The CEI Group Reduces Risk, Increases Profits and Client Value Proposition with BusinessObjects 6.5
Vehicle Risk Management Firm Chooses Business Objects Solutions over Cognos ReportNet
San Jose, Calif. - September 28, 2004 - For The CEI Group, a leading service and solutions provider of vehicle Accident, Risk Management and Safety Services programs to vehicle fleets and the property and casualty insurance industry, having vast and immediate access to information on vehicle claims, workflow processes and associated tasks and costs is a key to company operational effectiveness and customer results. That is why The CEI Group has turned to Business Objects, (Nasdaq: BOBJ Euronext Paris ISIN code FR0004026250-BOB), the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions. Using BusinessObjects™ 6.5, CEI managers can track, understand, and manage the effectiveness of the vehicle and driver management services the company provides to its more than 500 clients in North America and Europe. The CEI Group selected Business Objects solutions over Cognos ReportNet, citing:
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More flexible licensing structure for large extranet deployments
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Business Objects products are proven – the existing customer knowledge base is an important component for the success of CEI’s implementation. Cognos ReportNet was at version 1.0 at the time of purchase, which carried some risks
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Business Objects purchase of Crystal Decisions is attractive considering CEI’s existing investment in Crystal Reports® & Crystal Enterprise™ functionality
Organizations with massive work vehicles are typically self-insured and self-managed. They must control and manage vehicle accidents, as well as institute risk management and safety programs to focus on reducing expenses and injuries. Managers of fleet, risk, insurance and safety have to review, analyze and monitor policy and processes that track vehicle claims experience. These organizations’ safety policies may include education and training for their fleet drivers. This doesn’t eliminate the administration and services required when accidents happen. CEI acts as a comprehensive risk management partner and delivers the same services as an insurance company – from initial claims processing to risk management and managing vehicle repair in the event of an accident. Yet unlike an insurer, CEI proactively works to identify areas where clients’ drivers are most at risk so that those risks can be controlled, and many associated costs reduced.
The cornerstone of CEI’s sophisticated data infrastructure is based on its own custom-developed workflow application called IntelliClaim, along with their client facing web portal called ClaimsLink. Customer Care Agents in CEI’s call center use IntelliClaim to track claims, manage service to drivers in North America and Europe, assign supply chain providers, and control numerous services and tasks. CEI’s clients access ClaimsLink for a “high-tech” review and approval process. A Microsoft SQL Server-powered data warehouse tracks the data generated through IntelliClaim, which then is accessible over the web. CEI account managers then rely on Business Objects to track and report on well over 100 key metrics daily.
The BI infrastructure is designed to interface with both IntelliClaim and CEI’s financial reporting system, making sophisticated comparisons possible. CEI’s Strategic Account Services (SAS) team utilizes this structure and feature to assist clients in measuring the timing, cost, and control for nearly every component of their vehicle repair and safety programs. For example, CEI can use Business Objects to identify if the drivers an organization employs create a higher risk than their peers. The system can also easily determine the accident and risk costs for vehicles in client fleets by year, make, model, and even color. CEI has also expanded globally and will use BusinessObjects 6.5 to provide key metrics in any language or currency, giving managers a global view of operations at the click of a button. With BusinessObjects 6.5, these same key metric comparisons, including others like average downtime or rental days, and driver age groups, will be possible across continents, normalized for local currency.
“We depend on Business Objects to help manage costs and results for CEI and for our clients,” said Bill Lawrence, chief information officer for The CEI Group. “Our clients are very happy with the insight we’re able to give them, and we couldn’t have gone global as fast as we have without BusinessObjects 6.5. The reception to the BI system has been so favorable that we’re excited about exceeding clients’ demands as we extend these powerful tools directly to them over the web. On that score and in so many other ways, our investment in Business Objects has already paid for itself.”
“CEI’s deployment is a remarkable achievement in data analysis. That it was made possible through Business Objects is no surprise,” said Chris Caren, vice president of corporate marketing at Business Objects. “Customers are increasingly turning to BusinessObjects 6.5 for its expanded interactive analysis capabilities that make BI accessible to users in a way nothing else in the industry can match.”
For more information on BusinessObjects 6.5, please visit: www.businessobjects.com/products/businessobjects65/
About The CEI Group
CEI, providing accident and risk management services to vehicle fleets and direct repair programs to the property and casualty industry, began on the second floor of a collision repair facility in 1983. It grew from three founding family entrepreneurs to a company now employing over 200 employees, revenues surpassing $150 million a year, and growing at 23% annually. The CEI Group and CEI Europe can be found at: www.ceinetwork.com.
About Business Objects
Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. With more than 35,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helps organizations gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company's business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects™ XI, offers the BI industry's most complete and trusted platform for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and data integration. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports®, the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and also offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.
Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris, France. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB) stock exchanges. More information about Business Objects can be found at www.businessobjects.com.
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