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Every business organization operates within a particular reality that is limited to clear-cut boundaries in which it can operate. Unless the organization re-invents itself, it will retain the same boundaries, serve the same clientele, continue to produce the same range of products, and its competitors and gross profit will remain relatively unchanged. Within this reality the organization must work hard in order to attain the maximum. In order to attain this objective, the organization must be well-acquainted with the environment in which it operates, and be able to identify the changes that occur within it so that it can utilize new opportunities. Rapid changes within the business community present threats or opportunities, not only to the organization but to its competitors, and every organization must know how to utilize opportunities before its competitors.
The BI systems were established in recent years to provide an answer to this need. The objective of these systems was to provide a 360-degree picture surrounding each client – a presentation of information based upon accumulation of all the activities and characteristics of the organization.
We have recently begun to introduce pro-active BI systems which provide a 720-degree picture surrounding each client (a paraphrase of the joke about the sergeant and the small circle of 180 degrees). This system provides a primary circle of information and data and a secondary circle with a structure of pro-active services such as predicting pullout, promotion management, and predicting fraud. These services are transferred from the BI system to the organization's operational structure (call center personnel, supermarket check-out people, and possibly , gas station attendants in the future).
The recent Status Convention dealt with the topic of business intelligence, and hosted Mr. Haim Paz, head of Bank Leumi's managerial information and data warehouses department, who described how the bank deals with competition in a pro-active manner.
Bank Leumi is an example of an organization that operates within a reality of a saturated market. The bank has almost no new markets into which it can expand, and must identify and utilize existing opportunities. The bank has consequently been using a data warehouse and analytical CRM for the past three years, and is continuing to invest in these technologies, which have already become a part of the foundations of the modern market. With the aid of these systems, the bank can become more thoroughly acquainted with its clients, their preferences and behaviors. In addition, the bank can identify which clients it prefers, which groups in the bank are exceptional, which clients are profitable and which are in danger of pulling out.
How does this work in the field?
Segmenting a client audience into groups allows the bank to work with clients in a precise manner, and to offer them the proposals that are most appropriate for them. The new system can help divide Bank Leumi's clientele according to their level of activity as opposed to their financial wealth. The system can also identify less active clients who have unfulfilled potential, and encourage them to conduct financial actions. The bank can easily locate the names of clients and direct suitable campaigns towards them. In the past a categorizing operation of this type, using huge amounts of information, which the bank had accumulated would have taken several days. Today it can be accomplished by pressing a key on the keyboard.
Behind the Scenes
Several systems operate behind the scenes in business intelligence that present readily available information. There are dozens of information systems and databases within Bank Leumi. These databases are gathered in an integrative manner each night after quality control has been conducted, and are then transferred to the Data Warehouse. All the data revolves around the client – offering a complete picture of their characteristics and the characteristics of their actions.
The Pro-Active Organization
As in every aspect of our lives, there is always room for improvement and expansion. This is particularly true when we are talking about something positive which will contribute to an organization that wishes to expand and advance to additional areas. There is always something that can be improved, and organizations become wiser and more sophisticated over time. Therefore, improvement must be made by means of a continuous, ongoing process rather than a single move. During the first stage the managers are content with the regular publication of reports. At a later point they will demand more intelligent analytical applications, prediction models, and various forecasts.
A campaign management system is presently being completed, which uses the data warehouse and enables the rapid establishment of new campaigns. The most relevant population is selected for the campaign, making the process effective and efficient.
Supportive Technology
The BI system and analytical CRM were established on a Tera Data platform (a campaign management and system database) using several tools: Ascential /DataStage, Object Business report compiler, a multi-dimensional MS SQL (OLAP), and Panorama.
Assimilation of Business Intelligence in the Organization
Business intelligence allows the organization to advance, identify opportunities, and to attack at the right locations. Focusing and speed allow utilization of the additional value which in the end results in profitability. But in order to apply all of these, the organization must be information-oriented. There must be an obligation to properly assimilate information systems, their development and to use them fluently and efficiently - beginning with the high management level, continuing to the middle managers and analysts in the organization, down to the end users. Many systems for which many resources were invested have remained unused simply because there was no overall obligation on the part of the organization to use the system. Therefore, an organized course of assimilation of the information system must be conducted within the organization, and each user must be provided with a s relevant set of tools, while using negotiators as little as possible. In this way the organization can gain a tremendous increase in power.
The Author is CEO Ness-Gilon Global, CEO Synergy.
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