Applying Indigenous Intelligence - MAIA on Deccan Chronicle
Bengaluru, June 2, 2008: Business Intelligence (BI) software and tools, which were earlier the exclusive preserve of a few expert BI analysts is now percolating down to everyone in an organization, right from the sales person to the CEO. Business users are spending more time on analysis before going to market, in order to overcome the challenges of competition, globalization, as well as for increased revenue growth and profitability. The BI software scenario in India is dominated by multinational players such as SAP, SAS and IBM, who charge ‘per user license fee’ running into a few thousand dollars and take anywhere from a few months to a year to deploy their software. Breaking through this MNC wall is a ‘Made in India’ BI product called 1KEY Agile. The product is the brainchild of 37 year old, Mumbai-based, Sanjay Mehta, who incorporated his company, MAIA Intelligence Pvt Ltd, two years ago. The first version of the product was conceptualised and created in six months. Having invested a total of Rs 4.5 crore to date, Sanjay and his 30-strong team have recently launched an end-to-end BI suite of products with 15 modules including 1KEY OLAP (online analytical processing), 1KEY Tree which allows users to read OLAP models, 1KEY Cube, which is a comprehensive data analysis, data mining and multi-dimensional visual reporting solution, 1KEY Web View, providing users flexibility of analyzing data and creating reports of great business value, and 11 other modules. "Unlike the MNCs who charge ‘per user license fee’ we charge a ‘per server license fee’ for unlimited users, thereby drastically bringing down the total cost of ownership. Moreover our deployment happens in a few months," said Sanjay. According to a Gartner report, India is the fastest growing BI platforms market in Asia, posting a growth of 35.6 per cent in 2005-06. Today, of the $5.7 billion market for BI software and tools worldwide, the India market is around Rs. 1,200 crore. MAIA Intelligence is targeting revenues of Rs. 40 crore this fiscal, targeting over 6,000 companies that have a turnover in the region of Rs.100 crore, and a minimum of 100 PC users, across key metros - Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. Sanjay is currently in talks with three VCs for funding of around $4 million which will be invested in expanding into new geographies, as well as in product development. Going forward, he plans to work on visual analytics which involves map-based plotting. http://www.deccan.com/Business/Business.asp Appeared in newspaper on June 3, 2008 in Bangalore, Hyderabad & Chennai edition.