What follows is my podcast with Mark Thompson, President of OSS-im View, which is part of Creative Vistas, a provider of business intelligence software.
In this podcast, Thompson shared with me how Creative Vista's BI software is different than what else is on the market, how much money companies can expect to save with the software, a few examples/case studies, and more. Take a listen.
Listen to or download the 4:54 podcast below:
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Can you tell me about Creative Vistas and your business intelligence software?
Certainly, I'll start with Creative Vistas. Creative Vistas is a parent company of about five different subsidiaries all focused around technology, technology services, or kind of IP broadband related services. Largest is a company called Dependable HomeTech that field service deployment for major cable companies in North America. Second is AC Technical that is a security a surveillance integration company for high end corporate and government entities. The third is a company called Iview Digital Video Solutions that does video transmission and analytics. The fourth is called Dependable IT or Dependable HomeTech Call Center that does technical support and the fifth being OSS-iM View, which is a software and business intelligence organization.
How is your BI software different than what else is on the market?
Software is a unique in a bunch of different ways. It can apply to any organization but has a niche developed in kind of the field services group to begin with. Anyone that has a remote team, the software connects remote employees or technicians through PDAs, laptops, integrates that information with traditional back office information and then multiples of third party subscribes whether they be folks like call centers, GPS providers, fuel card, any of the kind of add-on information that's involved in that world.
The software consolidates all that information and then provides it in meaningful ways whether it's at executive level, balance scorecards, right down to technician detail on efficiency, productivity metrics, quality metrics, and kind of rolls the information up, slices and dices it in any way the customer wants to look at the information. And then very importantly provides it and based on a lot of exception base reporting to allow managers and decision makers to focus in on key areas and the exceptions rather than the averages and looking at extreme numbers and data.
How much money can a company expect to save with this software?
Traditionally, certainly, in the field services piece, we're going in and suggesting at the start a minimum of three to five percent and (indiscernible) improvement and that's across a long varied ways of achieving that three to five percent.
Do you have any case studies that you can share with us?
Certainly. One of the most recent deployments we did with a satellite deployment company in Minneapolis called Rudder Capital or Rudder Home Services. They put our software in kind of early this year and they've had some pretty tremendous savings in multiple ways throughout their organization. They've actually surprised the three to five percent mark through automation and streamlining the back end but also cost reductions on the front-end in savings, and materials, fuel cards, so of the minor items that add up in an organization as well as driving greater efficiency and productivity.
And then one of the key areas in that deployment type of situation is there's always quality related charge backs. If the job isn't done correctly, and if material isn't handled correctly, they can take charges back from their customer and they were able through the use of the software and the analytics to dramatically drive savings to their organization through the use of those metrics.
Is there anything else that you'd like to share with us about Creative Vistas?
I could talk for hours but I can focus on the software and the analytics. It's an exciting time to be in the industry. As the economy is still challenged in front of us, folks, companies are looking at ways to drive out better efficiency and better productivity and the cost savings. And the software comes in and almost self funds itself through providing the information to make the correct decisions to drive those cost savings throughout the organization. The information is at a glance, it's very easy, it's very utilizable at every level within the organization and it gets everybody singing off the same song sheet.
The other thing that we're finding is as we deploy the software that the purchasers are almost viewing it as a tool to enable growth going forward. So as the economy improves, the software (indiscernible) has already brought the bottom line in track. But then, it positions them for growth and expansion because now they can fewer managerial resources to spend on the back end, and allow them to chase customer needs, and provide customer service, and then grow the upside and the top line also.
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