A Message from the CEO
If you read our last newsletter you would have noticed a clear focus on helping Interactive Edge’s clients get more value from our products and services. Halfway through the year, we’re happy to say that our focus on continuous improvement in this area is unwavering. We appreciate the feedback that you and your colleagues have provided to guide us down this path, and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with you.
In keeping with the theme of generating a true value-add for our clients, this newsletter highlights some of the technologies that we are leveraging to bring that vision to bear.
Regards,
Zel Bianco
SAP and Interactive Edge
No doubt, you’re aware that SAP is one of the world’s leading suppliers of collaborative business software. What you may not be aware of, however, is how SAP and Interactive Edge have been working together to provide the ease-of-use and flexibility of XP3 in the context of the SAP environment.
From a technology standpoint, this integration is complete. XP3 connects out-of-the-box to SAP NetWeaver BI (SAP BW). From a business standpoint, our two organizations have been working together to bring real value to joint users. In fact, SAP and Interactive Edge recently co-authored an article on SAP’s Business Process Expert site regarding the business benefits of our integration.
Please take a moment to visit that site, where you can read the article, view a brief demonstration of this integration, and participate in an ongoing discussion about this topic. You can visit the site here. (Please note: you may be asked to choose a digital certificate to view this page; click OK.)
Please contact your account manager, or Brian Yarnell, Director of Product Management. if you would like additional information about using XP3 with SAP NetWeaver BI. Click here to read more.
ACNielsen’s DataBank and XP3
Interactive Edge Provides Direct Connection to Syndicated Data
Similar to the ability to connect to SAP out-of-the-box, XP3 Presentation Builder and XP3 Presentation Viewer also have the ability to connect flexibly to a system called Analysis Services, from Microsoft. This connectivity provides a range of value-added options to users of Interactive Edge’s XP3 software. For example, by using Analysis Services as an integration layer, XP3 Presentation Builder and XP3 Presentation Viewer can work with data from external systems without the need to load or duplicate that data.
This approach has been leveraged to provide users of XP3 with seamless access to internal sources of information such as warehousing and depletion data. Historically, this type of data access has not been an option when it comes to syndicated data like IRI and ACNielsen due to the fact that those vendors were not able to provide information in an industry standard database format. With the introduction of ACNielsen’s DataBank, this is no longer the reality. In fact, Interactive Edge and ACNielsen just wrapped up such a project with a mutual client—Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages.
Driven by the desire to have his team able to access and present syndicated data with zero lead-time, guaranteed consistency, and extreme flexibility, Craig Hodnett, Vice President of Category Management at CSAB, approached ACNielsen and Interactive Edge with the innovative concept of connecting each vendors’ systems seamlessly to each other. After a short proof of concept, the three parties determined that such an arrangement was not only possible, but would ultimately provide both cost-savings and increased value to the users.
In just a few short weeks, this project was moved from proof-of-concept to production in Cadbury’s environment. The results were impressive. Users of XP3 Presentation Builder and XP3 Presentation Viewer are now able to analyze and present syndicated data directly from ACNielsen’s DataBank without relying on managing data extracts. This situation provides Cadbury a competitive advantage based on the fact that data-driven presentations reflect data updates in real-time, and the information in those presentations is identical to that in ACNielsen’s own tools.
If you would like additional information about connecting XP3 to ACNielsen’s DataBank, or any other external source of data, please contact your account manager, or email Brian Yarnell, Director of Product Management.
XP3 Library Slides
Interactive Edge prides itself on delivering solutions that fit the needs of its customers and continuing to adapt these solutions to add value well into the future. To that end, we will soon begin the process of revising the XP3 Library of Templates to reflect both forward-looking technology and the needs of our client organizations.
Targeted for completion in first quarter 2008, the next version of XP3’s Library slides will provide increased flexibility to take advantage of additional sources of data, expanded functionality, and innovative analytics in an easy-to-use format.
We are seeking feedback from XP3 users regarding how they currently use the XP3 templates and what enhancements they would like to see in an upcoming release. Although we cannot promise we will add every requested feature, we will develop new features based on what will benefit most of our customers.
If you would like to participate, please contact Patrick Moriarty at 212 462-4900 ext 288 or send him an email at pmoriarty@interactiveedge.com with your comments.
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