"Forecast": the Russian BI at the international level

TAdviser: What did the Prognoz company begin with? What became a basis of the analytical platform? The first version "grew" from the specific project, or it were the academic developments, or implementation of some commercial ideas?

Maxim Balash: The company was founded in 1991 based on department of economic cybernetics of Perm State University and the sector of forecasting of social and economic processes of Institute of economy. The CEO and the founder of Forecast - the doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, professor, the head of the department of information systems and mathematical methods in economy of Perm State University, the academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Dmitry Leonidovich Andrianov.

As the main strategy the company selected project implementation based on own software platform which it began to develop. The first version of a main product of the company - the Analytical FORECAST complex, was issued by our specialists in 1992. The platform is constantly improved and today is not inferior to world analogs, on it all solutions for clients of the company are created to this day.

TAdviser: What is offered now by Forecast? On whom a system is focused? What approximate structure of your customer base? Draw average "portrait" of your client.

Maxim Balash: We for ourselves define several main directions of business development at once. So, we are engaged in creation and implementation of information and analytical systems for all levels of public administration: federal ministries and departments, regional and municipal administrations. Along with it we offer systems aimed at increase in efficiency of the made decisions in management of medium-sized and large industrial enterprises. One of priority activities is creation of information systems for banks and financial institutions.

The main share of our clients historically is in Russia, but the last several years the company conducts vigorous foreign activity. Serious success in development of systems for clients in the USA, Europe, China, in the Middle East, in the CIS countries is achieved.

TAdviser: How, in your opinion, will the Russian market of BI develop in the nearest future? What technologies will become popular? As far as will demand, quantitatively and qualitatively change?

Maxim Balash: According to us, even in the conditions of an economic crisis development of software developments of the class Business Intelligence continues to remain relevant and demanded as in Russia, and abroad. And recently in addition to demand for traditional problems of reporting and monitoring of the current situation we feel a trend of growth of orders for more advanced analytics – modeling, forecasting, situation analysis. There are popular problems of planning and budgeting, risk management and also technological solutions on data integration and creation of data warehouses, management of NSI and metadata, to support of service-oriented architecture, development of web applications and integration with corporate portals.

TAdviser: How do you estimate a share of the Russian developments in the domestic market of BI? Whether they will be able to be equal to the western competitors on functionality, power, popularity?

Maxim Balash: The Russian developers already have recognized achievements in the domestic market of BI. So, for example, based on a research international analytical and the IDC consulting company in 2008 the Prognoz company is in the lead in the Russian market of services in creation of solutions of the class Business Intelligence.

TAdviser: Whether the Russian developers have some advantages over the western competitors in our, domestic market? Whether there are "features of the national business analysis", or these are mostly universal mechanisms and practicians?

Maxim Balash: Important competitive advantage of the Russian software developers - the high level of the knowledge-intensive developments in combination with ability to put into practice the most modern technologies for the solution of difficult applied tasks. Especially it concerns spheres of the business analysis and support of acceptance of management decisions.

Certainly, it is necessary to consider features of national economy in a current period of its development, including that the variability of the Russian regulatory base imposes the strengthened requirements to flexibility of software tools, their readiness for fast reconfiguration on new business rules and algorithms of solving of tasks. Such features are initially considered by the Russian developers at design and creation of the software. At the same time, as practice shows, so-called, "boxed solutions" of foreign producers require often long and serious modification at adaptation to the business processes proceeding in the Russian conditions of managing.

TAdviser: In what do you see competitive advantages of your company? It system advantages, or ability to do business, understanding of customer needs, or rather low cost of your solutions? What allows you "stay afloat" and win tenders?

Maxim Balash: We consider our main competitive advantage existence of own software platform which allows to perform works in the shortest possible time, to provide flexibility of solutions, optimal price relation and qualities.

One of advantages of our approach is the emphasis on tasks of the analysis and forecasting, close attention to which – a trend of the last time. We pay a close attention to scientific study of our developments, we solve problems of the analysis and forecasting of the principle "What will be if …", "That is necessary for …" at the level of the country, the region, the industry, the enterprise. Our company develops systems for foreign customers among whom there are largest international organizations, corporations, authorities. For successful implementation of similar projects we are forced to support constantly our technologies at world level.

TAdviser: What perspectives for the Russian developers independently to enter with the BI systems international market? What constrains these processes and what can promote them?

Maxim Balash: In Russia there are not a lot of software makers who are engaged in export of products abroad, nevertheless, they are.

We estimate our experience of independent project implementation for foreign customers as successful therefore perspectives of an exit of the Russian developers to international market are quite real. Now we keep projects for the largest international organizations – for the International Monetary Fund where our company became the first Russian contractor, World Health Organization, the World Bank and many others.

TAdviser: "Forecast" has 20 years' experience of creation of systems for the business analysis. Whether you could elaborate criteria of success of the BI project during this time? What is necessary for successful implementation and what steps are absolutely inadmissible and can "on a root" cross out all efforts?

Maxim Balash: In modern rapidly changing conditions of business to the forefront, in our opinion, there are such characteristics as flexibility and adaptivity of an analytical system, efficiency of implementation and support of functioning of a system. It is important to put in a BI product not only means of the analysis of the facts about current situation, but also the tools providing a possibility of forecasting of development of the situation in the future.

As for project work, from our point of view, difficulties at inattentive selection of a command for implementation of the BI project can be observed. By that who implemented and supported mainly ERP systems, as a rule, difficult it will be rebuilt under the concept of BI. In our opinion, professionals on a joint of sciences - the economists grounded in the IT sphere having knowledge of systems analysis should become such specialists. This very rare combination, but a team of such specialists it was succeeded to form in Prognoz company that allows us to provide effective implementation and implementation of the most difficult BI projects in different production areas, economies, finance.

There are also features of design of the analytical systems which not accounting can also result in difficulties at the subsequent stages of the BI project. First of all, in our opinion, it is very important to carry out complex systematization of NSI, key indicators and metrics that there was a single system of coordinates for the solution of analytical tasks. When the same indicator in different forms is called differently, confusion begins and the efficiency of analytical work decreases.

TAdviser: Whether it is possible to measure quantitatively efficiency of creation of a BI system in the company? How by what parameters you estimate implementation projects of the Forecast system at clients? Through what time after project completion normally it becomes clear whether met they expectations – at once, or in a year, for example?

Maxim Balash: Quantitative efficiency evaluation of implementation of the BI project is possible. But for this purpose, as a rule, an individual set of indicators is applied to each project though practically all from them are aimed at reflection of the effects connected with increase in efficiency and justification of the made decisions and also decrease in labor input of accomplishment of analytical work due to automation.

TAdviser: In your opinion, for what users wait from BI systems? What opportunities would they like to have? Now information systems make calculations, model, analyze, present results in the convenient and evident form. What will become the next step, quantum leap in development of BI?

Maxim Balash: In this sense technology development should be expected in the direction of increase in availability of the analytical systems to the end user. Software developers will pay special attention to providing services of access to functions of a BI system via the Internet and not only using the personal computer, but also through communicators and phones.

The possibility of interaction of users with a system for carrying out the deep analysis, including forecasting of a situation, using web technologies and modern visualization tools will be important feature of such services along with operational delivery of crucial monitoring information.