Having the right tools to analyze and understand your business data is crucial for making informed decisions that can have meaningful, long-term impacts. To help organizations better understand their data analytics options, SWK Technologies hosted a webinar featuring DataSelf Business Intelligence (BI).
Led by DataSelf Founder and CEO Joni Girardi and Business Analyst Don Farber, the presentation explored how organizations can fast-track their BI initiatives while maintaining accuracy and efficiency. From comparing BI and ERP reporting to demonstrating powerful analytics tools, the group provided valuable insights into modern business intelligence solutions. Read on for a summary of key takeaways from the webinar, or watch the full recording to explore the features in depth, or alternatively you could…
About DataSelf (1:50 – 2:55)
DataSelf provides an overview of their company history and mission since 2005. Their focus on data warehousing and business intelligence has made them a leader in these industries for over 14 years. The presentation outlines their mission to enable organizations to quickly implement business intelligence reporting.
- Founded in 2005 (1:57)
- Focus on data warehousing and Business Intelligence began in 2010
- They have been a leader in these industries for over 14 years now
- Mission: Enable organizations to quickly and easily add business intelligence based reporting as a complement to existing app specific recording (2:09)
- Value Prop: Allow clients to better understand how, why, and where their business is growing, declining, or changing (2:45)
- With this information, they can make better and faster decisions in response
How do BI-based Reports and ERP Reports Compare? (2:55 – 7:10)
This section explores the fundamental differences between ERP and business intelligence reporting capabilities. The comparison demonstrates how ERP reports focus on current operations while BI reports provide strategic insights and future projections. Both types of reporting are shown to be essential for a complete business reporting strategy.
- ERP Reporting (3:12)
- Focuses on what are you doing right now. This includes… (3:22)
- AR Aging
- Stock Status
- Orders to Ship
- Simple Sales History
- GL Balances
- These reports can be seen as microscopic in nature (3:32)
- Operational in nature
- Task-specific
- Often transactional
- Based on raw data
- Focuses on what are you doing right now. This includes… (3:22)
- BI Reporting (3:57)
- Focuses on how you are doing, and has a lot of focus on the historical data and future projections (4:05)
- Some examples of BI Reporting are… (4:33)
- High-Risk Debt Clients
- Inventory Planning
- YoY Variance
- Cash-flow Projection
- Predictive Sales
- We can refer to these BI-based reports as telescopic in nature (5:38)
- Strategic
- Goal-specific
- Often trend-focused
- Involve sophisticated calculations
- Run in seconds
- You need both of these reporting strategies to run a successful operation (6:37)
- BI Reporting does not replace ERP reporting or vice versa – they are complimentary in nature (6:45)
A Single Version of the Truth (7:20 – 9:22)
Understanding how to consolidate data from multiple sources is crucial for effective business intelligence. This section walks through the typical BI software implementation process, from connecting to your ERP data through to delivering reports. The presentation demonstrates why having unified data sources is essential for accurate business analysis.
- Your ERP reporting, by nature, focuses on what is in the application (7:22)
- BI reporting looks not only at ERP, but into your other applications and databases (7:33)
- So, BI-based reporting is essential, but it is challenging to build from scratch (8:24)
- The typical BI implementation process looks like… (8:32)
- Connecting to your ERP (and related) data
- Cleaning the data
- Aggregating data
- Restricting access to sensitive data
- Refreshing your data
- Implementing a BI user interface
- Designing needed reports
- Running these reports
- Delivering the report
- Training users
- The typical BI implementation process looks like… (8:32)
How to Fast Track the BI Implementation Process (9:22 – 12:25)
Learn the three key steps needed to accelerate your business intelligence implementation journey. The presentation breaks down how leveraging data optimization tools, selecting the right analytics toolset, and applying KPI templates can streamline the process. These steps help achieve benefits including automated processes and instant insights.
- There are three steps in order to fast track this process (9:25)
- Step #1 Power: Leverage a data optimization tool (9:42)
- A data optimization tool has the power to transform your data – making sure it is cleansed, aggregated, and securely connected (9:49)
- Step #2 Ease: Select an Analytics Toolset (10:05)
- We need this step to be made as easy as possible (10:07)
- An easy to use user interface so business users are empowered to do ad hoc reporting (10:38)
- We need this step to be made as easy as possible (10:07)
- Step #3 Speed: Apply KPI Templates (10:46)
- You are looking for a library or collection of preconfigured KPIs and dashboards that you can use right out of the box (11:39)
- If you embrace the concepts of power, ease, and speed you end up with a BI solution that has been fast tracked and gives you the benefits of… (12:00)
- 360-Degree Business View
- Single Version of the Truth
- Automated and Streamlined
- Insights in seconds
- Data Consolidation
- Infinite Drill Down
- Natural Language Query
- Largest analytics Library
DataSelf Demo (12:28 – 35:11)
See DataSelf’s key features in action through a comprehensive demonstration. The walkthrough covers Natural Language Query capabilities, the advanced Slicer tool, and customizable dashboards. CEO Joni Girardi shows how these tools can transform business data into actionable insights.
- Overview of the Power, Ease, and Speed steps which outline the DataSelf Journey (14:27)
- One important component of the technology used by DataSelf is called NQL, or Natural Language Query (20:55)
- This is the same technology used when you go to Google.com or Bing.com and ask a question in plain English (21:08)
- As long as the data is available to be found from the question, you will be able to get an answer (21:25)
- DataSelf has the same functionality (21:45)
- You can quickly change the format of the visualization (22:55)
- Allows decision makers to, no matter when or where, the ability to integrate their data and get information (23:30)
- DataSelf’s Slicer (24:02)
- The Slicer acts as a replacement, or compliment, to an Excel pivot table (24:06)
- A challenge of an Excel pivot table is that you do not know how current that data is (24:22)
- The Slicer tool is the equivalent to a pivot table, but on steroids (24:50)
- Open the table at any point and gain access to data answers instantly (25:05)
- It is very easy to export the data from the Slicer table, with a few clicks (27:07)
- Dashboards (28:12)
- Dashboards might look busy at first, but salespeople will usually want to see a full picture of data – where they are standing this year compared to last year (28:40)
- Information can be broken down chronologically or by geographic territory (29:20)
- You can click on specific areas on a map to only show information relevant to that selection (29:46)
- You can filter even further down to specific clients in specific geographic locations (30:44)
- Dashboards can also focus on more specific categories, like High-Risk Debt Customers (33:17)
- The ability to see Cash Flow Projection and Alerts is also available (33:41)
DataSelf ETL (35:11 – 39:09)
Discover how DataSelf ETL Plus connects with various systems including Sage 100, Acumatica, and Salesforce. This section demonstrates the process of importing tables and viewing data through SQL. The presentation shows how financial data can be efficiently managed through Excel integration.
- DataSelf ETL Plus can connect to your on-premise Sage systems, Acumatica in the cloud, or Salesforce (35:22)
- Once you connect your source, you can view all the tables available for reporting (35:50)
- A demonstration on how to import a new table is shown (36:38)
- Once you are ready to view your data, it is populated into SQL, which is much faster than if you pull directly into your ERP system (37:33)
- Many accountants love to view their financials in Excel (37:56)
DataSelf Business Intelligence and Reporting Software
DataSelf Analytics transforms scattered data points into actionable strategic plans by uniting your various data points through advanced BI capabilities including data warehousing, Tableau, Power BI, and natural language queries. This powerful reporting tool, which integrates effortlessly with systems like Acumatica, QuickBooks, and Sage, shows you data through modern dashboards that can be accessed anywhere, anytime.
The platform’s interface allows users from CEOs to salespeople to easily analyze data, create “what-if” scenarios, and generate instant reports using simple English queries, similar to conducting a Google search. By simplifying and amplifying best-in-class technology, DataSelf Analytics provides business users with an easy-to-deploy solution that empowers data-driven decision-making across your entire organization.
Q&A Section (46:08 – 56:55)
Q: Does DataSelf integrate with Sage BusinessWorks? (46:16)
A: DataSelf is a generic business intelligence solution that can get data from any data source. While they do not have pre-configured templates for Sage BusinessWorks like they do for some other ERP systems, they can get BusinessWorks data into the SQL Data Warehouse, link it with other tables and data, and connect it to Power BI or Excel for automated analysis. (46:57)
Q: Can DataSelf help with linking to both Sage 100 ERP database and pulling data from SQL tables for reporting? (48:33)
A: Yes. The DataSelf data warehouse can combine data from multiple sources. It can bring in Sage 100 data (which has many pre-mapped tables) along with SQL databases and other sources like Excel or ADP data. All this data can be linked in the data warehouse and then connected to Tableau, Power BI, or Excel for analysis. (48:55)
Q: For a new ERP user familiar with both Tableau and Power BI, which one should they choose when using Data Self? (50:35)
A: If the company has already invested heavily in one of them, they should continue with that choice as both are top tools. If they haven’t invested yet, they should consult with DataSelf, as each tool works slightly differently and may be better suited depending on specific needs. DataSelf can assess which would be the best fit based on the organization’s specific situation and requirements. (51:08)
Q: Is it really possible to deploy Data Self and get meaningful analytics within a single day for a Sage 100 implementation? (53:28)
A: About half of their clients can get meaningful analytics within a day using the out-of-box solution with minimal customization. The actual deployment takes 30-60 minutes, followed by data loading which can take minutes to days depending on data volume. For more complex businesses with customizations, it typically takes days to weeks, with full customization usually completed within a month. (54:33)
Contact SWK Today
Making the most of your business data requires the right BI solution and implementation partner. Whether you are looking to enhance your current reporting capabilities or start fresh with a comprehensive business intelligence solution, DataSelf offers powerful tools to help you achieve your analytics goals. Contact SWK today to learn more about how we can help you fast-track your BI initiatives.