Bizcubed principal Zachary Zeus said integrated BI can show key metrics like revenue, daily claim amounts, and the number of cheques coming out.

"We have incorporated a wiki (XWiki) with help screens staff can edit and use. This describes a report and how to use them," Zeus said. "You can get into the details and understand what portion of the product is costing the most money."

"You can track changes in price right down to individual doctors and hospitals. If you can see this in real time you will save money."

Having started with claims and then rolled the Web application out to other areas of the business in a moderated transition, IMAN employees began using Firefox on Windows in preparation for a company-wide desktop migration to Linux and KDE.

Polonious' Guthrie said a problem with the Windows desktop is "you are tied down to the Windows stack".

"The company e-mail is standards-compliant and IT find supporting Linux desktops easier," Guthrie said. "KDE 3 was a bit more stable, but when KDE 4.0 is stable we will use it as it is beautiful looking."

At the end of its two-year software revolution, IMAN is now left with a few Windows-only applications - MYOB for accounting and NAB for banking.

Perhaps they too will fall by the wayside and become a forgotten relic of the proprietary software paradigm.