Medical Systems Company Optimizes Operations through ASG-Safari BI Suite

Industry: Medical
Location: Worldwide

The Challenge
After consolidating more than 20 mainframe computer systems with a state-of-the-art Baan system, this global medical systems company wanted to take their data system a level further. They looked to ASG to help them develop a sophisticated intelligence system that would track the colossal amount of data generated from their $1.6 billion company and repackage this data in a way that was meaningful to sales, service, and support staff.

The Solution
After extensive product research, the client decided that a comprehensive, three-tiered ASG-Safari solution was the best way to harness their new Baan system. Its suite of user-friendly tools makes analyzing, reporting, and distributing critical business data hassle-free.

The first tier of the solution was ASG-Safari InfoServer, a powerful, server-based data management system and the engine for the entire Safari product suite. With this product, ASG extracted, cleaned up, and organized data from the Baan system and linked Baan databases company-wide. The client now had a single, relational view of the data for reporting, querying, analyzing, and updating.

The client also adopted ASG-Safari InfoTools to handle reporting needs ranging from simple ad hoc queries to intricate and professionally designed reports. ASG's business intelligence product specialists recreated hundreds of mainframe reports so data could be easily retrieved from the system.

With a geographically dispersed sales force, the client needed a powerful tool for retrieving and manipulating company data from near or far. ASG introduced them to ASG-Safari.OLAP, a Web-based information analysis tool, and constructed dynamic data cubes so the client could interactively explore data from any standard Web browser. Not only does the tool support long-distance access, but it also consolidates information considerably. Thirty-seven installation and warranty reports are now maintained in one Safari.OLAP cube.

To streamline the distribution of reports among the company's 150 sales reps and for added security, the team also launched ASG-Safari WebCast. Report output and OLAP cubes are stored within Safari WebCast and then distributed to end-users via secure internet channels. Information access is tightly controlled through user profiles.

By enabling the client to distribute and access their Baan data over the internet 24/7, ASG's solutions helped the client streamline operations, enhance customer service, and increase sales. Most importantly, Safari functioned within the constructs of the client's ERP system, giving them the highest return on their technology investment.