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A Data Warehouse Solution for Account Management Elena Battini Nuova Magrini Galileo - Groupe SCHNEIDER Abstract In 1996, the NUOVA MAGRINI GALILEO, a company belonging to the SCHNEIDER group, started a review process of its control system. The need of adopting the DW philosophy for data processing falls within this context. The project "DW Controllo Gestione" has seen the introduction of the SAS System in the context of an architecture for Information Delivery, which uses a DW as the basis of the information retrieval process. The first task to be implemented, chosen by the sponsor of the pilot business area, the Account Management, was the production of synthesis reports concerning the sale values (New Sales, Turnover) and the Income Statement for the whole SCHNEIDER group. The SAS System allowed the implementation of a Query/Reporting system which queries an Info Mart level fed by the company warehouse residing on a mainframe. A Windows NT/Server platform hosts the departmental Warehouse and is used as a repository for the Info Mart and as a compute server for the Data Mart level which supplies data to the multidimensional analysis tool (SAS/EIS Motore). SAS Warehouse Administrator offered a precious support in implementing the DW and managing the data generation processes. These needs led us towards the adoption of a ‘Data Warehouse’ methodology. The Information Technology policy in the system choice was to introduce a tool not only targeted to the Account Managemet but also able to satisfy the existing and arising needs in all the company business areas concerning the information management. Therefore, we identified as ‘necessary’ to build a complete and integrated system (from gathering data to final analysis) i.e. ° able to retrieve information from a variety of DBMSs stored on the central system (MVS-ESA) and allowing integration with the information residing on the workstation (Excel or other). ° provided with an integrated database ° offering adequate solutions to provide enabled support for analyses and consultations (Executive information system, various queries, multidimensional analysis, statistics, access to Internet/Intranet) ° as a portable and hardware-independent solution ° with a centralized management of the entire system ° supported by skill, experience and reliablity of the system supplier EIS Introduction During 1996, Magrini put into action a development programme called ‘Cohesion Process’, with the aim of increasing the sharing level of the company directions and objectives and of identifying priority projects for proposal to management. Among the objectives for improvement, focus was placed on the need to review the Control System. A system which, however, should not only have specific goals concerning the Account Management but should also meet a variety of needs, by building a complex set of reports and indicators which: - are capable of providing valid information support for management - improve decision making process at all organisation levels - are coherent in the various areas (common language/rationalization indicators) - are compliant with the innovation processes already in action Metadata Hierarchical database Relational database, excel OLAP Dati extraction and transformation data warehouse intranet query sequential reporting datamart DSS vsam After a market research based on demos and prototype trials, conducted on major DW suppliers, the InfTech/User group carrying out the research, chose the SAS System as the solution which mostly met the company needs. The Project ORGANIZATION Inf.Tech. Project Head Users Project Head The project aims to supply the Account Management with a series of services intended to improve business, in terms of efficiency and speed, compared with the traditional data analysis methods (Excel paper reports). Architectural Specialist Host Consultants Warehouse Administrator SW Specialists External Consultants SAS Key Users The activities addressed by the project were identified as: Users Interface - definition of reference data (operational and external) and its meaning. - production of summary and analytical reports concerning the Income statement - production of reports concerning the various departments - development of an executive information application concerning the marketing and sales areas - implementation of an analytical database for various queries, available for the Account Management controllers and product managers. Information flow Organization - The complexity of the environment and the need for the user to get the feel for the project from the very first keystroke led us to adopt a generalized project methodology. In order to do this, a workgroup including a user project manager (UPM) and an information technology project manager (IPM) was set up. - The UPM provides coordination and support for a key-users group, who identify needs and actively participate in the implementation stages. The IPM co-operates with SW specialists, internal and external consultants (SAS) and an architectural expert. Scheduled meetings aim to periodically review the progress and the aspects of the project for a closer consideration. The workgroup is also supported methodologically by a facilitator and a MC user interface with the task of rationalizing and integrating all the information coming from peripheral systems (Excel). The user interface is involved in the implementation, too. Sales Area Reports (Orders Intake/Invoiced) The basic data resides on a mainframe (MVS – DB2 system). The file is regenerated monthly and, with the appropriate selections and aggregations, reloaded on the SAS database residing on the same mainframe. After the monthly loading, the database is integrated with the information coming from Excel spreadsheets. Two support tables have been set up on the host: product/client grouping table containing grouping codes and descriptions product or customer class codes related to the grouping reports table containing report code and title product or customer grouping codes (see previous table) which will represent the detail rows of the single report authorization group codes allowing the access to the report The two tables allow the addition of new reports or an easy modification of the contents. A second processing stage, carried out on the mainframe following the logic indicated in the two tables, produces the reports and transfers them on a server (Windows NT), together with the reports table. Public reports are accessible by the client through an application which allows for the selection and the local transfer . The local reports can be modified, printed, integrated with notes, copied for archives and exported to Excel. They can also be converted into a Power-Point presentation. If stored locally, the application can work without any connection to the network. ARCHITECTURE Warehouse Administration (windows 95) TCP/IP Client (windows 3.1) SAS Server (windows NT) IBM 9672 LAN TCP/IP DB2 IMS VSAM SEQ DATA MART SAS DW WEB Client EXCEL Server Income Statement Reports In this case, the basic data resides in Excel spreadsheets. An appropriate application allows the information to be monthly transferred directly to the NT server. On the NT server, a support table indicates the reports to be produced. Besides the report code and title, there are some Excel spreadsheet codes defining the contents and the groups with authorized access. The table allows to add or easily modify the generated reports. A second processing stage, always carried out by the server, generates the reports listed in the support table. The public reports can be accessed by the client in the same way as for the sales area reports. Application End users gain access to the application through a panel which requires the user indentification and allows access to the various functions, through a series of buttons. Security is based on the concept of authorized groups. Each user belongs to a group. Utilities are accessed through a panel and various buttons and presently allow for: - the importation of Excel data for the database integration on the mainframe in order to produce the sales area reports - the importation on the NT server, subject to the selection of the Excel spreadsheets necessary for the Income statement reporting. - the release of the next versions of the application This button transfers the new version from the workstation disk to the NT server. Client updating occurs during the first connection to the SAS system. This allows for an easy distribution of the software avoiding any intervention on each workstation. Actions in progress An executive information system for navigation in the Marketing area is currently being implemented. The management data resides on the mainframe in DB2 tables and sequential files. The multidimensional cube is being constructed on the NT server. However, the propagation of a smaller cube for single clients is expected to allow for a local processing without any connection to the network. Initially, the application should allow the access to ‘summary’ information (obtained by calculations on detail data). The user is able to analyse the information according the following dimensions. ° ° ° ° ° ° ° time marketing – areas of responsibility customer segmentation departments, companies, plants groupings at different product levels sales network geographical area The objects which allow drill-down operations on the data are the tradizional EIS objects: A security management feature and a series of utilities are also included. ° critical success factors ° tables ° graphics Active icons are added to these object offering various functions: ° sorting ° printing ° grouping of values ° data exportation to Excel In the future, it will possibile to perform a detail data analysis through a query system on the central Data Warehouse residing on the mainframe and integrated in the navigational environment. SAS Services The project has been carried out with the support of a SAS consultant and his skill and co-operation have been fully appreciated. Our appraisal of the SAS system and all of the services offered by SAS Institute is extremely positive. _________________________________________