Business Intelligence Blog

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems don’t just help your business manage financials, inventory, customers and other key factors — it’s also a wellspring of data. There are insights in your cloud ERP data that could be used to make more timely and informed decisions, address new opportunities and improve your operations over time. But sourcing, processing and analyzing all of this data can feel intimidating. Learn more about how a data analytics tool alongside your ERP system can make you feel good about  data.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - IT, Dynamic reporting

The finance department monitors and analyzes business performance in detail. Yet sometimes it can take awhile to communicate and address issues occurring in different parts of the business that are creating bottlenecks or affecting costs. Companies spend months preparing budgets and yet when the numbers are reviewed a year later a company's performance isn’t always aligned. To get the maximum benefit from your financial data, using dynamic reporting tools in data analytics software will allow you to better monitor performance metrics, visualize the numbers and deal with 'unexpected' issues.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - Finance, Job Role - Executive, Dynamic reporting, data analytics

The sales pipeline plays an essential role in any successful company – from the construction industry to turf and garden suppliers. According to a recent Vantage Point study, 72% of sales managers have regular meetings with  employees about the pipeline. However, 63% of respondents say their companies are not managing the pipeline effectively because they are not learning or responding adequately to it. While unexpected opportunities arise, there is a direct correlation between effective sales pipeline management and strong revenue growth.

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Topics: Job Role - Sales, Strategy, Management and Performance, Industry - Retail, Dynamic reporting, data analytics, cross-selling

The speed at which business intelligence technology continues to develop seems outmatched only by an urgent need for data by leaders keen to make sound decisions moving ahead. And of course increased user adoption as the software becomes more intuitive. With so many business intelligence solutions on the market - one of the goals of business intelligence is to find the best match for your business. Here's some tips on what to look for.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - IT, Dynamic reporting

With today’s critical need for accuracy, completeness and speed in financial reporting, the finance team can’t afford to spend weeks collating data to generate reports. Your obsolete reporting software may be leaving your business exposed to a range of critical risks, and your finance team are left doing 'busy' administrative work. Instead, they could be adding value through knowledge sharing and analysis. It's time to add the power of data analytics to financial reporting, so customization and automation follow.

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Topics: Job Role - Finance, Financial Statements, Dynamic reporting

Phocas Software is a 'High Performer' on G2 Crowd’s best business intelligence platform grid for the summer. G2 Crowd is an independent software review platform that collects transparent and unbiased software recommendations from current users. Phocas' leadership as a High Performer is primarily driven by high customer satisfaction scores.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - IT, Reviews and Recognition, Dynamic reporting, data visualizations

An interactive dashboard allows you to drill down and filter information so data can be viewed from different perspectives or in more detail. With a condensed and clear presentation of the business figures, dashboards enable data-driven company decisions. People don’t need to analyze the whole data set to tell them what's the matter - the headline information is there. People know the colour in the chart needs to be green not red and so using the interactive features of the dashboard, can find out why this is the case. 

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - Finance, Job Role - Executive, Dynamic reporting, business intelligence dashboards

Harrisons Sauces is part of BI Europe and manufactures condiments and sauces, supplying a variety of sweet and savoury sauces and seasoning to a wide range of market sectors across the globe. The company uses an ERP system to manage and control its manufacturing processes and has added Phocas cloud business intelligence software to streamline products and increase profitability.

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Topics: Case Study, Industry - Manufacturing, Business Intelligence Basics, Industry - Food and Beverage, Job Role - Inventory/Operations, decision-making, Dynamic reporting, business intelligence dashboards, data visualizations

There is a global shortage of finance talent. Yet there is also a growing push toward having a more modern finance team that can be ready for anything, can quickly share up-to-date numbers and coach others in the business about financial performance. The biggest obstacle to achieving digital innovation in finance is the lack of trained teams. To help address the problem, companies need to consider intuitive financial analysis software. These tools can build a bridge to digitizing finance capabilities providing benefits for both the experienced finance team member and the rookie.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - Finance, Job Role - Executive, Financial Statements, Dynamic reporting, business intelligence dashboards, data visualizations

Parrish-Hare is an electrical products supplier for commercial and industrial construction across Texas. The company is data-driven so everybody uses data analytics to access business information in real time, 'to see where they're at and where they’re going' on a daily basis. Electrical distribution is competitive, so by leveraging data, everyone makes more valuable decisions, this is turn serves customers better from ensuring stock is always available to meeting delivery deadlines.

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Topics: Case Study, Industry - Electrical, Job Role - Inventory/Operations, decision-making, Dynamic reporting, business intelligence dashboards