Alchemex (Pty) Ltd was founded in 2001 by Gary Boddington, Charles Teversham and Darryl Smith in Durban, South Africa. Their vision was to deliver simple reporting technology. Having had significant experience in business analysis and solution development in high-end ERP applications like SAP R/3, they were well placed to relate to the reporting-associated frustrations experienced by most companies, big and small.

One common theme was very evident… the need for timeous and quality information presented in an easily understood and useable format, namely Excel. Spreadsheets were here to stay, but their use needed to be more structured and automated so that a single version of the truth could be trusted and distributed confidently across an organization. Alchemex as a product evolved to fulfill this need in the language of business and accountants, providing a series of modules for sophisticated yet easy-to-use management reporting. Alchemex delivers simple, affordable Business Intelligence “for the masses”.

Alchemex has grown from a staff complement consisting of its three founder members to around 30 today, with nearly 20 000 users worldwide currently depending on Alchemex’s reporting software. With renewal rates in excess of 90%, Alchemex offers software, training and support to provide a complete Business Intelligence solution.

The people at Alchemex are exceptionally committed with an embedded culture of excellence. Everyone understands how important our relationships are with all the people we interact with. Our values are driven by open and honest communication with everyone, and a respect and support for each other.

Alchemex is committed to providing professional software business solutions through a network of partners to a global market.

As the market for ERP, Accounting and Payroll applications becomes more competitive, and in many cases saturated, vendors are looking for value-add offerings to retain and gain market share. One of these areas is in Business Intelligence (BI), not only because it creates real value beyond standard offerings, but also because it helps companies make sense of what is going on in their businesses to make better decisions and become more profitable. Latest BI trends suggest that providers should offer a high level of sophistication via a very simple interface that required no training. BI must be easy to digest, empowering all users to become potential “decision makers”. Whether you call it "consumer BI," "pervasive BI", or "BI for the masses", the focus has shifted from BI professionals, who need complex tools to create and analyse information, to everyday users who simply want to access content in meaningful ways.

Alchemex was always developed with SMEs in mind and as a result the technology is simple, affordable and appropriate. Although Alchemex is a totally flexible and generic Business Intelligence solution, the success to date is attributed to delivering integrated BI seamlessly as part of Accounting, Payroll and ERP applications, making it a natural part of an organisation’s process. Alchemex is well positioned and experienced to partner with vendors who see this as a priority.

The Alchemex model is well supported by a comprehensive training and enablement programme developed to close the loop on delivering the whole product to customers and vendor partners. A structured certification programme is offered for all companies that wish to develop skills in Alchemex.

The next 5 years will see rapid adoption of Business Intelligence for SMEs in particular. Solutions must be quickly deployed in a cost effective manner so that companies realise their returns early. With a proven track record with market leading vendor partners supporting penetration rates of between 10 and 40% on select install bases, Alchemex is well placed to deliver on this initiative with its mature and appropriate everyday product and training offerings.

FOUNDING DIRECTORS

Alchemex started in Gary's garage back in 2001. The software was conceptualized and realised by Darryl Smith.

Gary Boddington - Managing Director
Darryl Smith (B.SC (ENG)) - Technical Director
Charles Teversham - Sales Director
OTHER ALCHEMEX DIRECTORS

Stephen Coull
Sean Elliott
Loren Taljard - Marketing Director
Julian Pienaar