U.S. Bank's BI applications support hundreds of thousands of users, running the gamut, from treasury management to credit card expense reporting, merchant transactions, and procurement.

U.S. Bank first started using WebFOCUS in the mid 1990s. At the time, Information Builders had the only Web-based reporting solution available. WebFOCUS usage has grown steadily at the bank ever since. One of the major drivers in U.S. Bank's selection of WebFOCUS as its enterprise standard was the software's ability to access so many different data sources and run on a variety of computing platforms. The bank has hundreds of thousands of users accessing data each day and only WebFOCUS provided the scalability to provide such a pervasive BI environment.

"It made a lot of sense to adopt WebFOCUS as our enterprise standard as it leverages our core strengths: mainframe systems, security, scalability, and support for very large databases," said Mark Snoeyenbos, manager of Client Access & Reporting at U.S. Bank, as well as manager of the WebFOCUS Centre of Excellence. "We save money by having one tool handling virtually all of our reporting and the ease of use makes it a suitable tool for a variety of users."

For example, some of the bank's corporate customers use a WebFOCUS application called AccessOnline to access information and manage employee expenditures. The self-service programme-management and reporting tool helps clients streamline their administrative processes and boost control over their spending. Internal bank personnel also rely on AccessOnline to analyze spending patterns and trends for the bank's clients.

Additionally, through an integrated BI dashboard, they can view about 60 standard reports. WebFOCUS is also the tool of choice for corporate performance management at U.S. Bank. Bankers, line managers, support groups, and call centre managers all access these reports to manage employee goals, reward achievements, and coach bankers.

"WebFOCUS handles interrnal reporting throughout the bank and is deeply integrated into our core business processes," said Joyce Halford of U.S. Bank's WebFOCUS Centre of Excellence in Portland, Oregon. "We rely on the software because it streamlines access to all types of information and enables us to give our external clients exactly what they need."

Information Builders software is popular from coast to coast because it is so effective for so many different types of users. Application developers use it for complex data analysis projects while businesspeople use it to obtain fast, point-and-click answers to their questions. At a recent user convention, Information Builders honoured one of U.S Bank's external applications with the "Most Scalable Application" award for its ability to support the needs of hundreds of thousands users.

"U.S. Bank is one of Information Builders most successful 'poster children' in terms of the strategic initiatives they have undertaken with WebFOCUS and the resulting ROI they have achieved," said Gerald Cohen, CEO and founder, Information Builders. "It's a requirement for companies in the financial services industry to continually innovate and deliver best of breed offerings to their clients. U.S. Bank has been a leader in this area since the mid-90s, before many companies even brought their businesses online."