today, it takes the form of either basic reporting or data analysis via
the use of online analytical processing (OLAP) tools. Such tools are
essential in gathering a consolidated view of the business, but in some
cases they serve only a backward looking role, providing the cause and
effect on any given business situation or strategy.
Many argue that businesses increasingly want help in gaining a
forward-looking view of their business and a solid roadmap for future
success.
Ernest Wong, director of professional services at SAS Institute, notes
that using BI in its traditionally understood form of reporting and
analysis tools is comparable to looking in the car mirror to get a
better view of what has passed. The addition of advanced analytics tools
was likened to having the full-front windscreen view of what was coming
towards you, as well as having the mirror for reference. With businesses
increasingly looking for any possible edge over the competition, any
tool that can give them the ability to predict or forecast scenarios is
highly desirable.
During an introduction at a recent CIO panel discussion hosted by SAS
Institute, Wong highlighted a report from the Harvard Business Review in
January 2006.
"Organizations are competing on analytics not just because they can, but
also because they should," the report noted. The report's author, Thomas
H Davenport further added, "At a time when firms in many industries
offer similar products and use comparable technologies, business
processes are among the last remaining points of differentiation...and
analytics competitors wring every last drop of value from those processes."
Wong suggested that good use of analytics will help generate new revenue
opportunities, help save costs and optimize profits as users will find
more accurate data helps improve internal efficiencies and develop
better processes.
CIO challenges
The panel of CIOs, IT managers and an IDC analyst discussed today's
business challenges and the potential role and need for analytics tools.
Raymond Lee, CIO at local logistics firm BALtrans Holdings, noted that
staying competitive in his industry involved simply keeping the
customers happy by delivering on expected service levels and providing
accurate information to them as needed.
He noted that in the past providing the latest information on a delivery
or shipment was very difficult with today's technology providing clear
and accurate data is much easier. Lee noted that BalTrans is a current
user of BI tools which helps the business analyze shipment data to
measure performance of processes and provide historical analysis of
shipment data to establish if processes can be improved or where problem
areas can be addressed.
"Whatever tools we can use to help us move that cargo in a better way
and in a way our customers want is valuable to us," he said.
At Sun Life Financial, the challenge is to stay focused on delivering
customer service in a way that matches the ongoing but changing needs of
people during the whole of their lifetime, said Michael Ma, CIO for Asia
at the financial services company. "Our attention is focused on helping
people with lifetime protection and services that benefit clients at the
right time," added Ma.
Joseph Leung, IT manager of Bio-Informatics Center, Hong Kong & Science
& Tech Parks Corp also noted that provision of better services and
support was the key to competing better in his market. Science Park is a
service provider and supports businesses with infrastructure and office
space. He noted technologies like BI can help the company maximize the
use of resources to provide the best possible service to its tenants.
At Cathay the use of BI tools is currently focused on tracking customer
needs. Two areas in particular has shown how BI is proving useful, noted
Anna Or, CIS & CRM Program, Cathay Pacific Airways. One is that staff
can now profile customers and package services based on specific user
preferences.
Second is being able to recognize each and every customer when they
contact the airline via any channel. "Being able to identify the
customer immediately gives the agent valuable information in serving the
customer in the best possible way," said Or. "Technologies that bring
together the information into a single pool and then help to analyze the
data gives us a clear picture for the customer, from head to toe, and
start to finish of each journey they take with us."
Market heats up
The market for BI tools right now is very active, according to Antony
Lee, market analyst, IDC Asia Pacific. "There is major pickup in BI and
analytics tools, even in mature markets like Hong Kong," said Lee.
The IDC analyst believes that Asia Pacific enterprises are being driven
by three factors to adopt BI and analytics tools. The first: data
intensive industries are facing a need to extract more information with
growing transactions and further business expansion, they need new tools
to help them gather, manage and analyze the growing pools of data.
Second is the rising competitive pressure in markets with a limited
amount of new customers and the constantly changing market conditions
such as the telecom industries. "Even with a team of experienced
business analysts, companies cannot simply rely on their skills and
experience alone to analyze the masses of data to aid the formation of
ongoing business strategy," said Lee. "New technology is a must to help
firms consolidate information and model it to allow for better decision
making and forward planning."
The third factor is the push in the manufacturing space where
globalization has driven firms to become leaner and more efficient.
Industry consolidation has created the challenge to manage multiple
products, multiple markets, more locations and production facilities.
Ensuring products are manufactured at the right time in the most
efficient way and then supplied to the right markets is critical and
firms are demanding ways to conduct forward-looking analysis and
predictive modeling, according to Lee.
Core role
Sun Life's Ma agrees that analytics and similar tools do play a
critical role today in helping his company better tailor products for
its customers. "Today's challenge centers on understanding the customer
better-knowing when they might call, why and what to expect from them,"
he said. "How can we create new opportunities and also improve products
to match the changing needs of the customer?"
At Science Park, analysis is applied to find how competitors such as in
the commercial sector serve their customers. Leung notes that his tools
help identify areas that the company needs to work on to improve its
offering to existing and potential customers.
Ma also noted how the average person today is likely to receive between
five and 20 unsolicited calls a day, and maybe even more junk e-mail.
"All consumers want better and more relevant services, we don't want our
time wasted by unrelated calls-we want tailored pitches and services,"
he stressed. "The more a company understands my needs the more time I
have for that company."
Extending capabilities
"Right from the start we were conscious of customers seeing us as one
company and not separate entities," said Cathay's Or.
Over the last five years, Cathay has tried to ensure that consistent
customer information is always available to agents so they are aware of
the customers' background and profile. "This is not easy because of
information integration challenges and the amount of training for staff
to make use of the information and bringing it all together," said Or.
Wong at SAS also observed that when companies start looking at
analytics, most will start by looking at data readiness and ensuring
it's clean. "Company data must be ready for deeper analysis, but that
process is happening much quicker now," noted Wong.
Many companies still see customers through separate departments which
creates differing profiles of the same customer. "So to enable better
information, to use analytics properly you must first consolidate
customer information to get that single view of data-that's when you are
ready to apply analytics."
Cathay's Or stresses the need for tools such as BI to be pilot-tested
before doing wider rollouts. They should also be built into the business
processes to ensure that the tools are optimized for the business and
not the other way 'round.
Another thing Or noted: as users at Cathay became familiar with certain
BI tools they also found other areas that the tools could be applied to.
"Initially our staff were focused on customer management and how to
handle customer data but later they applied to internal processes to
improve productivity."