Cedar Falls Utilities Deploys Altair's HiQube Technology to Rapidly Analyze 10 Years of Customer Care and Billing Data

TROY, Mich., Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair Engineering, Inc. announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with Digital Commerce Technologies Inc. (DCTI) to resell and provide implementation services in the Americas for HiQube™, the company's optimization-driven, data analytics solution. The channel partner agreement will extend support locally while providing deep domain expertise in growth industry verticals for fast, cost-effective implementations.  

Since solidifying its partnership with Altair Engineering, DCTI, a global information technology services provider, made its first sale of HiQube to Iowa's Cedar Falls Utilities (CFU).  The driver for the sale was HiQube's ability to easily capture and analyze over 10 years of utilities usage data from legacy sources within its unique multi-dimensional engine.  The deployed solution provides CFU far deeper insight into consumer pricing, purchasing and trends across all utility service offerings.

"HiQube, with its agility in processing large data sets, versatile user interface and superior modeling capabilities, provides customers a powerful medium to harness the full potential of data analytics. HiQube offers speed of deployment and reduced burden of implementation and maintenance that enables customers to quickly realize ROI, gain operational efficiencies, manage risk and respond to market demands," said Siva Raju, president of DCTI. "The elegance of HiQube is in its ability to integrate seamlessly with third-party software tools on virtually any platform providing customers a rapid, cost-effective solution for their business intelligence needs."

HiQube combines three data management methodologies, hierarchical, relational and multi-dimensional, within a single unified database architecture. This enables users to perform self-directed drill-down, drill-through, and ad hoc queries as well as "what-if" analyses. As a result, users can explore a multitude of key performance indicators (KPI) and create relevant and personalized reports quickly, in real time.

CFU, a provider of electricity, water, gas and cable services to more than 17,000 customers in Iowa, was looking for an efficient solution to process 56 million records from the past ten years. With HiQube, CFU was able to breakdown and analyze the data into 17,000 customer accounts, 110 different services, 73,600 meters/service points, 76 rate schedules and 160 routes.

"HiQube opened us up to analysis of our data at extreme levels of granularity, something we couldn't achieve within our timeframe and budget using traditional business intelligence tools," said Mark Meier, Manager of Information Systems & Meter Reading at Cedar Falls Utilities. "We were able to drill down the data into months and then break down months by account, by rate schedule, by usage, by service route, by meter reader and by customer. Additionally, we incorporated rate scenarios by usage to determine the outcomes of "what-if" scenarios and then compared the data. This gives us greater predictability and accuracy of business decisions than our current processes."

"The utilities market is under increasing pressure from government regulators to implement smart technologies for improved energy efficiency while meeting customer demand for reduced costs, and HiQube's what-if analyses and simulation helps them achieve this," Ravi Kunju,  Regional Managing Director at Altair. "Altair selected DCTI as its first reseller for HiQube in the Americas because of its expertise in the utilities market, which was proven in its success at Cedar Falls Utilities. Additionally, DCTI's extensive experience with traditional ERP applications enables them to seamlessly integrate HiQube into a customer's current IT infrastructure for superior business analytics."

For more information about HiQube's business solutions for the utilities industry, join the Altair webinar series, which will be held on Tuesday, December 14. Registration is complimentary and can be completed by visiting www.hiqube.com/utilities.

About HiQube

HiQube is a high-performance simulation-driven business intelligence and data analytics solution for guided decision-making. Uniquely positioned as both an end-to-end BI solution and a complementary software stack extension, HiQube's multi-dimensional engine empowers stakeholders across the enterprise to connect dynamically to multiple data stores and ad hoc data sets within a single unified environment. Complex business models can be easily created in HiQube's combined multi-dimensional, relational and hierarchical data engine to deliver unparalleled decision-making power and improved business performance. To learn more, try HiQube live or download a free trial license, visit www.hiqube.com.

About Altair Engineering, Inc.

Altair Engineering, Inc. empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimizes the analysis, management and visualization of business and engineering information. Privately held, with more than 1,300 employees, Altair has offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. With a 25-year track record for high-end software for engineering and computing, enterprise analytics solutions, and innovative product design and development, Altair consistently delivers a competitive advantage to customers in a broad range of industries. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com.

SOURCE Altair Engineering, Inc.