Reynders Etiketten and Biobest Biological Systems selected as pilot projects for the SaaS Business Intelligence ERDF project

After the first selection round 2 applicant SMEs were selected as the pilot projects in the implementation of the ERDF Business Intelligence in the Cloud (SaaS) project, managed by Lessius Mechelen and element61.
 
The two selected candidates are Reynders Etiketten located in Boechout and Biobest Biological Systems from Westerlo. During a session at the BI-day of September 16, 2010 the two selected SMEs were presented. Reynders Etiketten NV located in Boechout is a family business that over the last three decades has become a leading company in the field of adhesive and roll labels. Biobest Biological Systems based in Westerlo specializes in the cultivation of bees, beneficial insects and mites for biological crop protection and pollination.
 
With respectively € 32 million turnover and 140 employees for Reynders Etiketten and € 20 million turnover and 110 employees for Biobest Biological Systems, both meet the profile of the successful Flemish SME that looks for professional Management Information to better manage the company. As both companies are internationally active in different time zones, there is a need for a 24/24 7/7 Business Intelligence solution. At Reynders Etiketten the project will focus on improved production reporting. For Biobest the focus of the pilot project is on sales reporting and analysis. The SMEs were selected on their management vision on the use of Business Intelligence, the commitment to help define the user requirements and analyses, the quality of the data and the will to integrate the resulting Business Intelligence solution into the day-to-day operations.
 
On elaborated casestudy on a first Business Intelligence in the Cloud- project at Biobest is available on our website. This Business Intelligence in an online, Software as a Service-model (Saas BI)- project also has been selected a Smart Business Casebook 2011 project.
 
Despite the belief of management in the need for Business Intelligence , SMEs often perceive setting up such an environment as too complex.

The objective of the ERDF project "SaaS BI for SMEs" is assisting SMEs in implementing a Business Intelligence (BI) SaaS platform (software as a service) to enable better business performance management and more efficient Management Information for reporting and analysis purpose. The project team is currently working with leading international IT vendors to deliver the SaaS BI platform for these pilot projects. The names of those IT suppliers will be announced at a later stage.

Why can the ERDF project on SaaS BI be of interest to SMEs :

  • Free assistance in implementation of SaaS BI within the selected SMEs. SMEs can apply for the second round of selection until 17/12/2010. Five candidate SME's will be selected for free assistance in 2011.
  • The knowledge sharing during various events and seminars.

Candidates for the second selection round can apply until 21/01/2011.

For more practical information contact: 

PROMOTOR : Lessius Mechelen - BICC
Since September 2007, Lessius Mechelen has founded the BICC (Business Intelligence Competence Center). The mission of this knowledge center is to act as an independent platform for the development within the profes­sional domains of Management Information and Business Intelligence in particular. Together with its partners, BICC organizes among others an annual BI-congress, evening sessions and online research in the field of ICT.
More information can be found at : http://bicc.thomasmore.be
 
CO-PROMOTOR : element61
element61 is a thought-leading Performance Management & Business Intelligence consultancy company. element61 currently employs about 20 consultants with an average experience of 8 years in BI, CPM and data warehousing and more than 200 man-years of experience as a team. The company actively invests in research & development in BI & PM through an internal education program, collaboration and support of academic research, and activities and sponsorship in Business Intelligence communities and networks. The company also pioneers in Business Intelligence in a Software-as-a-Service model.
 
With support and thanks to ...
The total project cost of 539.055 euro is partially financed by a 40% subsidy by ERDF, the European Regional Development Fund, 45% by the Flemish minister of Economy & Entre­preneurship, and the rest is financed by the promoter KHM and co-promoter element61.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) subsidies projects that diminish in­equalities between regions, increase competition, create employment and reinforce co­hesion between regions. The approved project situates itself in the operational program ‘knowledge-based economy and innovation'. Due to globalization, Flanders will have to appeal for its knowledge in order to survive in an international context. It's therefore vital to invest in knowledge and innovation in order to develop the Flemish knowledge-based economy and to insure durable growth and employment.

KMO-IT brings together, under one umbrella, various neutral and objective initiatives in ICT-advice to SME's in Flanders: http://www.kmo-it.be/
 

Published on

Thursday, 21 October 2010