Announcements/News
May 24, 2011
Friends of Cervello,
Spring has arrived in New England – the athletic fields are covered with kids playing lacrosse, soccer, and baseball, the flowers are blooming, the Sox are back at Fenway, the Bruins are in the Eastern Conference finals, and it is cool and rainy most days – oh well, you can’t have everything. In our last missive we talked about our plans for 2011. We have been busy at work building a great company, and would like to give you a quick update on where we are against those plans and share some observations.
Solutions: We are currently in the process of releasing our next solution – Cervello Asset Management Business Analytics, or CAMBA for short. CAMBA is designed to address needs specific to asset management firms including reporting of sales, assets, clients, products, cross-sell metrics, revenue and profitability. We think it is pretty cool and are pleased with the early reactions. We have also made good progress with ReadiMetrix for Online Marketing and continue to build positive momentum by growing our client base and evolving the solution.
Methodology: We spent a lot of time this past winter working on the approach for how we engage with and create value for our clients. We have put many of the concepts into practice already and will formally roll it out over the next couple of months. We think this methodology will be an important step in our evolution and we will be pushing our clients for feedback to make sure we listen and get it right.
R&D: Another area of focus this past winter was research & development. We looked at a variety of technologies in the analytics & planning space and have morphed this effort into a lean solution management process. Clients want solutions and we will deliver these solutions through the creative application of technology against a specific analytics or planning problem. Our ability to rapidly research, assess, design, and bring new solutions to market is key to our success. We will keep you abreast as we launch new solutions and always welcome any ideas you have.
Search for Talent: We continue to add A Players to our team and are always looking for new people that have a passion for analytics & planning and share our values. If you or someone you know would be a good fit, we’d love to hear from you.
Observations
If you have been reading our blog, The Notorious BI Geeks, you know that we think differently about the whole topic of analytics & planning. A common theme discussed is that the tools and processes must adapt to the needs of users rather than the other way around. I think we are starting to see this theme coming true with cloud-based analytics & planning platforms, and with data visualization tools. The next evolution is mobile and specifically tablets. The portability of the devices is important, but the real game changer is in the interface. For a certain class of users, the whole way you interact with data is going to change in a way that will make the consumption of data fun. Yes, fun! We are still in the very early stages of this evolution so hold on and look for more to come.
We love to hear from you in general and are always ready to talk through any analytics & planning challenges you face.
Regards,
The Cervello Team
Events & News
• Jim Leavitt will be speaking on Business Performance Visibility in NYC on June 2nd. Click here for more details or to register.
• Cervello has been named as the Host Analytics Partner of the Year 2010
• Christine Plowman and Garvin Chan presented at the Host Analytics User Conference in San Diego – Approaches to Enterprise Planning Complexities. Contact us if you are interested in discussing this topic.
• Mike Cochrane and Christine Plowman completed the Boston Marathon with great times and raised meaningful money for charities. Join us in congratulating them!
February 11, 2011
Friends of Cervello,
Earlier this month, Punxsutawney Phil made his prediction of the promise of an early spring when he did not see his shadow. For those of us dealing with the recent round of winter weather, it is hard to believe spring will ever come. But looks can be deceiving – even though the scene outside is a quiet, New England winter landscape, we have been very busy serving our growing client base and planning for the New Year.
Our plans for 2011
This is an important year for us as we begin our transition into high growth mode, and we would like to give you a preview of the year ahead. We are starting to see some of our early investments payoff and will continue to make additional bets as we move forward.
• Plans for Growth: To support our plans for growth in 2011, we are focused on a few key areas of our business including how we engage and create value for our clients, ramping up our research and development capabilities, and brainstorming new and creative solutions to offer our clients. Our team sessions always prove to be dynamic and full of energy – which should not come as a surprise to those of you who know us. We will keep you abreast as we launch new solutions and always welcome any ideas you have.
• A New Voice: In December of last year, we launched a new version of our website. The most significant change is the way we speak about who Cervello is and what we do. We avoid industry jargon and talk about our solutions in terms that everyone can understand. Look for more of this in the coming year as we openly share our thoughts via our blog (The Notorious BI Geeks) and Twitter. We also posted a two minute video of our ReadiMetrix for Online Marketing solution and encourage you to check it out.
• Search for Talent: A key theme that is evident in each of our updates is the growth of our team and the search for talent. We continue to add A Players to our team and are always looking for new people that have a passion for analytics and planning and share our values. We encourage you to pass along the news to anyone that you think would be a good fit.
Trends we are tracking for 2011
As we head into the new year, there are a number of important trends that we are tracking.
• Consumerization of business applications: Marc Benioff is obsessed with Facebook and we believe with good reason. There is a new breed of business applications that are taking strong cues from consumer social networking. We are tracking this trend and its implications for analytics and planning – to strip away the complexity and make it easier for people to look at data (structured and unstructured), share insights, and make decisions.
• Cloud based application platforms for analytics: Although the Super Bowl commercials for Chatter were awful, cloud computing is a technology mega trend that is here to stay. Big players like Salesforce.com are making real investments in cloud based database and application environments that are going to usher in a new generation of powerful, yet simple to use analytics applications.
• Focused solutions (services & technology): In an interview from March of 2010, NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson talked about the need for cloud services firms to be very focused on delivering targeted solutions to their customers. Knowing the technology stack is one thing, but the more important piece is how to apply it to the customer’s business. We think that this model will remove geographic constraints and ultimately allow us to deliver more valuable services to our clients.
So, in the immortal words of Pink, “raise your glass” to a great 2011! As always, we love to hear from you and are ready to talk through any analytics and planning challenges you face and tackle them together.
Regards,
The Cervello Team
November 17, 2010
Friends of Cervello,
In New England, the falling leaves and chill in the air remind us that the holiday season is upon us and that we have much to be thankful for. This month marks our one year anniversary, and we certainly want to thank you – our clients, partners, and friends – for your support over the past year. We reached a number of significant milestones and want to provide a quick snapshot of our progress –
- Clients: During the past year we served over 15 clients, and all of these will act as references. One of our current clients had this to say about Cervello while doing a reference call with what became a new client, “Cervello will ensure you will not fail!” We will continue to focus on getting meaningful results for our clients.
- People: Starting as a founding team of 5, we have nearly tripled in size. The numbers only tell part of the story though as we added skills and personalities that will help us with our growth plans and fit with the culture we are building. We are always looking for great people!
- Analytics Apps: We recently rolled out our first analytics app with the introduction of ReadiMetrix for Online MarketingTM. With the explosion of online marketing, businesses and online marketing agencies need better visibility to the return on their investments. ReadiMetrix for Online MarketingTM addresses this need, and we look forward to much success with our partners Nowspeed and PivotLink.
- Financial Health: Starting with seed investments by each member of the founding team, we proceeded to quickly establish paying clients as we launched the business. We are proud to report that we remain cash flow positive while making significant investments in service and product development. We feel like we are in a strong position heading into our second year.
- New Location: In September we packed up our virtual office space and moved into a new permanent office located at 175 Federal Street in Boston. It’s a terrific location, central to Boston’s financial district, South Station, and the waterfront. If you are ever in the neighborhood, don’t hesitate to stop by!
So, what have we learned over the past year? In short, the analytics and planning market remains very dynamic and continues to evolve with new technologies that make the job of organizing data to make decisions both easier and faster.
EnterpriseTrends –We see a clear trend where large businesses are trying to do a better job at organizing, managing, and using their data. We see more business user demand for analytics, more focus on data strategy, and new uses for Oracle tools. Of particular note is the re-emergence of Oracle|Hyperion Essbase as an engine for financial analytics needs such as complex allocations and profitability modeling.
Mid-Market Trends –We see that most mid-sized businesses have the same needs as our enterprise clients but do not have the expertise, time, or technology to meet these needs. We believe there is a better way for these companies by using our Analytics & Planning On Demand services or our Analytics Apps. Our mid-market clients are able to spend more time on analysis, have mitigated the typical risk of new system projects, and are providing better data to their organizations … all at a reasonable monthly operating expense.
As always, we love to hear from you, and, if we can be of help in meeting the analytics and planning needs of your business, please let us know. For information on what we are doing and thinking in the coming months, you can follow us on our Blog, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
We wish you all a very happy holiday season and sincerely thank you for your support.
The Cervello Team
June 22, 2010
- Enterprise Clients: We are helping our large enterprise clients simplify their data management by creating reports and dashboards focused on their business needs. We have a backlog of work in Financial Services where we are using Oracle Business Intelligence (OBI) and Essbase for business performance reporting and analytics. Our rich experience in the architecture, design, and implementation of the Oracle BI and EPM product suite has enabled us to address complex client needs in these areas.
- Mid-Market Clients: Cervello’s Managed Services offerings are turning the heads of our prospects, especially in the mid-market. One prospective client summarized our value proposition best: “my data, your resources, my reports.” We now have an initial set of clients up and running where we are providing functional, technical, data and best practice expertise using Software as a Service platforms like Pivotlink, Host Analytics, and Birst. Interest continues to build across mid-sized businesses in banking, business services, life sciences, healthcare, manufacturing/distribution, and retail where the simplicity and cost effectiveness of Cervello’s Managed Services is valuable.
- Cervello Team: In less than one year, Cervello has doubled its team size! Recent additions include people in leadership, service delivery, and administration. Among this group is Mike Cochrane who brings a unique blend of skills and perspective: IT leadership, Corporate Performance Management and Business Intelligence, and a working knowledge of both on-premise and SaaS approaches. Mike already has been and will continue to be instrumental in helping our clients navigate the unique challenges of IT and data associated with advanced analytics.
- In the News: Cervello hosted our first webinar – The 4 Must-Haves to Improve Financial Planning NOW! Visit our website for a replay of the webinar in which we discussed the essentials for making substantive improvements to your Financial Planning process and technology for your next Planning cycle. Also, Cervello was recognized in Mass High Tech’s Startup Watch Report of high potential startup companies.
The Cervello Team
March 4, 2010
Friends of Cervello,
It’s been an exciting 100 days
Time has flown since our last communication which came just after the public launch of Cervello. We are excited to update you on our accomplishments and insights as we build our business.
- Clients: Our client list is growing, including an exciting BI engagement with a financial services institution, which leaves us feeling ‘bullish’ about the expansion of our client portfolio in 2010.
- Partner Relationships: We are successfully leveraging long-standing relationships with Oracle and are actively researching and pursuing partnerships with key players in the Software as a Service (SaaS) space. We believe the leading CPM and BI software platforms are Adaptive Planning, Birst, GoodData, Host Analytics and PivotLink, as well as Boomi for integration.
- On Demand BI Applications: We are in the final stages of developing a beta version of our Online Performance Marketing Analytics software. In conjunction with our joint venture partner Nowspeed, we are rolling it out to more than 20 customers next month.
- People: Last but not least, Cervello has added its first team members outside the founding team. This is a testament to our feeling that we are positioned in the right place at the right time to assist organizations with their analytical challenges as the economy begins its recovery.
What we are learning
We have learned a lot in our first 100 days and want to share a few key points:
- Our hypothesis that mid-market companies have been underserved and would be ripe with need for SaaS CPM and BI solutions appears to be correct.
- There is a tremendous opportunity to leverage SaaS CPM and BI platforms for the mid-market and certain enterprise applications. The mid-market has also responded positively to a Cervello managed services offering including a SaaS platform coupled with our analytical and technical expertise.
- Oracle Business Intelligence (OBI) is gaining significant market traction and is a great solution for the enterprise; however, the integration of all Oracle analytical solutions (OBI, Essbase, and EPM) is a complex endeavor.
- Whether an on-demand or on-premise approach, data is still king – quality, accessibility, integration, management, and governance remain key issues to tackle.
Through our client work, partner activity, and our research, we are building a knowledge base in SaaS BI and CPM and want to share our thinking with you. It includes resources, articles and links, and our own mini points-of-view on these topics. You can also follow Cervello on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
What’s next and how you can help
We are planning for exciting growth for Cervello in 2010 and can use your help in making it happen.
We need more ‘A’ players on our team. With one of the most experienced founding teams in the market, people new to BI and CPM can take advantage of tremendous mentoring opportunities to learn in this hot space. Candidates should enjoy a client-focused, team-oriented working environment in which openness and innovation are critical. If you know of anyone that would be a good fit for our team, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We are building our client base and want to share thoughts on BI and CPM. If you or organizations you know need help defining, implementing, and/or managing CPM or BI solutions, please let us know. Also, we are seeing a lot of market interest in comparing on-premise and SaaS approaches to BI and CPM and have created a concise BI/CPM Executive Briefing.
In any case, we’d love to hear from you.
Best regards,
The Cervello Founding Team -
Scot MacGillivray
Jim Leavitt
Chris Boulanger
Peter Graham
Michael Shmays
November 24, 2009
Friends of Cervello,
We are pleased to announce the formation of Cervello Inc. Cervello provides system integration services, managed services, and application solutions for the emerging on-demand Business Intelligence (BI) and Corporate Performance Management (CPM) market. Our solutions enable clients to make better business decisions and to take actions that drive tangible results.
Our founding team members have an average of 10 years experience delivering world class BI and CPM solutions to the Fortune 500. Our plan is to leverage this experience to capitalize on three big ideas:
- Focus on the small and mid-market (referred to by some as the “Fortune 5 million”): most of these companies have the same needs as the Fortune 500 but have not had the resources and expertise to deploy world class BI and CPM solutions.
- Identify, develop, and market next generation BI solutions: BI has focused more on data infrastructure and less on business solutions that enable decision-making and action-taking. It is time to put the “Business” back in BI.
- Deliver solutions via Software as a Service (SaaS): the emergence of the internet for software applications and elastic (cloud) computing make world-class BI and CPM solutions affordable to Fortune 5 Million clients.
Early market reaction to Cervello is positive as we have established a number of key partners, engaged with four active clients, and entered into a joint venture in Performance Marketing software.
Our goal is to build a company that is great to do business with (for our clients, partners, and suppliers) and a great place to work (for our employees). We will accomplish this by building a strong culture founded on a set of unwavering core values that guide everything we do. We are an entrepreneurial company that is…
- focused on delivering tangible business results to our clients
- open and honest in all of our communications
- driven and operates with a sense of urgency
- a highly collaborative team
- innovative in our approach and thinks creatively about how to deliver value
- highly connected and expert at developing and nurturing long term relationships
We welcome you to visit us at:
and follow us on: 
The Cervello Founding Team -
Scot MacGillivray
Jim Leavitt
Chris Boulanger
Peter Graham
Michael Shmays