Cognos Business Intelligence: Farm Boys Fine Arts

About the Customer:

Farmboy Fine Arts (FBFA) is an integrated art and design company that develops site-specific artwork for hospitality, healthcare, retail, casinos and corporate environments. Highly creative and collaborative, FBFA’s energetic, agile team works with customers, artists, designers and manufacturers from around the globe to deliver contemporary artwork on time, and on budget – from consulting through to logistics and implementation.

Challenges:

FBFA had many different data sources, but none were interconnected. Data was not used to perform market analysis or business process planning. Their initial attempts to compile data from the various data sources to produce accurate and effective analytical reports took a significant amount of time and required the expertise of an external consultant. Without easy access to the information, FBFA were unable to determine which of their products or clients were contributing the greatest profit, which clients had the quickest or lengthiest delivery times.  It was time consuming to prepare cost and price variance analysis, forecast business revenue against product price and rate variance models.

Business Need:

FBFA required a strategy that would assist them with improving their market share, increase profitability and make informed decisions in a difficult economic environment. Certain that a strong understanding of their existing data and becoming predictive with that data was integral to better decision-making, they began a search for the tool that would deliver those results.

Business Solution:

After seeking the expertise of Raven Bay Services, FBFA selected market-leading IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 8.5 as a cost-effective, dynamic and powerful solution. Flexible, easy to install and use, Cognos BI offered FBFA a data source-agnostic approach. IBM Cognos 8 BI generates automated reports that extracts data from project, marketing and financial systems. This provides them with accurate, timely and relevant information necessary to effectively manage costs, find and focus on growth opportunities and develop a better understanding of their customers. In addition, the enhanced analysis delivered through Cognos BI reveals relationships and trends across key business dimensions, so they can see critical information in the right context – providing greater business insight and supporting more informed decisions.

“Cognos BI will enable us to be more proactive and less reactive with our business information,”says Todd Towers, President and Creative Director, FBFA. “The tools and reports will save time and company resources by quickly pulling the right information when we need it. With Cognos BI linked to our existing platforms and core information, we won’t have to search for information, and we can easily add to an Excel document to present information at meetings. We will enter our meetings well prepared to make the decisions that will move our business forward.”

Business Results:

Raven Bay built and generated FBFA’s first 12 reports, trained their users, and provide ongoing support, maintenance and training as requested. The initial reports were based on data that FBFA never had visibility to and allowed them to see their information in dimensions previously unavailable – providing them with the ability to make better, more informed decisions that will propel their business to the next level domestically and internationally. By drilling deep into FBFA’s financials and sales information, IBM Cognos BI has improved decision-making and enables FBFA to better manage their growing business.

Raven Bay and Farmboy Fine Arts share a similar approach to business. We are both very customer focused, passionate about our quality of work and concerned about our long-term relationships. It’s because of our relationship with Raven Bay that we even considered using a Business Intelligence tool. We are excited to be working with Cognos and Raven Bay. Together we are planting the seeds of business success for future harvest.

– Todd Towers, President and Creative Director, FBFA