IBM analytics selected for client management

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 15 November 2011 22:51

IT Industry - Deals

Australia's largest privately owned mechanical services contractor, AE Smith, has deployed IBM business analytics software to transform the way the company manages client relationships and makes decisions across its business.

According to AE Smith general manager, finance, IBM business analytics software has helped the company strengthen its lead in the mechanical services industry by introducing powerful reporting and forecasting capabilities. 'Staff can now generate customised reports and automate standard processes, making it possible for them to conduct in-depth analyses of contracts and projects.'

The air conditioning and mechanical services contractor implemented IBM Cognos software with assistance from IBM business partner decision resources.

'Our margins have improved since we introduced productivity reporting with IBM Cognos Express,'  Cochrane said. 'The new system has allowed us to examine the business in detail and discover why certain things happen, and what we can do to improve our business processes.'

Cochrane said the company's management team can now create detailed productivity reports, drilling down into customer segments by region and business type to identify unprofitable clients, and quickly rectifying the situation to reduce loss.

'Business managers now save, on average, one day a month on the time they spend completing spending and revenue forecasts. By making faster, more informed decisions, we can spend more time on other tasks such as business development.'

In future, AE Smith plan to use its new business analytics capabilities to improve client services. By linking its web-based enterprise resource planning portal to dashboards generated by IBM Cognos software, the company will enable clients to access contract data in real time.

'This service will provide building owners and managers with excellent visibility over contract costs, which will help them to prepare and maintain budgets. Cognos Express is an easy-to-use, mature system that is well supported by IBM. Most importantly, it is very flexible and will easily adapt to the changing needs of our business,' Cochrane said.