Putting Users at Orange in Touch
with Their Data

A solution based on Microsoft© Analysis Services™ and Geac© Decision™ to deliver financial analysis, benchmark performance and track KPIs. Orange plc provides an array of personal communications services and other digital cellular telephone services. Orange is Europe’s second largest mobile operator, with over 12.2 million customers in the UK, 16.6 million in France and 37 million controlled customers worldwide.

Background

After being acquired by France Telecom in August 2000, Orange moved to adopt France Telecom’s existing reporting solution, including its financial consolidation system. However, the latter’s data schema was considered unsuitable for a mobile telecommunications company. Additionally, senior management at Orange recognised the need to develop a decision support solution from data stored in their Carat™ system which could provide improved financial analysis, benchmark performance and monitor key performance indicators.

Why M2bis

Given the wide range of decision support solutions and vendors available, Orange were keen to identify an integrator who could assist them in the evaluation, selection and subsequent deployment of the new solution. After appraising the marketplace, Orange chose M2bis based on the following criteria:

• M2bis could provide the required support to review and select a solution.
• M2bis had an extensive knowledge of the available solutions and their strengths and weaknesses.
• M2bis had a demonstrated track record in implementing Business Intelligence Solutions.
• M2bis offered support for the project’s requirements, without the need to involve multiple consultancies.
• Orange believed that M2bis’s input would enable them to more rapidly select a solution and deploy it in the optimum possible time.

The Project

Martin Draper, Director M2bis, worked as an integral member of the Orange team, fully supporting every stage of the selection and implementation process.

Product selection

M2bis assisted Orange in developing a program to review potential solutions, understand their technical architecture and clearly identify each solution’s suitability to Orange’s requirements. After careful consideration, Microsoft© Analysis Services™ was chosen to provide the solution’s foundation. Geac© Decision™ allows all users to access and manipulate the data.

Audit

M2bis assisted Orange in performing a thorough internal review and audit of user needs, technical infrastructure and integration requirements.

System Design

M2bis designed and presented the system architecture, set-up, development environment, hardware, data flow and data warehouse before implementation began.

Implementation

M2bis implemented the chosen solution, developing the new decision support system and integrating it with the existing France Telecom consolidation system.

Training

M2bis provided complete training to enable Orange staff to fully understand the multi-dimensional and relational components of the proposed project, delivering the Microsoft© official curricula on these parts.

Data Warehouse

M2bis designed and implemented the data warehouse development and transfer of data from the Carat™ system. They developed the data warehouse schema on which the cubes could be built.

Cube Development

Orange staff completed most of the cube development after receiving the appropriate training. Some cubes required complex MDX calculations, which M2bis designed and implemented.

Front-end

Orange personnel completed the design and development of the front-end.

Benefits to the Client

Fifty of Orange’s senior management and Board of Directors now have access to the information they require, using the new decision support system. Today, decisions are made using the right data, with no doubt as to its accuracy.

“Inefficiencies and inconsistencies have been eliminated and the paper trail has effectively been removed from the process,” states Mark Wright, Senior Systems Developer – EIS, at Orange.

Benefits of working with M2bis

In M2bis, Orange found an invaluable partner who could successfully conclude their project. Not only does the relationship remain strong but Orange are now planning further projects with M2bis as their integrator of choice, as they can:

• Offer the expertise necessary to successfully implement a complex decision support solution.
• Assist in the selection process; perform an internal audit of requirements and product training on the chosen solutions.
• Provide the reassurance of working with an organisation that can perform professionally and to budget.
• Be flexible.

“M2bis helped us along the way. We were able to contact them with very individual ad-hoc queries at any time. Because of their broad area of expertise, they were able to quickly find solutions to these queries,” concludes Mark Wright.