Decision Inc, a merger between ASYST Intelligence, BusinessIntelligent and the Microsoft division of DigiQuill, was launched in Johannesburg yesterday.
The company is headed up by CEO Nick Bell, who started BusinessIntelligent in 2008.
According to Bell, there was a concerted effort in 2013 to establish a sustainable, efficient and well-organised entity to build on BusinessIntelligent’s recognised value to the market.
“Leadership at BusinessIntelligent embarked on a journey to identify similar-minded companies that could provide clients with a technology and business experienced partner to assist in improving decision making processes and requirements.”
The first deal was for Cyest Corporation to sell its division, DigiQuill Productivity, a Microsoft Partner, to Decision Inc. At the same time, BusinessIntelligent was sold to Decision Inc., with the respective leaders becoming equal partners in the new venture.
A second deal was then completed with SAP partner, ASYST Intelligence, to also trade in their shares and join the new group.
“The merger means that the company has 70 highly skilled staff and over 200 clients, making it one of the few companies in South Africa that can offer assistance to any business, irrespective of the level of their requirements. Not only do we have a pool of skilled business and process analysts, but we have experienced technical consultants competent in building and supporting market-leading BI platforms and tools,” explains Bell.
According to Bell, the service-delivery model is represented by four key pillars: Decision Architecture; Data Engineering; Insight Generation and Presentation; as well as Enablement & Support. These pillars provide the following services:
Decision Architecture: Experienced business analysts and consultants provide expertise to help clients determine organisational strategy, perform decision audits, design decision rights workflows and set and monitor organisational and individual Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Architects also assist in design or auditing enterprise-wide architecture and infrastructure – both technical and non-technical.
Data Engineering: Robust, quality data is instrumental to delivering trusted information to decision makers. Data specialists assist with data audits, data warehousing, data cleansing and data stewardship, as well as development.
Insight Generation and Presentation: Best-of-breed platforms are used to deliver data in highly visual, contextualised ways to drive the decision-making process. This service incorporates analytics, reporting, mobile and financial intelligence as well as portals.
Enablement and Support: The best solutions, once successfully implemented, must be deeply embedded in the organisation to effect adoption and change. The same solutions must also be continually supported to ensure longevity and continual improvement. This service includes change management, classroom and workshop training, project management, remote support and call centre assistance.
Executive leadership behind Decision Inc. believe the venture demonstrates a radical shift in the application of BI within the African market.
“In addition to our unique understanding of decision-making processes and related solutions,” says Bell. “Our value proposition is based on the provision of both technical skills and relevant business knowledge across the BI value chain. This will help clients to realise maximum value from their investment in decision support technology and enable them to make better decisions, faster.”
He says Decision Inc.’s vision is to add real value to clients by providing business and process knowledge, and then leveraging the power of information through robust data and best-of-breed platform technologies.
Decision Inc. represents global software vendors QlikView, SAP, Microsoft, Roambi, MicroStrategy and IsoMetrix.
