24 Purchasing and Supply Solutions | August 2008
Established in 2001 – right
in the middle of the dot.
com bust – the founders
of Nathean Technologies,
Ronan Wisdom and John
Pugh, initially focussed
on delivering integration
solutions. According to
Ronan Wisdom, “From the
outset, our business philos-
ophy has been to align
ourselves very closely with
our customers’ goals. As
a result, we were able to
notice that increasingly our
customers not only needed
to integrate data, but also
to ask that data questions.
Purchase and supply solutions August 2008.indd 24
Now more than ever,
procurement needs
to ask questions…
“W
hile there were
several reporting
and analysis solu-
tions available in an emerging business
intelligence market, none were totally
focussed on the business user – the
person who best understood the
meaning of the data and its value to
the organisation. We knew that if we
could create an environment where
everyone could explore information
and ask ad-hoc questions with ease,
this would resonate with customers.
We understood that simplicity is the
great challenge, so we really wanted to
create the iPod of analytics.”
Today the company’s graphical analyt-
ics solution – Logix Professional – is
used by commercial and government
organisations in Ireland, the UK and
the US including Sisk Construction,
the Health & Safety Authority, Vision
Express and Bord Gais. Each customer
applies Logix Professional to differ-
ent aspects of their organisation: sales,
finance, payroll, HR, distribution and,
increasingly, procurement. But all have
a common desire to put their data to
better use by enabling users to ask their
own questions.
“When you think about it, existing
reporting technologies can be very
inefficient,” says Wisdom. “I’m the busi-
ness user and I really understand the
“ Customers have a
common desire to put
their data to better use
by enabling users to ask
”
their own questions
data I’m working with on a daily basis
whether that’s customer claims, stock
portfolios, payroll records or purchase
orders and supplier invoices. But when
I want to create a new report, change
an existing report or just ask an ad-hoc
question, typically I’ve got to revert to
technical support. That involves delays
and costs. Meanwhile I’m going to use
a spreadsheet to try and figure out the
answer.
“Our software is designed to tilt that
balance in favour of the user, and ena-
ble them to ask their own questions in
a very simply, yet powerful way – all in
a graphical drag-and-drop, point-and-
click environment.”
The company has proven the value of this
approach to the procurement function,
and clients including Sisk Construction
and Fingal County Council have ana-
lysed procurement data using Logix
Professional. “Procurement staff deal
26/08/2008 09:08:59
 w w w. p s s o u l t i o n s . i e 25

Product Overview

entire reporting requirements across the

The answers you need, now Key Benefits
company.
Logix Professional is a unique visual analysis solution which enables you to ask questions the Radically improve time to decision without
report writers never thought of. No more waiting for customised reports, no more spreadsheets, Product
waiting on others Overview
to generate required
and no more paper. Just the answers you need, now. In 2007, the company made its first moves
analysis.

Logix Professional connects to into the global marketplace, opening part-

Eliminate costs and delays incurred
existing databases and, using ner designing
channelsandand gaining
developing its fireports.
custom rst export
nothing more than simple drag-
and-drop actions, builds up customers in the UK such as Active
Reduce reliance on spreadsheets and
powerful ‘views’ which answer Corporate, the Scottish-based business
eliminate uncontrolled copies of aged
business questions in a step-by-
step fashion. advisers
data. and chartered accountants and

Vision Express, where Logix Professional

Easily discover answers to ad- Increase return on investment from
hoc questions that static reports is installed in eachandofunlock
existing systems the company’
the value ofs 240-
and dashboards cannot provide, underlying information.
plus stores delivering graphical analytics
and then share your findings
instantly with colleagues, to the local store management.
Get a single view of systems across the
suppliers and customers in a
organisation in a single intuitive interface,
secure environment.
Nathean funds its aggressive innovation
Share insights instantly with your team,
programme from and
partners, suppliers of customers.
its own resources.
Simple to use, Easy to understand Its current three-year R&D programme
Using Logix Professional it’s easy to explore information visually, identifying everything from is aimed at further enhancing the capa-
variations in supplier costs to customer activity patterns to brand-by-brand sales comparisons.
bilities and ease of use of its product. The
Each question is shown in tabular format in company recently established its European
the workspace - a unique spreadsheet like
environment that business users find simple HQ in a custom-designed facility in the
to use and easy to understand. As you ask IDA Science and Technology Park in
and refine your question, the workspace
provides immediate visual feedback. Blanchardstown,
“A unique productDublin, focussed that has been
on ensuring
users of varying ability have confidence they
designed to service
can answer growth over the next
their own questions.”
Unlike complex Business Intelligence tools
which all too often provide pre-defined ten years. Sales and marketing operations
David Hart, Supply Chain Director
Vision Express, UK
dashboards to a small group of specialist
have been stepped up and the focus now
users, Logix Professional delivers insight to
employees at all levels - every user is able to is to“Refreshingly
build on this whatproduct delivers a powerful
has been achieved to
solution in a really simple manner.”
ask questions and explore the answers.
dateDaragh
and Byrne,
increaseHuman product
Resourceslicense
Managerrevenue
Sisk Construction, Ireland
Reduce reliance on spreadsheets, decrease dependence on I.T. departments, programmers and by expanding partnerships and winning
analysts and achieve results faster by ensuring you have the answers you need, now.
with a lot of fast moving information and their decisions new customers in Ireland and overseas.
“…dramatically improved our reporting and
analysis capabilities. It is an excellent piece
really affect performance, cost and profitability. This is as true of software backed up by an enthusiastic and
in small to mid-size companies as it is for larger organisa- “Our clients radicallyprofessional
improveteam time to decision,
at Nathean elimi-
Technologies.”
Martin Allidine, Administrative Officer
tions dealing with multiple projects and suppliers. nate costs and delays, Fingal
reduceCountyreliance on spreadsheets and
Council, Ireland
increase return on investment from the data they capture
“Logix Professional delivers groundbreaking visibility of pro-
3 Lyncon Court, IDA Science & Technology Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland
Voice: +353 1 454 7030, web: www.nathean.com, mail: info@nathean.com and maintain,” says Wisdom. “And all of this from a simple
© Copyright Nathean Technologies Ltd 2007
For more information please visit www.nathean.com

curement data, enabling graphical comparison of supplier idea – making it easy to ask questions.”
performance metrics, department and project order trends,

“
requests and authorisations and of course material costs. The
speed of access to live purchase order information ensures Nathean funds its aggressive innovation
spend patterns can be analysed with ease, delivering savings
as real-time supplier performance information becomes a programme from of its own resources. Its
key input to procurement decisions.” current three-year R&D programme is
Nathean offers a combination of product, service and consul-
aimed at further enhancing the capabilities
tancy. Some customers buy Logix Professional, configure it and ease of use of its product.

”
and use it themselves. For other customers, Nathean carries
out initial configuration to get the best use of the technology.
For yet other customers, Nathean delivers their customer’s

Purchase and supply solutions August 2008.indd 25 26/08/2008 09:09:01

 Getting answers just got
a lot easier...
Procurement staff deal with a lot of fast moving information and their decisions really affect
performance, costs and profitability. Logix Professional delivers groundbreaking visibility
of procurement data, enabling graphical comparison of supplier performance metrics, order trends,
requests, authorisations and material costs. The speed of access to live purchase order information ensures
spend patterns can be analysed with ease, delivering savings as real-time supplier performance
information becomes a key input to procurement decisions.

"A unique product focussed on ensuring

users of varying ability have confidence
they can answer their own questions."
David Hart, Supply Chain Director,
Vision Express, UK

"Refreshingly this product delivers a

powerful solution in a really simple
manner."
Daragh Byrne, Sisk Construction,
Ireland

"Dramatically improved our reporting and

analysis capabilities. An excellent piece of
software."
Martin Allidine, Fingal County Council,
Ireland

nathean
TECHNOLOGIES

Logix Professional is a unique visual analysis and reporting solution which enables you to ask questions the report writers
never thought of. Connecting Logix Professional to your procurement data means no more waiting for customised reports
and no more spreadsheets. Just the answers you need, now.

For more information, case studies and product demonstrations visit www.nathean.com
or call us at +353 1 685 3001 to find out how Logix Professional can help your organisation today

Purchase and supply solutions August 2008.indd 12 26/08/2008 09:08:30