Studies show that best-in-class businesses—those with the best operating margins and turnover growth in their industries—have clearly defined objectives supported by a Business Intelligence solution. In this session, we’ll look at specific features in the IFS Applications Business Intelligence solution. See how easily these features can help you support strategic business initiatives and reach improved operational results.

1. THE STREAM OF INNOVATION
A WEBINAR SERIES FROM IFS
© 2012 IFS

2. USING IFS APPLICATIONS
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TO
DRIVE BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
Rick Veague, CTO, IFS North America
© 2012 IFS

3. IFS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
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4. GARTNER DEFINITION
“Business Intelligence is a broad category of applications and technologies
for gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing access to information to
help enterprise users make better business decisions.”
4 BI-DEFINITION
© 2012 IFS

5. WHY BI?
ALIGNING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE WITH THE C-LEVEL
Today’s executive leadership, forged in the information
age, has added a new instrument to its decision-making
tool belt. To complement the experience and business
“feel” required for high-level management, senior
executives increasingly turn to the visibility and fact-
based decision support provided by Business
Intelligence and analytical methodology.
With the ability to look deeper into their company’s
operational activity and ask new questions of their data,
with little or no IT assistance, top executives are now
making business analytics a strategic priority.
Aberdeen Group, A-List Performance Using BI in the C-Suite, March 2011
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6. KEY PRESSURES DRIVING BI
THE NEED FOR BUSINESS INSIGHT
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7. MEETING STRATEGIC DEMANDS
IFS BI SOLUTION
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8. MEETING STRATEGIC DEMANDS
IFS BI SOLUTION
Best-in-Class businesses are:
- 65% more likely to have executive-level ownership of BI strategy
- 56% more likely to align operational activity to a strategic agenda
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© 2012 IFS

9. WHAT IS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE?
Operational Strategic
Ad hoc Reporting Reporting OLAP Analysis Dashboards
Web based, end user query for the creation of robust OLAP cubes and data Dashboards to calculate and
and reporting tools that are production reporting. Key to analytics, including tools to present key performance
truly end user in nature. Key this is the ability to handle present and visually navigate indicators (KPIs), with the
to this is the ability to handle complex data manipulation, data relationships, including ability to filter data and drill
self-service query and exacting output formats, and the ability to explore data down to the underlying
reporting needs – meaning the ability handle large data relationships and summary details
simple access with robust volumes efficiently. and detailed levels
reporting capabilities.
Information View
Business friendly view of data. This is
frequently described as a form of
meta-data, or a “semantic” layer, and
is used to map the traditional
complex relational view of data into
structures and terms that are readily
usable for reporting and analytical
purposes.
Development Tools MS Office
for creating and managing
meta-data and to support Integration
development of BI Microsoft Office integration,
applications with the ability to link “live”
data to spreadsheets, Word
documents and PowerPoint
presentations
9 BI-DEFINITION
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10. THE OLAP CUBE
A QUICK TECHNICAL PRIMER
OLAP: Online Analytical Processing
An OLAP cube is a set of data, organized in a way that
facilitates non-predetermined queries for aggregated
information. OLAP is one of the computer-based
techniques for analyzing business data that are
collectively called business intelligence. Source: Wikipedia
In simple terms, an OLAP cube is the physical
representation of the Star Schema, populated by
transforming transactional data. It represents a high
performance, ready to use snapshot of transactional
data for analytic purposes.
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11. MULTI-TIER BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Strategic
Analytical
Operational
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12. MULTI-TIER BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Strategic
Analytical
Operational
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13. MULTI-TIER BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Strategic
Analytical
Operational
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14. MULTI-TIER BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Strategic
Analytical
Operational
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15. OPERATIONAL VIEW: GRAPHICAL REPORTING
IN-CONTEXT OPERATIONAL ANALYTICS
IN-CONTEXT OPERATIONAL ANALYTICS
“Plug-in” Operational Analytics and graphical presentation on context data.
Operational Analytics driven by real-time access to transactional data.
Can also draw analytic data from OLAP data sources.
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16. OPERATIONAL VIEW: GRAPHICAL REPORTING
IN-CONTEXT OPERATIONAL ANALYTICS
Operational Analytics, Delivered “In Context”:
IN-CONTEXT OPERATIONAL ANALYTICS
- Less searching, less time consumed, more meaningful results
“Plug-in” Operational Analytics and graphical presentation on context data.
- Better comprehension of data, interpretation of trendsdata.
Operational Analytics driven by real-time access to transactional
- Better operational decision making sources.
Can also draw analytic data from OLAP data
- Improved operational results
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17. ANALYTIC VIEW: POWER PIVOTS & SLICERS
EXCEL POWERED BY ANALYTIC DATA SOURCES
“Drag & Drop” Power Pivots, Data Slicers using Excel 2010
Powerful Analysis using Excel driven by data from OLAP data sources.
Add a number of
slicers (dimensions)
Add a Pivot Chart
17 ANALYSIS PACKAGE
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18. ANALYTIC VIEW: POWER PIVOTS & SLICERS
EXCEL POWERED BY ANALYTIC DATA SOURCES
Analytical Perspective with Ready-to-Consume 2010 cubes:
“Drag & Drop” Power Pivots, Data Slicers using Excel data
- OLAP data sources makes Excel “come alive” data sources.
Powerful Analysis using Excel driven by data from OLAP
- Faster analysis of data, using familiar tools (Excel)
- Better security / data access controls
- Less time preparing data, More time generating information
Add a number of
slicers (dimensions)
Add a Pivot Chart
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19. STRATEGIC VIEW: KPI DASHBOARDS
DASHBOARDS WITH ANALYSIS & DRILL DOWN
STRATEGIC KPI’S USING INTERACTIVE DASHBOARD
“Interactive” Dashboards present Key Performance Indicators
Drill down to underlying data for Business insight
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20. STRATEGIC VIEW: KPI DASHBOARDS
DASHBOARDS WITH ANALYSIS & DRILL DOWN
STRATEGIC KPI’S USING INTERACTIVE DASHBOARD
Key Performance Indicators measure Business Strategy:
“Interactive” Dashboards present Key Performance Indicators
- Less searching, less data for Business insight insights
Drill down to underlying
time consumed, better
- Little to no end-user technical skills required
- Better comprehension of data, performance to objectives
- Better support for strategic decision making
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21. THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF A BI SOLUTION
TO PRODUCE MEANINGFUL RESULTS
• Content (Meta- • Customer
data, KPIs, Business Focus
Cubes)
Product Project
Tooling Skill
• Tools & • Sales &
Technology Consulting
Competence
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22. USING BI TO DRIVE BUSINESS VALUE
MULTI-TIER DATA VISUALIZATION – OPERATIONAL, ANALYTICAL, STRATEGIC
The BI-Analysis Package which adresses C-level interests.
The BI-Reporting Package which adresses the ERP end users.
TIGHT INTEGRATION, DATA AND TOOLS
Microsoft BI technology.
Analysis Panels, Dashboards.
READY-TO-USE, BI-SOLUTION
Our cubes are built on a Data Warehouse concept.
Our cubes are built on Information Sources.
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© 2012 IFS

23. www.IFSWORLD.com
THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN STATEMENTS OF POSSIBLE FUTURE FUNCTIONALITY FOR IFS’S SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AND
TECHNOLOGY. SUCH STATEMENTS OF FUTURE FUNCTIONALITY ARE FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE
INTERPRETED AS ANY COMMITMENT OR REPRESENTATION. IFS AND ALL IFS PRODUCT NAMES ARE TRADEMARKS OF IFS. THE
NAMES OF ACTUAL COMPANIES AND PRODUCTS MENTIONED HEREIN MAY BE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
© 2012 IFS