Between the Lines

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One-Stop Shopping

There's nothing like gathering all that you need – all under one roof. My personal favorite is Nordstrom, the upscale department store chain that over the years has gained a reputation for the finest quality, value, selection and service. Whether I shop in-store, make a purchase from their catalog, or order online, the experience is always gratifying. Sure, the competition may carry similar merchandise, but I opt for a package deal from a vendor who delivers the goods and so much more – who fits my needs to a tee.

So it came as no surprise when Pam Hunt, IT manager of Applications for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) in Orlando, Florida, said she had envisioned a "one-stop" business intelligence solution and saw that vision become reality (cover story). Information Builders' WebFOCUS served as the launching pad for a corporate standard for enterprise reporting at MFC whereby the company deployed a new browser-based, self-service Business Intelligence Enterprise Reporting system (BIER) to its large and diverse user base.

USFilter, an immense $4 billion water company with offices, plants and factories throughout North America, also standardized on WebFOCUS, with a financial reporting system that streamlined complex ERP reporting for its multitude of different users.

Such Web-based BI enterprise solutions are, of course, much more far-reaching. Cr้dit Agricole Indosuez, an international financial services firm with banks, investment offices and subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, built a portal-driven BI environment that delivers customized information on demand. And T-Com, a division of Deutsche Telekom – one of the world's top telecom companies – developed an intranet whereby its 5,000 employees, particularly top executives, could access up-to-the-minute information critical to extending top-notch service to customers, and ensure meeting clients' global communication needs.

iWay partner InterSystems made rapid integration a reality for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), who integrated InterSystems' Ensemble platform with iWay adapters to roll out a powerful composite portal in record time that offers a bird's-eye view of every single DCF client.

SAP's Ori Inbar pays yet another tribute to iWay, relating what SAP NetWeaver means to SAP and its customers, and how iWay adapters are helping SAP NetWeaver users launch new B2B applications.

There are many more examples inside these pages of how business professionals like yourself are propelling performance – and profit – gains by standardizing on Information Builders technology. My sincere thanks to all of our customers who enthusiastically shared their success stories with our readers. I hope you enjoy the issue and that you'll do the same.