Client name: A credit card provider

Our client produces significant volumes of management information but was concerned that production was not as effective or efficient as it could be. Their management reports lacked a common format, were of poor design and generally produced via highly manual processes. In addition, responsibility for the production of reports was dispersed throughout the business, resulting in multiple repositories of the same data. Detica's challenges were therefore to consolidate the reporting function, re-evaluate the performance measures for the business and develop an automated reporting capability.

The Detica team started by identifying and agreeing the design of the overall reporting solution. This included an assessment of the trade-offs between static reporting and OLAP-based reporting options. The final solution design was based on the use of SAS System technologies.

We then undertook a programme of business analysis which involved the evaluation of the reporting process, identification of data sources and prototyping of report designs. Finally our team developed an automated solution to complete the agreed report templates with the required data for printing and distribution to senior executives.

Our approach enabled multiple project streams to be run concurrently, with the technical activities being undertaken for one reporting area as requirements were captured for the next. This approach meant that the benefits were quickly felt.

The management now have better quality information at their fingertips. All reports now conform to a standard format with graphical rather than tabular information, which make the trends or exceptional occurrences much easier to identify. This has helped improve decision-making as the reports enable management to identify not only what is happening but also why.

The entire production process is far more efficient with all reports produced centrally rather than multiple areas producing similar, or in some cases, the same reports. This in turn means that staff are freed up to concentrate on other areas of the business, taking with them new skills, both from a business and a technology perspective, as a result of knowledge and skills transfer between the Detica team and the department staff.