Clariba

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of strategy and excellence at a distribution company based in the United Arab Emirates. We’re responsible for providing the country with water and electricity, creating and maintaining the networks behind those services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

The main purpose of our project was to create a strategic performance management system (SPMS) to execute our strategy and monitor our performance. Before, we used a different documentation system to document and follow up on the performance of our initiatives. However, we wanted to create a much more sophisticated system, so we hired Clariba to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we reviewed several different systems, and we decided to go with the one built by Clariba, which was very user-friendly for our company. From the beginning, they provided us with a full explanation of their system and walked us through it.

After deciding on this system, we provided Clariba with our whole strategy, KPI cards, initiatives cards, historical information, and data analytics. Using that information, they designed our strategy map.

Clariba also helped us develop a master sheet that contains all the information related to our initiative’s KPIs and our strategy structure. Then, they translated that information into the UI of the system, mapping the strategy for our whole company.

The SPMS implemented by Clariba is a web platform integrated into our internal network. We’ve tried to automate some of the KPIs, creating an automated linkage between the SPMS and our internal system. However, this integration can’t automate some of the KPIs by itself.

Recently, Clariba provided training for our IT team so that we can take over the system once the contract is over. They also provided users with the training required to enter the data and start monitoring our business’ performance. Additionally, they provided us with a new version of the system free of charge, which took them around three days to implement; it was really useful.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with five people from Clariba, including people from top management and their continuous development team, a designer, a project manager, and a project analyst.

How did you come to work with Clariba?

Due to our policy, we couldn’t go with a single-source supplier, so we posted our project’s requirements and the kind of partner we were looking for. We got several proposals, but looking at the company's future, we went for Clariba because they had more future-oriented solutions.

What is the status of the engagement?

Our engagement began in the first quarter of 2019, and it's still ongoing. However, it is intended to end this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

One of the major successful results of this project is that Clariba helped us gather all the information scattered across our company into one platform. They also streamlined our process and learning system. Additionally, they taught our team how to analyze our information and Excel sheets before uploading that information to the system, ensuring that the information was clean and nothing was being declined. 

Clariba is also doing their best to share their knowledge with us to ensure that, once they leave the system on our hands, our team is fully aware of how it works and can handle the process by themselves. They don’t want us depending on them all the time, which is great. I’ve used a lot of systems from other software companies, but most of them don’t like sharing knowledge with their clients because they want them to still depend on them; that’s not the case with Clariba.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of project management, Clariba is really good. We initially agreed that they would send us the deadline agreement and the limitation plan before they started working on any part of the project. So far, they've been precise in every milestone, and they’ve always documented everything during our meetings. They're also very transparent. If there is any delay, they notify us. However, I can't recall any significant delays from their side.

In the beginning, Clariba worked with us in our headquarters, and we spent around a month just for the piloting phase. We implemented a project management system with them, and we gave access to certain people, including the administrative team.

Crashes and bugs are normal in these kinds of projects. During development, we worked closely with them to solve issues fast. We didn't launch the system until we ensured that everything was working fine and there were no bugs.

The communication between Clariba and us is perfect. We don’t have any communication issues, and every problem has been solved within one meeting. We have meetings and share emails all the time to communicate. Since we onboarded their team into our company, we don't require any long-distance communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Clariba’s team is their strength. They’ve been helpful and flexible, and they accommodate our needs — we wouldn’t have achieved our target if we had used another team. Now, our mother company is thinking about expanding the project across the whole sector. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Clariba system’s user licensing is expensive for a company like us because we want everyone to be engaged in the system. However, I heard that they're working on some kind of new pricing, and we’re hoping it's going down.

Any advice for potential customers?

Prepare your project well before engaging with Clariba. Be precise about your needs, and understand what you want to achieve. Then, engage with them, and they'll help you reach that goal.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Hochland Española, S.A. belongs to the Hochland group with headquarters in Germany and we are dedicated to the manufacture of cheese (sliced, grated, powdered and spreadable). My position within the Spanish organisation is I.T. Manager

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clariba?

Our human resources in the administrative areas are very limited and we needed to be able to access the company's key kpi's quickly, centrally and extracting the information under the same criteria directly from our SAP ERP. As our main data repository is SAP we decided to use SAP's B.I. tools (SAP Anayltics Cloud) as our B.i. solution for the generation of Dashboards. We contacted SAP Spain in search of a partner with whom we could outsource the development of our solution. We had several pre-project meetings with Clariba and after analysing their success stories we opted for them, not only because of their example but rather because of the high degree of involvement and professionalism of their project team.

What were your goals for this project?

We divided the project into three phases grouping kpi and dashboards:

• Phase-1 Supply Chain (Purchasing, Customer Services, Planning and Outbound Logistics)
• Phase-2 General and Commercial Management
• Phase-3 Finance The objective is to have instantly available all the key indicators that these areas need for a quick management of the information based on reliable data and with the same origin and criteria. This should provide them with the necessary tools for rapid decision making to support our head office and customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select Clariba?

From the beginning of the discussions, they were very clear about our needs and they guided us perfectly on how to achieve them.

Describe the project in detail.

The project initially focuses on extracting data from our SAP ERP and exporting it to the SAP Anayltics Cloud for analysis and calculation of our key kpi. This process is currently done manually with a lot of time dedication and we do not have them in real time. With this project we have achieved in the first phase to have all the indicators of the SupplyChain area in dashboards by sub-area and with verified data origin and quality.

What was the team composition?

The project team consists of 5 people: Clariba: Account Manager Project Manager BI Consultant Hochland Project Sponsor Project Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The outcome of the project has been very satisfactory, giving us access to real-time and verified indicators and data. As it has been our first B.I. project, it has also helped us to see the immense possibilities of the tool and we are already analysing the possibility of connecting it to other data sources such as Jira or MES

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication between the Clariba and Hochland teams has been excellent, even more so as we have developed the entire project virtually between the two teams during the sad period of Covid-19 that is ravaging the planet, with no delays and daily collaboration. We have held weekly follow-up meetings accompanied by progress and planning reports.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism and how highly specialized they are in this area are impressive, but above all the human treatment, seriousness, availability and professionalism of their team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

f we already have in mind other areas of improvement within the company, such as Production and Quality.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an automotive company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

We’re starting a new cloud-based project to help us use analytics internally. Clariba is assisting us with using the tool strategically and implementing the first release within the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clariba helped with our SaaS solution. The scope involved defining the governance of the cloud environment within the company. We had already identified important use cases but needed them through a production environment.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with five people, including a project lead, consultants, data analysts, and developers.

How did you come to work with Clariba?

I wasn’t involved in the selection process. I didn’t become involved until the second phase.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €71,000 (approximately $86,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2020. The production finished in December 2020, but they still assist with maintenance and training.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’re very satisfied with their services. I had a great collaboration with them. It was one of the best collaborations I’ve had with a supplier. They always found a way to get a solution.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

My main point of contact was very flexible. He ensured everything was communicated within different departments. He always had a solution for any issue. I really appreciated his support.

We had daily communications with weekly meetings. Depending on the pace of the project, we had more frequent meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their capabilities. Their investment in the project helped us achieve our goals. We were getting real solutions to our problems. They really cared about the results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The number of people dedicated to the project could improve. Sometimes the workload was too much for them, but there were no delays. Additional resources could be helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clariba’s team is very proactive. All customers must be transparent and open with their needs. If you have clear information and statements, they’re going to have a good cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a security tech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

We were looking for someone with Business Objects (BO) knowledge. We had technical problems but no internal know-how.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clariba was hired to make our BO platform more executable. We wanted to enable the exchange of our customer reports. They provided IT support and consulting services to our team.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the director of BI practices and a global operations manager.

How did you come to work with Clariba?

We found them through a former student colleague.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2019–December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Clariba supported us immediately. The BO platform is now ready for us to use.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they performed very well. It was all uncomplicated and fast. We communicated by email, and they visited us twice in person. All of their responses were fast.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed with their fast response time. Since this was a time-sensitive issue, we were helped immediately. Their consultants were very competent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had no issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would absolutely recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief of marketing and data officer at a food production company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

We were looking for solutions to optimize our warehousing system innovatively. We decided to find a technology firm that could work alongside our team to find a solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the end, we worked with Clariba on the proposal of a machine learning development. The project hasn’t been implemented, but we were looking to test options for this solution.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with two or three people, but there might’ve been more involved.

How did you come to work with Clariba?

I met one of their collaborators at a data training program. We were looking for a technology partner, so once I heard about them, they struck me as a great option.

When we met the rest of the team, we had a great connection.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $10,000–$20,000.  

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted about six months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We haven’t been able to implement the proposed solution yet. This year has been very complicated, but once we launch, I’m sure the results will be positive.

It was a great learning process. We were able to find new approaches and potentials that only having an external partner could provide.

The team is always willing to help and collaborate. It’s very easy to work with them. They’re not just focused on the business side.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through email and phone calls. The communication was very fluid. Whenever there was a slight delay, they would let us know in advance. It was a great team effort.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The transparent team at Clariba knows how to listen to their clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a QA technician at a pharmaceutical company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

We hired Clariba to assist with our automation plans.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Each year, we have a review of our products. We needed to develop a tool that would allow us to automate all of the statistics and analysis of the products. We used to do this process manually.

We needed the tool to connect to our database, analyze our products, create graphs, and more.

What is the team composition?

We work with about four people.

How did you come to work with Clariba?

Clariba’s team actually contacted our IT department themselves. When we had this project, we contacted them and had a meeting with them. Their team sent a demo, and we realized that they were capable of executing this project the way we wanted, so we decided to start working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Clariba started with them about a year ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The results were very successful. It wasn’t an easy project, and their team managed to meet our expectations completely.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

There were some delays, but most of them were due to our IT department.

Clariba’s team was available to solve any issues that would come up all the time, and they were extremely agile. Honestly, their team worked so fast that it was hard for us to deliver what they needed on time. I would’ve liked for them to give us more time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was great at detecting detailed needs for the successful execution of the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As I mentioned before, we would’ve liked them to work at a slower pace.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of the data and analytics department at a coffee product distributor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

Their team became our strategic partners in data analysis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clariba provides consulting services for our company in SAP BusinessObjects.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with two people. Depending on the demand, sometimes we work with up to five.

How did you come to work with Clariba?

We had another partner before that we never felt completely trusting with them. After elaborating on our RFP, we had three companies participate, and then they were selected in this process.

How much have you invested with them?

In the first year, we spent €50,000 (approximately $55,000 USD). After that, we’ve been spending €200,000 (approximately $222,000 USD) per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Clariba started in July 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We are satisfied with them. The results vary among different projects. For example, their team contributed to creating more efficient campaigns. The traffic analysis has allowed us to optimize banners and make buying on our website a lot easier.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve efficiently adapted to our communication tools and methods.

What did you find most impressive about them?

After collaborating with Clariba, our area has become strategic inside of our organization. We have 1,300 employees attend to support. This wouldn’t be possible without Clariba’s collaboration.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes the resources assignation hasn’t been the most accurate. However, their team has always been open, flexible, and taken care of any issues.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of a BI competency center within the finance unit of a Romanian telecommunications company. We have 3,000 employees and total revenue of around €700 million per year, and we’re part of a larger European group. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

We hired Clariba for two reasons. First, we wanted access to their expertise in the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence suite. Second, we sought insights on processes and reporting flows, not in terms of the tools we should use, but how we should organize a centralized reporting team.

Clariba had worked with our colleagues from another country that had a business model similar to ours, so we knew that Clariba could provide certain expertise in our first years of existence as a department. We wanted to benefit from the knowledge of a company that was working with a similar type of organization so that we could effectively organize reporting and analytics within the department.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Clariba assessed the way our department was organized. They provided a full set of ideas and recommendations on how to do things better, from which we developed an internal plan. They acted as consultants during this first phase of work.

Six months into our work together, Clariba assigned dedicated resources that acted as an extension of my team. They were directly involved in our work, such as automating our reporting and putting it into a more modern interface. Since then, we’ve completed around five projects related to BI and more complex reporting solutions.

During our most recent project, we upgraded our reporting suite to the latest version of SAP BI. They supported us in this effort and delivered a mobile dashboard, which we’re launching now. They will provide support in the launch phase.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked on several projects with them, and the maximum number of resources assigned to us was around four. During projects, some people changed and some remained constant. They used resources as required, depending on the project. We could engage a resource for only two hours per week, for instance. The more senior member of the assigned team would act as project manager and take care of coordination.

When more junior people were assigned to a task, they received help from Clariba’s pool of resources. For example, they have a specialized resource for UI design, when the requirement is less technical and more related to choosing the right way to publish information on a dashboard.  

How did you come to work with Clariba?

We identified them as potential partners because they’d worked with some of our colleagues from another European country. We were setting up our team back then, and our local marketing officer sought out the required resources. He recommended Clariba based on the relationship he’d had with them in a previous position. We explained what we needed, set up a commercial arrangement, and started working together.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of their services has been close to $500,000. Our last project was around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Clariba in January or February 2012 on the consulting part. Their work implementing reporting solutions started in September or October of that year. Our latest project with them ended two months ago, and they’re still providing support services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve benefitted from their work in several ways. We simplified and automated some flows that we’d been handling in a very manual way, and we’ve implemented automated flows using the tools that Clariba is an expert in. The main benefit was that we needed to do more with fewer resources in terms of full-time equivalents (FTEs), and Clariba helped us to do so.  

Clariba also helped us improve how information is propagated to final business users. They helped us create an interactive dashboard and a much more intuitive way of accessing information. The solution we implemented is fully flexible in terms of access, giving us the ability to implement a governance model for publication, plus the capacity to audit the access. This enables us to see exactly which report is used by whom and to decide further actions. We can put resources in the right places based on the actual usage of our report.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had three project managers over the years. There were some periods when things needed to move a bit slower, but we didn’t have any issues; in fact, things seemed to work pretty well in terms of project management. The model worked best when the project manager was located on our premises.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Clariba’s technical knowledge of the SAP suite sets them apart. Additionally, they have specific business knowledge related to telecommunications. The team understood the business specifics of our organization quickly. They have a lot of telecom companies in their portfolio, both in the Middle East and Europe.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had a long relationship, and Clariba has generally been very good. The main challenge was related to Romania having lower costs than the US and Western Europe, as this sometimes made it difficult to negotiate rates closer to what we could pay. After some discussions, we managed to get things closer to what we wanted.

They’re flexible in giving us lower rates or putting a mix of resources on a task. Their resources are mainly located in Spain and the Middle East, which has created a bit of a financial burden for us. Over the last year, they’ve managed to find local resources Romania, and I think they’ll make this into some kind of permanent model. However, as a company in a market with lower salary levels than the rest of Europe, this challenge is very specific to us.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should be specific about what they want to achieve to help Clariba be more efficient. I recommend working with them to define the scope and get the right business inputs from the beginning. By this, I mean involving the people actually consuming the result of the work and getting their input. The solution will be easier to implement and closer to what you need.

We provide information that is consumed by four departments of the company—enterprise, consumer, finance, and customer operations—so it was very important for us to involve the final beneficiaries.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Finance Director of the Group Financial Analyses and Management Reporting Team. My company is a global trade enabler with operations around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clariba?

We engaged Clariba with our Group Finance Dashboard project.

What were your goals for this project?

To provide a comprehensive and interactive finance dashboard for the company's senior executives. We have updated reports and key financials on monthly basis.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We compare with few vendors and select the most price-competitive and capable vendors by looking at the experiences and deliverables of the project consultants.

Describe the project in detail.

This is the implementation of the Group Finance Dashboard by using SAP BI. We focus on the accuracy of the data, we analyses historical trends for different key KPIs and have the financial results updated on monthly basis.

What was the team composition?

We have a main consultant acting as the lead from Clariba and there is other consultants/team backing him up with different aspects of the projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We are very happy and satisfied with the work done by our consultant in Clariba. He fully understands our business requirement and can actually deliver what we are expecting. He is always providing us with the best solutions and not trying to complicate the issues.

He is definitely one of the best consultants I have ever worked with in IT projects. Our project is very successfully and we have received some good feedback from our internal users. We will keep updating and adding new features to our Finance Dashboard with Clariba's assistance.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communications between the 2 teams are highly effective as we have a single point of contact from Clariba. Most of the time we have direct face to face discussion and the consultant from Clariba has a very good understanding about our business and reporting structure which is very crucial when we communicate our business requirement to him.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The capability of the consultant working on our project and the flexibility he brings are impressive. He is very committed to the quality of the output in our project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global and digital data technology director for a fashion and fragrance business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clariba?

We wanted to build a dashboard to manage our business as well as to bring clarity to our data as we were managing different data sources and warehouses.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped develop all the capabilities related to designing our dashboard as well as doing all the data warehouse work. They first built one dashboard and have since done more than 20. They worked in a consultancy role as well as in implementation, covering almost 100% of the projects. 

We used BusinessObjects to build the dashboards with SAP as a data warehouse. Now we’re working with them in SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Cloud platform to build the next innovation of our dashboards. Now that we’re investing in new technologies, they’re helping us to choose the best one.

What is the team composition?

The number of people depends on where we are in the project. There are roughly 4–5 people working with us on-site who are fully integrated with our staff. There are people offshore working with us as well—project managers, a functional team of developers, UX people, and coders.

How did you come to work with Clariba?

We were looking for a supplier and started to review different vendors here in Barcelona but found there was a lack of resources. We talked to SAP and they suggested Clariba. They have an office in Barcelona too, so we started talking to them and found they were great: they know the different technologies and how to manage our kind of project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend €300,000 (approximately $330,000 USD) per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2015, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We now have all the dashboards and tools we need. Everything is working well and the tools are used by the top management in our company. It was a risky project because we needed it to be the best tools, but the results are good and everyone is happy. They’re doing a great job with the UX and design as well.

How did Clariba perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always taking care of us to make sure we’re happy. We work in a scrum methodology and they manage it well as they’re super engaged with both the team and the business. They use a project management tool but most of our communication is in-person, which is good. We also have bi-weekly communication with their commercial staff.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They know a lot about SAP, BusinessObjects, Cybernetics Cloud, and everything related to analytics. They're good with both the technical work and project management.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to expand their scope in the technology space. They’re really great with analytics and SAP, but if they want to become a global supplier for SAP technologies, they may more experience in the ERP. That being said, for the things we need them for, they’re the best we’ve found.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Define the project scope at the beginning and work with them on the methodology that they need to use. They’re super good once they understand how you want to work and you will be happy with them.