Analytical Business Intelligence Consulting Online Tutoring

Vadis was founded in 2004 by the current managing director Thierry Van de Merckt (www.vadis.com ). The service offer of the business consists of analytical business intelligence consulting and solution development. Vadis offers complete solutions that allow client businesses to understand their clients better, and to predict their probability to accept a commercial offer, or their probability to carry out activities that pose a risk for the service supplier (such as fraudulent insurance claims, aborting their contract, etc). At present the business employs 15 staff of which 5 are involved in dedicated R&D team, 2 on part-time and 3 on full-time basis. In addition to human resources R&D expenditures include computers, and contract work with universities and professors. The nature of the R&D is characterized by close relationship with business projects, so it is very directly driven by business needs. Most of the time Vadis works closely together with clients marketing and sales departments. Other typical features of R&D include: flat organization, cooperation between university doctors and programmers, algorithms exchange and development in connection with university contacts. R&D plan and objectives are reviewed each months and budget is directly pending on the salary of the engaged people. Typical bottlenecks related to the R&D in services include: finding the people with right skills.

On average Vadis launches new services on the markets every two years. During the last 12 months period Vadis has been developing a new application which enables the navigation and presentation of the collaborative business activities around the world. This is enabled by a new graphic clustering algorithm supported by the last R&D project funded by ISRIB, Institute for the encouragement of Scientific Research and Innovation of Brussels. For instance, combining IT skills and mathematics or advanced statistical skills. Regional supports are considered most appropriate as the European projects are seen as too complex for the business to handle. Typical feature of the Services R&D process project is that it involves good business understanding of the problem that needs to be to be solved, good vision on how to solve it and what will be out of reach. In addition, there is a need for excellent project management skills, people management, and the right set of skills. Typical stages in the (software) R&D process include:
• identification of the business opportunity
• specification of the development project
• project planning
• formulation of the R&D budget
• follow-up
• testing, and finally beta test on real problems

The key skills needed in services related R&D process management include vision of the potential outcome, technological skills, and program management capabilities. Our own work as consultants is the most common source for new ideas. R&D outcomes are most of the time gradual improvements, while more drastic changes are typical when the vision emerges from a totally new ground, i.e., from the white page. The external resources that Vadis makes use in its services R&D process include Universities resources and outside researchers who are contracted to do some work. Typical outcomes of the R&D include: new technologies, e.g. software tools enabling new types of services, new type of service offer / service products, as well as entire new types of business models. IP protection is important since competitors seek to imitate new services immediately, and often they also try to hire people from our R&D team. Best ways to protect IP include fast innovation cycle, high enough R&D budget and lawsuits in case of infringements. Improving the performance of services related R&D. The main improvements that the current services R&D process could benefit from include short R&D programs after students have first graduated. There people could learn how to perform R&D, and this does not mean a full scale PhD course but a shorter sorter period where people could learn skills relevant for the R&D. Public authorities could promote R&D in services by offering supports for the R&D as the regional agency IRSIB does. They could also facilitate and create synergies between innovative businesses by creating dedicated meeting spaces for them, by promoting interaction and exchanges between innovative businesses more generally, and by offering help to innovative businesses so that they would be better able to export heir knowledge based services.