Comprehensible Content, Consistent Information Delivery: Arcplan Presents the First BI Solution Certified by BARC Based on HICHERT IBCS

Online, March 31, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Business Intelligence (BI) software nowadays provides companies with an important basis for decision-making in critical business processes, and is vital for assessing crucial business data. A reliable solution enables a comprehensible and consistent presentation of all relevant information - quickly and reliably. Incorporating best practices into its offerings, arcplan ensures investment security for software selections providing relevant business content. The international BI expert is now the first software provider globally to have received the renowned HICHERT IBCS seal of quality from BARC.

What should the optimal presentation of business management content in BI solutions look like? This is the question that Dr. Rolf Hichert has addressed for many years, and from which he has developed a system of rules. The non-profit organization called the "International Business Communication Standards" (IBCS) Association was created in order to publicly discuss, disseminate and further develop the rules. Since early 2014, renowned market research and consulting company BARC (Business Application Research Center) has offered certification which shows that software providers are able to display diagrams which conform to HICHERT IBCS.

User benefits of certified software

BARC's HICHERT IBCS certification goes beyond simply assessing the functionality of an application. It further assesses the ability to offer data transparency and structure, which in turn provides consistency across all business communication, and confidence for decision-making. For instance, with data visualization a Business Intelligence solution must address three major points:

- communicating messages correctly,
- standardizing meanings of all elements,
- summarizing information correctly.

Verified functionality ensures security

Newly-certified arcplan 8 software is the ideal environment in which to design and distribute tailored Business Intelligence solutions. Companies around the world have already chosen arcplan for the fast development and distribution of tailor-made reporting and analysis solutions without compromises - applications which become integral management instruments for the company and its business processes. Comprehensible and consistent preparation of information is the key to business success. This is because users must have the ability to understand reports, dashboards, scorecards, forecasts and what-if scenarios quickly and easily.

"The first HICHERT IBCS certification presented quite a positive surprise, even good reasons for enthusiasm for the certification team. With the help of six templates arcplan impressively proved that arcplan 8 meets the visual charting design requirements to the fullest extent. The testing for user friendliness conducted by BARC also showed positive results. I personally wish arcplan all the best for upcoming ambitious customer projects realized by corresponding to HICHERT IBCS rules, " Prof. Dr. Rolf Hichert happily remarks.

"IBCS provides globally available, transparent and detailed rules for the consistent and comprehensible communication of business content. An efficient implementation needs a flexible software solution for data provision and processing," says Roland Hoelscher, CEO of arcplan. "The certification delivers security and orientation to organizations evaluating suitable software products. We are very happy that the highly flexible and visually appealing capabilities of arcplan 8 were confirmed by this challenging certification process."

About arcplan

arcplan (http://www.arcplan.com) is a leader in innovative Business Intelligence, Dashboard, Corporate Performance and Planning software solutions for desktop and mobile use. Since 1993, arcplan has enabled more than 3,200 customers worldwide to leverage their existing infrastructure for better decision making. Empowering all users to connect and collaborate with relevant information is crucial for improving business performance. With arcplan - it simply works.

arcplan's flagship product arcplan Enterprise was rated the #1 3rd party tool for SAP BW, Oracle Essbase, and IBM Cognos TM1 in The BI Survey 13 (2013).

About BARC

The Business Application Research Center (BARC) is a research and consulting institute for company software focusing on Business Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management, and Enterprise Resource Planning. Since 1994 BARC experts concentrate on the evaluation of Business Intelligence and ECM software and advisory services for enterprises. Annually, more than 1,200 customers - among them more than 90 percent of the DAX100 companies, public authorities and financial institutions - make use of BARC's software evaluation support, advisory services and IT strategy projects.

About IBCS

The International Business Communication Standards (IBCS) are practical rules for the design of reports and presentations based on the HICHERT SUCCESS concept regarding a consistent visual language. The IBCS Association is a non-profit organization that supports the circulation, maintenance, and further development of its International Business Communication Standards.