comparison in a compact and comprehensible form - and it does without diagrams. All operating sequences are organized in such a way that the figures that correspond to a commercially sensible approach always come into view with a movement of the thumb. This makes it easy for users to handle data from SAP.

In addition, the integrated data mining methods are a specialty of Bissantz: They automatically recognize remarkable data constellations, even if they lie on deeper structural levels or only result from the combination of features. These tools are often used by specialized departments or individuals, such as controlling or "data scientists". The results follow the same reporting standards as standard reports and can be presented without rework.

Data basis

The data from the SAP systems is continuously transferred to the so-called Bissantz Solutions Cache. This supports all enterprise architecture requirements, such as secure transport between different systems (development, test, production). Customer-specific extensions to SAP systems (customizing) are taken into account. After configuration, a click of a button is all that is needed to have the complete database for analysis, planning and reporting set up fully automatically, including filling and validation logics. Thousands of lines of code are automatically generated for this purpose - and Bissantz is proud of this: the code is completely disclosed and can withstand any critical review.

Business administration included

So far, Bissantz has introduced four ERP Solutions theme modules: Accounting, Logistics, Sales and Production. These open up the SAP modules SD, MM, PP, CO-PA, FI/CO and CO-PC - precisely those that are important and widespread for controlling the company. Included are not only the required technical components, for example import packages, but also the business applications for DeltaMaster and the DashBoard. This means that suitable standard reports and dashboards are available right from the start. The applications covered include:

• Accounting: Land register, general ledger, P&L, cost and activity accounting, assets ...
• Logistics: Purchase orders, contracts, schedule lines, material movements and consumption ...
• Sales: Sales documents, deliveries, outgoing invoices, contribution margin accounting ...
• Production: Production orders, reservations, confirmations ...

Michael Nordhausen summarizes: "ERP Solutions creates a fully packaged BI system in a very short time - a turnkey solution, from data loading to interactive reporting on the smartphone. At the same time, the system can be customized and evolved with the full flexibility of Bissantz modeling tools!"

Interested user companies and consulting firms that would like to expand their portfolio with Business Intelligence can get to know the Bissantz ERP Solutions within the scope of a trial.

Bissantz & Company GmbH, Nordring 98, 90409 Nuremberg, Germany, Phone +49 911 935536

service@bissantz.de

More information on www.bissantz.de