Ventana Research Improves Customer Service, Saves Time, Money Using Soffront CRM
Ventana Research selected Soffront over competing products because Soffront CRM had the features they wanted with the flexibility to easily change the software to meet their needs. "Although some software solutions promised us some additional features in future releases, Soffront CRM had everything we needed now. Competing solutions were also quite rigid compared to the Soffront solution, which allows us to easily modify the software to adapt to our business model," explained Malcolm Kimberlin, manager, Market Development at Ventana Research.
"We advocate aligning business and IT to improve performance, and Soffront CRM is an example of this philosophy in action." said Mark Smith, CEO and senior vice president of Research. Using Soffront's calendar feature, Ventana Research is able to quickly schedule multiple analysts for meetings by viewing all of their analysts' calendars on a single screen. "Analysts are also able to better track their services using a "ticketing" feature, which provides us with a detailed analysis of what services we have delivered," explained Smith.
"This analysis not only helps us improve customer service, but also allows us to be certain that we are delivering on our contractual obligations to our clients. We are in a very competitive business - one in which we must constantly demonstrate superior results. Using Soffront, we are able to quickly provide a comprehensive report that allows our clients to view all aspects of our successful activities and achievements," continued Smith.
Ventana Research is also saving time with the software, which translates into cost savings. "We understand the importance of leveraging human capital for workforce performance management, and this software allows us to do just that," explained Smith. "We are probably saving 30-40 man-hours per month because the software automates our reports and campaign mailings so efficiently." Smith went on to say that they are able to glean insights into their marketing campaigns that were not available previously. "We can now target our messaging and focus our research to fit the concerns and interest of our readers and clients," Smith concluded.
APMC Insurance Services Selects Business Objects as Its Business Intelligence Standard
Originally formed in 1976, APMC Insurance Services is the exclusive management company for American Physicians Insurance Exchange (APIE), a reciprocal insurance company that is physician governed. The management team of APMC Insurance Services along with the Board of Directors for APIE brings decades of industry experience, and expertise in medical malpractice insurance issues. APMC Insurance Services manages the underwriting, claims handling, marketing, risk management, day-to-day servicing, and accounting for APIE. APMC Insurance Services and APIE both have an exceptional track record for defending physicians against litigation and exerting a positive influence on the medical profession. Furthermore, this partnership has demonstrated long term, conservative decision-making practices which have resulted in exceptional stability over the last 28 years.
APMC Insurance Services selected Business Objects as its business intelligence standard and the foundation for its enterprise performance management strategy. Business Objects solutions will be rolled out within APIE to capture and analyze information in the areas of policy administration, claims, finance, sales and marketing.
With Business Objects, APMC will gain improved access to data to drive revenue, improve productivity and continue to strengthen the carrier it manages, APIE. For example, APIE will utilize Business Objects to measure campaign effectiveness and learn how well their message is being communicated in the marketplace. Sales managers will also gain an improved ability to track sales performance and manage the pipeline, leading to improved customer service and profitability.
In addition, APMC Insurance Services plans to use Business Objects to streamline reporting to state and federal regulatory agencies, and assist with corporate governance and compliance. Ultimately, the company will use BusinessObjects Dashboard Manager to power dashboards across the company in order to track key performance indicators vital to the company's success.
"We have been in business for 28 years and understand the medical malpractice business," said Marc Zimmermann, chief financial officer of APMC Insurance Services, Inc. "We are committed to providing excellent service to our APIE doctors, and we feel that through the Business Objects implementation, we will continue to build a financially stronger carrier for years to come."
Business Objects fulfilled APMC Insurance Services requirements for an ETL solution, including easy and quick deployment, rich metadata, and low total cost of ownership. BusinessObjects Data Integrator will help ensure information accountability, and play a key role in allowing APMC Insurance Services and the company it manages, APIE, to standardize on one BI solution.
Cognos and TIES Deliver Performance Management Solutions to K-12
Working with Cognos Professional Services, Cognos and TIES, an education and technology consortium that represents over 400 schools, will offer a performance management solution that includes over 150 prebuilt reports for addressing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) for K-12 school districts in Minnesota. The NCLB act was implemented to hold states and schools accountable for the academic achievement of all students, and to demand continuous performance improvement from students and teachers.
The TIES and Cognos solution will enable superintendents, principals, teachers and other administrators to analyze and report on student data and receive alerts on pre-determined metrics. Authorized users will be able to look at data multidimensionally with Cognos PowerPlay, drawing information from a central data warehouse, and can analyze and create reports on a number of areas including student performance, test results, curriculum management, attendance and absence reporting, and aggregated performance reviews. These abilities will enable educators to easily identify children who are falling behind, and to empower schools to take specific actions without having to wait for a formal report card to indicate where students are struggling academically.
