Narratus/Data In Action

I certainly view Narratus as a partner to us in the West, actually more than a partner - a competitive advantage. I continue to be a supporter and fan of the vision and work of Narratus. If there is ever anything I can do, please don't hesitate to call.

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We knew we had a problem with our budget/planning process. We knew that it was something that was overwrought. It forced people to take three-to-four months of their lives, and put everything else on hold, and do a very arduous, detailed, bottoms-up budget process that at the end of the day was fairly mechanical, and didn’t answer a lot of the executive’s questions.

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Client Success Stories

Quick access to good, clean data breeds the need for more access to more good, clean data. International Rectifier built a decision support system that provided financial and sales information to corporate users on an MS Access platform. The system was a big hit. Soon, field sales reps and international affiliates wanted access, too. However, the business of managing the Access database became a losing proposition, and data integrity as well as system performance became casualties of the struggle to deliver more data to more people more quickly. DIA implemented an international solution in Essbase, Excel, and VB, utilizing tools developed by a Hyperion partner, LEX Software. Data transfer mechanics were built to pull data from their AS400 platform and integrate it with other relevant data. The scaleable solution, in production for more than a year, is a clear success. International Rectifier, impressed with its Hyperion solution, decided to further engage Hyperion products, and purchased Enterprise for their financial consolidation.

Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation engaged DIA to produce an enterprise data model as the first step of a data warehouse motion. DIA brought Essbase into the modeling process as a tool to demonstrate our understanding of an analyst’s or departments’ business needs. Users were interviewed to help create the enterprise wide model, and in exchange for their time, expertise, and support, cubes were built for them that solved one or more of their key reporting issues. This active approach to discovery allowed DIA to deliver solutions to users while learning about their data issues and reporting needs. While engaged in this process, management observed that DB2/QMF queries were using so many mainframe processing cycles that operational systems were slowing down. DIA was challenged to off-load all decision support from the mainframe onto Essbase, effectively building their data warehouse in Essbase. Today, sixteen cubes satisfy almost all of NMAC’s decision support needs; mainframe resources are free to process loan and lease applications.

Shortly after the Arbor/Hyperion merger, DIA was brought into a sales motion at The Irvine Company by a Hyperion sales rep to position Essbase in a Pillar and HRW budgeting and financial planning implementation. Successfully including Essbase in the product mix, DIA worked with Deloitte and Touche and Hyperion Professional Services to develop and implement a complex planning and reporting solution that allows several versions and multiple views of a 15-year plan and forecast.

Hewlett-Packard built a sophisticated reporting system in VB and SQL Server that enabled on-the-fly, “what if” analysis. Users loved the intuitive interface and function of the solution, but could not live with system performance. DIA utilized Essbase to replace SQL Server and developed a front end in Excel and VBA that added additional features, functionality and business value. The project was so successful that additional business units initiated projects to extend the solution across a larger portion of the enterprise. The next project required scalability and coordination of dimensionality between six different cubes and is successfully implemented in production today.

Clients have included:

Activision
Albertsons
AMD
Amgen
Anderson Clayton
Applied Material
Anglo Gold
Bergen Brunswig
Boeing
Cannon
Cen Racing
ChipPac
Charles Schwab
CKE - Carl Karcher Enterprises
Cisco
Conexant
Countrywide
Disney
E-Loan
Farmer John
Flextronics
First American
Fresh Express
Fujitsu
Guitar Center
Hewlett-Packard
Hot Topic
Hyperion
IndyMac
Ingram Micro
Kaiser
Kings Hawaiian
MD Anderson
Nissan
PetCo
Rapt
Robert Mondavi
Sizzler
Sola Optical
Sony
Sun America
The Irvine Company
IBM
International Rectifier
Pacificare
PNM - Public Utilities New Mexico
Sola Optical
Taco Bell
Toyota
Union Bank of California
Universal Studios
Wells Fargo
WellPoint

		Home > Our Clients
		I certainly view Narratus as a partner to us in the West, actually more than a partner - a competitive advantage. I continue to be a supporter and fan of the vision and work of Narratus. If there is ever anything I can do, please don't hesitate to call. * We knew we had a problem with our budget/planning process. We knew that it was something that was overwrought. It forced people to take three-to-four months of their lives, and put everything else on hold, and do a very arduous, detailed, bottoms-up budget process that at the end of the day was fairly mechanical, and didn’t answer a lot of the executive’s questions. * Client Success Stories Quick access to good, clean data breeds the need for more access to more good, clean data. International Rectifier built a decision support system that provided financial and sales information to corporate users on an MS Access platform. The system was a big hit. Soon, field sales reps and international affiliates wanted access, too. However, the business of managing the Access database became a losing proposition, and data integrity as well as system performance became casualties of the struggle to deliver more data to more people more quickly. DIA implemented an international solution in Essbase, Excel, and VB, utilizing tools developed by a Hyperion partner, LEX Software. Data transfer mechanics were built to pull data from their AS400 platform and integrate it with other relevant data. The scaleable solution, in production for more than a year, is a clear success. International Rectifier, impressed with its Hyperion solution, decided to further engage Hyperion products, and purchased Enterprise for their financial consolidation. Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation engaged DIA to produce an enterprise data model as the first step of a data warehouse motion. DIA brought Essbase into the modeling process as a tool to demonstrate our understanding of an analyst’s or departments’ business needs. Users were interviewed to help create the enterprise wide model, and in exchange for their time, expertise, and support, cubes were built for them that solved one or more of their key reporting issues. This active approach to discovery allowed DIA to deliver solutions to users while learning about their data issues and reporting needs. While engaged in this process, management observed that DB2/QMF queries were using so many mainframe processing cycles that operational systems were slowing down. DIA was challenged to off-load all decision support from the mainframe onto Essbase, effectively building their data warehouse in Essbase. Today, sixteen cubes satisfy almost all of NMAC’s decision support needs; mainframe resources are free to process loan and lease applications. Shortly after the Arbor/Hyperion merger, DIA was brought into a sales motion at The Irvine Company by a Hyperion sales rep to position Essbase in a Pillar and HRW budgeting and financial planning implementation. Successfully including Essbase in the product mix, DIA worked with Deloitte and Touche and Hyperion Professional Services to develop and implement a complex planning and reporting solution that allows several versions and multiple views of a 15-year plan and forecast. Hewlett-Packard built a sophisticated reporting system in VB and SQL Server that enabled on-the-fly, “what if” analysis. Users loved the intuitive interface and function of the solution, but could not live with system performance. DIA utilized Essbase to replace SQL Server and developed a front end in Excel and VBA that added additional features, functionality and business value. The project was so successful that additional business units initiated projects to extend the solution across a larger portion of the enterprise. The next project required scalability and coordination of dimensionality between six different cubes and is successfully implemented in production today. Clients have included: Activision Albertsons AMD Amgen Anderson Clayton Applied Material Anglo Gold Bergen Brunswig Boeing Cannon Cen Racing ChipPac Charles Schwab CKE - Carl Karcher Enterprises Cisco Conexant Countrywide Disney E-Loan Farmer John Flextronics First American Fresh Express Fujitsu Guitar Center Hewlett-Packard Hot Topic Hyperion IndyMac Ingram Micro Kaiser Kings Hawaiian MD Anderson Nissan PetCo Rapt Robert Mondavi Sizzler Sola Optical Sony Sun America The Irvine Company IBM International Rectifier Pacificare PNM - Public Utilities New Mexico Sola Optical Taco Bell Toyota Union Bank of California Universal Studios Wells Fargo WellPoint Who We Are \| What We Do \| Our Clients \| the DIA Difference \| Contact Us copyright © 2005 Narratus. All rights reserved.