Additional FAQ’s

Neither.  Intellimas has a business intelligence / reporting tool attached to it but it’s much more.  Intellimas is a strategic application that looks and feels like a spreadsheet but its data is stored in a database.  Our mission with Intellimas is to reduce the dependence on spreadsheets for core business functions and to replace inefficient functionality in other systems.  Try it yourself and you will see how our mission will become your mission.

Let’s make sure we are clear. We love spreadsheets too, but when they are handling critical business processes, you need to start looking for a better way.  Intellimas gives you a spreadsheet look and feel but it can do many things that a spreadsheet can’t.  Here are a few:

• – Intellimas data is stored in a database so it can get backed up daily
• – You can create a multitude of standard reports against the Intellimas data
• – Implementing Intellimas creates repeatable, standardized, corporate processes
• – Intellimas can be configured with various views and security roles to match or create a seamless business workflow
• – Intellimas can be easily set up to retrieve master data from other systems so it does not need to be re-input

We focus on quick successes so that you can be up and running very quickly.  And hopefully, you are so happy with Intellimas, that you find new uses for it (which most of our customers do) and give us a nice reference as well.  We literally can configure Intellimas in days instead of months so this drives the timeline down.  Our typical project is 6 to 8 weeks long from start to go-live.

Intellimas has several ways to handle business logic.  The most common way is with our scripting engine.  Scripting allows you to add endless formulas, validations, defaulting, and much more.  Another way to handle business logic is with after save hooks.  Hooks allow you to create custom programs that can be called from the grid and perform just about any process you need.  The hooks have access to the data on the screen in case the program needs it.  A third way we can handle custom business logic is with a custom action.  Custom actions are menu options that can be added to Intellimas which also have access to the data on screen to perform a specific function.  An example of this could be to set up a menu option to call a report from your BI tool which uses the data on screen to populate it.

No. It just so happens that many of our early projects were around PLM data, but there are unlimited possibilities for the use of Intellimas and the power of the grid.  If a business function can be done in a spreadsheet or another system, it more than likely can be done in Intellimas.

Intellimas has a browser user interface which is supported on the Window and Mac OS.  The browsers that are supported include Google Chrome and Firefox.

• – Your spreadsheet has so many columns that your right arrow key is worn out
• – You are sending the spreadsheet to multiple parties for updating
• – You can’t keep up with who is making changes to it
• – You have to spend hours consolidating the data for different management reports
• – You are rekeying data because the source data has changed, again
• – The person who built the masterpiece spreadsheet leaves your company

Gaps in any software implementation are inevitable.  Sure, you can close those gaps with a large customization.  However Intellimas may be better solution.  The reason you have the gap in the first place is usually related to usability issues in the software.  Intellimas provides for a much better user experience than any form based screen and gives IT supreme flexibility.  We can set up a seamless workflow by bolting Intellimas onto your existing software and retrieving master data from it as well.  Then we will align the Intellimas configuration completely with your business process so that you have a solution that the users love.  So instead of going to a custom menu option for the customization, the end user opens up Intellimas to do their work.

Yes, individual users can choose which columns to display, pin, resize, rearrange, group, etc, and save all preferences. They can also save personalized searches.  And in the new Browser version users can create as many different views as they like.

Definitely not. Retrieving data from other systems is a core strength of Intellimas.  We work with your IT person who knows the application well and learn very quickly how to retrieve the data you need.  Then we configure Intellimas so that when you push the search button, the data is there.  And when that source data changes, the next time you push the search button, it will be there.

That’s up to you, but typically not.  Intellimas security is down to the field level so you can determine which data is editable, read only, or hidden from your vendors or other business partners.  Also, we can hide rows of data based on which vendor is looking at it.  We set this up in the beginning of the project and you never have to worry about it again (unless of course you want to change it for any reason).

Yes, this is something we do on many of our projects, based on the client requirements.  We can do this in a variety of ways.  We have a service bus messaging architecture which we can use to move data on a real time basis, if required.  We can also use an after save hook to push data where you need it.  Finally, if you have a corporate integration tool that you like to use, we can work with you to move the Intellimas data where you need it.

Many configuration changes, including relabeling, reordering, and hiding columns can all be done as an administrator right from the application.  Administrators can also use an admin tool for defining new fields, security, scripting and other configuration.

Yes, Intellimas Reporting is specifically used against Intellimas data.  Of course, Intellimas can pull data from various sources so your report may end up being a combination of data retrieved from other sources and Intellimas tables as well.

Yes you can.  We can pull images that are associated to the data in which you are printing or you can upload an image to print on the report.

Most of the work in creating a report is the formatting.  The tweaking of a report format can go on for quite a while.  With custom reporting, you have to continuously go back and forth with a programmer to make formatting changes.  With Intellimas Reporting, all you need to do is make the changes in the report canvas, save it, and run it again.  We even have a preview that lets you see your changes right away, before outputting anything.

Yes, you can create simple and complex reports with Intellimas Reporting.  You can embed unlimited reports (called subreports) within the main report which allows you to pull data from a variety of places.  For example, if you are creating a PO printout, you can pull the address from a vendor table as a subreport, even though the address is not part of the PO data tables.  We also have a scripting engine which allows you to apply custom business logic to data before it is output.  For example, you may have a field in your data which shows when something arrived and another field which shows the planned arrival. If the actual arrival is later than the planned arrival, you can have the actual arrival print with red text to really highlight it.

By default, Intellimas Reporting outputs with a PDF format.  You can also set up a report to output with ExcelⓇ and HTML format.