London, UK, 27th November 2008 - phocas, a global leader in simple, accessible business intelligence (BI) (www.phocas.biz) today announces the launch of its Next Generation BI application ‘PHOCAS 5’. Market research and customer audits identified an overwhelming demand for speed, real-time analysis and most importantly ease of use – all key enablers for customer retention, performance and profitability, crucial in this economic climate.  Clients testing PHOCAS 5 pre-launch unanimously voted it the fastest analytic tool on today’s market and referred to it as the application with the simplest UI since Microsoft Office.

PHOCAS 5 has an underlying pre-built database that has been optimized to be phenomenally fast and to consolidate multiple databases into one trusted single source for all business users, from CxO to front line sales executives.  PHOCAS can take data from any ERP system to provide live analysis which is designed to be explored iteratively – the way a person naturally thinks and follows.  Integration to many solutions/applications has been developed to automatically extract and optimize the data that business users and front line sales teams can access immediately and simply, without the need to switch through various disparate databases or sources in order to achieve immediate results.

PHOCAS 5 alerts the user whenever there is an opportunity or threat based on factual sales history/previous buying patterns and allows for effective cross and link-selling to customers.
Additional benefits include a new customisable dashboard that enables the combination of alerts and graphs within one report, which can be exported into Microsoft products for collaboration and distribution to non-users.

PHOCAS 5 is an “out of the box” solution, in some cases taking only a few hours – or at most a few days – to implement with no need for building cubes or designing and developing data marts. Its extreme flexibility and customization enables organisations or individual users to customize the dashboard to suit their unique preferences and requirements. Microsoft SQL Server enables the highest levels of scalability, unlimited flexibility and security and a summarized database structure that offers remarkable speeds for end users.  Benchmark tested alongside various world-class BI and reporting solutions, PHOCAS has consistently returned the fastest and most accurate results.

Steve Stilone, Six Sigma Champion & Pricing Strategy, DuPont Performance Coatings, commented, “In a recent survey of DuPont country leaders in the Asia Pacific region, out of seven key reporting initiatives provided to them, PHOCAS was overwhelmingly the number one choice of reporting tool the leaders identified as delivering maximum benefit to their business, right away. The difference with PHOCAS is that it takes the information out of the business analyst’s hands and puts it in the business.”

Julia Miller, Finance Director, Adshead Ratcliffe (Arbo Adhesives) said, “PHOCAS 5 has given us the tools to take our company forward. And that’s especially important in these uncertain times for business.”

Chris Grawich, Managing Director, Thomas & Betts, commented, “I have no doubt that PHOCAS has given us a significant competitive advantage, and because PHOCAS requires negligible capital investment, the return on investment has been enormous. What is more, the return on investment was fast - in fact almost immediate. In my experience it is rare for a software vendor to deliver on their promises, and even rarer for software to be enthusiastically adopted in the way that PHOCAS has.”

Julia Manley, Sales and Marketing Manager at phocas commented, “The challenge of turning data into results is a battle between contrasting elements and this is where PHOCAS 5 strikes exactly the right balance. Whilst on the one hand it is important that a BI tool has complete flexibility to meet all business needs, it is also essential that it can be installed quickly and is easy to use so that everyone outside Finance and IT can see the true benefits of the software.  Any company considering implementing a new BI solution should request a provider to demonstrate that they will meet their requirements and show a tangible ROI, as PHOCAS delivers, before making any investment.”

PHOCAS 5 will be sold under phocas’ market preferred pricing model of a simple monthly subscription, with no CAPEX. The monthly model, which includes support, maintenance and training, ensures that companies enjoy ROI within the first few days of use, with a no risk and no surprises guarantee.