Retail Software: Kognitio Celebrates Ten Years Of Helping BT

Kognitio, a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing solutions, today celebrated ten years of helping BT, one of the world's largest providers of communications solutions, maintain its role as a global leader through rapid and highly detailed rate plan analysis and re-pricing. Using Kognitio's WX2 analytical Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), BT has been able to analyze massive data sets, and quickly find the answers it needs to change its rate plans ahead of changing market conditions.

"Our relationship with Kognitio can be summed up as a strategic partnership in the true sense of the phrase," said Arthur Winn, head of pricing at BT. "For a whole decade, we have been able to rely on Kognitio and its technology to help us stay ahead of the game. We have true insight into our business and the effects that pricing changes would have on it. It's incredibly beneficial to the company to be able to analyse all the data as opposed to data samples and assumption-based analysis. The WX2 database technology offers sheer brute force. The service allows us to be ahead of the game by having access to fast, powerful re-pricing and analysis service. The service allows us to mitigate any losses by ensuring new revenues from new services. To have this sort of analysis is priceless to the business."

BT analysts rely on Kognitio WX2 to interrogate entire sets of Call Data Records (CDRs) and ask highly specific, revenue-driven queries, such as, "What would happen if we cut evening calls by a penny per minute for customers on rate plan A?" and "What would happen if we moved customers on from plan ‘A' to plan ‘B,' but gave them with 100 free minutes per month?" BT also uses WX2 to determine the customer lifetime value of its clients. By examining data from a given period of time, BT analysts quickly see how its price plans are either keeping customers or driving them to competitors. The answers enable BT to quickly make changes in its plans as needed, and help BT increase its revenues, reduce customer "churn," and maintain its leadership among the world's telecommunications operators. One of the main advantages of using Kognitio WX2 to carry out pricing analysis is that it allows organizations such as BT to put entire sets of CDRs to the test, not just small data samples which often lead to inaccurate results. WX2 allows BT to publish its results via a front-end web graphical interface; the reports are then accessible through an interactive Business Objects interface. This delivers greater insight to analysts than simple call re-pricing; they can drill down and see the specific effect of rate plan changes on their costs, revenues and margins, as well as potential effects on customer retention.

"Ten years of working with BT is a significant endorsement of the value that Kognitio delivers to its customers," explains Roger Llewellyn, Kognitio's Chief Executive Officer. "Kognitio WX2 was built from the ground up to query vast amounts of data in just seconds as opposed to days or weeks as other solutions do. Over the years, we have helped BT successfully launch a wide range of pricing plans that are highly tailored to the company's customers. Plans such as BT Business Plan and One Plan, BT Together Options 1, 2 and 3 have been launched as a result of detailed analysis enabled by Kognitio WX2."

BT is currently using WX2 to analyze 15 months' worth of customer records, seeking ways to keep margins and profits high while keeping prices as low as possible in a fiercely competitive industry. "Tariffs are continually reviewed by all telecommunications operators and new price plans are introduced on a frequent and regular basis for both mobile and fixed lines to maintain or increase the customer base," Winn stated. "By using Kognitio WX2 to rapidly examine ‘what if' tariff scenarios, we have been able to quickly react to any changes in the competitive landscape and stay ahead of the competition. With Kognitio, the analysis is penny-perfect." Winn noted that WX2's ability to provide detailed output in minimum time allows BT analysts to immediately see the benefits of changing rate plan pricing. "By working with Kognitio, a whole new world of possibilities has opened up," he added.

Kognitio has allowed BT to be more innovative and creative in developing and implementing rate plans that appeal to customers and keep profits high. Looking to the future, BT is now moving into more in-depth analysis, and opening it up to sales and marketing professionals within the company who can take the re-pricing work even further, thus ensuring that the most is gained from Kognitio's services to BT.