Silvon Pushes Intelligence Down to the Browser with iPlanner

by Alex Woodie

People have used Silvon Software's Stratum suite of business intelligence software for years to formulate budgets, forecasts, and other predictions. After all, that's what business intelligence software is supposed to do. But when it came to updating those forecasts to reflect up-to-the-minute events--like signing a big contract--the software didn't provide an easy method. Silvon says it has resolved this shortcoming with the release of new browser-based software called Stratum.iPlanner.

Stratum.iPlanner is a key infrastructure component of Silvon's Stratum suite of business intelligence software. Based on the ezViewer Web technology that Silvon introduced about two years ago, iPlanner has a special affinity for Demand Forecasting & Planning, an application Silvon designed specifically for manufacturers and distributors that manage large numbers of stock keeping units (SKUs) or different products. Demand Forecasting & Planning is often rolled out with Sales Performance Management, one of the functional Stratum applications. Other members of the Stratum Performance Management series include applications for monitoring the effectiveness of marketing, manufacturing, supplier relationships, and customer relationships.

Deb Marabotti, a Stratum product manager at Silvon, expects iPlanner to improve the accuracy of forecasts, which has been "a big pain" for Silvon's customers, she says. "A lot of our customers that do demand forecasts and demand planning will create a plan at a sales representative account level, and then adjust the forecast on accounts and product categories based on what they sell," she says. "As soon as they're done, they update their plan for the production pipeline, at the SKU and warehouse level, and sometimes at the plant level."

However, once the forecast was made, it was difficult to modify it and maintain all the different views. "That's why we developed iPlanner," Marabotti says. With iPlanner, users will not only be able to collaboratively create forecasts; they'll be able to "write" to the forecast and update it after its creation, while keeping a consistent view across all of the different departments involved in the planning process, including the sales department, the warehouses, and the manufacturing plants.

The application includes workflow process management capabilities that will allow users to track the progress of their plans and budgets through e-mail notifications and alerts. The alerts can be used to notify users of deadlines or plans that need updating. The software also includes exception management capabilities and can identify bottlenecks in the process.

As an "infrastructure" component of the Stratum suite (as opposed to the "functional" components that make up the Performance Management series), iPlanner will always be deployed in conjunction with other components of the Stratum suite, which could include DataTracker and various data connectors for plugging into the functional components, as well as the originating back-office ERP, CRM, or supply chain application, where the data resides. Stratum.iPlanner is built into the ezViewer Web technology, which requires a Microsoft Windows NT or Windows 2000 server. The iPlanner and ezViewer use Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) technology.

The iPlanner is in limited release, with general availability expected in conjunction with the Stratum 4.0 rollout later this summer. A starter pack for iPlanner that includes the server software and five concurrent client seats costs $2,500. For more information, go to www.silvon.com.

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