The Situation

PreVisor is the result of the union of Qwiz and ePredix, each previously targeting different market segments. Forming one united company, PreVisor was faced with seamlessly combining the disparate technologies while maintaining consistent quality service levels and providing internal constituents at both locations with access to information.

Each company was in the process of building a data warehouse at the time of the merger and each operated and stored data differently. In addition, core philosophies about analysis and reporting software for data warehouses were quite different – one company chose to buy off-the-shelf tools while another developed their own reporting and analytics solution. Internal technology resources were limited yet the demands for information from clients and employees increased exponentially. Executives needed a way to monitor various aspects of the company at a glance. With no way to meet the challenges using the existing system and a mandate to develop more sophisticated functionality, PreVisor searched for resources that could come on-board and be productive immediately. They enlisted the help of Lancet.

Addressing the daily operational issues with the existing system was paramount upon Lancet’s arrival. In addition, the overall systems had to be assessed and strategies developed to continue to deliver critical information to clients and internal users while combining both systems into a unified data warehouse that would deliver more sophisticated functionality.

New processes were developed and old reports were streamlined eliminating the extra step of users manually combining data from multiple reports. New analytics and reports were created providing accuracy and consistency of information not previously available to internal and external users. New strategies were implemented that helped get more out of the existing systems and streamline development of the new system for optimum efficiency and reliability. Measures were put in place to ensure data consistency, monitor key metrics and deliver reliable, timely information to users at all levels in the organization.

Extensive analysis of the current system resulted in Lancet’s strategic and tactical recommendations regarding the software needed as well and the number of licenses; forecast planning for equipment, system strategy and design, data modeling and other project requirements.

Lancet also worked directly with clients to understand their needs and determine the best way to deliver the information they needed using the current system design and factored those requirements into the new system strategy and development. “Lancet knew the right questions to ask and how to implement solutions that made it a lot easier for us to deliver the information to the people who need it to run their business,” said Michael Moore, director of development, PreVisor.

The Results

The entire company, as well as the clients, realized the benefits of the new data warehouse reporting system. Now, PreVisor’s accounting department has a more efficient and accurate billing system that has significantly reduced the human effort involved in getting timely billings to clients. Professional services can run analytics on test data faster and deliver results to clients in less time than before. Sales now runs more reliable client system usage reports and marketing can track promotion effectiveness, making adjustments on demand to increase results that ultimately impact the bottom line.

For executives, it is imperative to have access to key business drivers at their finger tips. Lancet delivered an executive dashboard that aggregates data and delivers key metrics that monitor the state of the business, then presents it in a graphical format that can be viewed daily rather than monthly or quarterly. PreVisor’s executive team now has the ability to determine financial status, sales results, promotion effectiveness, and market penetration.

Reports with the most impact are those sent to clients letting them know which candidates are the best fit for the open positions. This translates into more timely access to information PreVisor’s clients need to make key hiring, training, and promotion decisions as well as reduce turnover, training time, and hiring costs.

“Lancet had expertise to address any issue that arose. They analyzed how we were currently operating and gave us recommendations for streamlining our operation to be more cost effective and deliver more to our users,“ says Moore. The results of Lancet’s efforts are vast reaching with involvement in all aspects of the ongoing data warehouse unification project. Confidently, Moore adds, "As the data warehouse continues to grow, demand for information increases exponentially. With Lancet as our partner, we are prepared to meet the demand."