Carphone Warehouse has cut the time it typically needs to extract business intelligence data from 12 hours to 30 minutes after upgrading to an improved data integration tool to "stop the madness" of separately accessing complex data across its multiple lines of business.
The mobile phone retailer, which has 2,100 stores in 11 countries, said the improved extraction speeds ushered in by introduction of Informatica PowerCentre 7.1 and Advanced Edition 8.1 were already enabling it to increase customer acquisitions and cross selling opportunities, streamline its business and grow profits.
Carphone Warehouse said data extraction had become more difficult as it became increasingly complex in recent years, evolving from a mobile phone store to also sell mobile services, broadband services and landline telephony.
It has used Informatica PowerCentre since 2000 for data integration, but it is the new version of the tool that have improved extraction times.
The system sends BI data to the firm's Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g and Netezza databases within 24 hours of it being generated for further analysis.
Carphone Warehouse processes 650 million transactions each day and runs 2,700 data extraction sessions per night.
Bhavesh Chavda, senior project manager at Carphone Warehouse, said improved extraction rates had improved the efficiency of the business, enabling cost savings and reducing risks by standardising data and centralising it.
It was also able to better cross-sell other services to customers as a result of centralised data, Chavda stated. "If you're a broadband customer, we can more effectively sell you a mobile phone," he added.
Only last month Carphone Warehouse revealed it was deploying IT process automation and management software from supplier Enigmatec to improve its support for critical business applications, following a successful pilot.