An embedded BI success story: Integrum takes its integrated Risk & Compliance Management solution and Yellowfin to over 40 countries

As Integrum CEO and founder of the Integrum Group, Beven Schwaiger, put it: Integrum is the ’overnight success story’ 16 years in the making.

But, as Schwaiger explains, things have really taken off in the last few years since Integrum integrated Yellowfin’s Business Intelligence (BI) solution into its Quality, Health, Safety, Environment (QHSE), Risk & Compliance management system.

Speaking at Yellowfin’s annual BI and analytics conference, Think Tank, Beven’s Taking your embedded BI to market presentation shared Integrum’s experience in taking Yellowfin to market, within a deeply integrated system, which is now used in over 40 countries worldwide. Integrum is now widely regarded as the most comprehensive risk, compliance and business optimization platform available today, with over 200,000 licensed users, many of who come from Fortune 500 companies such as Coca Cola Europe, Jetstar Group and Westfield Group.

Taking your embedded BI to market

To read the official Yellowfin – Integrum media release, GO HERE >

To download the full Integrum Management Systems – Yellowfin case study, GO HERE >

Download Integrum’s Think Tank 2014 presentation slides HERE >

Integrum’s Think Tank 2014 interview transcript

Beven, it’s your first time at Think Tank. What are your impressions so far?

“I’m excited by it. I think the energy that has been generated by the attendees, and they’re coming from all over the world, is fantastic.”

Your presentation discussed Integrum’s journey in taking its embedded BI module to market. So what were some of the most important sales, marketing and technical lessons learned?

“What we learned, and what I communicated in this morning’s presentation, was that it depends on how you want to embed BI into your application, which will then determine how you market it.

“For example, are you going to white label Yellowfin when you integrate it into your app, so it effectively becomes part of your own product – which is what we do with Integrum BI? Or are you going to have it as an add-on [which you may charge your customers for separately], or are you going to do a hybrid – a combination of both?

“These factors will determine how you market it, and how deeply you integrate it into your application, in terms of administration.”

Can you offer some examples of the marketing approach Integrum took?

“[Because of] the excitement going on in the marketplace around the growth of Yellowfin, worldwide, there was an opportunity for us to piggyback on that. [As a result], we sort of backed away from a full ‘Integrum BI’ module [in regards to branding], and went for a hybrid option. So yes, it is deeply embedded within Integrum’s QHSE Risk & Compliance solution, but [we also made it clear that we were leveraging] a world-class BI system, which is Yellowfin.

“That [arrangement] allowed us to have the best of both worlds. We could demonstrate the best practice reports, dashboards and techniques that Yellowfin provides [its partners], while mixing it with our own [industry relevant best practices] as well.

“The message now, and what we say to our clients, is that: ‘yes, Integrum BI is deeply embedded – so you have one administration point controlling user groups, permissions, etc – but it is powered by Yellowfin, which is a world-class BI system that is winning awards and industry recognition worldwide.’”

For anyone out there thinking of integrating reporting and analytics into their existing applications and processes, what’s the first piece of advice you’d give them?

“The advice is; step back and think [about] how you intend to see the application once it’s been embedded. How’s it going to look? How’s it going to [be embedded]? That will determine your [marketing] messages, it will determine the skills you need in-house, and how much effort you will need to put in – even though it’s an easy application to integrate.

“[The outcome you want, and the way in which you intend to position that final software platform,] still requires you to think about… the integration process… and what you want to achieve [from a business and technology point of view] after that process [and into the future]. This will determine your decisions on [the type of] skills you need [to make your integrated application a success].”

The BI market is a pretty crowded place at the moment. So why did Integrum select Yellowfin as its embedded BI partner?

“It’s a great question. The answer to that is: Yellowfin’s business model suited our business model, and its ease-of-use.

“At the time, two and a half years ago, we were looking at a number of BI systems in the marketplace. Their business models were extremely complex in regards to the licensing model – very restrictive. [Furthermore], our business model is based around a consumer model – so unlimited users that can see our system. Therefore, we needed something that could mirror that approach, without being overly expensive. [We needed a BI solution that] wouldn’t prohibit [the breadth of functionality and data analysis users could access], from a dashboard or a report, or even a PDF of a report.

“So, put those two things together, plus the ease of use and the culture fit, we’ve had a high level of comfort working with Yellowfin over the last two years. [As a result, we’ve sold our] combined applications into over 40 countries – many of which are Fortune 500 companies.”

Can you elaborate on the journey that has resulted in Integrum being distributed in over 40 countries?

“Yeah I can, it was an overnight success story that took 16 years. So, it’s been a long journey. But that journey has been significantly faster over the last two or three years. We’re now being constantly recognized as having one of the top three products in the world for fully-integrated management systems. It’s like a mini ERP in the fact that all the functionality is available that allows a company to perform a lot of operational management in the one application. Add to that a BI system – that allows you to now cut, slice and dice the information being captured, as well as information you can add from third-party sources – then you’re really looking at an application that really is world-class.

“So our reach has grown organically. And whilst we do use partners around the world, to help us provide support and drive sales, most of that’s been direct. So some of our global clients include Coca Cola Europe, Jetstar – which puts us into 17 countries alone, and Westfield Group globally. These are large brands that then give us penetration globally.

“We still support it [Integrum] predominantly out of Australia, in conjunction with those global partners that can provide local support if required.”

About Yellowfin embedded BI

Discover how to embed Yellowfin into your application today.

About Integrum

Integrum Management Systems owns, sells and delivers a fully integrated QHSE, Risk & Compliance management systems solution. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Integrum is widely regarded as the most comprehensive risk, compliance and business optimization platform available today. Integrum has over 200,000 licensed users across more than 40 countries.

Integrum delivers a management system that is functionally rich and highly configurable, assisting organizations of all sizes, and from all major industries, to streamline processes and accelerate growth.

Integrum software is used for:

• Managing incidents, occurrences and actions
• Conducting investigations
• Conducting risk assessments
• Managing controlled documents
• Scheduling and conducting audits and inspections
• Managing contractors and suppliers
• Facilitating employee training, inductions and competency assessments

Integrum clients range from Fortune 500 companies – such as Coca Cola Europe, Jetstar Group and Westfield Group – through to medium and small enterprises.

Importantly, Integrum also offers a fully integrated world-class, BI reporting system. Integrum’s rich BI solution provides a full range of reporting templates to create reports, graphs, tables and dashboards, enabling clients to track their data in real-time, no matter where they are. For more information, visit www.integrumsystems.com

About Beven Schwaiger, CEO and Founder of the Integrum Group

Beven Schwaiger is a Risk & Compliance specialist, with over 28 years experience as a lawyer and management consultant, specializing in due diligence and compliance systems for QHSE management systems.

Beven has assisted global organizations in implementing integrated risk and compliance management systems in accordance with international standards in Australia, North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

As founder of the Integrum Group, Beven has been at the forefront of software technology development in the area of integrated management systems for the last 18 years.

About Think Tank

Think Tank is Yellowfin’s annual BI and analytics conference.

Think Tank offers outstanding learning and networking opportunities, with two days of best practice and case study presentations, as well as technical training seminars.

Sessions run across multiple dedicated streams, tailored to your needs. Whether you’re a user, software or reseller partner, or just someone searching for in-depth insight from industry experts, Think Tank is for you.

• Actively participate in interactive training sessions to boost your Yellowfin skills
• Hear from industry thought leaders and discover how to harness the future trends of the analytics industry
• Learn about proven Yellowfin and analytics best practices
• Network with your peers and explore successful BI use cases

“Think Tank is a tremendous opportunity to share in our joint experiences, underpin our future successes, and better understand how BI and analytics can help achieve your business goals”

About Yellowfin

Yellowfin is a global BI and analytics software vendor passionate about making BI easy. Founded in 2003 in response to the complexity and costs associated with implementing and using traditional BI tools, Yellowfin is a highly intuitive 100 percent Web-based reporting and analytics solution. Yellowfin is a leader in mobile, collaborative and embeddable BI as well as Location Intelligence and data visualization. For more information, visit www.yellowfinbi.com