Collins Stewart LLC: Investing in Better Business Analytics with SAP Solutions

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1 Collins Stewart LLC: Investing in Better Business Analytics with SAP s

2 2 Collins Stewart LLC Industry Banking securities Products and Services Corporate advisory, investment banking, securities, and wealth management services Web Site SAP s SAP BusinessObjects Edge Business Intelligence software, version with data integration Partner Corporate Technologies Inc. Collins Stewart LLC (Collins Stewart), a quickly growing securities firm, and part of the Collins Stewart Hawkpoint group, cites independence of thought as a primary competitive asset. While iconoclastic thinking works well in corporate finance, it s not a good basis for business analytics. That s why the firm decided to work with SAP BusinessObjects Edge Business Intelligence (BI) software.

3 3 An independent broker and dealer with an appetite for growth Collins Stewart Hawkpoint plc ( the Group ) is an independent financial services firm with primary offices in the United Kingdom and the United States. The Group employs approximately 800 people across four main operating divisions: advisory services, corporate finance, broker-dealer services, and wealth management. Each of these businesses benefits from a proprietary research process used to evaluate companies, securities, and markets. Collins Stewart competes against any number of boutique firms and financial supermarkets. Yet despite fearsome competition and daunting market conditions, the company has created new synergies across lines of business and maintained healthy profits by focusing on its strengths and avoiding conflicts of interest. 800 Employees

4 4 Reducing the drag on efficiency and profits Collins Stewart has no trouble making strategic decisions for itself or for its clients. Whether advising on mergers and acquisitions, making markets, trading stocks and bonds, or managing portfolios, the company s independent-minded bankers, brokers, and traders have helped build a solid business. However, as the firm grew, it found that cumbersome data management processes were a growing issue. Even though the underlying data was captured in an order management system, it was becoming more difficult to cleanse, sort, aggregate, and understand the heavy volume of transactional data generated every day. With an overall vision of creating a centralized data repository augmented with user-friendly business analytics Collins Stewart also sought to make more timely, flexible, and accurate reporting possible for employees throughout the firm. In addition, the firm wanted to use better data management to increase business volumes and make business processes more efficient.

5 5 A perfect fit Having decided to upgrade its database, automate data processes, and create a framework for better reporting, Collins Stewart knew it would have to invest in new hardware, software, and consulting services to achieve its goals. But IT director Leonid Shteyngardt was under pressure to keep project costs under control. Already familiar with SAP BusinessObjects solutions from a prior firm, Shteyngardt viewed a demo of SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI and concluded that the version with data integration was a perfect fit for his company. SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI is affordable and complete, he says. The software fits our needs perfectly both user-wise and dollar-wise. Usability for IT experts and businesspeople alike was a major reason why Collins Stewart opted for software. As Shteyngardt puts it: SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI allows business people to analyze data, create simple reports, and with some training create advanced reports. That s a really good selling point. On the development side, the intuitive tools and resources built into the software made a lot of sense to Shteyngardt. In addition, a modest price tag made the final decision relatively easy. After laying out the business case for senior management, Shteyngardt got a green light for the project. SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI has something for everybody in our company: good presentations, great business analytics, dashboards, you name it and all at a very reasonable price. Leonid Shteyngardt, IT Director, Collins Stewart

6 6 Putting the pieces together During the implementation of SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI, Collins Stewart benefited from the consulting services of Corporate Technologies Inc. (CTI) an SAP gold partner. Shteyngardt, whose primary skills are in database management, views CTI as the key ingredient for the highly successful deployment. Working in tandem, Shteyngardt configured a new database on a Microsoft SQL server while experts from CTI installed, configured, and tested the business analytics software. All in all, CTI professionals spent about eight days on-site. was seamless, notes Shteyngardt. We came in on time and on budget, and we were able to manage it all in a bit less than four weeks. 4-week implementation

7 7 Solving the data dilemma To upgrade its data management processes, Collins Stewart began by deploying the data integration functionality of SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI. The integration tools in the software are ideal for someone like me because I don t have to do much coding, and I can turn things around very quickly, says Shteyngardt. The delivery time is much shorter than it would be if we hired a code writer to develop a program. And the data integration software has great versioning control, deployment capabilities, and a fully functioning extract-transform-load tool, so it allows you to deliver solutions to the business very quickly using simple but robust tools. Collins Stewart also deployed the querying and reporting tools within SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI to help the company s business users get answers to their questions with little or no support from IT. The software s intuitive querying and analysis functionality made a great deal of sense for our company, says Shteyngardt. Our users really like the drag-and-drop reporting functionality, and the ease of use seems to empower our people. Our people now get the information they need in a matter of minutes. Leonid Shteyngardt, IT Director, Collins Stewart

8 8 Reaping the rewards With the data integration functionality in its SAP software, Collins Stewart has been able to achieve a number of important benefits. One key result is the ability to aggregate security trading data, bundling a day s worth of buys and sells, computing a net transaction amount, and passing this figure to the clearance house. With significant daily transaction volumes, this has resulted in substantial cost savings per year. This one little success story very quickly paid for SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI, myself, and even a new IT hire, quips Shteyngardt. Collins Stewart has also been able to improve the way it analyzes its businesses, customers, revenues, and expenses. The software is extremely comprehensive, notes Shteyngardt, but it s also user-friendly. Our business users can quickly create reports that are far larger and more complex than our previous systems could handle. The ability to send operations reports more rapidly has also resulted in better business performance. The turnaround time from receiving initial data files to getting an automated production report is literally a fraction of what it used to be, observes Shteyngardt. We can now adapt our tactics very quickly and stay ahead of the competition.

9 9 Collins Stewart LLC Keeping a step ahead Looking to further their accomplishments, Shteyngardt and his associates at Collins Stewart are currently taking steps to implement the dashboard functionality of SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI software. With enhanced user-created reports and new insights into business performance, Collins Stewart intends to continue leveraging SAP solutions to sustain its enviable growth record. Each week we continue to expand and build on the foundation we ve created. In one year s time the product has quickly become the backbone of our organization and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI has become an invaluable part of our everyday business. Leonid Shteyngardt, IT Director, Collins Stewart CMP15250 (11/10)