John Daniel Associates has been delivering Enterprise Intelligence (BI) options to our purchasers for 25 years! Sure, we’re celebrating 25 years of serving to folks inside firms in search of higher, sooner, simpler methods to take a look at the intelligence gained from their knowledge to assist enhance their enterprise. So many issues have modified through the years, and but so many others stayed the identical. On this submit, we share the story of John Daniel Associates. All of it started in 1996…
What was occurring on the planet in 1996?
- Pokemon was launched to the world
- In January 1996, there have been 100,000 web sites (6 billion in 2020)
- eBay began on-line auctioning
- The Summer season Olympics had been in Atlanta, Georgia
- DVD’s had been simply being launched
- CRM was simply coming into the market, they usually regarded like this:
Our first (ever) brochure
We titled our first brochure – sure, we imply the paper variety – “Change the Method You View Info”. We nonetheless do this at this time, change the way in which folks view info. And it has prolonged to incorporate a number of know-how companions and options for our purchasers.
Our first partnership: Cognos: The chief in reporting and analytics
It began with a PowerPlay. An important identify for excellent software program from Canada. However hockey just isn’t the sport right here. Our journey of BI started with a robust OLAP know-how from Cognos, and PowerPlay was that know-how. Displaying purchasers easy methods to “slice and cube” their knowledge was actually significant.
We referred to as it the “aha” second. To see a shopper’s response to their enterprise for the primary time once we merely “dragged and dropped” income or product line into their product dimensions was tremendous enjoyable. That half has stayed the identical. It’s nonetheless tremendous enjoyable to indicate folks how briskly and simple their knowledge will be obtainable to them with the correct processes and know-how in place to assist their enterprise wants. Oh, and once we bought PowerPlay software program to a shopper, they obtained a field, or packing containers of software program CD’s to put in. My millennial buddies are saying “what concerning the obtain?”….. nicely, we simply weren’t there but. Many purchasers paid nice cash for this $.25 CD! Oh, and there was no “internet” model.
PowerPlay had a mighty sidekick, a question product referred to as Impromptu that additionally had an vital position to play in getting common customers stable info from their database. Cognos Impromptu even generated SQL, so a non-programmer might generate a question and construct their very own studies. It was throughout this time that we started utilizing the time period “energy consumer”. That consumer or customers in a company who had been knowledge savvy, enterprise savvy, and will bridge IT and enterprise customers. These energy customers launched the inspiration of Enterprise Intelligence. They drove know-how firms to be extra user-friendly for enterprise customers in order that the logjam of requests to the IT division may very well be opened up, and open up it did!
Cognos was acquired by IBM, and the BI platform has grown to an enterprise resolution that now consists of Cognos Analytics, Planning Analytics (FP&A), and enterprise scale dashboards by way of reporting.
The Web booms, and need for knowledge is insatiable.
Then got here this loopy, loopy factor. The explosion of the web, and together with that got here the explosion of BI on the web. Now, we are able to serve a whole bunch, 1000’s of customers with BI. And with these a whole bunch and 1000’s of customers got here extra knowledge, and extra knowledge, and extra knowledge. Now John Daniel Associates was ready to assist our purchasers manage, or “warehouse” this knowledge. As a result of reporting and analyzing that knowledge was probably in place, we now had a wonderful blueprint for the information warehouse. Information warehousing for giant client bundle firms, retailers, producers (and others) grew to become a big a part of our follow.
We Want Simple Analytics: A Partnership with Qlik is born.
The evolution of knowledge consumption made the thirst for significant knowledge QUICKLY much more prevalent. The query was, “Are you able to make this presentation of knowledge extra compact, simpler to eat? An total view of many varieties of knowledge that we are able to search on? A presentation from an organization in Radnor, PA, Qlik, was made, and our purchasers had been thrilled. Qlik made it potential to “google my knowledge”. Our partnership with Qlik developed, and purchasers had been hungry to make this know-how a part of their providing to their enterprise. Our customers might now, in seconds, reply questions on their enterprise just by “qliking” on the information set earlier than them, choosing standards that answered their questions. Analytics from firms like Qlik exploded for the enterprise consumer, and now, the ability consumer was even much less depending on IT to assist get the data they wanted.
The change didn’t cease there. The enterprise local weather shifted from on-premise to cloud-based options. Ahhhhh….the thriller of the cloud. So, our purchasers are asking if we might help them with reporting and analytics options which can be cloud-based.
FP&A within the Cloud with Vena Options – We love Excel!
Our partnership and implementation of Vena Options was potential attributable to some shut skilled buddies that had moved to Vena from our early days at Cognos. No partnership works with out belief, and after studying lots about Vena and implementing our first hospitality shopper with Vena’s staff, we believed that purchasers looking for FP&A options within the cloud versus on-premise can be nicely served with our partnership with Vena Options. This simply appeared like a no brainer to us as a result of Vena makes use of Excel as its front-end. Vena’s engine is strong, but the Excel interface that finance groups love allows instant understanding and adoption. Furthermore, our purchasers will be on-line rapidly and the processes and information of the answer are leveraged virtually instantly.
Custom-made Software program Improvement: Make it Mine
Generally our purchasers have very particular know-how wants. They honestly want an answer purpose-built only for them. Custom-made software program options have been constructed for some industry-leading purchasers within the hospitality and industrial area the place we had been initially delivering analytics and reporting options. The personalized resolution for our hospitality shopper leverages .NET know-how and gives a strong interface for amassing monetary attributes throughout 100+ entities. Most enjoyable, this huge initiative was delivered on time, on price range! Custom-made software program improvement requires a best-practice deployment and mission administration staff from each the shopper and JDA. Our personalized software program improvement options have efficiently delivered each and resulted in an software that’s precisely what the shopper wanted!
25 Years: Expertise continues to be simply a part of the answer.
By at this time’s requirements, many appear to imagine that “the know-how” you select makes your BI initiatives extra profitable and makes the corporate extra profitable. Whereas know-how is a crucial a part of Enterprise Intelligence success, it’s actually the folks at our purchasers which have made their BI initiatives profitable. Folks, coupled with nice know-how, have pushed our superb 25-year journey. Enterprise Intelligence know-how has modified lots in 25 years, and but a lot has stayed the identical. It was 1996, and folks had been sharing their need to study extra, sooner, to enhance their enterprise’ efficiency. They wished the correct info to make them higher, sooner resolution makers. It has been a privilege to assist them accomplish these targets. We heard it typically in 1996: “we’ve got the information…we simply can’t get to it”. And we nonetheless hear it, 25 years later.
We’re grateful for an incredible staff that continues this journey with us, and particularly for the purchasers who’ve trusted us alongside the way in which. Thanks.
