SMBs are no different when it comes to the need for BI or
performance management. Their need to have an effective information
delivery mechanism in place is more acute as most companies in this
sector thrive on their agility to respond to market needs. SMBs
actually face a greater risk in taking wrong decisions based on
erroneous information.
Chandrashekhar R Sankholkar, Country Manager (Cognos) - IBM
India/South Asia opines, “What differentiates SMBs from large
enterprises is their unique set of needs. These range from greater
price sensitivity (hence a focus on more phased implementation,
self-service, greater value and selective deployments) to greater
focus on ease of ownership (in the buying process and scale-up,
installation/deployment, training, use) and shorter
time-to-value.”
Adds Sankholkar: “Such strategic considerations apart, there
have been many drivers necessitating a proliferation of BI in the
SMB space. Some reasons include regulatory requirements, an
explosion in the volume and heterogeneity of data, rapidly
decreasing response time, latitude et al.”
SMBs have also been progressively learning from the experience of
large enterprises about how a reliable performance management
system can add value to the decision-making process in an
organization. Sankholkar further explains that the SMB market in
itself is no monolith. From a BI maturity perspective, the market
can be classified into three progressive stages:
1. Low (no BI or just spreadsheets)
These
organizations have no data warehouse or IT information management
in place. They perceive BI and performance management as being very
complex and expensive. Such organizations are generally burdened
with the complexity of person-dependant growing data.
2. Still low (spreadsheets, basic reporting
tools)
These organizations have similar characteristics as the first
stage. However, while IT recognizes the value of BI, business
continues to resist this. The ever-growing heterogeneity results in
spreadsheets proliferating; reporting tools are present without a
performance management agenda.
3. Similar characteristics as the
‘enterprise’
These organizations typically have a data warehouse in place that
sits atop ERP or other core solutions. They are either in advanced
stages of leveraging departmental BI, implementing enterprise-wide
BI or progressing towards comprehensive performance management
through co-ordinated decision-making. These organizations tend to
invest in or leverage existing investments in enterprise BI
solutions.
Most SMBs again look for a value proposition around three
aspects—whether the solution is easy-to-buy, easy-to-use and
easy-to-install and nurture. Consider the example of Wanbury, a
Mumbai-based medium-sized Pharma company. The company was looking
to adopt an efficient reporting tool so that it could have a clear
view of the performance of its departments. In August 2008, the
company deployed MAIA Intelligence’s 1Key BI tool for its
ease of use and efficient reporting. “We evaluated many other
high-cost tools, which were complex. We didn’t require most
of the features they provided. 1KEY BI tool helps us generate quick
reports and is highly user-friendly,” says Ghanshyam Naik, VP
- IT at Wanbury.
The top management at Wanbury is able to make well-informed
decisions since reports are now generated using the BI tool.
“Previously the reporting process was not very efficient
because collecting and compiling data were cumbersome tasks,”
explains Naik. Now, using the tool, the company can take corrective
actions in case a particular territory is not growing rapidly or if
a product shows a decline in sales. Wanbury has deployed the BI
tool in its sales, marketing and finance departments and the top
management receives relevant reports on a regular basis.
“Be it the Pharma sector or any other sector, the top
management needs to know how the sales figures are moving in the
organization. BI helps them build such reports that compare trade
in particular months to previous years, and all this analysis is
available to the top management,” Naik opines. “In
today’s competitive market—whether SMB or
enterprise—customers are demanding better quality of service
at lower prices. Increased regulatory pressures create the need for
greater transparency and improved corporate governance. Thus,
organizations across verticals are increasingly looking towards
business analytics and performance management solutions that can
help them measure, manage and monitor information to ensure that
they leave no stone unturned in their search for a healthier bottom
line,” says Sankholkar.