BI Insight

PwC Acquires Avantis

2012-02-15T19:51:00.001-08:00

PwC has announced it will further expand its consulting practice with the acquisition of Business Intelligence market leader, Avantis, which David McAmis co-founded in 2001.

Business Intelligence and analytics is a high growth market fuelled by the explosion of 'big data' and an ever increasing demand to better manage and predict performance using 'real time' fact based analysis.

Currently employing 22 people, Avantis is an established and reputable Business Intelligence & Analytics implementation consultancy, specialising predominantly in SAP's Business Objects solution suite.

Avantis generates 80 per cent of its revenue from consulting and training services and has doubled its revenue in the past three years. Similarly, revenue of PwC's consulting practice has also grown 32 per cent in the past 12 months.

More Information: http://www.pwc.com.au/media-centre/2011/pwc-acquires-avantis-dec11.htm

Avantis wins "SAP Customer Excellence Award 2011"

2011-08-31T00:37:00.000-07:00

The annual SAP Awards of Excellence celebrate the success of SAP's customers and partners. The award for "Best Business Intelligence with a Channel Partner" was awarded to Clifford Hallam Healthcare (CH2) and Avantis, based on the "CH2 Gateway" project, which provides SAP BusinessObjects content, scheduling and ad-hoc analysis to CH2's suppliers through a customer .NET portal. You can read more about the award from here.

NEW "Mastering SAP Crystal Reports 2011" Book Released

2011-08-31T00:35:00.000-07:00

I am proud to announce that the book "Mastering SAP Crystal Reports 2011 + SAP Crystal Server 2011" has been released this week, available at fine bookstores everywhere. You can check out the book contents from the Kuiper Publishing web site, or pick up your own copy here from Amazon.com

Mastering SAP BusinessObjects Conference - 6-8 June 2011

2011-04-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

I have been confirmed to present at the "Mastering SAP BusinessObjects Conference" to be held in Sydney on 6-8 June 2011. I will be presenting on Monday 6 June on SAP BusinessObjects & Microsoft integration.

http://www.masteringsap.com/bobj/speakers

The presentation title is a mouthful:

"Learn How to Seamlessly Integrate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0 (BI 4.0) Technology with the Microsoft Application Stack"

For more information on how to register for the conference, visit http://www.masteringsap.com/bobj/

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 "Sneak Peek" Seminars

2011-02-15T18:42:00.000-08:00

Make plans now to join me for "Sneak Peek" seminars around Australia and online in March/April 2011. Developers and end-users are raving about SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0. In this "sneak peek" seminar, we'll be taking you through the new features of the platform, with live demonstrations of the various tools and technologies. You'll learn about the new features available in this release, as well as the different migration paths, free learning resources and more. If you are an SAP BusinessObjects developer, administrator or end-user, this is one seminar you won't want to miss!

http://www.avantis.com.au/edm/bi40seminar/invite.htm

Free Crystal Dashboard Design software

2010-09-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well, if you have ever wanted to have a play with Crystal Dashboard Design (formerly known as Xcelsius) then now is your chance. SAP is giving away a free copy of Crystal Dashboard Design for a limited time. You can download a copy from here:

http://www.avantis.com.au/freedashboard

Presenting at BusinessObjects Conference in Orlando, Florida

2010-09-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

I have been confirmed to present two sessions at the BO User Conference in Orlando, Florida on 5-7 October 2010 (http://events.asug.com/businessobjects). Here is the run-down:

Title: Change Control and Versioning for BusinessObjects Enterprise
Session Code*: 410
Day and Time: Thursday, October 07, 2010, 8:00AM - 9:00AM
Content Area: Infrastructure

Title*: Enterprise Reports: Light, Tight and Out of Sight
Session Code*: 908
Day and Time: Wednesday, October 06, 2010, 1:30PM - 2:30PM
Content Area: Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence

Bring Flash to the iPhone

2010-09-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368965,00.asp

In what has to be good news for Adobe Flash developers (and Xcelsius developers as well,) Apple has eased it's restrictions on the tools that developers can use, meaning the Adobe crowd can once again export their applications for use on the iPhone. What will this mean for Xcelsius? Stay tuned for more details.

DB2 Dashboards at Interaction 2010

2009-11-29T01:16:00.001-08:00

Interaction Australia, the IBM Australia User Group will be holding their annual user conference in Melbourne, 21-22 September 2010 and I will be presenting a session on Dashboards for DB2 data on Wednesday, 22 September at 2:45pm.

Session Abstract:

Xcelsius is a powerful tool for creating stunning visualisations off DB2 data allowing what-if analysis, quick navigation, and drill-down to detailed reports.

In this presentation we will look at some real-world examples of dashboards currently in use, accessing DB2 data from a variety of methods, including leveraging the new web services functionality in DB2 version 10. We’ll look at how these dashboards were built, some of the lessons that were learned along the way, as well as some of the tips and tricks of expert Xcelsius developers.

And if you haven’t seen Xcelsius before, this is a great way to kick-start your project—forget the samples, this is the real-world we are talking about, with real-world problems, challenges and solutions for the DB2 platform. In this presentation, you will learn how to use Xcelsius to:

* Obtain better insight into your business performance
* Build professional-looking dashboards in just a few hours
* Gain the confidence to take action by evaluating different what-if scenarios
* Transform complex DB2 data into simple, actionable visual information
* Engage, inform, and persuade your audience with stunning visualization