iCentrix has developed a new way of implementing business reporting solutions using a set of components called the Integrated Component Environment (ICE™). ICE™ is an application framework that allows new business applications to be configured from components rather than developing them from scratch. It has numerous functions and features built into it which can be incorporated easily into solutions, allowing for the creation of an integrated, interactive reporting application for the same cost that is takes to create the usual collection of standalone reports using report writing or desktop tools.

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The application is organized into three tiers of functionality

Using an application framework allows the reporting application to address issues of data loading, data integration, data cleansing, data matching, and data management that are outside the scope of report writing tools. The configurability of the ICE framework means that the application is completely custom to the business, allowing it to address issues related to business processes, to incorporate business rules and to take into account the different roles that users have in the business.

The ICE™ approach allows one to address business problems that are normally difficult to solve. In many cases, businesses are getting by using a combination of desktop tools, report writing tools and manual labor to massage the data. However, this is time consuming and oftentimes the information required isn’t available to the employees who need it in time to positively impact business operations. In many cases, the lack of touch points for data gathering in the context of business processes prevents the required data from even being available at all.

The ICE™ approach integrates data from multiple sources into a centralized data repository. The information is made available to each user, according to their role in the business, through a customized, web-based interface. Security and confidentiality are provided through password protected access control and other security mechanisms. Data management features are added to provide for add/modify/delete of additional data that may not be captured in the existing systems.

Integration of already existing data sets and rounding them out with additional business relationships that are not captured in other systems provides an important foundation for building future business applications. Once a centralized data repository is created, and the underlying support for role-based access is established, it often becomes cost-effective to automate certain manual business processes, by creating a web-based front-end to support the task. These are known as task-level applications.

Task-level applications can enable significant cost savings and improve productivity by making it possible to automate certain business-specific tasks that traditionally fall outside of the realm of the standard off-the-shelf packages. The ICE™ approach is described in more detail in the following sections.

Solution Architecture

Relevant business data is extracted from the respective systems and imported into the ICE data model. This data model includes logical and relation data constraints that group and classify all information. This in turn allows for multi-dimensional and flexible reporting capabilities.

• Interactive Reporting
• Data Management
• Task-Level Applications
• Multiple Data Sources
• Centralized Data Repository
• Non-Technical Administration