About Us
With expert-level Birst architecture, development, and mentoring experience, plus decades of traditional data warehousing and business intelligence, our expertise lifts your Birst analytics implementation out of the doldrums and into the lead.
Who is Agile Dragon Group (ADG)?
Agile Dragon Group (ADG) helps Cloud Suite and Birst users maximize their software’s potential. Our team has specialized in Birst, the business intelligence platform adopted by Infor, since before Infor’s acquisition. Unlike typical consulting firms, we focus exclusively on Birst, initially supporting Cloud Suite Distribution (CSD) customers in fully utilizing their Birst licenses. Today, we extend our services to Cloud Suite Industrial (CSI) and M3 users, with the goal of enhancing their business intelligence (BI) capabilities.
Key Takeaways
– Expertise in Birst analytics for Cloud Suite users
– Solutions that make Birst easier and more effective to use
– Subscription-based tools called Dragon Packs
ADG’s Specialization in Birst
ADG provides specialized support for Cloud Suite and Birst, offering solutions developed from firsthand experience rather than pre-made templates. Our initial work focused on helping CSD customers, who often encountered difficulties when they moved to the cloud and found that pre-built reports no longer met their needs. In response, we crafted tools to simplify Birst usage and offered hands-on training, allowing users to extract real value from their Birst licenses.
Our Core Offerings
– Dragon Packs: Ready-to-deploy Birst solutions for common needs
– Free Training and Guides: Resources available through our Dragon Den
– Custom Support: Experienced developers for tailored Birst solutions
These offerings allow us to optimize Birst for clients without adding extra costs. By concentrating solely on Birst, we tackle specific issues with expertise that enhances daily operations for distributors.
Infor’s Cloud Suite Transition and Birst Integration
Infor’s acquisition of Birst in 2017 was part of its strategy to shift ERP systems to the cloud via Cloud Suite. This move involved setting up a data lake to store ERP data, which could be accessed through standard reports on Birst, integrated into a user interface known as IOS or Mingle. However, as Cloud Suite adoption grew, many customers found the out-of-the-box analytics limited, making it difficult to customize reports to meet their specific needs.
Challenges of Cloud Transition
1. Operational Impact
Migrating to a cloud environment changes workflows, requiring time for employees to adjust, which can impact productivity if not well-managed.
2. Reporting Disruptions
Cloud transitions often disrupt existing reports, which businesses rely on for decision-making. Adapting these reports to a new system requires specialized skills, creating a gap in essential information.
3. Data Integration Issues
Integrating the data lake, Birst, and ION solutions presents technical challenges, especially for BI processes. While Infor’s standard analytics content serves broad needs, it often lacks the flexibility customers require, leaving many with a powerful tool but limited reporting functionality.
Our Approach to Birst Complexity
ADG’s approach to Birst leverages our expertise to streamline the complex standard analytics provided by Infor. We’ve observed that standard content often attempts to meet too many demands, resulting in a cumbersome system that can be difficult to adapt for specific use cases. ADG specializes in making these adaptations, allowing customers to generate the targeted insights they need.
Our Unique Services
With a team focused solely on Birst, ADG delivers dedicated, specialized support. Our experts have extensive experience working with Cloud Suite Distribution clients, tailoring BI solutions for diverse needs. Dragon Packs, our subscription-based tools, offer pre-built solutions that require minimal setup, while our Dragon Den provides free training to help clients get the most from Birst.
Our auditing tools, for example, track key changes such as order adjustments, who made them, and when—providing invaluable insights without additional licensing requirements. ADG’s configurable, easy-to-implement tools allow businesses to maximize their Birst investment without needing professional installation.
Conclusion
Agile Dragon Group is dedicated to ensuring Cloud Suite users fully leverage their Birst capabilities. Through tailored solutions, expert guidance, and a commitment to customer-focused support, we empower clients to make the most of their BI tools, transforming their Birst licenses into valuable, actionable insights that drive business success.
Meet the Agile Dragon Team
BILL PAYNE CEO
BIRST SOLUTION ARCHITECT WITH OVER 20 YEARS OF BROAD CRM AND ANALYTICAL CONSULTING EXPERIENCE
Bill architects, builds, and manages Birst cloud data analytical solutions, and dashboards as CEO of Agile Dragon Group, LLC.
Bill is passionate about building and embedding analytical solutions into larger cloud CRM or ERP solutions such as Cloud Suite and Salesforce. He believes in efficient, secure systems that are easy to access and scale.
Greg Syme CTO
Software Solutions
Software Architect with over 9 years experience delivering production applications in a number of technologies. Greg builds software products to solve customer problems identified by Agile Dragon Group.
Craig Vigor - Head of Customer Success
First Head of Birst Services 20 years of experience in BI, Analytics, and SaaS
As the first director of services for Birst, Craig was instrumental in developing, architecting, and leading hundreds of Birst implementations across various industries. His experience ranges from hands-on implementation work to executive-level strategy and vision.
During his seven years with Birst Services, Craig ensured the delivery of complex analytic solutions and represented the voice of the customer in the ongoing evolution of the Birst product. This included expanding and improving the product to meet customer needs and drive success.
As a customer success executive for information management companies, Craig advises Fortune 500 and manufacturing companies, among others, on their data management and analytics roadmaps and strategies. His focus is on ensuring that organizations of all sizes succeed in transforming their data and systems into actionable insights for the business.
Ching Cooper - Director of M3 Business Intelligence Solutions
Agile Dragon Group, a leading data and analytics solutions provider, is thrilled to welcome Ching Cooper as their new Director of M3 Business Intelligence Solutions. With over 25 years of experience in business analysis, data management, business intelligence and solution architecture, including leading business analytics and inteligence teams at various fortune 500 companies, Ching brings a wealth of expertise to the role.
During her eight years with Infor/Birst, Ching ensured the successfull delivery of over 100 Birst projects across 75 customers. This included implementing M3A standard content, with extensions and custom solutions
Bob Larson - Principal Solution Architect
BIRST SOLUTION ARCHITECT WITH OVER 9 YEARS OF EXCLUSIVE BIRST DEVELOPMENT.
With over 9 years of Birst experience, focusing on high complexity data Birst Date Models, Bob has worked in about every permutation and combination of Birst Solution Architecture. Whether it is a good old-fashioned ADR to Live Access or implementing new data access functionality connecting Birst to the Data Lake Bob has been there and done that.
Most recently, Bob served as a lead consultant with Koch Industries where he designed the Birst data security solution for a global HR application implementation. Prior to Koch Industries, Bob spent two years at Pandora Media. At Pandora, Bob served as the Birst Lead in designing, building, deploying, and supporting a Birst solution for the advertising sales group, integrating data between a customized Salesforce environment and an in-house order management platform. Bob has worked on Birst integrations with 3rd party applications, specifically Salesforce.com, Infor HCM, and Tableau. He resides in Boston with his dog, Manny.
Victoria Christiansen - Account Manager/Dragon Librarian
DOCUMENTATION SOLUTION SPECIALIST WITH OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
Agile Dragon Group, a leading data and analytics solutions provider, is thrilled to welcome Victoria Christiansen as their new Dragon Librarian. With over 20 years of experience standardization and documentation of business requirements. She also brings experience as a Cloudsuite Distribution Admin where she created, leveraged, and managed stakeholders’ analytic requirements.
MICHAEL STOKES - Principal Insights Architect
BIRST INSIGHTS ARCHITECT WITH OVER 35 YEARS OF BUSINESS EXPERIENCE and 20 YEARS OF FINANCIAL REPORTING EXPERIENCE.
Michael‘s journey began in the accounting consulting profession, where he honed his skills with Big 5 consulting firms, developing a deep understanding of his client’s business needs.
Michael has over 15 years of experience with Birst, specializing in leveraging its visualization capabilities to create analytics content that is both visually stunning and insightful. During his 7 years on Birst’s Services team, he was the go-to resource for high-priority solutions, known for his ability to deliver results with both accuracy and flair.
Michael excels at cutting through the noise to identify the key drivers of business performance. He creates analytics content that not only illuminates the business’s reality but also disseminates actionable insights. His focus is on maximizing user engagement and ensuring that the business always remembers the “why” behind their actions, rather than just the “how.”
Outside of work, Michael is often seen shuttling between his family members, who have spread their wings, with the youngest currently in college.
David Murphy - Head of Product Development
Birst Data Architect with over 25 years in BI and 10 years in Birst
With over 25 years of experience delivering data analytical solutions, including a decade with Infor Birst, David is a seasoned expert working with business analytics, data modeling, data transformation, performance tuning, and report development. For the past 10 years, he has harnessed the power of Infor Birst, demonstrating an in-depth understanding and adeptness in utilizing this platform to its fullest potential. He resides in the Boston area with his wife and two pets.
LEARN HOW AGILE DRAGON CAN HELP YOU
IMPROVE YOUR BIRST DATA
"Agile Dragon has been an invaluable partner in both our current Birst implementation and our "next generation" environment on Snowflake. Bill and company have supported Judge in all aspects of our implementation from data structures to UI design."
-Mike Flicker
Vice President of Information Technology, The Judge Group
