1. BI solutions for the world’s major publishers
Andy Richardson
Influential Software
UK : US : 001 (646)

2. Influential in Publishing BI
5 key areas
A successful BI solution for a book/journal publisher is a bespoke system that offers a single point-of-contact for all users, globally, allowing simple access / reporting / comparison of data across all source systems, and comprises various key elements:
Data Warehouse
Central, reconciled, trusted repository of all relevant data (sales, products, financials, customers, inventory, movements, dues, discounts, restrictions, inspections etc.), held as a highly-indexed, purpose-built relational database
Data Broker
Trusted outbound feeds to other systems, both internal and external
Reporting tool
All production and ad-hoc reporting, across Finance, Inventory, Sales, Editorial, Marketing etc., typically presented via Business Objects or COGNOS.
Any sensible combination of the data fields can be used, thus reports can utilise data from any combination of the source systems without relying on IT dept. assistance
Enquiry tool
Via browser-based bespoke php tool
Advanced data manipulation
Various uses including acquisitions e.g. a single sales view is shown despite data coming from multiple sales systems
07/11/2018
Influential in Publishing BI

3. Inbound Inbound data warehouse 24/7 access
Excel/Access replacements (e.g. bespoke lists)
Intelligence layer (integrity checks, reconciliation, error reporting, build OLAP cubes etc.)
ETL layer (100s of inputs, batch or real-time)
Sales
Sales
Royalties
Sales
Financials
Sales
Products
Sales
CRM
Sales
eBooks / aggregators
Sales
Global Inventory
+ + +
07/11/2018
Influential in Publishing BI

4. Influential in Publishing BI
Outbound
data warehouse
Intelligence layer
Enquiry layer
Reporting layer
ETL layer
Bespoke php tool
Extranet
24/7 browser-based enquiry tool for products, customers, sales, invoices PDFs, backorders, stock levels and more
Cut-down version for external use
07/11/2018
Influential in Publishing BI

5. Outbound (reporting) data warehouse Intelligence layer
Enquiry layer
Reporting layer (Business Objects/COGNOS)
ETL layer
Adhoc reporting
Scheduled reporting daily, weekly, monthly
07/11/2018
Influential in Publishing BI

6. Influential in Publishing BI
Outbound (data feeds)
data warehouse
Intelligence layer
Enquiry layer
Reporting layer
ETL layer
Websites
Sales
Royalties
Financials
CRM
Inventory
External Supplier
External Supplier
07/11/2018
Influential in Publishing BI