With so many data solution options available, organizations are often strapped to find one that meets all of their needs. However, Jim Coleman, a senior executive with Accenture's Products Operating Group, explains that organizations don't have to be limited in their approach. By expanding their strategy to integrate multiple solutions, business leaders can customize and optimize their enterprise data warehouse (EDW). An expert in consumer packaged goods (CPGs), Coleman has experience working with retailers, manufacturers, distributors and direct consumer service management companies.

Jim Coleman, a senior executive with Accenture's Products Operating Group, says a centralized data solution empowers the entire organization.

Q A catchphrase for organizations today might be: "So many solutions, so little time." In other words, we hear a lot about master data management [MDM], business intelligence [BI] and enterprise resource planning [ERP], but it's difficult to implement all of these and gain full value. You are interested in integrating or centralizing solutions like these with the EDW. What does that mean to you?

A Put very simply, my high-concept approach is "think outside the box" meets "expand the box."

We typically think we can do ERP or an EDW with BI or an EDW with MDM—three boxes, if you will. Why not expand our thinking and the box? Instead of picking just one box to develop, expand the implementation to include all three solutions.

Centralizing or integrating solutions like MDM, BI and ERP with the EDW means really thinking through how the enterprise wants to run, and how management decisions that are governed by metrics and information will be aligned. It also means thinking about how well all of the various pieces of information will be brought together to yield a holistic view of how to use that data for both the good of the whole enterprise and the various components that make up the enterprise.

From my vantage point, thinking all of that through is really at the core of this issue of integration and centralization. Let me add that I do think storing data in a central place has value in and of itself in terms of avoiding redundancy of data, latency of information and disconnected data sets. But this isn't a storage issue. It's really an issue of bringing together the data, getting an organization to align around what the data measures are and how they should be used to gain insight, so the organization can make better decisions.

In other words, for optimum value, companies should expand their thinking beyond just centralizing data to centralizing solutions.

Q What are the benefits of centralizing solutions from a business perspective?

A For me, the information is everything. The challenge is, how do you pull together different solutions, or components of a solution, to ultimately yield actionable information and insight that can help people across the enterprise?

Here's a very simple analogy I like to use: Let's say I'm sitting in the driver's seat of my car, and I have access to all kinds of data—the radio station, the amount of gas, how fast I'm going and so on. Let's also say that what I'm really concerned about is when I am going to run out of gas. In that case, I don't care about the radio station at all, and I also don't really care that I just have a quarter tank of gas remaining. I only care about that measure in relation to how fast I'm going and how far I have to go, because it is the combination of all of that data that gets to the insight that I really want: How soon should I pull in to a gas station and refill my tank?

From the business perspective, my ERP might be the engine, but I don't just want engine data. I want other data too, to combine with that data into something that's useful and actionable to my organization. Centralizing applications on an EDW provides an integrated dashboard, which makes it much faster and simpler to ask questions and get answers.

While thinking about or conducting ERP projects, businesses should also be thinking about centralized data management. In the long run, doing so will lessen their pain and address key business questions. Centralization of applications—as well as data—is a key to helping businesses achieve their long-term strategies.

Q Why is consolidating these solutions with the EDW important?

A Let's say I have an ERP system that's giving me order fulfillment rates. Plus, I have third-party data that tells me what is selling in the store. Not only that, I have a distributor in between who is giving me a feed on its shipments.

Without the ability to seamlessly tie all that together, I can see that consumers are buying my product. And I can see I shipped that product. But I can't really see how the pieces of data relate—in effect, leaving me with a black hole in my business knowledge.

But if I can tie all of that information together seamlessly, I have an enormous advantage. Perhaps I'll see that there's a lag between the receipt of orders and their fulfillment because of a timing issue on the part of the distributor. Knowing that, the timing issue could be fixed. If there's then an uptick in repeat business as a result, then I've just learned something very valuable that I can use to increase sales.

Q Do you think marketplace forces—globalization, Internet, speed of technology—make such consolidation a competitive urgency?

A Absolutely. In the CPG market, we have consolidation, fewer but bigger players, tightening price margins and lack of movement in retail. This adds up to a tough competitive arena.

It also means that growth is no longer about topline sales. Integrating information to find opportunities and develop faster, smarter solutions in response to the above situation is now where there is growth opportunity.

Another interesting aspect competitively is how very large, multi-divisional organizations—which might have Company or Brand A, and Company B, and Company C, all with their own structures and sales forces—have to use enterprise information to understand what is going on across those organizations and where they come together, which, of course, is at the consumer and customer level. Seeing cross-organizational trends and patterns makes it possible to see huge opportunities for growth and cross-market sales.

Likewise, in terms of supply chain, I think many of these CPG multi-divisional organizations are starting to think about how to do more in terms of multitasking across the chain or creating promotions that integrate products from three operating divisions.

Q Are there challenges for both business and technology sides of an organization in terms of how to integrate these solutions?

A There's no way around the fact that an ERP project is a monumental task. The challenge is that in building an ERP, developers tend to think of data in the context of what's needed to make internal systems work. However, most executives don't solely use internal data but also external stimulus to make decisions.

The real questions executives want answered go beyond transactional. They aren't all that interested anymore in "Should we ship 10 boxes of product all at once, or in two groups of five?" They want more strategic information to answer questions, such as "How should we place the product vis-à-vis the competition? How should we source that product? Are we getting a competitive rate on the raw materials that go into that product?" And so on.

The business units in any organization have to own up to what their needs really are and be engaged in a dialogue with IT. They have to communicate priorities. But at the same time, IT needs to help business units understand that an ERP can be a win-win for everyone—the company, its partners and suppliers, and consumers—as long as all sides get together and try to understand each other's unique needs.

Q Can you share some examples or anecdotes from your experience in the CPG industry?

A For years, CPG manufacturers have de-emphasized retail. Now, I think, more and more organizations are realizing that the consumers actually shop at retail stores. And every consumer is different. That means that each store must be a little different.

Therefore, CPG organizations need to understand what's actually happening—consumer behavior, trends, demographics and so on—store by store. What's more, their understanding has to be at a level of detail that allows them to differentiate types of decisions by store, such as merchandising or promotional offers.

And many CPG organizations are trying to use their ERP systems to get all that store data, setting up the stores as clients or warehouses, or however they creatively handle it. Unfortunately, that's not a very efficient approach. What the CPG organizations need to do is integrate that information and then mine it and understand it much more efficiently. That's where integrating or consolidating with the EDW comes in.

At Accenture, we've done research, industry by industry, into the highest performers in the CPG field—food, beverage, personal care and so on. What we've found, time and time again, is that the highest performers do a good job of tying together the granular data to drive more insight. They focus on what the organization wants to, and should, be doing to win competitively, and they feed that focus with the insight gained from tying data together as an enterprise.

Q From your experience, are businesses thinking about the value of integrating data?

A I think CPG businesses are starting to get frustrated with too much time spent on debating whose numbers are right versus putting data into the context of problem solving and finding opportunities.

One of my C-level clients received nearly 600 reports a week! By consolidating and integrating data that had originally been spread out in disparate systems—including spreadsheets—we were able to get that down to 25 reports a week.

But the point of the anecdote is not just about getting reports down to a manageable number—although that is certainly important. It's to illustrate the value of distilling data, through integrated systems, into valuable, actionable knowledge that can be used efficiently to take advantage of opportunities and prevent problems.

Q Do you recommend EDW solutions to your clients, and if so, why?

A I do, because I believe in the power of bringing information together and a centralized data strategy is best in terms of seeing information as not only valuable, but also with helping companies align how they manage their data with how they actually think about and use their data.

To me, companies short-change their opportunities for revenue and innovation when they view solutions as an either-or proposition. Expanding solutions to accommodate and centralize ERP along with an EDW that includes BI and/or MDM is the best approach for long-term business decision making and growth. T

Sharon Short is a freelance writer who specializes in high-tech topics.

Photography by Jeffrey Ross

Teradata Magazine-September 2008