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What business problems can V4 solve? What is multidimensional functionality? Can V4 handle complex financial analysis and reporting? Does V4 use a rules-based methodology? What resource utilization can we expect from V4? Can we outsource V4 and use it on an as needed basis? What will knowing V4 do for my resume? How do I get more information?
V4 is an Enterprise
Application Integration (EAI) solution that enables business
users to perform robust forecasting and strategic data
analyses on enterprise data, independent of platforms,
database systems or other data sources. Using business
intelligence, multidimensional processing and knowledge
management functionality, V4 analyzes data in an unlimited
number of dimensions, creating "what ifs" and performing
"drill downs" for more specific information. Operating as a
single point of connectivity, V4 seamlessly integrates large
volumes of data throughout the enterprise, including ERP
systems, customized legacy applications, data warehouses,
e-commerce processes and other data sources.
2. Who is a typical V4 customer? A typical V4 customer is any
large multinational company with voluminous amounts of data
residing in multiple databases, legacy systems, data
warehouses, client server environments, Internet, and
e-commerce transactions. The V4 product can be used across
multiple industry types. Companies, who have recently
implemented an ERP or those who have one installed,
typically realize the need for integrating enterprise data.
These companies are looking to bring together disparate data
and are prime candidates for V4.
3. What business problems can V4 solve? V4 operates on the desktop and includes a complete set of statistical formulas, which can be applied to support any level of complexity needed to assess the demands of multiple industries. The V4 results are presented in an easily customizable business model and format that is familiar to most business users; a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that is expanded to incorporate additional V4 commands. Enabling corporate decision makers to quickly analyze extensive and historical business data, and creating "what if" scenarios, V4 is used in a variety of enterprise-wide applications that include:
V4's uniqueness is in its ability to provide contextual processing which enables the V4 user to research and access data similar to the way people think and reason about that data. V4 interprets requests and data according to the requestor. For example, year-to-date might mean seasonal to a marketing manager, and fiscal to a financial person. The role of contextual processing in conjunction with multidimensional functionality allows users of V4 to elegantly solve many complex strategic data analysis problems.  The diagram above represents two disparate systems. Each references a data field named "year-to-date." For system A, "year-to-date" may be defined seasonal, and for system B it may be defined as fiscal. V4 can reside between these two systems and translate the value appropriately for each system's context. The contextual processing
capability inherent in V4 enables users to think
conceptually about the problem, not about how data is
represented and stored.
5. What is multidimensional functionality? V4 is based on the concept of
multiple dimensions. A dimension is any type of concept or
view that you may wish to represent. For example, some
typical enterprise dimensions are time, measures, products,
geographical regions, sales channels, etc. Multidimensional
views, unlike traditional two-dimensional views are much
less restrictive for data access, and provide the essential
foundation for analytical processing and strategic decision
analysis. V4 operates a virtually unlimited number of
dimensions. Its multidimensional functionality offers users,
the ability to analyze data across any dimension, in
context, and at any level of aggregation quickly and
easily.
6. Can V4 handle complex financial analysis and reporting? V4 is the ideal solution for
complex financial analysis and reporting. Multiple
dimensions (variables) can be defined for company,
department, profit center, general ledger account, forecast,
budget, currency, etc. Reports for any combination of
dimensions can be easily generated. New budgets can be
quickly formulated with general rules and filled in by
departmental users with specific facts. Different revisions
can be maintained. "What if" analyses can be developed and
then run on any subset of the data. Enterprise data from any
number of sources can be evaluated and V4's financial
analysis functions can be applied for comparison and
optimization. All statistical formulas and algorithms are
included within the V4 internal modules.
7. Does V4 use a rules-based methodology? V4 incorporates facts, rules,
and procedures seamlessly in order to provide the high level
of integration needed to answer real world inquires. It is
no longer sufficient to simply report back on data or sums
of data; financial, statistical, and industry specific
models. V4 employs human reasoning supported by a
rules-based model for complex and strategic data
analysis.
For the business user, V4 operates at the desktop level, with Microsoft Excel, a tool that is familiar to most corporate users. MKS has enhanced Microsoft Excel by supplying more robust functionality on the form of drop down windows, giving Excel users the ability to bypass Excel's row and column limitations. Macros are be used to guide users through any necessary setups. Specific routines can be easily incorporated into the Excel menu structure. Users can perform what-if analysis and drill-down operations directly from within Excel. For the developer, the V4
product incorporates an underlying structure of
multidimensional functionality, contextual processing and
knowledge management in order to access data. The V4
developer must be able to understand these concepts and be
able to access data stored in multiple systems, databases
and across multiple platforms. Therefore, the V4 developer
should be extremely knowledgeable, with an application
developer background, database or data administrator. Once
the data is captured the developer can interface the data
model to the Excel spreadsheet for use by the business
analysis or planner. Companies having limited IT resources
can take advantage of the MKS V4 model management program to
stay current with changing business conditions.
9. What resource utilization can we expect from V4? With V4, a small set of six to
ten rules has the power to collect and process large volumes
of data from many data sources throughout the enterprise.
Operating as a single point of connectivity, V4 seamlessly
integrates large volumes of data throughout the enterprise,
including ERP systems, customized legacy applications, data
warehouses, e-commerce processes and other data sources. For
example, V4 can access 50,000 records per second, stored in
a multidimensional V4 database, on an average-sized PC,
which represents a billion records in less than 6 hours.
10. Can we outsource V4 and use it on an as needed basis? Yes. V4 is procured as one of two options: (a) A software product that is installed at a prospects' location. MKS will provide implementation and training assistance. (b) As a consulting service
that can be utilized by any corporation looking for
enterprise integration, and who wants to outsource the
services as a project. In this case, the software will not
be installed at the site and MKS support services will
perform the enterprise data access. The results will be
presented in Excel spreadsheets for business users to do
"drill downs" and "what ifs" for complex strategic data
analyses.
11. What will knowing V4 do for my resume? V4 and its enterprise integration, business intelligence and multidimensional capabilities will have a positive impact on your resume, for the following reasons: The V4 solution is an
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) product. EAI is a
set of technologies that allows the movement and exchange of
information between different applications and business
processes within and between organizations. According to
International Data Corporation, the EAI market is growing at
a rate of nearly 50% a year. It is expected to total $800
million in 2011. Cross-enterprise integration directly
impacts how an organization markets and sells, leads to more
efficient production and enables companies to reposition
themselves to take advantage of new capabilities while
outmaneuvering the competition.
12. How do I get more information? Contact the MKS staff by email
at sales@mksinc.com
or by phone at 888-PICK-MKS (742-5657.) We look forward to
discussing with you, how V4 can assist your
organization. |
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MKS,
Inc. • 987 Old Eagle School Road • Wayne, PA
19087-1708 |
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