Customer: AssetWorks

"The intuitive user interface—inclusive of drag and drop and drill down data exploration features—was the main reason we decided to embed Pentaho into our AiM™ IQ product. Non-technical users are blown away by how easy the product is to use."

Deployment Overview

Key Challenges

• Needed to replace existing Actuate BIRT Studio reporting in their flagship solution, AiM™. They found that BIRT Studio was not only slow-performing, but also required knowledge of SQL, making it not end user friendly.
• Needed flexible deployment options, including both on-premise as well as cloud. While the majority of AssetWorks’ 150+ existing customers preferred an on-premise solution, newer customers required a SaaS deployment.
• Wanted to give users better access to enterprise data, with the ability to manipulate the data, share it, and create ad-hoc dashboards. Needed a tool that anyone from a C-level executive, to an electrician or plumber could easily use to better understand their business and make better decisions.

Pentaho Solution

• Assetworks uses Pentaho Business Analytics to help organizations proactively manage their capital planning, workplace management as well as regulatory and fiscal compliance. Examples of data analyzed include: Anticipated Costs vs. Original Budget – to monitor the financials of a construction project, helping project managers take proactive actions to complete the project within budget; Cycle Time – to measure the average time it takes to complete activities, comparing results against an organization’s service level goals; Cost per SQ Foot per Category of Work (e.g. carpentry) – to benchmark performance and compare against peers, showing that the org is operating at an optimal level.
• Powered by Pentaho OEM Partnership
• Embedded Pentaho Business Analytics using the data integration, analytics, reporting and dashboard capabilities.

Time to Market

• 8 weeks - Allocated two part time employees. Spent four weeks developing single sign-on and four weeks on data connectivity and preparation.

Results

• Fast sales cycles as a result of great visualizations has made sales RFP turnarounds much faster.
• The solution is expected to deliver a significantly enhanced experience to customers with better peer-to-peer analysis, easier identification and measurement of key performance indicators (KPIs), and greater access to analytical capability for non-technical users.
• Significant revenue driver.
• Goodwill from customers resulting in customer retention. Existing customers can now better utilize their already in-place IT investments by simply loading data from other information-centric tools – such as Excel and Access – into AiMIQ and instantly start analyzing.

Why Pentaho

• Intuitiveness of the product
• Java skills in-house
• SaaS infrastructure
• Minimal training for end-users