|
June, 2006
In This
Issue:
Solutions Kit for ESRI GIS - Beta Announcement
Location
Intelligence - Geographically Enabling BI
APOS Migration Toolkit & Consulting
Services
Case Study - Medical Group
Insurance Service (MGIS)
APOS BI Tools Suite
Custom Development
for Unique Requirements
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06-2006.htm?source=nl
Solutions Kit for ESRI
GIS
*Beta
version now available
Now available in beta, the new
Solutions Kit for ESRI GIS provides a powerful two-way bridge
between two industry-leading business intelligence solutions – ESRI
ArcIMS and Business Objects XI Release
2.
Bidirectional integration between Business
Objects and ESRI GIS
|
Bridge to BusinessObjects XI from ESRI GIS
• expose the full
power of BusinessObjects XI to an ESRI GIS user
• request Crystal
Report, Web Intelligence, Desktop Intelligence, PDF, XLS, DOC while
passing user feature selection to the report
• users can
select from multiple reports, viewer and format options
Bridge to ESRI GIS from Business Objects XI
• dynamically
embed images from ArcIMS in a report, include report or map data in
an acetate layer
• report
hyperlink to load ESRI GIS HTML viewer with report data as
highlighted features
• Crystal
Reports, Web Intelligence or Desktop Intelligence supported
• integrate ESRI
GIS into reports, dashboards or portals |
 |
To request a
demo download version, please
visit here.
Location Intelligence
*Geographically Enabling BI
Location, Location, Location - the three principles of real estate
success also apply to data. Geospatial tools added to databases and
BI software deliver "location intelligence" so you can better
position branch sites and distribution centers, as well as improved
logistics and planning for transportation and service delivery.
How many decisions do you make in a single day that factor in
location-based information? How much information in your data
warehouses do you think contain references to a location? Would you
say 25 percent to 30 percent? How about 80 percent? That's the
figure most often quoted regarding the amount of data with a
location component in a typical enterprise database. If you are
FedEx or UPS, you don't make a move without location-based
information. If you are in retail, you are not going to spend
several million dollars acquiring land for your next megamall unless
the demographic information yields the correct clientele within a
convenient travel distance. And if you deploy a significant field
force, you want to run the smallest number of vehicles with absolute
efficiency — given today's gasoline prices. This entails routing,
scheduling, knowing where your personnel are and minimizing drive
distances, all of which are examples of "location intelligence."
Location intelligence has arrived as a key piece of the information
supply chain for business process improvement. We have reached a
tipping point, where location-based information is recognized for
the strategic benefits to companies that use it well. And these new
visualization tools could alter the way we perceive geography and
its commercial potential. Whether you are looking for a place to
build your next retail center or simply looking for an inventory of
RFID-tagged Skippy Peanut Butter, location intelligence can provide
significant competitive advantages to a new generation of geospatial
sleuths.
Reprinted from an
'intelligent enterprise' article,
read the full article here.
APOS BI Tools Help Migrate to BusinessObjects XI Release 2
*New
whitepaper available
|
We've created a new
migration whitepaper for your review. You
can
request the full version here.
Here's an excerpt . . .
WHAT TO
EXPECT AFTER BASIC MIGRATION?
After using standard
migration capabilities provided with BusinessObjects XI R2, you will
have a functioning environment. However, you can be faced with the
task of some time intensive administration setup activities.
Here are some typical
examples of ‘post-migration’ challenges:
• Planning and analysis for complex security settings.
• Promoting reports to a
sophisticated folder structure.
• Scheduling reports one at a time. |
New Migration
Toolkit
|
• Bulk object and folder
security maintenance for a new security model.
• Managing more than a few objects (reports, users, groups, folders,
etc)
WHAT IS THE APOS MIGRATION TOOLKIT?
The APOS Migration Toolkit is a bundle of four APOS BI Tools,
specifically chosen to assist you with:
• XI R2 system
administration as part of the migration project itself
• Ongoing XI R2 system administration
Once your basic
migration to BusinessObjects XI R2 is complete, you are faced with
several administrative and set up challenges that are very time
consuming. The APOS Migration Toolkit will save you time and
simplify the set-up process. As well as providing significant long
term maintenance and administration benefits.
THE APOS MIGRATION
TOOLKIT INCLUDES:
•
InfoScheduler, an
administrator power tool that provides bulk scheduling capability,
directly from Microsoft Excel.
•
Instance Manager, an
administrator power tool that provides a fast way to manage report
instances in bulk—reschedule, pause, release, export, print and
more.
•
Object Manager, an
administrator power tool that provides bulk maintenance of objects
(reports, folders, users, groups, etc.) - instead of using the
Central Management Console one object at a time.
•
Bursting Manager,
follows business rules to burst an existing large instance to
smaller individual instances OR burst one report to many separate
instances.
BUSINESSOBJECTS XI
MIGRATION SPECIALIST CERTIFIED
APOS Systems is now
Certified as a Business Objects XI Migration Specialist. This
Certification speaks to the depth of our consultant capabilities for
helping Business Objects customers in their migration to the XI
platform. This certification, along with our unique skill sets,
methods, and tools for automating migration processes, make APOS
Systems an excellent strategic resource for migrating to Business
Objects XI Release 2.
If any of these needs
apply to you, consider
requesting a no-charge demo download
version today.
Visit here to request the full
version of the whitepaper entitled "How do we know if we need APOS
BI Tools?"
Case Study - Medical Group Insurance Service (MGIS)
*Cool
customer
“Because of the large number of instances we generate each month, we
must have Bursting Manager! ROI was early – it paid for itself in
the first few months. The Bursting Manager tool initially saved one
of our customer service reps ten days a month but that was years ago
with fewer reports than we have now.”
Since its inception in
1969,
MGIS has focused on providing specialized insurance
solutions for physicians and employer groups. MGIS is the nation's
largest provider of Life and Long Term Disability coverage to
medical groups. With a growing customer base, MGIS was looking for
an automated process to handle their reports and distribution while
meeting HIPAA requirements.
MGIS is faced with the challenge of constant change in the insurance
industry which in turn means many alterations or re-writes on
existing systems and corresponding reports. Initially, when MGIS was
generating their ‘flexible spending reports’, a customer service
person would spend at least 10 days a month exporting and
distributing the report. Another challenge was that the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines also
had to be met.
MGIS purchased two
APOS BI Tools -
Bursting Manager
and
View Time Security
for Business Objects XI to resolve their report handling,
distribution and security concerns. Collin has contacted the
APOS Support Team on occasion, when asked how that experience was he
replied, “The APOS Support team really goes after the problem. APOS
support is small enough that you get support that cares about you –
they always have a solution or call back with one in a timely
manner.”
More
. . .
Visit here
to view this and other APOS case studies.
If you are an existing customer and would like to be featured in one
of our case studies contact
Bev Cutone for more information.
APOS BI Tools Suite *Extend BusinessObjects XI
and Crystal Enterprise
One of our challenges is keeping
our customers and colleagues current on the APOS BI Tools suite as
it grows.
Visit here to request demo download
instructions and our current price list.
System Integration
. . .
ESRI
Solutions Kit - integration between BusinessObjects and
ESRI GIS
Administration
- System Monitoring . . .
Instance
Monitor - email
notification of failed instances
RealTime Monitor -
powerful SNMP
monitoring & control of servers, with alerts
KPI - creates metadata for
analysis - who is viewing which reports, license usage analysis,
server activity monitoring and more
Administration
- Scheduling . . .
Bursting
Manager - burst a large instance into small ones, burst
one report to many
InfoScheduler - power
batch scheduling from Microsoft Excel
Administration
- Instance Administration . . .
Archive Manager -
report
instance archiving with business rules, with restore
capability!
Instance
Manager -
administrator power tool for managing large instance
systems
Administration
- System Administration . . .
Object
Manager - report
promotion, object management, security
maintenance
RunTime Manager - set availability time windows for
Job Servers, Page Servers, etc.
Extending
the User Interface . . .
AddressBook
Gateway -
integrate Outlook/Exchange with ePortfolio/InfoView 'schedule to
email'
Dynamic
Parameters -
SQL-based, user-specific pick lists, cascading
parameters
Extending
Distribution . . .
Report Package
Booster -
consolidate reports to password protected
pdf/xls and distribute
Distribution
Server - email
link, email content, failure notification, distribute on
alert
Subscription Manager
- allow users to
manage their own report subscription
Row Level Security . .
.
Processing Extension
RAD - fast
track processing extension development
View Time
Security - row level data security without
C++ development
Crystal Reports BI Tools . .
.
Add-In Wrapper for
BusinessObjects XI Release 2
- Crystal Reports Add-In menu fast track
integration
Custom Development for
Unique Requirements
If you
have a unique reporting system requirement, let us know. We love to
work on special projects and regularly save our customers a lot of
time and money by using APOS BI Tools as a fast-track foundation for
a specific customized solution.
Head Office: 285 Fountain
Street South, Cambridge, ON, Canada N3H 1J2
Tel:
519.653.APOS(2767) - Fax: 519.653.8511
Branch Office:
#10 - 35537 Eagle Mountain Drive, Abbotsford,
BC V3G 2Z4
Tel: 604.864.0766 No Toll:
866.629.APOS(2767) Fax: 604.864.4291
Email: apos@apos.com - Web:
www.apos.com
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Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports,
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