Leading Construction Firm Automates Operational Reporting With WebFOCUS and iWay Software, Cutting Costs and Boosting Productivity Across the Organization

NEW YORK, NY (May 27, 2009) –

In the construction business, periods of economic uncertainty can hit with the impact of a sledgehammer. For The Haskell Company, one of the foremost design-build organizations in the U.S., using business intelligence (BI) and integration technology from Information Builders, an independent leader in BI solutions, helps employees track costs and improve performance at a time when every dollar counts. Haskell has discovered many advantages to using Information Builders’ WebFOCUS BI platform and iWay Software to augment its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. By implementing a BI environment that enables developers and business analysts to deliver new reporting applications quickly, the mid-sized company is increasing its workers’ capabilities without increasing IT support costs.

“WebFOCUS and iWay have brought about a dramatic shift in our ability to extend operational information into day-to-day activities,” said David Ibach, manager of application development at Haskell. “In an era of economic uncertainty, having precise and accurate data makes us more credible with our clients.”

Haskell uses WebFOCUS to create self-service reporting applications for financial, payroll, and project users, making it easy for them to access ERP information and transform it into richly formatted reports. These users can select run-time parameters for sorting, summation, and sub-totaling, then display the results in a variety of output formats. These colorful reports – many with drill-down links to other reports – are more visually appealing and easier to comprehend than the standard reports from Haskell’s ERP system. For example, by organizing information in workers compensation reports in a more intuitive fashion, the payroll department identified report discrepancies and received a substantial refund in its workers’ compensation premiums.

iWay Software’s integration technology is helping Haskell streamline the report-development process and improve data quality. iWay automatically enforces the security in the ERP system so the WebFOCUS reports uphold existing access restrictions.

“ERP systems help companies compete more effectively, but only if users can leverage the data to enhance decision-making,” said Gerald Cohen, CEO and founder of Information Builders. “Like many mid-sized firms looking for an edge from technology, Haskell has discovered the power of giving business users direct access to analytical information.”

Currently Haskell has more than 50 regular WebFOCUS users in the human resources and finance departments. Another 50 or 60 people use the BI software periodically. That number is expected to grow as developers open up new reporting domains. For example, Haskell is using WebFOCUS ReportCaster to notify budgetary managers when new budget-to-actuals reports are available in the WebFOCUS Report Library. Each manager gets an e-mail message with a link to view the summary report(s), which include drill downs to the budgeting system, the detail data in JD Edwards, and the payroll sub ledger for certain accounts. Additionally, Haskell plans to replace a variety of Microsoft Excel reporting applications with WebFOCUS applications to enforce consistent data management. The company also plans to use WebFOCUS to help people access and analyze information in the company’s document imaging system.

“Our philosophy is simple: get data out to the masses first, then roll it up into executive dashboards for management,” says Mr. Ibach. “By adopting a BI environment that delivers timely operational data to the front lines, people can get 80 to 90 percent of the information they need, and are far more effective in their decision-making.”
About Haskell

Haskell is America’s leading integrated design-build firm practicing in the general building and civil infrastructure markets. The company has annual revenues of more than $750 million with offices in the United States and Mexico. More information can be found at www.haskell.com.
About iWay Software

iWay Software’s integration methodology is simple: it uses a single, integrated set of graphical design tools to assemble powerful pre-built components for enterprise-class business-to-business (B2B), business process automation (BPA), or enterprise information management (EIM) integration scenarios – without the use of custom code. Integration configurations can be deployed in a stand-alone manner to any environment supporting a JVM – or to Web application servers from any vendor. iWay delivers the fastest, most cost-effective, and simplest way to integrate and streamline critical business processes. iWay Software’s vendor-, platform-, and protocol-neutral solutions achieve the promise of SOA: true reusability.
About Information Builders

Information Builders’ award-winning combination of business intelligence and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the world’s most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides the security, scalability and flexibility needed at every level of global extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical, and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users. Information Builders’ iWay Software suite provides state of the art, multi-purpose, pre-built integration components that address all SOA, application, data and information management requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading software platform providers. Together, these products give Information Builders’ customers the ability to grow and innovate according to their needs.

Information Builders’ customers include most of the Fortune 100 and U.S. federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices worldwide, the company employs 1,450 people and has more than 350 business partners.

Source: Information Builders