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Experience: What I bring to the table is 12 years of experiences gained from being an independant consultant focusing on the hyperion suite of products.  While my skillset is focused primarily on the hyperion suite of products, not every problem is best solved by using a hyperion product.  I can provide valuable guidance as to the best methods for ETL transformations, data loading and migration.  Just because a hyperion module can do something is not necessarily a reason for its use.

In designing my reporting systems, I pay particular attention to:

• productionization: does the proposed design make sense.  Will it work in essbase and provide the necessary reporting.  Can the ETL be automated on both the inbound and outbound side of the equation?
• scalability: as the model grows over time will it perform in a reasonable processing window?  Is the system going to be responsive to end users requests?
• maintainability: are all possible manual transformations eliminated? 
• cost effectiveness: are only the necessary licenses being purchased?  Are modules purchased that will never be used?
• fit within customers infrastructure: If the system is going to be maintained by IT does it make any sense for ETL to be performed with the hyperion application link?

All of my services carry a little more weight than hiring someone from a vendor due to the fact that I am an independant consultant.  The following motivations do not exist:

-getting more consultants staffed on the project

-selling additional features that are not required

-forcing the use of vendor tools because that's what the product offerin

St. Louis based resources for all facets of Hyperion Implementations.  By choosing a local resource, you can immediately save 30%.  In addition, by going direct with

Software acquisition consulting:  I can provide a third party assessment as to which hyperion components are required for your implementation.  Much time is wasted in a project trying to purchase required components that were not purchased when the project started.  I can also save you significant $$$ and time by ensuring that when your project starts, you are using the best overall solution for ETL, data migration, and reporting.  (some Hyperion Modules sold are never used and other times, required Hyperion components are not purchased )

Resource Staffing / prequalification of potential candidates: If you're looking for a short term consultant (part time, 1 day - 6 months) or a full time employee, I can provide you with the needed resource.  If you think you have found the right resource but would like to have someone test their Essbase expertise, I can interview them for you and let you know the techinical qualifications of this individual. 

Training: Take advantage of local training.  I have held 5 day Essbase bootcamp courses in St. Louis in the past.  Training is now performed on site at customers locations in St. Louis.  I am now using different material which allows the delivery of a totally customized training experience.   Some examples include, end user spreadsheet, developer excel VBA, API, Essbase administration, etc..  You choose the duration and topics to be covered.  In addition, by hosting a St. Louis training session, you could get some of your employees trained for free.

Project feasibility analysis: This includes a review of everything from your server hardware to the design of a prototype application.  If you haven't noticed yet, software vendors are very hesitant to provide hardware recommendations.  I can provide you with real facts based assessments of your environment.

I have produced proof of concepts in the past when vendor competitive bids are evaluated.

Lead architect:

Customer service:  I have seen some scary things in consulting.  From questionable sales practices to failed projects, I can help ease the pain of expectations not being met.  Usually the first week or 2 on a project, I spend my time resetting expectations that were set during the sales cycle or proof of concept phase.

Infrastructure review: This includes reviewing the hardware environment all the way to what hyperion components are actually purchased.

 I am qualified to provide the following services.  If I am not available, I have contacts with some really strong independant consultants that can also get the job done.

Through the past decade I have picked up some important skills that facilitate the successful implmentation of hyperion projects.  These include using the proper blend of third party tools with variuos hyperion components.

Lead architect:

Proof of Concept

Creating request for proposals:

Staffing: You might have noticed it's hard to hire experienced Essbase administrators or planning administrators.  It actually makes more sense to self train this type of skill set.  I provide knowledge transfer both during and at the end of projects.  For clients I even create libraries of screencam movies to illustrate technical solutions so they can be reviewed long after I have left the project.

Training:

Project management:  having been through 12 years of Essbase consulting and 6 Hyperion Planning projects, there is a lot I have seen.  While there is always more to learn, I have been able to identify major obstacles that must be overcome for these types of projects to succeed.  This has also allowed me to work with other consulting resources and develop a network of senior olap consultants that I can bring in to supplement the project team.

Prototype / feasibility analysis: to ensure a healthy return on investment, it's essential to validate model design and architecture before it's too late.  I have identified multiple instances where olap technology was architected to perform a function that was not possible.   While Olap has it's advantages, it is not the solutoin for every project.  It's important to be able to say no, not every project is right for Essbase.  Each technology has it's strengths and it's important to understand the strengths of the many technologies out there.

Database tuning / optimization: Essbase is an especially complicated product.  The mere click of a mouse can result in over an hours difference in consolidation time.  I can guarantee your Hyperion Planning project will not be a success if your Essbase is not properly tuned.

Automation:  There are currently too many Essbase models out there that are being manually maintained.  Every morning some gets to work early to get the processing started.   In addition, there are quite a few Hyperion Planning models out there that are also currently being manually updated.  These functions can easily be automated and even email notification of completion can be implemented at no additional cost.

Training End User and Administrator:  A forgotten measure of success for a project is how easily the customer can take ownership.  Knowledge transfer and training are an essential criteria for a successful project.  Having taught Essbase for four years and consulting for 10, I have gained insight as to the best methods and what to include for this type of training.

Upgrades:  Upgrading your software is no easy feat these days.  With Essbase patches coming out every 9 weeks, and new versions every year or 2, it's important to have someone to call to find out when a version or patch is stable enough to warrant your migration of your production systems.  When you are weighing the benefits of upgrading it's important to fully understand the new features that will be available and how your company might be able to benefit from them.  In some cases, given your hardware environment, these features might not result in any savings at all.