Hitachi Consulting and Macrospect Bring Real-Time Big Data into Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) Decision Making

DALLAS, June 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hitachi Consulting, a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd (TSE: 6501), a leading provider of IT consulting and management consulting solutions and services, along with Macrospect today launched a new service that makes it fast and easy for corporate financial executives to use Big Data in real time to increase revenues, cut costs, and make smarter faster resource allocation decisions within the current period, among many other benefits. 

The two companies offer businesses a transformational Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) solution based on SAP HANA, an ultra-fast in-memory analytic database system. Macrospect is a certified SAP partner and a leader in BPC implementations. Hitachi Consulting brings to the team global capabilities in SAP-based business intelligence and analytics technologies.

The new BPC solution enables financial executives to integrate operational data in their planning cycles while utilizing more complex real-time data to improve financial planning, budgeting and forecasting. Using Big Data technology gives them a much more powerful tool for making better, faster business decisions based on real-time analysis of operational and financial data.

For instance, a recent process manufacturing customer achieved a 90 percent improvement in run times and responsiveness using the Hitachi Consulting/Macrospect BPC solution while integrating massive volumes of data from its core operational systems with financial planning data.

True business transformation

BPC is an Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) discipline that streamlines the planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes of a business. The Hitachi Consulting/Macrospect solution stands out from other BPC offerings thanks to its ability to create an integrated process for sharing information across business functions to improve planning and operational efficiencies. The solution aligns sales, finance, supply chain and other business teams to provide a comprehensive planning view of the enterprise.

It also allows businesses to use more up-to-date data in much larger volumes to drive decisions for smarter business planning, according to Patrick Bolin, vice president of Hitachi Consulting. "The in-memory computing capability of our HANA-based BPC solution analyzes information in real time that previously had been too large or complex for traditional systems," he said. "We have invented a new kind of platform for incorporating real-time financial data into our customers' everyday decisions."

The Hitachi Consulting/Macrospect solution includes everything needed to help businesses get up and running with BPC successfully. The companies offer flexible SAP HANA deployments to fit almost any business budget, including on-premise, hosted and managed cloud-based services. In addition to hardware and software integration, the companies offer customized services that include visioning workshops, implementation plans and rapid proofs-of-concept.

"We have seen a strong desire from our customer base over the last 8 years to have this type of advanced analytical capability, but it just wasn't possible prior to the recent advances in IMC technology," stated Randy Marvel, CEO of Macrospect. "We have vetted our approach with current customers and have received strong validation of our solution from a well-known analyst firm. We are very excited about joining with Hitachi Consulting to go to market with this innovative and transformational solution," said Marvel.

About Hitachi Consulting Corporation

Hitachi Consulting is the global management consulting and IT services business of Hitachi Ltd., a global technology leader and a catalyst of sustainable societal change. In that same spirit — and building on its technology heritage — Hitachi Consulting is a catalyst for positive business change, propelling companies ahead by enabling superior operational performance. Working within their existing processes and focusing on targeted functional challenges, we help our clients respond to dynamic global change with insight and agility. Our unique approach delivers measurable, sustainable business results and a better consulting experience. For more information visit: www.hitachiconsulting.com

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About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society's challenges with our talented team and proven experience in global markets. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2013 (ended March 31, 2014) totaled 9,616 billion yen ($93.4 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, power systems, construction machinery, high functional materials & components, automotive systems, health care and others. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

About Macrospect

Macrospect is a trusted and experienced technology consultancy and SAP partner specializing in EPM for HANA. Through the combination of business acumen and technology expertise, Macrospect successfully assists our clients in achieving higher performance by turning financial and operational data into more transparent and actionable information. For more information visit: www.macrospect.net

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SOURCE Hitachi Consulting