MAPICS Fleshes Out Business Intelligence App for iSeries ERP

by Alex Woodie

MAPICS and Cognos have almost doubled the number of key performance indicators in the business intelligence software they sell to MAPICS manufacturing customers, the two companies recently announced. MAPICS Enterprise Business Intelligence for iSeries now includes more than 400 key performance indicators, which should make it easier for executives and managers to make decisions about inventory rates, sales forecasts, accounts receivables, and other aspects of manufacturing operations.

MAPICS Enterprise Business Intelligence for iSeries is an OEM'ed version of Cognos' Windows-based business intelligence software that has been pre-mapped to MAPICS data held in the DB2/400 database. The software features a multidimensional, Windows-based data mart, running on a Wintel server, and a Windows client where users interact with the data, develop reports, and monitor the key performance indicators.

There are four applications in the MAPICS Enterprise Business Intelligence for iSeries stable, including components for analyzing Sales, the General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable portions of MAPICS ERP suite. Each of these applications provides users with information intended to help them act on that portion of the business.

For example, the Accounts Receivable Enterprise Business Intelligence for iSeries application includes more than 60 pre-built key performance indicators and more than 35 reports, which MAPICS says helps users answer more than 700 accounts-receivable-related questions, such as what are the days sales outstanding, what is the value of overdue accounts, and how has a bad debt evolved over time? The Sales Analysis component includes more than 50 key performance indicators and 45 reports to help answer 500 questions, and the Accounts Payable includes more than 60 key performance indicators and 30 reports for 700 questions, while General Ledger helps the user answer more than 450 questions with 100 key performance indicators and 25 reports.

The June refresh of MAPICS's Enterprise Business Intelligence for iSeries is the second of a three-step plan to bring Cognos' Windows-based reporting software to MAPICS customers, says an official with the Atlanta ERP software vendor. The third and final release, set for later this year, will bring the full spectrum of more than 700 key performance indicators available to MAPICS ERP for iSeries users. So far, there are a handful of iSeries users, MAPICS officials say.

Cognos is an established leader in the business intelligence market, with more than 22,000 customers. Although its software doesn't run on the iSeries server, like the business intelligence offerings from SPSS (ShowCase) and Silvon, it has established OEM agreements with OS/400 ERP vendors, including MAPICS competitor SSA Global, which resells the Cognos BI software, much as it does other vendors' offerings, as part of its "extension" strategy.

MAPICS Enterprise Business Intelligence for iSeries is available now. Pricing was not disclosed. For more information, go to www.mapics.com.