Sony Europe wanted to take advantage of the competitive edge that business intelligence (BI) solutions offer. As a leading manufacturer of electronic consumer products and one of the world’s most recognizable brands, Sony began looking for a quick and reliable solution that could provide multiple analysis scenarios.

“Qlik was the obvious choice – its vast network of consultants and specialists, the simplicity of its initial deployment and its adaptability made it ideally suited to our needs,” César Pérez, Head of Business Process Office at Sony Europe, said.

Changing the meaning of success at Sony Europe

To provide a single view of business dynamics, Sony Europe used Qlik to integrate multiple, distinct data sources — including SAP NetWeaver BW, Oracle, Microsoft Sharepoint and Excel Spreadsheets.

The benefits of Qlik were immediately obvious.

“We’ve seen improvements in a number of metrics,” Pérez explained. “Everything from sales, site visits, references, online presence, stock rotations and overall market share – to name but a few.”

Using QlikView has impacted all of Sony Europe’s business — from marketing and customer insight to management and finance functions.

“The return on investment has been manifold: not only has QlikView helped us deepen our knowledge of online customers but it has also helped make the development of resources management more visible. We have gained a greater understanding around the position our products occupy at sales outlets, as well as improving our anticipation of risks and threats in terms of stock management,” Pérez said.

“For one technology to provide so many disparate benefits is truly amazing — we’re excited about where our investment in Qlik will pay off next.”

Improving strategic decision-making

QlikView’s rapid deployment makes it useful in responding to continuous changes in the environment — such as a change insuppliers, the introduction of new internal processes or even a change in policy at the group level. Users now have easy access to real-time analysis, helping to improve decisions across the entire organization.

Importantly, the system has been widely adopted across Sony Europe.As Pérez said, “Our users have given us great feedback, not only for how useful it is in helping them complete their jobs, but also for its ease-of-use.”

“As an organization and as users, we’d have no hesitation in recommending Qlik for any company needing to improve its decision-making process in a straightforward and sensible manner,” Pérez concluded.