Analysis and reporting solution
In the publishing industry, advertisements play a central role as a sales driver. However, without a precise analysis of advertising performance, there is no basis for decisions and targeted sales management.
A medium-sized publishing house faced precisely this challenge: the existing ERP system did not offer sufficient analysis options to display all relevant key figures transparently. Together with the publisher, we developed a customized solution that provides sustainable support for sales and is virtually maintenance-free.
Project overview
- Industry: Media & Publishing
- Company size: Medium-sized publishing house
- Region: D-A-CH
- Project period: 03/2005 - 07/2005
- The aim of the project was to create a comprehensive analysis and reporting solution for ad management in order to gain more transparency about the key performance indicators and enable data-based decisions for sales management.
Project implementation
Initial situation: The publishing house was using an industry-specific ERP system for publishing management. Advertising management, which was a key revenue driver, required extended analysis options that the existing ERP system did not offer. A customized platform was required to enable decisions to be made on an up-to-date database.
Approach: The project team developed a data warehouse solution to provide the relevant data from the ERP system in a structured and prepared form for analysis. In addition, an OLAP cube was set up to enable flexible ad-hoc analyses and standardized reports.
Measures & technologies in detail
Key implementation steps:
- Implementation of a data warehouse solution to consolidate ERP data
- Development of an OLAP cube to support ad-hoc analyses
- Implementation of a reporting application for the visual presentation of analysis results
- Automation of data loading processes to ensure an up-to-date database
Technical details:
- Database: SQL Server
- Analysis: SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) - multidimensional
- ETL processes: SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
- Reporting: Longview Analytics
Challenges and solutions
One of the biggest challenges was the complexity of the existing ERP system and its data model. As it was a proprietary system, it was difficult to develop a reliable and high-performance interface to provide the data for reporting. In addition, the system had to guarantee high performance and short response times even with large volumes of data.
To overcome these challenges, the project team worked closely with the ERP manufacturer to better understand the system's data structure and develop a custom-fit interface. The development was iterative, so that the data model was continuously tested and optimized. This close coordination ensured both the consistency of the data and the performance of the solution.
Results and added value
The analysis and reporting solution developed met all the defined objectives. The publishing house received a customized platform that enabled a detailed analysis of advertising performance.
Maintenance-free
The solution was designed to be virtually maintenance-free and significantly reduce the internal administrative workload.
Added value for the customer
Thanks to the implemented solution, the publishing house gained full transparency of the key performance indicators in ad management. The new platform made it possible to make targeted, data-based decisions to optimize advertising performance and create the basis for effective sales management.
In addition, automated data loading ensured that reports and analyses were always based on up-to-date and correct data. By eliminating manual data preparation, the publishing house was able to focus more on its core business and save valuable resources.
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