Can you inform us about your company and IT infrastructure?

What were your needs before the project, what were your expectations as you decided to implement such a project?
CIRO BERTINELLI: Business intelligence requirements have not been addressed yet on an enterprise level. All companies were meeting their needs in different ways. Wittur Germany (Wittur Holding GmbH) was consolidating and reporting the data that came to the Holding with Hyperion and another reporting tool, whereas Wittur Italy (Wittur S.p.A.) was making analyses via a different reporting tool. Wittur Turkey (Wittur Asansor Ltd.), on the other hand, was using Discoverer, Oracle BI's former version, and some improvements were required at this point, too. Other solutions used within the group did not include interface and data warehouse together. And this caused unnecessary workload at user and IT sides. All companies used to transfer data from Excel to a Web interface to notify the Holding about their month end / year end data, and this caused unnecessary workload. The fact that data were submitted to the Holding management at the end of month was prolonging the time to make a decision. The pilot project carried out to improve the solution at Wittur Turkey was broadened in terms of scope and executed with Wittur Italy. Test data from both companies were used for the analyses. This three-day work gave hope to all of us about possible future actions and reinforced our belief in the requirement for an enterprise business intelligence application.

How was the solution process experienced?
EBRU GADIS: After the need for business intelligence has become clear, a solution that was most appropriate for current IT infrastructure and business requirements, and provided an acceptable total cost of ownership was sought. All basic and critical features desired, and priorities were determined. In addition to Wittur-specific requirements, capabilities such as metadata management, development, workflow, reporting, dashboard, instant inquiries, ERP and office applications compatibility, advanced visuality, and analysis were also evaluated separately. International companies that could offer solutions to Wittur regarding this issue were contacted. Their products were tested. For those products that could not be tested, data from consulting firms or vendors were used.

Which Oracle technologies did you use and why did you decide in favor of Oracle technologies?
EBRU GADIS: After detailed comparisons and tenders received for business intelligence application, the conformity of different solutions to predefined criteria was re-analyzed in detail, and the Oracle BI Enterprise solution was deemed as appropriate. Experiences gained through the utilization of Oracle Discoverer at Wittur Turkey also played an important role in this decision. In line with the decision made, Oracle BI Enterprise was used in central server, Oracle BI Standard Edition One at local servers and Oracle DB 11g Standard for data warehousing across all Wittur Group servers. ETL-based Oracle Warehouse Builder (OWB) was used for collecting data from operational systems in local servers, whereas Oracle Data Integrator (ODI), an ELT tool, was used for collecting data from local systems in the central server. Besides, a small application was also developed on APEX (HTMLDB) to enter budget data easily and enable vendors to enter their month end data. Due to their experience in business intelligence solutions, strong references, capabilities observed during pilot projects and the sensitivity they developed towards Wittur's expectations, we preferred Kora and Oracle for project consultancy and installation.

What are the phases of the project, what are your expectations, and what kind of benefits and advantages have you achieved until now?
CIRO BERTINELLI: The business intelligence application at Wittur was designed in two phases basically. The first phase is a reporting system which could only be viewed by executives within the limits of their authority. It mostly examines "What happened?". Operational systems and processes are expected to improve, and the first phase is planned to be completed by the end of 2009. The second phase is a step where analyses such as "Why did it happen that way?", "What can happen in the coming days?" will be made, and we think that in 2010 these analyses will start. We expect this phase which will allow advanced analyses to be an important decision support tool for Wittur management. Business intelligence is an incredible tool. If you have useable data, you can do whatever you want with that data. If you know what you want to see in reports, if there is an employee or consultant who knows where you can get this information, the rest is finding a competent solution partner.

EBRU GADIS: The project started with sales reportings. Other functions such as purchasing, manufacturing and finance also wait impatiently for making their own global reportings in a similar way. Meanwhile, companies prepare their local reportings. As reportings spread among local companies, user requests change, too. For instance, since the first phase has been completed for the Discoverer implementation at Wittur Turkey, supplements to current reports, more detailed analyses and projections are demanded.

KENAN PAMUK: The Wittur project team consisted of IT employees who knew the processes and operation of the organization very well, and this was very helpful for a successful project execution. Since the team was involved in the whole process from the start and received hands-on training during the project, a competency group was created inside Wittur Holding. We think that existence of such a team that can transfer operational changes into business intelligence application, support other companies of the group and backup each other is an important gain of the project.

EBRU GADIS: As a result of such a project, you know more about all data generated in your company, possible deviations and operational changes. Although we knew the sensitivities in the company's information flow, there were times when we learned about operational changes and improvements realized by users in parallel with operation only through data patterns during the project. After the data generated from operational systems in which executives utilize only the results and do not take any action are viewed as understandable reports, you reach an operational system in which mistakes are reduced, data is refined and simplified. Wittur Turkey has achieved such dynamism with Discoverer years ago. Now, all Wittur companies whose data are reported in the project have entered a more dynamic and productive course.

How do you evaluate customer satisfaction?
EBRU GADIS: The project has to offer solution for all Wittur companies in 21 countries, but the infrastructure was insufficient. All Wittur companies were not on a single Wittur network. For some of those who were on the Wittur network, there was not enough bandwidth for required data transfers. On the other hand, due to geographical conditions, companies with weak connection quality also had to participate in this initial project.

The architecture and phases which had to be formed under these conditions were prepared carefully beforehand by Mr. Bertinelli. When the fact that Oracle BI Enterprise offers solutions compatible with this architecture combined with Kora's experience in similar issues, the resulting project was very successful technically. In reporting and data warehouse parts, there are easy-to-use and flexible functions such as "drag and drop." Active graphics also reinforce user experience. With visual applications provided on the data warehouse side, you quit working totally on database and move on to a more manageable structure. As a result, we are happy to work with Kora and Oracle technologies.

CIRO BERTINELLI: Installations and data warehouse settings were realized in three weeks with the Kora team and Wittur employees from Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and Turkey at the working environment set up in Wittur S.p.A. During this term, the Wittur team received hands-on training, and a data collection model for these 5 countries was determined. Report and dashboard designs were carried out by the Kora team at Wittur Turkey. In all these works, Kora performed with a unique business discipline and professionalism. As a result, today, data from Germany, Austria, China, Spain, Italy and Turkey are updated every morning without the need for any extra effort on the IT side and offered for use by the management.

"The fact that Oracle Business Intelligence solution provided via Kora's wide know-how and experience is to be used in 21 countries within Wittur differentiates this project. We are proud that in all these countries all consulting services are offered by a business partner in Turkey."
ERSOY BAYRAKTAR, Oracle Technology Sales Director

ORACLE TECHNOLOGIES USED IN THE PROJECT
Oracle Database
Oracle Warehouse Builder
Oracle Data Integrator
Oracle BI
Oracle BI Publisher
Oracle Application Express

ABOUT WITTUR
Owning manufacturing and sales units in several countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America including Turkey, Wittur produces all kinds of elevator parts. Using different ERP systems and reporting tools in different countries, Wittur used to have some problems such as lacking reporting standards, having different reporting structures in each country and consolidating reports only at the end of month. Besides, there was a need to enter budget information into a central system and report it by comparing to real values using business intelligence reporting system. For Wittur's budgeting, reporting and business intelligence requirements, Kora and Oracle devised a solution. This solution was implemented in pilot countries Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and Turkey.