Chiesi Pharmaceuticals: Having implemented QlikView, we received the tool of instant answers to questions

TAdviser: Tell, please, Chiesi Pharmaceuticals works more than 5 years at the Russian market: for lifetime of local representation as use of information technologies evolved in the company? How important role is played by IT in business processes?

Yury Vasilyev: We work at the Russian market more than 7 years, and during this time the Russian representative office of Chiesi grew from scratch. Naturally, rapid growth was followed by development of a large number of new business processes which needed to be supported by means of different classes of information systems – ERP CRM databases on secondary sales, the proprietary application for maintaining marketing activities (MARS) and so on.

TAdviser: How did you come to need of creation of an analytical system? Usually it is evolutionarily preceded by a stage of implementation of the accounting systems and accumulation of a certain critical mass of data. Was this really your case?

Pavel Karasyov: Yes, development of analytics in our company went rather standard way. 7 years ago all reporting began with Excel. Gradually amounts of data in our systems and quantity of the systems from which we wanted to see analytics, grew. As well as our many colleagues on the industry, we faced a problem of the analysis of a large number of data and thought of use of the convenient BI tool for visualization and effective use of information.

TAdviser: What solutions you considered and why on the QlikView Business Discovery platform stopped the final choice?

Pavel Karasyov: Selecting a BI system, we initially considered vendors and integrators with positive experience of creation of analytical solutions for producers of pharmaceutical medicines. Speed of implementation and functionality on data visualization were the main selection terms for us.

Initially the QlikView system attracted us with the flexibility and ease of work with it of all employee categories – from the developer to the end user. Also very much impressed tools for visualization of any data types: numerous types of histograms, charts, barometers, tables, diagrams, etc. According to the results of consideration of analytical solutions, we selected QlikView as a system with ideal price-quality ratio.

TAdviser: The role of ATK consulting group and internal IT of a command in the project progress was how big?

Yury Vasilyev: We were initially aimed at independent implementation of a BI system therefore selected integrator with experience of development of solutions for the pharmaceutical companies that if necessary it could support us by target consultations. We selected ATK consulting group from quality of our partner in QlikView as the company showed the excellent understanding of our industry confirmed with a project portfolio on QlikView in 15 pharmaceutical companies in Russia and the CIS.

Pavel Karasyov: I can tell that with the choice of the partner we hit the nail. Prior to the beginning of own internal project we were trained on development and visualization of QlikView, carried out by ATK consulting group. As training took place on our real data, we could already estimate during the training a system. We received the first results from QlikView use directly during practical work on a training, having created our first QlikView application, "Sales Barometer" under the leadership of the consultant of ATC.

TAdviser: How did the project last long? Tell, please, about key functionality which was developed?

Yury Vasilyev: The project very "fresh", and functionality continues to develop actively. We bought the QlikView system in the summer of 2012, and in January of this year presented the full analytical solution developed for half a year to our colleagues at a cyclic meeting.

Pavel Karasyov: We develop the analytical solution step by step. Began, as usual, with analytics of sales. Then we developed the application according to the analysis of activities of medical representatives, efficiency of marketing investments into promotion of medicines, the analyst of secondary sales according to reports of our distributors. Besides, not only commercial and marketing divisions of the company became interested in a system – the chief financial officer analyzes data on profits and losses (P&L) in QlikView now, and in all possible cuts (on federal districts, subjects, medicines and so on).

TAdviser: This year Chiesi Pharmaceuticals awarded The Best Dashboard of 2013 nomination at Tender of Client Applications of ATC QlikView. Tell in more detail about implementation of a deshbord?

Yury Vasilyev: For creation of a deshbord we integrated data from more than 5 separate data sources: CRM given about sales from reports of our distributors, data on marketing activities from own MARS system (Management Area Resource System), data on employees and expenses from 1C Accounting. Dashboard on the basis of these data allows to receive high-level assessment of activities of the company for different indicators: accomplishment of the sales plan both across all Russia, and on federal districts and territorial subjects of the federation, investment into specific goods, cost estimation on their promotion, dynamics of accomplishment of sales plans, efficiency of sales representatives. Thus, Dashboard shows a general state of affairs, gives the chance to contain a problem, and within this QlikView application to estimate origins and methods of elimination of a problem. From interesting visualization tools I will mention geomaps – an effective method of data view on sales volume.

TAdviser: Tell, please, who is the main users of a system? Whether there is some hierarchy of data access? As far as users are free in treatment of these data? As far as a system is available to them and is clear?

Yury Vasilyev: As the implementation project of QlikView was initiated by the CEO of representative office of Chiesi Pharmaceuticals in Russia, the management of the highest level, and then and representatives of an average link – area managers became the first users of a system.

Today all staff of Chiesi anyway connected with promotion of medicines already have direct access to QlikView analytics - it is also heads of most departments (marketing, sales, on work with key clients, logistics), product managers and also medical advisers.

TAdviser: According to the results of implementation – as use of the QlikView system influenced your business? Whether you note any positive effect? Whether there were some difficulties during the project with which it was succeeded to cope?

Pavel Karasyov: Before QlikView implementation each department analyzed the existing data in own way and often measure values dispersed. Now, later half a year of commercial operation of a system, I can safely tell that we had a uniform point of view on data, "the uniform source of the truth" that not only facilitates work and increases efficiency, but also, certainly, increases efficiency of the solution of business challenges. Besides, the amount of requests in IT department on creation of new reports and unloading of data was considerably reduced.

Yury Vasilyev: For me, as for the user of the solution, the biggest achievement of the project – an opportunity to find answers to these or those questions instantly, directly during the meeting or a meeting. "What regions need more marketing support to implement the sales plan?", "As additional investments into the region will affect the general profitability of medicine?" - now on all these and many other questions I receive answers within one QlikView application in several minutes.

Today the only complexity of the project consists will accustom that it is necessary for users with new technology and yet not all employees use a system very actively. We provide trainings according to applications of QlikView for all categories of users to accelerate process of integration of analytics of QlikView into workflow, and results already please – QlikView for some employees already becomes the tool supporting work on a daily basis.

TAdviser: Whether there are plans for further development of a system on the QlikView platform? Whether you will use the solution on mobile devices?

Pavel Karasyov: In the nearest future we are going to cover practically all company QlikView analytics, involving all medical representatives (nearly a half of employees of the company). Regular mailing of uniform reports by means of a superstructure for QlikView, the solution NPrinting according to which we also cooperate with ATK consulting group will become the first step in this direction.

Yury Vasilyev: Also within a month we are going to implement in QlikView analytics of IMS given retail audit, together with data of our sales, for tracking of a market share of medicines in different regions. Besides, we develop the report on KPI for medical representatives which they will also regularly receive through NPrinting mailings, to investigate the indicators and also dependence of their bonuses on accomplishment of the plan of visits and calls.