Sagent Technology has established a new unit charged with developing Web-based data analysis applications. The new group will be headed by analytics expert, Dan Feldman, former CEO of Abacus Concepts and co-creator of StatView, a top-selling data analysis software package.
Feldman will oversee the creation of a new class of browser-based data analysis tools. These applications will enable decision-makers throughout the enterprise, from sales and marketing to finance and human resources, to go beyond currently available, simple query capabilities and ask more sophisticated – and meaningful – questions about their business data.
While business intelligence systems such as data warehouses and data marts provide users with access to business data, this information is most often presented in raw form, from which managers must frequently draw their own conclusions. Other tools available for performing more complex analysis are designed for trained experts, distancing business managers from critical information such as trend analysis and forecasting that they need to make informed and timely business decisions.
Through the Sagent initiative, the company plans to bring these more sophisticated capabilities to a new class of user, providing decision makers throughout the enterprise with Web-based point-and-click access to business analysis. "Our goal is to demystify data analysis and make these capabilities available to the people on the front lines of business change," says Feldman. "By providing data analysis tools through an easy to use graphical user interface, we want to enable users to analyse and interpret the results of their own business data.
" The data analysis initiative is a key component of Sagent's strategy to deliver the industry's most comprehensive, end-to-end system for business decision support. The new tools will expand on the company's current toolset, which includes Sagent Statistical Calculator and StatView for Sagent, and allow business decision makers to quickly and easily analyse information and, as a result, make more effective and timely business decisions.