As a full-service specialist in business intelligence, performance management and business analytics, Numius offers a comprehensive range of services and solutions to medium and large-sized companies operating across various sectors in Belgium. In addition to providing advice on how to define a business analytics roadmap, Numius also implements and manages innovative solutions for its clients. Established in 1999, Numius is an IBM Premier Business Partner, with extensive technical and business knowledge of IBM solutions. With a turnover of EUR 5.36 million in 2010 and a staff of 35, Numius is Belgium’s largest business analytics service provider based on IBM software.

1. IBM Systems & Technology Group Professional Services
Smarter Computing
Numius creates a
business analytics
platform for customers
Based on smarter computing from IBM
As a full-service specialist in business intelligence, performance
Overview management and business analytics, Numius offers a comprehensive
range of services and solutions to medium and large-sized companies
The need operating across various sectors in Belgium. In addition to providing
Belgian-based business intelligence
provider Numius was approached by a
advice on how to define a business analytics roadmap, Numius also
client wanting to outsource its business implements and manages innovative solutions for its clients.
analytics. To capitalize on this opportunity,
the company needed to develop a cloud Established in 1999, Numius is an IBM Premier Business Partner, with
computing package capable of delivering
business analytics as a service. extensive technical and business knowledge of IBM solutions. With
a turnover of EUR 5.36 million in 2010 and a staff of 35, Numius is
The solution
Belgium’s largest business analytics service provider based on IBM
Working with IBM® and IBM Premier
Business Partner I.R.I.S. ICT, Numius software.
created a flexible, cost-effective
analytics package – Numius Platform Adapting to changing environments
Services (NPS). NPS provides added-
value on specific problems as part of a Responding with agility to evolving trends in business intelligence was
straightforward, general solution based never more important for Numius than when Web 2.0 transformed the
on IBM hardware. Running information global IT landscape. At this time, one of Numius’ largest clients was
management and business analytics
software at I.R.I.S. ICT’s datacenter in
considering the prospect of outsourcing, and asked if Numius could
Mechelen, NPS offers an ‘industrial- manage its business analytics platform. To remain competitive in a
strength’ managed business analytics world where business practices were changing rapidly, Numius wanted
service.
to offer this new analytics capability. It needed to develop a powerful
The benefit cloud-based business analytics solution.
Numius now offers its customers a
secure, high-performance and stable At an ‘Information on Demand’ event in Rome, Numius came into
business analytics service managed in
the cloud. contact with IBM consultants, who immediately showed an interest
in Numius’ outsourcing project and offered to bring in their skills to
assist. Through a shared customer with a similar problem, I.R.I.S. ICT
also became involved in the project, and it became clear that the market
was ready for a business intelligence package delivered within a cloud
model.
Developing a business analytics package
An international team of five IBM specialists was deployed full-time
for a number of months to develop and test a prototype, based on the
Numius blueprint. After months of development, Numius Platform
Services (NPS) was launched. The offering is targeted at medium and
large-sized companies that want to engage the latest business analytics
tools as quickly as possible, while still being able to focus on their own
business innovation.

2. IBM Systems & Technology Group Professional Services
Smarter Computing
Numius Platform Services is based on IBM hardware including IBM
Designed for Data BladeCenter® HS22 and IBM System Storage® DS3524 technology.
• Numius Platform Services (NPS) is The solution also comprises a suite of information management
based on IBM BladeCenter technology
and business analytics software including IBM Cognos® Business
running powerful information
management and business analytics Intelligence 10.1, IBM InfoSphere® Warehouse Enterprise Edition
software. IBM InfoSphere and DB2 with IBM DB2®, IBM InfoSphere DataStage®, IBM InfoSphere
software give customers access to
Guardium® and IBM SPSS® solutions.
operational data in real-time, supported
by IBM BladeCenter HS22 servers
capable of processing the 50 million The infrastructure is housed at I.R.I.S. ICT’s industrial-strength data
rows of data NPS manages and center in Mechelen. The solution uses the full architecture capabilities
processes each day.
of IBM Cognos and IBM SPSS technologies, which allows customers
Tuned to the Task to exploit the software to its full potential, getting the best possible
• Customers can constantly adjust results.
their processing intake up or down
to suit their individual requirements,
taking advantage of the extra IBM All of the solution’s components are fully redundant, ensuring business
BladeCenter headroom when continuity, and giving customers confidence in a secure, high-
necessary. Native support for performance and stable service.
Massively Parallel Processing (MPP)
in InfoSphere Warehouse allows the
system to process data on multiple Delivering benefits to customers
servers and CPUs in parallel, further IBM InfoSphere technology represents a crucial component of NPS.
increasing performance and cutting
energy costs. InfoSphere Warehouse gives customers unprecedented flexibility in
defining their own requirements, both in terms of functionalities and
Managed with Cloud Technologies capacity. Customers no longer need to conduct extensive analysis into
• Numius has implemented a private
cloud that enables customers to
the functionalities and capacity they need before purchasing their
purchase business analytics of far solution, because they can constantly adjust their intake up or down to
greater capacity and functionality suit requirements. Customers simply pay a price – per user, per month
than they could operate individually.
– which means they can allocate costs with accuracy to the right cost
The NPS solution is operated and
maintained by I.R.I.S. ICT at the centers within their own organizations.
hardware level and by Numius at the
application level. Customers are totally Customers can move smoothly to a broader form of agreement with
shielded from complexity, and purely
buy analytics capability as a service. Numius, in which services such as service-level agreements, helpdesks,
data stewardship, report development and information analysis all form
Driving Innovation part of the package of services provided. As the solution is based in the
• As a direct result of its IBM cloud
solution, Numius is opening up an
cloud, developing new applications – such as mobile business analytics
innovative and highly profitable revenue – can be achieved quickly, easily and effectively.
stream. Its virtualized IBM BladeCenter
server landscape ensures the company Security for the system is also managed by InfoSphere software.
can offer its clients a resilient and
flexible business analytics platform. InfoSphere Guardium analyzes all requests sent to the DB2 database,
This service augments Numius’ existing ensuring that only legitimate queries are granted access. The user
business intelligence skill set, allowing base itself is policed by the ‘Monitor Privileged Users’ feature, which
the company to react with greater
agility to the challenges of an evolving
provides a secure, tamper-proof audit trail that supports the separation
industry. of duties required by auditors.
Boosting profitability
Thanks to the IBM solution, Numius can now offer business analytics
services through a monthly subscription package, managed in a private
cloud. Customers can purchase the exact capacity they need at a
particular moment, enabling them to avoid over- or under-investing.
One medical services client gained a 25 percent improvement in the
utilization of surgical wards in five hospitals since it began using NPS.

3. IBM Systems & Technology Group Professional Services
Smarter Computing
Numius itself has even begun to use its own NPS solution, generating a
five percent increase in its chargeability figures.
Solution Components
Software The IBM solution guarantees flexibility, security and performance, and
• IBM® Cognos® Business Intelligence enables companies to gain fast, reliable access to accurate information,
10.1
without the expense and effort of setting up their own internal business
• IBM SPSS®
• IBM InfoSphere® Warehouse Enterprise analytics environments.
Edition
IBM InfoSphere DataStage®
•
• IBM InfoSphere Guardium®
For more information
• IBM DB2® To learn more about smarter computing from IBM and how we can
help you integrate, automate, protect and transform your IT, contact
Servers
your IBM sales representative or IBM business partner, or visit:
• IBM BladeCenter® HS22
• IBM System Storage® DS3524 ibm.com/smartercomputing
IBM Business Partner
• I.R.I.S. ICT

4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2011
IBM Belgium/Luxembourg
Avenue du Bourget / Bourgetlaan 42
1130 Brussels
Produced in Belgium
December 2011
All Rights Reserved
IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Cognos, SPSS, InfoSphere, DataStage, Guardium,
DB2, BladeCenter and System Storage are trademarks of International Business
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All customer examples cited represent how some customers have used IBM products
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