Improving decision making through business intelligence: case of a Kenyan business intelligence: case of a Kenyan Based ISP

Abstract

The ability to make effective decisions is crucial to an organization's survival in today's tumultuous business environment. The influx of Internet Access Technologies that is broadband, wireless, VSAT e.t.c. in Kenya has brought about the acute competition for Internet Service Providers (lSP). The ISP industry is characterized by the heavy pressure for raising revenue after hefty capital investments and the lack of knowledge to develop competitive strategies. To attract subscribers, all ISP dealers are making an all-out effort to improve their service management. This research therefore proposed a Business Intelligence process for ISP dealers in Kenya to assist management in developing effective service management strategies. The system was implemented and tested at a Kenyan based ISP. As a result of interviews conducted, the needs and critical information requirements of the senior management were identified. Thus a Business Intelligence model was developed for verification. The model was developed using SAP BusinessObjects and SPSS was used for the data mining process. The research explored the customers' usage characteristics and preference knowledge through applying the monthly volume usage as well as the cost of bandwidth. Customers were divided into clusters then RFM (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary) modeling was applied to calibrate customer value of each cluster which enabled the senior management in the organization to develop direct and effective marketing strategies. Based on the model developed, the senior management team was able to learn from the past and forecast the future. The data outputs were both tabular and graphical in nature. The model improved information flow, increased the speed and quality of key marketing and sales decisions in the organization.