Kalamazoo-based BlueGranite Inc. announced Wednesday that it had opened a satellite office in Franklin, Tenn., and has added business intelligence expert Derek Wilson to the company’s roster as manager of the new office.

“Derek joins other technology experts that we’ve embedded into market territories to ensure that we are close to our growing client base,” said Matthew Mace, president and CEO of BlueGranite.”Derek brings tremendous talent combined with an extensive and impressive career in the field of business intelligence. We’re very excited to have him on board.”

Prior to joining Blue Granite, Wilson was a business intelligence manager for a global insurance broker, which Mace says complements BlueGranite’s strong expertise in marketing and finance specialties. Wilson holds numerous Microsoft certifications and is a specialist in database management, especially SQL Server, data modeling, data warehousing and data quality. He’s published articles on database design, architecture and SOA for SQL Server Magazine, DM Review, and SQL Server Worldwide User Group. And he’s a member of The Data Warehouse Institute and the International Association of Software Architects. He graduated from the University of North Florida in 1997.

BlueGranite, which has sold and supported Microsoft products since it was founded in 1997, recently entered into an agreement with Microsoft to serve as a Business Intelligence Virtual Technical Specialist. The agreement enables BlueGranite employees to serve as virtual Microsoft employees with some clients. BlueGranite is a Microsoft Gold Level partner.

BlueGranite specializes in the implementation of performance dashboards -- an integrated set of software and services that enables organizations to collaborate around and monitor key business activities, and then analyze the results of those activities to uncover new insights. Traditionally known as business intelligence, this innovative set of applications helps organizations improve their results by using an important asset -- the data and information stored in traditional operational and finance systems -- to make better decisions. And it places organizational focus on the activities and results that matter.

BlueGranite also Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor in Michigan, and Oak Brook, Ill.