Microsoft Visio 2010Customer Solution Case Study

OverviewCountry or Region: United KingdomIndustry: Professional services—IT services

Customer ProfileHitachi Consulting is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and business and technology consulting firm. It is recognized as one of the leading consultancies in Europe, Japan, and the United States.

Business SituationThe company wanted to deliver interactive representations of real-time business data that were accessible through any web browser, as part of its already-rich business intelligence offering.

SolutionHitachi Consulting implemented Microsoft Visio Premium 2010, along with Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and the Visio Services in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 application programming interface, to create data-driven diagrams.

Benefits Simplifies development Delivers value-added solutions Wins new business

“The rich solutions that we can build now with Visio 2010 and Visio Services we could not have done previously without significant development effort—if at all.”

Andrew Sadler, Business Intelligence Capability Lead, Hitachi Consulting

To enhance its business intelligence (BI) solutions, Hitachi Consulting wanted the ability to create interactive representations of real-time business data rather than static diagrams. At the same time, the company needed a solution that would not require significant infrastructure investments from its customers. The BI group at Hitachi Consulting upgraded to Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 along with Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Visio Services in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 after participating in Microsoft Technology Adoption Programs for each product. Now the firm creates interactive, data-connected diagrams that help customers visualize data in meaningful ways and that customers can access through a browser, without additional software. As a result, Hitachi Consulting can develop valuable solutions to help attract customers while simplifying the solution development process.

Global Consultancy Delivers Value-Added Data Visualization with Interactive Diagrams

SituationHitachi Consulting is a management and technology consulting firm based in Dallas, Texas, and with subsidiaries in Japan, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It offers a range of services, from IT services to supply chain and field service automation.

One of the core offerings that Hitachi Consulting provides is business intelligence (BI) solutions built on Microsoft products and technologies, including Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft SQL Server database software. Beyond simply mining and presenting data, BI solutions from the consulting firm help customers use that data to make informed decisions that can help yield higher profits, lower costs, and increased productivity. To make sense of the data, customers need visual representations that are logical and suited to their particular business needs.

At the heart of the data visualization solutions that Hitachi Consulting develops is Microsoft Visio drawing and diagramming software, which it uses to take raw business data and transform it into meaningful diagrams. “Data alone does not provide business intelligence. We need to present it visually to the customer in the same way that they envision their business,” explains Andrew Sadler, Business Intelligence Capability Lead at Hitachi Consulting. “The key is Microsoft Visio—it’s where the solution comes together.”

While Hitachi Consulting successfully provides meaningful diagrams as part of comprehensive BI solutions, it is always looking for ways to enhance its offerings to deliver even more value to customers. For instance, instead of static diagrams, it wanted to deliver interactive representations of real-time business data. In addition, it wanted to provide diagrams that were easier to access, such as on a web browser, and that did not require specific

software. “We work with a lot of large enterprises with complicated IT infrastructures and strict rules for deploying new software, which can make a solution harder to implement,” says Sadler. “Requiring specific software on client computers can be a significant barrier to deployment.”

SolutionIn September 2009, Hitachi Consulting participated in a Microsoft Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. The company also evaluated Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 and subsequently upgraded to the updated versions of both technologies.

Hitachi Consulting uses Visio Services in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, a feature that lets users share and view drawings created with Visio through a browser without requiring them to install Visio 2010 or Microsoft Visio 2010 Viewer. The consulting firm can also create data-connected Visio drawings that can be refreshed and updated from external data sources, helping to ensure that Hitachi Consulting customers can easily consume timely business information without manually updating data. “By using Visio 2010 and Visio Services,” says Sadler, “we are giving customers the ability to consume up-to-date business information through a diagram from almost any platform. That is absolutely key for us and our clients.”

Hitachi Consulting also uses the Visio Services application programming interface, which is based on the JavaScript object model, to create interactive diagrams that display rich visual overlays, such as parameterized charts and grids or data-driven diagrams that provide additional details when users hover their cursors over a portion of the drawing. For instance, for a major retail customer, Hitachi Consulting created interactive diagrams of a shopping center to represent

“By using Visio 2010 and Visio Services, we are giving customers the ability to consume up-to-date business information through a diagram from any platform. That is absolutely key for us.”

Andrew Sadler, Business Intelligence Capability Lead, Hitachi Consulting

the density of people moving around the retail space (see Figure 1).

The BI group at Hitachi Consulting uses Visio 2010 not only in customer solutions to visually represent data, but also in its own development process. The BI developers design and validate workflow models in Visio 2010 and import the resulting diagram to Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 for implementation. “Using Visio 2010 as a design tool to implement SharePoint workflows is simple and easy,” says Sadler. “Visio and SharePoint take care of the hard work for us.”

BenefitsAs a result of using Visio Premium 2010 as part of its BI solutions, Hitachi Consulting has simplified development while at the same time improving its ability to deliver feature-rich and visually appealing business intelligence solutions. The company has also reduced the time it takes to develop prototypes during the critical pre-sales process, helping it attract new business.

Simplifies DevelopmentHitachi Consulting has simplified the development of its BI solutions and can publish data-connected, interactive visualizations to its web pages. It can also quickly create and implement SharePoint workflows. “The rich solutions that we can build now with Visio 2010 and Visio Services we could not have done previously without significant development effort—if at all,” says Sadler. “For one particular project, we managed to deliver a rich, analytical, data-driven diagram using Visio 2010 and Visio Services in one-tenth the time that it would have taken if we had used tools from another large software vendor.”

Improves Ability to Deliver Value-Added SolutionsBy using Visio and Visio Services and because of their tight interoperation with SharePoint Server, Hitachi Consulting can now spend more time focusing on delivering value-added BI solutions to customers. “Whether it is modeling workflows or creating visual overlays, we can add richness to our solutions more quickly with Visio 2010,” explains Sadler. “Instead of spending our time focusing on technology, we can spend it adding business value by finding the best way to present data in a way that makes sense for our customers.”

Wins New BusinessAs a result of simplifying development and gaining the ability to add functionality to solutions that it could not previously add, the technical pre-sales group at Hitachi Consulting has been able to better sell the company’s BI offerings. “If it took us four weeks to create a prototype during the sales process, we wouldn’t make the sale. Instead, by using Visio 2010, it can take us just 20 minutes to present something to the customer that illustrates that we can give them insights into their business,” says Sadler. “We’ve won new business

Figure 1. Hitachi Consulting used Visio 2010 and Visio Services to create interactive, data-driven representations of the population density at a major shopping center.

specifically because we are using Visio 2010.”

Microsoft Visio 2010Microsoft Visio 2010 takes diagramming to a new level with dynamic, data-driven visualization tools and templates, enhanced process management capabilities, and advanced web sharing. Bring real-time data together from multiple sources, including SharePoint lists, Microsoft Excel 2010 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008, in one powerful diagram using vibrant graphics like icons and data bars. Use subprocesses to manage processes and validate rules and logic to ensure accuracy and consistency across the organization. Design Microsoft Office SharePoint 2010 workflows and, without using code, export them to Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for real-time execution and monitoring. Share refreshable, data-linked diagrams over the web with anyone, even those who don't own Visio 2010.

For more information about Microsoft Visio 2010, go to:www.visio.com

For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

For more information about Hitachi Consulting products and services, call (877) 664-0010 or visit the website at: www.hitachiconsulting.com

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published February 2012

Software and Services Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010− Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Technologies− Visio Services in Microsoft SharePoint

Server 2010