November 1, 2009–Analysis Team Forms Board of Advisors and Announces Initial Appointments
Analysis Team announced the formation of a Board of Advisors to help guide the expansion of the firm’s professional capabilities and services in a way that is highly relevant to clients’ evolving needs. The purpose of the Board is to advise the senior management team on a range of strategic and operational issues.
Dave Stark, Analysis Team’s President and CEO, also announced the appointment of two accomplished leaders in business and technology to the Board of Advisors:
David Everett has significant global experience in senior executive roles in Silicon Valley technology companies, ranging from a successful startup to Fortune 50 public enterprises, driving them to dominant market position and industry leadership. He has held senior management roles at Wyse Technology, Phoenix Technologies, Solectron Corporation, Argogroup, and others.
Hardeep Walia brings a strong background in corporate strategy and delivery of professional services in the software industry, as well as deep insight into software technology trends. His experience includes senior management positions at Microsoft Corporation, where he led groups focused on strategic investments and acquisitions, launching emerging businesses, and services management.
“David and Hardeep both bring a wealth of business experience and impressive career accomplishments to the table,” said Mr. Stark. “Their involvement will have a strong impact on Analysis Team and our clients, as they help us deploy additional value-added services that are in tune with clients’ businesses and technology trends.”
The Board of Advisors will provide an experienced and independent perspective to Analysis Team in a variety of areas, including development and delivery of services, staffing and management, marketing and sales, strategic alliances, and operational streamlining. The Board will also help identify new opportunities, including specific industries and business needs that can benefit from the firm’s Business Intelligence expertise.
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March 19, 2009–Dave Stark Discusses Multi-Million Dollar Benefits of
Business Intelligence with Financial Executives Groups
On March 19, 2009, Analysis Team's President and CEO, Dave Stark, presented "Turn Data into Profit: How to Use Information to Grow Your Bottom Line" to the Los Angeles Chapter of Financial Executives International.
In this discussion with financial executives, Mr. Stark revealed real-world examples of the substantial return on investment (ROI) that leading companies are recognizing from Business Intelligence projects led and implemented by Analysis Team. In one case study, a major fashion retail chain improved gross margins by $400 million dollars in the first year after a product planning and cost analysis application was rolled out to merchandisers and supply chain managers globally. In another example, an entertainment retailer realized a significant profit boost from real-time measurement and management of customer conversion in its stores, causing the company's Vice President of IT to remark that the project was "probably the best ROI I'd ever had in my life."
In an increasingly competitive marketplace with declining spending power, good information is imperative to management decisions. Nonetheless, even as corporate systems generate data more rapidly and data volume increases, managers still often flounder in decision making and effective strategy implementation. This is largely because data by itself does not necessarily equal readily actionable information. Mr. Stark explained how household-name companies and mid-sized players are integrating automated data analysis and performance reporting into their management processes, and achieving significant financial benefits as a result.
Two Los Angeles area chapters of the Financial Executives Networking Group (FENG) have also recently scheduled Mr. Stark to speak on this topic. If you are interested in having Mr. Stark speak to your organization, please submit a request indicating the name of your organization, topic of interest, and the best time to reach you.
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March 10, 2009–Dave Stark Reveals how Business Intelligence Detected Financial Fraud in WorldCom Scandal
On March 10, 2009, Analysis Team's President and CEO, Dave Stark, presented "WorldCom Exposed: The Role of Business Intelligence in Detecting Financial Fraud" to the Los Angeles Chapter of The Data Warehousing Institute. In light of recent events and fraudulent activity that have drastically affected financial markets, this presentation engaged participants in a highly topical discussion about the important role Business Intelligence can play.
The WorldCom accounting scandal was one of the largest in U.S. corporate history, involving the capitalization of billions of dollars in operating expenses to maintain an artificial level of profitability. It led to criminal charges against the CEO, other officers and managers, and a class action lawsuit on behalf of investors. In April 2005, Mr. Stark appeared as an expert witness on behalf of plaintiffs in the WorldCom Securities Litigation trial, providing testimony on WorldCom's corporate financial reporting system and its role in detecting accounting fraud during the company's 2001 audit by Arthur Andersen.
Mr. Stark’s presentation revealed:
How and why WorldCom management created deceptive financial
results in 2000 and 2001
How Business Intelligence software used for financial reporting at
WorldCom exposed (and could have prevented) accounting fraud
Insights into the legal tactics and proceedings against WorldCom’s
auditors in the securities litigation
Please submit a request if you are interested in having Mr. Stark speak to your organization, indicating the name of your organization, topic of interest, and the best time to reach you.
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March 3, 2009–Analysis Team and Avant Advisory Group Announce Strategic Alliance
Analysis Team has partnered with Avant Advisory Group, a premier management consulting firm, to leverage synergies in each firm's core capabilities to generate even higher returns for their clients.
Avant Advisory brings substantial financial and strategic expertise to clients, specializing in turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, financial forensics and litigation support, as well as providing interim CFO and other C-Suite services. As Analysis Team implements Performance Management solutions and identifies clients that could benefit from focused, senior-level financial direction and management, Avant can bring them this qualified financial expertise.
Analysis Team can add significant value to Avant's services by implementing Performance Management solutions that improve financial reporting, analysis and planning for their clients. In addition to automating the financial processes that Avant institutes with clients, Analysis Team can integrate the analysis and reporting with operational systems. This helps companies to identify what is driving profit and what is diluting it, particularly important for organizations in a turnaround phase.
Jim Davidson, Managing Director of Avant Advisory Group, said, "We proudly recognize the complementary strengths that our firms add in providing greater value and profitability improvement to our middle-market clients. Analysis Team is an exceptional firm. We are proud to be in partnership with the firm and are looking forward to working together."
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July, 2007–Analysis
Team Teaches Business Intelligence Concepts and Practices to Leaders Across
Asia
Dave Stark, President and CEO of Analysis Team, was the course leader
for two major Strategic Business Intelligence seminars held by The Asia Business
Forum, in Malaysia and Singapore in July, 2007. Seminars took place over
two days, covering a range of topics about using Business Intelligence to
drive bottom line growth, and including significant use of case studies to
illustrate the concepts in action.
Several topics were covered, including
how Business Intelligence supports corporate strategy, how management can
effectively use it and incorporate it into decision making, keys to managing
successful Business Intelligence projects, how to measure and maximize ROI
from Business Intelligence, ways to implement data governance to assure ongoing
value of business information, and more. Attendees, who held management roles
across several functional areas, actively engaged in the seminars, enhancing
the course value by bringing their own diverse experiences to the discussion.
The Asia Business Forum, recognized throughout the Pacific Rim as one of
the top providers of high-value business information, is Asia’s leading business
conference producer, working with experts to provide information that drives
business results. For more information about the organization, click
here.
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May, 2007–Analysis Team Shares High-Impact Solutions In Action
At Hyperion’s Solutions 2007 Conference
Breakout sessions presented by Analysis
Team at the 2007 Hyperion Solutions global user conference were well received.
Analysis Team and clients Papa John’s Pizza and Seagate Technology talked
first-hand about how Analysis Team delivered high-profile analysis and reporting
solutions for their businesses. Session descriptions are below. For a copy of the session presentations, contact Analysis Team.
How Papa John's Pizza Makes Hyperion Essbase
a Key Ingredient for Financial Performance and Service Quality / Session
Number: 2144
For quick service restaurant chain Papa John’s International,
speed to customer and overall customer satisfaction are imperative to success.
Papa John’s needed the ability to process voluminous data to analyze store
results quickly, with maximum flexibility and ease of use. To deliver a range
of performance indicators covering product sales, food cost, labor, cash
controls, and customer service quickly every day for each of its 3,000 stores,
Papa John's International deployed the Hyperion Essbase platform. This session
revealed how the Vice President of Operations and the Field Operations Directors
at Papa John's use the performance dashboard and ad hoc analysis capabilities
of this solution to reduce cost, improve efficiency, and achieve top customer
satisfaction ratings.
Global Market Segmentation in 18 Easy Dimensions: Modeling
a Complex Channel Business in a Single Database at Seagate Technology / Session
Number: 3125
Global Channel Sales and Corporate Marketing (GCS&CM) at
Seagate Technology suffered from information discontinuity. Every department
had a pool of analysts extracting and transforming data with few controls
and little oversight. This resulted in multiple versions of reports depicting
sales performance worldwide. GCS&CM partnered with Analysis Team to create
Channel Marketing Analytics, an 18-dimension Hyperion Essbase application.
This session revealed how a complex global channel business was modeled in
a single database using Aggregate Storage Option (ASO). The presenters shared
how the team overcame key technical challenges and optimized performance.
This included a direct demonstration of how the application is being used
to increase accuracy, reduce effort, and help Seagate identify and realize
new opportunities in its global channel business.
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January, 2007–Analysis
Team Featured In eWeek For Outstanding ROI Delivery
Click here
to read article.
This article features Analysis Team and Xavor, and explains how the two firms
collaborated on a major project to deliver a data warehouse and Business
Intelligence solution that has provided the client, Virgin Entertainment
Group, “probably the best ROI (return on investment) I'd ever had in my life," according
to Robert Fort, Director of IT at Virgin Entertainment Group. As stated in
the article, Fort attributes 20 percent of the gross margin to the project’s
role in Virgin Megastores’ enhanced financial performance.
Analysis Team
architected the data warehouse, and designed and implemented the Business
Intelligence layer, delivering analysis and reporting functionality. Xavor
built the integration layer between source systems and the data warehouse,
and between the warehouse’s analytic models and Virgin’s intranet portal.
The firms’ expertise and close collaboration enabled Virgin to reap substantial
benefits.
Please note: The eWeek article has two major technical errors.
First, the solution was not deployed on the Vista operating system, but rather
on Windows Server 2003. Second, Microsoft SQL Server was not running on the
AS/400 but on standard, Intel-based servers.
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