Business Intelligence (BI)

What is Business Intelligence?

Business Intelligence (BI) is about making the information within your organisation available in a timely and consistent manner in order to provide valuable insights that lead to confident decisions and actions that improve business performance.

With the right BI solution, business users have access to timely and accurate information that can empower them to make decisions based on fact. It can enable business users to proactively leverage opportunities, to identify trends in customer behaviour, more accurately budget and forecast revenues and provide a single, trusted source of business information that will help you to manage your business more efficiently.

Business Intelligence combines processes such as making data accessible from different parts of the organisation, methods such as Key Performance Indicators and Balanced Scorecards technology such databases, visualisation and analytical tools and people, to organise key information that users at all levels require in order to make effective decisions.

A major part of any manager’s job is to make decisions. If you can improve the overall quality of your organisation’s decision-making process, you’ll improve the overall effectiveness of your organisation. Business Intelligence will help your organisation make better decisions. BI allows business users to analyse and better understand their organisation’s plans and results. It provides insight into what’s working correctly while identifying potential problem areas in time for corrective actions to be taken. It can be used to recognise opportunities as well as problems, and alert your organisation to potential issues when exception conditions occur—such as sales dropping 10% below forecast or inventory falling below a threshold value. Since BI products include a variety of components, organisations can pick those that are most appropriate for the task at hand and for the experience level of their individual employees. While in the past, only technical specialists typically used BI tools, most business people can now successfully use them as well. This BI self-sufficiency has provided business users with quicker response time and the ability to drill down and perform interactive analysis while enabling IT to more effectively and more efficiently serve its organizations. While many managers and supervisors pride themselves on their intuition, BI provides tools to help verify their insights and even discover new ones. It permits business users to explore results at a high level and then drill down to analyse the underlying details. Business Intelligence is one of the primary keys to effective decision-making

Our Services

Theta BI offers analysis and advice of the strategies, technologies and products that allow you to turn your enterprise data and knowledge into a powerful strategic weapon. Our Consultants have been involved in many business intelligence and data warehousing projects across multiple industries. Regardless of the project life-cycle stage, from BI strategy, choice of technology through to implementation and support, Theta BI are able to provide your organisation with the ability to maximise your return on your investment in BI.

Theta BI can help you align your technology and business processes, allowing you to maximise your investments in ERP, CRM, Business Analytics, SCM and other applications across your organisation. We can guide you on how to manage all aspects of your BI efforts. The result? Clarity across your business, better customer relationship and the ability to react to new opportunities, competitive threats, and improved growth and profits.

Data Warehousing

More than ever, organisations require effective Data Warehouse systems to maintain competitive advantage.

Implementing a Data Warehouse solution is more than simply applying technology to achieve a particular business objective or to address a problem. Building cost-effective, reliable and secure Data Warehouse solutions that help you meet your business objectives requires a team of technical experts with broad industry experience, who understand your business.

Theta BI's consulting team of highly skilled professionals is focused on helping organisations maximize the value from their Data Warehouse investments. We provide you with the tools, expertise and experience to plan and build the best Data Warehouse that will help you achieve your business goals in the most efficient, cost effective way.

We are experienced in working with the various data integration and Data Warehouse development tools such as Oracle Warehouse Builder, Wherescape Red, Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services and more, as well as database environments such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. Theta BI has acquired the expertise and experience to architect, design, implement and support simple or sophisticated Data Warehouse systems. Through its extensive experience in executing Data Warehouse projects in a variety of environments and organisations, Theta BI has developed a proven Agile Data Warehousing(ADW) methodology and best practices for consistently delivering successful Data Warehouse solutions.

Divizo-Exo

Divizo-Exo is the ultimate 'out-of-the' box Business Intelligence tool for MYOB-EXO users.  Divizo-Exo does all the hard work for you by converting the mountains of data you capture in MYOB-Exo into meaningful information views. Presented for easy use to Business Users not Techo-Geeks. The transformation is done automatically by our software in 4 steps.

Divizo-Exo does all the hard work for you by extracting the data from your MYOB-Exo (Exonet) database and reformatting it purely for reporting and analysis. You no longer have to be a technical genius knowing how to join database tables in a clumsy report writer

Find out more about Report Portal

Partners

Partnering with the best

We work closely with a network of leading technology partners, striving to provide our customers with the best and most appropriate solutions to accommodate their unique business environment and goals.

 

We believe that working with best-of-breed technologies and products is essential to achieving excellence and innovation in design, implementation and deployment of Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence solutions.

 

Some of the technologies we use:

• QlikView
• Microsoft
• Oracle
• Wherescape
• Cognos
• Business Objects
• Report Portal

QlikView

Organisations are looking for simplicity as well as a faster deployment of Business Intelligence solutions. End users demand a solution which everyone can use without specialised training. QlikView offers sophisticated in-memory analysis and reporting solutions for the Enterprise as well as individual customers.

QlikTech, the company behind QlikView, is the world fastest growing Business Intelligence software company with over 10,500 customers in 92 countries. QlikTech's revenue is growing at a rate of 50% annually.

To see how this amazing product works watch the video below:

• Focus clearly leans towards the business user as opposed to the technical user, emphasising ease of use, rapid deployment and faster performance.
• Memory access is considerably faster than access to relational or multi-dimensional databases stored on a hard disk.
• Support for 64-bit operating systems dramatically helps in managing and analysing terabyte-sized databases.

Theta's Business Intelligence services incorporates QlikView technology for extracting key data from your Data Warehouse environment, or from any other source of data, providing a simple and cost effective Data Visualisation, Analytical and Reporting solution.

• Find out more about Business Intelligence Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics NAV

                              

Report Portal

Report Portal is a web reporting tool designed primarily for Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS).  It is an advanced web client reporting solution that lets you build, publish and view a number of different types of reports.

Integration

Integration between systems can be required for a whole range of reasons including:

• Creating unified views of data to get one source of the truth
• Coordinating internal systems into overarching business processes, and
• Transacting with business partners online

Delivering the best integration solutions involves gluing systems together using the right tools so that they share the right data and messages at the right time. Theta can help you select the best glue for your needs - whether it is data or messaging integration you require - and then design and build the end-to-end solution. Our approach to integration is to do it right and doing it light. We are certified specialists in Microsoft BizTalk Server. And we work with leading open source technologies too. See below for more on the integration tools we use:

Microsoft .NET

Theta designs and develops custom Microsoft .NET applications in C# and VB.NET.

Our specialist Microsoft development team that have been delivering Microsoft solutions since the early days of Visual Basic. In fact we still support VB applications that we created 10 years ago - because they are still delivering for the customer.

More recently we have built a broad range of sophisticated enterprise applications - both Forms applications as well as ASP.NET web applications. These include online travel insurance websites, development of complex risk management software for the utilities sector, healthcare procurement software, and B2B integration using Web Services.

Since 2010 Theta has been the preferred IT services supplier to Southern Cross Travel Insurance. We look after all their websites including the NZ and Australian sales websites and key back office systems. The Australian website is their only sales channel in Australia and the NZ site handles more than 80% of sales so performance and reliability is paramount. Theta is incrementally updating the ASP.NET technology and underlying platforms, including back-office systems to position SCTI for sustainable future growth.

Enterprise Java

Theta develops custom Java solutions using a range of predominately Open Source Java tools and frameworks.

We have a dedicated Java development team that has delivered a wide range of projects over several years. We create both web and 'thick-client' Swing applications as well as Web Service-based integration solutions.

We use tools such as Tomcat, JBoss, and frameworks such as Java Server Faces (JSF), Java Server Pages (JSP), Struts, Spring and Hibernate. We also use higher-level frameworks such as LifeRay portal.

Some of the applications we have delivered include complex, graphically and computationally intensive energy trading tools, B2C pre-pay solutions, B2B web applications and web services for utilties metering and job management, weighbridge applications and reporting portlets.

Oracle PL/SQL

Since Theta began as a software services consultancy in 1995 Oracle has always been one of the product sets we use. We have created a huge number of solutions that range from those that use the Oracle database purely for data storage, for example Microsoft and Java based multi-tier web applications, to those that also use the Oracle development tools. Oracle PL/SQL is one example, and is the preferred programming language for developing complex and high performance logic within Oracle databases. PL/SQL also forms the underlying technology used by other Oracle products such as Oracle Warehouse Builder used in our Business Intelligence practice. Theta has a number of dedicated and extremely experienced PL/SQL developers. Some Oracle database projects we have worked on include insurance claims systems, real time energy trading systems, large, near realtime data warehouses.

Cloud development

Imagine being able to use the cloud to run your own custom business application. If done properly you could:

• Quickly launch your application without upfront investment in infrastructure, and
• Set up the development and test environments in a snap, while
• Making savings from reduced licensing, hardware and maintenance costs, and at the same time being able to
• Scale capacity quickly and cheaply in an elastic fashion,
• Get high availability for little outlay, and
• Only pay for what you use

Theta can help you navigate the cloud offerings out there and harness its full power to achieve these things. We can help you figure out what the best approach is to cloud development, what strategy you should use and how to deal with the uncertainties of this new paradigm - such as subscription pricing and security. Theta has embraced cloud platforms and we are currently developing project estimation tool on the Microsoft Azure platform (let us know if you'd like a peek at the beta http://thetaconz.cloudapp.net/).

Contact us about using our cloud development experience to assist you to build or migrate applications to Azure or other cloud platforms.

Drupal

Drupal is an open source web content management system.  Theta has several years of experience implementing complex Drupal sites - both public facing and internal Intranets. In fact the site you're viewing right now is built using Drupal.

Drupal is a highly productive framework with a huge collection of extension modules.  Using Drupal, Theta can build complex, data driven sites very quickly.  These sites are fully content managed so daily maintenance can easily be done by customers with a minimum of training.

For example, this theta.co.nz site includes features such as news items, job listings, application forms, customer satisfaction survey's and newsletters as well as cross tagging features that allow us to automatically display content in the right side bar that is related to what you are viewing at the time.

Drupal is used by some of the largest companies in the world and by high profile New Zealand sites too. Some example sites include:

New Zealand sites:

• New Zealand Government - http://beehive.govt.nz
• National Business Review - http://www.nbr.co.nz
• Sorted.org.nz - http://sorted.org.nz

International sites:

• United Nations -  http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/
• Nokia - http://research.nokia.com
• Universal Music - http://universalmusic.com/
• SourceForge - http://web.sourceforge.com/

Contact us about developing or supporting your Drupal site.

PowerBuilder

Theta is one of the few software development companies in Auckland that still offers Sybase PowerBuilder design and development services. We have well over a decade of experience delivering mission critical PowerBuilder applications and we continue to maintain and enhance highly reliable and productive systems for our customers. Although PowerBuilder is not so fashionable these days it is still a highly functional and productive environment. However, customers seeking to migrate from PowerBuilder to .NET or Java will find Theta a particlarly good fit, as we have experts in all of these technologies under one roof.

Our Methodology - Pragmatic Agile

Theta's software development methodology is called Pragmatic Agile. Pragmatic Agile is a proven, common sense, method that utilises practical techniques from Agile Software Development and applies them within an overall waterfall model.

Under Pragmatic Agile, waterfall stages such as initiation, business requirements definition, high-level design, build and test are followed as broadly sequential steps. Within the delivery phases, however, Agile approaches are used. This includes an Agile design philosophy supported by a delivery approach that uses iterations (called sprints), and management techniques such as scrum meetings and large visible wall charts, all with a strong focus on people.

Theta is focussed on you, the client. While Pragmatic Agile is our preferred way of working, we're happy to work the way you are most comfortable and will adapt our methods to suit your style. We find we can often use parts of our methodology within the framework of a client's own methodology.

Why Pragmatic Agile?

Waterfall methods are common, easy to understand and easy to plan to. Their sequential steps suit the way businesses typically fund projects and the predictive and repeatable nature of the methods are comforting.

The pitfalls of waterfall projects, however, are well known. If good requirements gathering and change management processes are absent, projects can fail to deliver what the business really wants.  Projects also frequently overrun due to the risky 'big-bang' style of delivery. The software delivered under this method can also be over-engineered and costly to maintain.

Agile methods advocate iterative delivery of prioritised requirements with a strong focus on people and collaboration. These methods are better able to handle changing requirements and use lightweight designs. When run well, Agile projects can deliver a solution that is both what the business wants and is cheaper to maintain in the long run. For many organisations, however, using purely Agile methods requires a significant change of culture and expectations. Buy-in across the business - often difficult to achieve - is needed.

The intention of Pragmatic Agile is to offer the best of both of these worlds. Contact us to discuss using Pragmatic Agile on your project.

IT Strategy and Governance

Our experienced consultants work across a wide range of industries and types of business. This means we are well placed to assist you with your IT strategy and governance requirements. Our pragmatic, down-to-earth style means we deliver targeted and robust strategy that is fit for purpose.

Our consulting skills cross over into business consulting when technology is a large part of what your business does.  

Microsoft Dynamics NAV - Overview

Microsoft Dynamics NAV (formerly Microsoft® Business Solutions-Navision®) is an integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution designed for growing mid-market companies that want the freedom to focus on their business.

Today's demands put a lot of pressure on your business. In order to outpace your competitors, you need to stay in touch with your customers and partners, you need to find ways to empower your employees so they can be more productive, and you need to stay in control of finances.

The reality may be that your current business software no longer fits your needs and modifying it is impossible or at least very expensive.  Your system may not give you a clear picture of your financial situation, or perhaps your suppliers or customers are demanding a different set of technologies than you currently have.  As importantly, your employees could be wasting a lot of time working around the shortcomings of the system - bending to its rules and whims, rather than the other way around.

Whatever you do can't disrupt your daily business, because we all know that just a few days of downtime can spell disaster for any business.

Turn to Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Microsoft Dynamics NAV integrates critical financial, operations, customer, distribution, and e-commerce data into one solution you can implement rapidly, learn and use easily, and fully customise and maintain with minimal disruption to your business. 

With an integrated ERP system you will eliminate interfaces between different systems and lower the maintenance. With more standardised data you will earn easier and greater reporting capabilities.

Theta Systems can implement Microsoft Dynamics NAV much faster using the Rapid Implementation Methodology (RIM).

The strength of Microsoft Dynamics NAV is its unique and highly flexible architecture which integrates the available modules seamlessly. You still have the choice of the modules you need:

• Financial Management. Manage your general ledger, payables, receivables, inventory, sales process, purchasing, fixed assets and cash flow. Perform bank reconciliation and collections.
• Inventory Management and Forecasting. Having the right goods stocked with the right quantity to fulfil or exceed your customers’ expectations is the key for efficient inventory management. Let the system suggest you when and what to buy based on sales history. The Inventory Forecast module will also identify trends, seasonality and sporadic usage.
• Warehouse Management can help you manage goods and space more effectively, reduce costs and waste, and gain control over warehouse operations. Tightly integrate order processing, manufacturing, and warehouse functionality to help optimise layout and space utilization.
• Analytics & Reporting. Manage budgets, create and consolidate reports and look for trends and relationships in any part of your business.
• HR Management. Manage your human resources, from skills mapping, recruitment and employee registration, to skills development.
• Project Management. Manage your resources, forecast your costs and budgets, track time and expenses, and manage contracts and billing.
• CRM. Manage customer groups, create and launch marketing campaigns, track customer activity, manage sales and after-sales.
• Field Service Management. Set up and manage service contracts, enter and track service calls, view schedules and optimise workloads across resources.
• Manufacturing. Manage your entire manufacturing process from product configuration, supply and capacity requirements planning, to scheduling and shop floor.
• Supply Chain Management. Manage single or multi-site warehouses and handle order promising, demand planning and online collaboration with suppliers.
• Retail Management. Manage retail operations from point-of-sale to delivery, increase customer flow and cash-in, speed up lines and tasks, control inventory, and automate purchasing.
• E-Commerce. Let customers and suppliers do business with you anytime through Web sites or by connecting their system directly to yours.

Value Added Services
Software alone won't solve all your company's business challenges. However, Microsoft Dynamics NAV can deliver a key competitive advantage, by integrating your business knowledge and practices directly into your final business management solution. The open and easily adaptable Microsoft Dynamics NAV architecture allow us to build in your own "best practices" along with other customised functionality for limitless system options.

As a Microsoft Certified Dynamics Partner and business consultant specialist, Theta understands the needs of medium-sized companies like yours. After discussing your requirements we can leverage the strength of the solution to create a vertical and customised version which meets your company's specific requirements.

Our services include:

• Project Planning. Design an efficient implementation strategy for Microsoft Dynamics NAV and plan how it can be managed into the future to obtain maximum value.
• Integration. Integrate Microsoft Dynamics NAV safely and effectively with your existing technology systems.
• Testing. Design and implement an effective test strategy to ensure that there are no surprises, now and into the future.
• Training. Transfer the knowledge and skills to your staff, so that they understand how the application works and can therefore make maximum use of its potential.
• Support. Obtain online support throughout the lifecycle of your application.

Add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics NAV

We have developed a series of add-ons to extend the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics NAV:

• Advanced Landed Cost - precise accounting for costs associated with importing goods
• Consignment Management - streamlined parcel management, from labelling, manifests and dangerous goods to tracking of shipments and costs
• EFT - electronic funds transfer, remittance advice and reporting
• QlikView Connector - flexible, intuitive business intelligence for advanced reporting and analysis

Click the links below to find out more about our Microsoft Dynamics NAV add-ons.

Business Intelligence Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Business Intelligence Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics NAV complements Microsoft Dynamics NAV by adding a fast and affordable BI solution.

Theta Systems has developed a fast track implementation using QlikView to deliver a working BI solution in just one week.

It provides an easy and immediate solution to help management make business critical decisions quickly and effectively.

To view a demo video click on the image below:

(01:46 min/2.6MB)

BI Dashboard provides the following benefits:

• Rapid Deployment – BI Dashboard is completely configurable allowing deployments to be measured in days not weeks reducing implementation costs.
• Easy-To-Use - QlikView applications are easy to learn, for developers and end-users reducing adoption time and increasing employee productivity from the start.
• No Data Warehouse required - QlikView pulls data direct from Microsoft Dynamics NAV and non-Microsoft Dynamics NAV sources.
• Analysing and running reports does not effect the performance of the operational users  

Example. View your KPIs including top customers based on sales whilst also plotting their margin and margin %. You can quickly view this information in a number of ways over time, whilst also analysing trends. You can also easily switch dimensions to view the information by Product, Category, Region or your specific Microsoft Dynamics NAV Dimensions. See below: 

 

 

Example. View KPI’s including warehouse volume capacity. You can view daily or weekly receipts by volume including bin capacity in each location allowing management to plan workloads. You can also view the quantity and available quantity to pick for each bin. See below:

  

Please contact us to find out how QlikView can unlock the value of your data to help you make better decisions and accelerate your business.

Upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009

Users of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4 or a previous version are most likely aware that Microsoft will end the support for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4 SP3 mid January 2010. Support has already ceased for earlier versions. 

For those wishing to retain or recommence support, or to simply take advantage of increased functionality and ease of use, upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 would be a very good next step. You will benefit from the new 3-tier architecture and the use of WebServices for easier integration with your other systems. And the newly introduced RoleTailored Client gives you a completely new user experience as shown below. 

 

RoleTailored Client for Microsoft Dynamics NAV2009

 The NAV team at Theta Systems can help you upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, train your users on the new features and functionality and bring your system integration to another level by using the new WebServices interfaces.

For further information or a demo of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 contact the NAV team.

Database Administration

Theta's Database Administration service is a cost-effective support service that includes the following activities:

• Routine, automated database system monitoring, delivering high levels of system uptime to customers by proactively preventing conditions that might lead to outages
• Routine, automated database alerting, providing a rapid return to operation of critical databases if unexpected outages occur
• Continuous improvement of database environments, eg:
  • automation of housekeeping
  • database reorganisations, rebuilds, upgrades and relocations
  • evaluation and implementation of new database system features
• Database performance analysis and best practice advice
• Database problem diagnosis (as opposed to Return To Operation activity)

Theta provides these services for the following database technologies

• Oracle
• SQL Server
• DB2
• MySQL
• PostgreSQL

Technical Architecture

Theta's technical architecture service provides physical and logical designs for IT infrastructure solutions.

The objective of any technical architecture is to deliver the required outcome in terms of cost, stability, uptime, longevity, and ease of operational management. This involves the specification and design of: 

• processing capacity
• storage technology
• network devices and topology
• operating system(s)
• database technology
• application technology

We develop comprehensive technical architectures incorporating any of the database and operating system technologies listed in our service overview. Once specified, Theta can manage and resource the implementation process, including hardware selection, project management, vendor coordination and management, and migration of systems to the new environment if required.

Theta can also review existing architectures and provide strategic planning advice to ensure that technical infrastructure does not constrain business systems.

Some of our technical architecture customers are:

• Affco
• Auckland International Airport
• Genesis
• Stevensons
• Touchpoint
• Unitec

Operational Audits

Theta has extensive operational experience, gained from many years of managing a variety of customers' infrastructure. We can audit and recommend proven best practice in many areas including:

• Hardware configuration reviews
• Operating system configuration reviews
• Service configuration (eg: databases, firewalls, application servers) reviews
• Application software configuration reviews
• Storage systems configuration reviews
• Operational process design
• Process automation
• Backup and recovery audits
• Security audits

Our operational audit customers include:

• Auckland International Airport
• Genesis
• McDonalds
• Procare
• Touchpoint

Virtualization

The benefits of virtualization are well known and include simplification of the hardware landscape, better utilisation of hardware, ease of migration of logical servers between physical devices, improved disaster recovery, and isolation of operating environments enabling commoditised hardware platforms.

Theta has experience with a number of virtualization technologies, including:

• VMWare
• VirtualBox
• Solaris Containers
• Xen

We plan and implement server consolidation programmes using any of these technologies and manage the virtual environments cost-effectively thereafter. Some of our virtualization customers are:

• Affco
• Port Taranaki
• Stevensons
• Theta (our own internal systems)

Operating System Support

Our cost-effective operating system support includes the following activities:

• Routine, automated operating system monitoring, delivering high levels of system uptime to customers by proactively preventing conditions that might lead to outages
• Routine, automated operating system alerting, providing a rapid return to operation of critical systems
• Continuous improvement of operating system environments, eg:
  • automation of housekeeping
  • implementation of upgraded software tools
  • operating system upgrades and patches
  • evaluation and implementation of new operating system features
• Operating system performance analysis and best practice advice
• Operating system problem diagnosis, as opposed to Return To Operations (RTO) activity

Theta provides these services for the following operating systems:

• All Linux flavours
• Solaris
• HP-UX
• AIX
• Windows

Some of our Operating System Support customers are:

• Affco
• Auckland International Airport
• Genesis
• Kordia
• Port Taranaki

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Theta has extensive experience in business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR), including business requirements analysis, business process design, technical design, technical implementation, and operational management of the BC/DR infrastructure.

From a purely technical perspective, we have implemented database-oriented DR solutions using Oracle DataGuard, log shipping, and fast recovery techniques. We have collaborated on large-scale DR implementations involving Border Gateway Protocol switching, standby operating systems, VMware virtualisation, and agent-based replication technologies.

Some of our BC/DR customers are:

• Genesis
• Unitec