Moving beyond BI into analytics

Corporate modelling software that offer an in-depth look at the future have landed in Australia thanks to the recent launch of Mondelio.

The technology, formerly dubbed SuperModeller, uses historical data to compare, analyse, forecast and run modelling scenarios that map out future performance, said Mondelio CEO Garth Laird, brainchild behind the latest project and former Navision head honcho.

Laird said Mondelio went a step beyond ERP, mixing spreadsheets, databases, macros and reporting software functionality to provide “what if” scenarios.

Designed from a financial modelling background, the technology integrates a functional relational database along with modelling capability, thereby moving beyond spreadsheets and online analytical processing (OLAP) tools. Laird said the technology differed from other modelling tools in that it forecast the future (not the past), steering a company through disaster or change based on plotted scenarios. This was an attractive sell to the investment community and stakeholders, in particular, who were interested in seeing how trade would evolve over 12- to 24-months.

“The focus now is on the forecast,” Laird said. With today’s hearty emphasis on corporate assurance and governance — along with new national accounting standards — companies need to ensure they had a 360-degree view, he said.

Packaged as one integrated solution, part of the 360-degree view involved information on budgeting, forecasting, planning, reporting, consolidation and feasibility studies, director, Michael Ronai, said.

The software eliminated the need to reconcile separate systems, he said.

To date, Mondelio has six Australian resellers.

Laird said there were agreements pending with other large-scale accountancy firms and business consultancies.

“We’re launching ourselves, our brand and image, and expanding the reseller network,” Ronai said. “Our key objectives at this stage are attracting accounting/ERP consulting companies because we are an adjunct to what they can offer.”

Resellers could go after vertical markets including retail, the finance sector, and health services, among others, Ronai said.