FEATURE : ANALYTICS tender for a data analytics solution that could provide it with greater power over its data and the corresponding insights derived .
“ Our decision to adopt Qlik was made based on the self-service and visualisation functionalities , data integration abilities , user friendliness , and scalability . Another critical consideration was the fact that their implementation partner , Direct Insight Consulting was well established locally and could provide the right level of support ,” says Fayo .
Currently Qlik Sense and Qlik NPrinting are being used within Armscor ’ s finance department , a critical pillar within the organisation .
Pain points
Prior to the Qlik rollout , Armscor had disparate , legacy systems in place , with no central view of its financial data , and no documented business rules available .
“ We had a pressing requirement for accurate data that could be trusted and would allow for timely insights . At that point , it would take two weeks to share month-end numbers with our executives . Even then , the source of the data was often unclear , as many people participated in this time-consuming process , and accordingly there was little trust in the numbers provided ,” says Fayo .
“ Our objective was to empower users , so the selfservice feature offered by Qlik was important , as was the ability to derive insights from data ,” he adds .
Post implementation
Moving from a legacy-driven reporting environment to an analytics-driven platform was a big jump for both IT and business users alike . Thus , a large amount of time was spent on extrapolating and evaluating the business rules , getting them into a process and then documenting this , which meant that change management was required . This was driven from the top by Armscor ’ s executive team .
performing , what was still owing or which accounts were behind . This is vital not only for Armscor ’ s business operations , but for the broader sector as well .
“ The improvement of data literacy at Armscor has been beneficial . Today , we have one view through Qlik , from which we derive weekly insights and also share these with our executives ,” says Fayo . This is a crucial exercise for Armscor , as reporting on funds spent to stakeholders is one of the key performance indicators .”
Armscor is finalising the use of Qlik for accounts receivable and management accounting . “ We have found many data discrepancies in our accounts receivable data , due to manual interventions . We are in the process of automating the reporting procedure as well as creating data processes ,” says Fayo .
Moving forward
As an organisation that has been around for decades , Armscor has taken a huge leap forward from an ICT perspective . Part of this momentum has been about convincing users not to be afraid of automation
Zimasa Fayo , Business Intelligence Manager , Armscor
Armscor now has one version of the truth available , with well-documented and tested business rules in place . Users are able to deliver insights on the data with which they are working . Users are able to confidently use data for insights without having to question its quality or accuracy . Turnaround time on management reporting has decreased from weeks to just one day .
Armscor has seen benefits on its settlements and accounts payable . Previously , it was difficult to develop a consolidated report on how the business was
WE HAVE FOUND MANY DATA DISCREPANCIES
IN OUR ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE DATA , DUE TO
MANUAL INTERVENTIONS .
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