'Alchemex for SAP Business One' liberates Kathea Communications

Kathea Communications, leading ICT solutions provider, recently implemented 'Alchemex for SAP Business One' to improve efficiencies in reporting across the organisation.

Kathea Communications first entered the ICT market in 1998. Dedicated to delivering global technological expertise to southern Africa, it is committed to enabling customers to embrace and implement highly effective ICT solutions.

Kathea focuses on representing technologies that encompasses the switching, video and voice conferencing, call centre and hospitality sectors. Kathea Communications represents world leading brands including GN Netcom, Polycom, Jabra, Telematrix, Teledex, TeleAdapt, Avaya and Nortel.

As Kathea had grown in stature through its considerable network of accredited partners and resellers, it had become critical to have relevant information distributed to the right people across the organisation. This could not be achieved without implementing a structured system that could integrate the various functions of the business. For this it chose SAP Business One.

The secondary challenge was to have flexible access to all this information. This included assimilating information across various departments and presenting this information efficiently - in a useful and readable format - often for management to drive the business. The information also needed to be accessible from anywhere with a network connection, not just in the office. There was a further need to deliver this information in a familiar desktop environment like Excel, but at the same time eliminate "loose Excel spreadsheet use" to guarantee data integrity.

Kathea also needed to eliminate inefficiencies in preparing reports so key people could focus more on the business than administrative tasks.

Although SAP Business One, like most other ERP applications, comes with a host of standard reports, they very seldom cater for the specific needs of a business. This is why Kathea chose 'Alchemex for SAP Business One'.

The first and most critical step was defining what information the business needed to get out of SAP Business One so that the implementation was efficient, and value could be obtained quickly.

The second step was to evaluate what gap existed between what Kathea required as a solution, and what Alchemex offered in its standard solution set for SAP Business One. These solution sets, or pre-formatted report templates, can automate up to 90% of requirements depending on the complexities of reporting required by the business.

The third step was to establish what skills were available in-house, and where the shortfall was, so that it could be established who would be doing what to get the final solution. Because Alchemex delivers business intelligence in Excel, and Kathea's in-house Excel skills were of a high standard, a few hours with one of the certified Alchemex Consultants enabled a number of customised reports to be developed, including a very powerful management dashboard.

"The implementation of 'Alchemex for SAP Business One' has resulted in us getting exactly what we need," says Greg Darke, CEO of Kathea Communications. "The great thing is that, as our requirements change, we have a flexible tool to make amendments as and when we need. So our information delivery does not lag behind as is the case in so many businesses. Our Management Dashboard, delivered at the click of a button, shows us exactly what is going on across our product groups, sales teams and stock holdings, as well as a financial summary every day."

"Management accounts are produced on the fly in a valuable format, in Excel, so generating management accounts has never been easier," says Bruce Peters, Financial Director of Kathea Communications.

Kathea now has access to relevant information, in a format it wants, accessible anytime, anyplace, and delivered in an efficient manner. It has freed up several resources to focus on more important opportunities in the business.

Implementing business intelligence solutions can be a mammoth and expensive task, but it can also be a simple, cost-effective process. The quality of data existing in ERP systems can also determine the level of investment required to complete a successful project. The catch is that the value is only realised at the last step of the process, when information is delivered to relevant people efficiently. Alchemex has achieved this through a simple stable product, coupled with a suite of standard solutions for SAP Business One, so that returns can be realised quickly and cost-effectively.

Similar solutions sets exist for Accpac ERP, SYSPRO, Pastel Partner, Pastel Evolution, Pastel Payroll, VIP Payroll, Great Plains and Sybiz Vision. For information on how Alchemex can help your business create reporting efficiencies, and help you to be more competitive, call 0861 102 302 or go to www.alchemex.net.