The Business Intelligence Market
Content
Cindi Howson ASK LLC email: [email protected]
The Business Intelligence Market
Business Intelligence and Its Market Segments Defined
2013 ASK LLC d.b.a. BI Scorecard This publication may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission. All rights reserved. WWW.BISCORECARD.COM Revision Date: 12/3/2013
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The Business Intelligence Market
Business Intelligence and Its Market Segments Defined
Business intelligence allows people at all levels of an organization to access, interact with, and analyze data to manage the business, improve performance, discover opportunities, and operate efficiently. It is not a technology you implement and then put in maintenance mode; it is an approach and set of technologies that are continuously evolving and adapting as the business climate changes, users discover new opportunities to leverage information, and the industry innovates. Companies of all sizes and industries leverage business intelligence to identify cost saving opportunities and to improve services and products as a way of beating the competition. When you implement business intelligence tools, the focus of the project is not to finish, but rather, to deliver a certain amount of value and functionality within a predefined period. There was a time when the BI tools market was synonymous with query and reporting. Then OLAP arrived on the scene in the mid 1990s and analytic applications in the late 1990s (they’ve both been around longer but called something different). Dashboards, inmemory analytics, and advanced visualization and discovery seem to be the latest buzz. Meanwhile, a number of related technologies such as data warehousing and enterprise information management are now also referred to as BI technologies. Such technologies certainly provide the “plumbing” for business intelligence, but sometimes these semantics only confuse the industry as to what technologies we are discussing. Thus, the front-end components that business users interact with are now generally referred to as BI tools or BI platforms; usually a platform includes multiple tools and modules. If you are evaluating vendor products, it is important to understand which functionality you are looking for and whether or not the vendor has a solution in that space. The following are segments within the BI market. If you analyze BI market shares, keep in mind that analysts will isolate and/or combine these segments differently. For each ® segment, the tables list BI vendors currently covered by BI Scorecard and their respective solutions. The tables are not representative of which vendors are leaders in any one segment, but rather, allow you to compare vendor offerings across the segments. We recommend you use this report to assess the breadth of a vendor’s product line and as a way of ensuring you are comparing like-for-like products. Use this report to appropriately position products by use case and optimal user profile. For a review of the products’ strengths and weaknesses, refer to the BI Scorecard® Strategic and Product Summary.
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Query and Reporting
Query and reporting is the process of querying a data source, then formatting it to create a report, either a production-style report, such as an invoice, or a management-style report. These two market segments go by many names, creating a fair amount of customer confusion. The needs within production reporting are often different than the needs within business query and reporting. Yet sometimes, the needs blur and the lines cross … and just as you can use a hammer to get a screw into the wall, you can use a production reporting tool for management reporting. The converse, however, is not true; rarely can you use a business query and reporting tool to develop production reports. A business query tool may not support pixel-perfect layouts, normalized data sources, or programmability that IT developers demand. With business query and reporting, the data source is more often a data warehouse or data mart (though not always). Whereas IT develops production reports, power users and casual business users develop their own reports with business query tools. The following table compares some additional characteristics that help distinguish production-style reports from business-style reports. These characteristics are by no means absolutes. Neither of these segments is precise. Production reports are not necessarily pixel-perfect, although some are. Reports generated with business query tools can be used individually, departmentally or enterprise-wide.
Characteristic Primary author Purpose Report delivery Print quality User base Data source Level of data detail Scope Usage IT Developer Monitor or complete an operational task Paper or e-bill, embedded in an application Pixel-perfect 10s of 1000s OLTP – real time Granular Operational Often embedded within an OLTP application Production Business Query & Reporting Power user or business user Decision-making and analysis Portal, spreadsheet, email Presentation quality 100s or 1000s Data warehouse or mart, occasionally OLTP Aggregated Tactical, strategic BI as a separate application
The characteristics and authors of these two types of queries and reports are distinct. Yet must they be distinct tools? Vendors have been trying to converge these segements for years, but even when a vendor serves both segments, often it is via distinct interfaces with varying degrees of shared components. Cognos was the first vendor to launch one product that serves both production style reporting and business query and reporting: ReportNet, launched in September 2003. In reality, though, Cognos 8 has distinct studios for the different segments (Report Studio and Query Studio), as does Cognos 10 (Report Studio and Business Insight). MicroStrategy launched Report Services in December 2003 for highly formatted reports. While it can create pixel perfect reporting, rarely is MicroStrategy deployed against an On-line Transaction Processing (OLTP) system. Crystal Reports is one of those products whose sweet spot is production reporting, yet it can also be used for business-style reports that IT develops. Microsoft Reporting Services also has two interfaces – Report Designer within Visual Studio and Report Builder. The
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report output and definition created for either is the same, but each interface serves distinct authoring requirements for sophisticated versus casual users.
Production Reporting
Production reporting typically involves querying an OLTP database, then formatting it to create a document, perhaps an invoice, a bank statement, a check, or a list of open orders. When the reporting is not against the transaction system, it may be against an operational data store or detailed data within a data warehouse. Often, production style reporting is done via custom programming as the information needs and report layout may rarely change. One of the challenges with vendors who focus exclusively on production reporting is that users may never know they are using a BI tool; the product is so embedded within the OLTP application that there is little brand awareness for the BI tool. Other key players in this market segment include Actuate, LogiXML, and inetSoft. Production reporting tools are more likely to have a desktop authoring interface but not always.
Vendor SAP BusinessObjects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst Product Crystal Reports (acquired in 2003 from Crystal Decisions) SAP Business Explorer (BEx) Report Designer will be replaced by Crystal Reports Cognos Report Studio Report Services (launched in 2003) Reporting Services Report Designer interface within Visual Studio (launched in 2004) Web Focus Developer Studio Oracle Publisher is the lead product NA, although you can write SAS code to create a highly formatted report BIRT Designer Pro Report Designer Jasper Reports Designer, Layout mode Web or Desktop Desktop
Web Either Desktop Desktop Either
Desktop Desktop Desktop Web
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Business Query and Reporting
Business query and reporting tools are intended for users who want to author their own reports. These users are less concerned with the precise layout (since they aren’t trying to generate an invoice) but do want charts and tables quickly and intuitively. The formatting capabilities vary dramatically in this segment. Tools in this segment are also referred to as “ad hoc” query tools, but often the reports created by business users become standard reports and are not exclusively used for ad hoc business questions. Nowadays the Web is predominantly the authoring environment.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst Product Web Intelligence for Web-based authoring Cognos 10.2 Workspace for viewing and Workspace Advanced for greater authoring (renamed from Business Insight) Desktop for desktop authoring Web for Web-based authoring Report Builder Smart Client InfoAssist Oracle Answers (from Siebel Analytics acquisition), a Web-based interface within Oracle BI Enterprise Edition Web Report Studio as part of EBI platform, or SAS Visual Analytics Designer BIRT Studio Web Ad-Hoc Query Tool (WAQR) Ad hoc Reporting Designer
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On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
OLAP and its architectures are defined in more depth in the OLAP criteria. Many BI vendors provide both query and reporting solutions as well as an OLAP tool. Some BI vendors provide it via one integrated product; others offer separate products. In its broadest definition, OLAP provides interactive, multidimensional analysis with different dimensions and different levels of detail. In evaluating OLAP tools, it’s helpful to distinguish between platform issues and user interface issues. There are a few specialty vendors in this segment such as arcplan, Panorama Novaview, Strategy Companion, and Paris Technologies PowerOLAP that provide OLAP viewers to integrate with third-party OLAP platforms. With the rise of in-memory computing and analytic databases, the need for a separate multi-dimensional database can be challenged.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos OLAP Platform Web Intelligence SAP NetWeaver BW(InfoCubes) PowerPlay Server TM1 (acquired from Applix in 2007) Architecture DOLAP/ROLAP SAP HANA for in-memory OLAP MOLAP PowerCubes and TM1, or ROLAP in Cognos 8 Dynamic Cubes in Cognos 10.2 User Interfaces Web Intelligence Voyager renamed Analysis Edition for OLAP in 4.0 Cognos 10 Workspace Analysis Studio supported as migration strategy. Executive Viewer for TM1 also used in Cognos Express Desktop Web Excel PowerPivot Performance Point , Analysis capabilities based on ProClarity InfoAssist OLAP Option supports any SQL-based tools OBBI EE Answers
MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server OLAP Services provides OLAP caching and in-memory Analysis Services
ROLAP
Microsoft
MOLAP, HOLAP, ROLAP SQL Server 2012 In-Memory Tabular Data Models
Information Builders Oracle
OEM columnar database, Hyperstage (2012) OLAP Option for the database Hyperion Essbase Exalytics OLAP Option is MOLAP stored in the RDBMS but that can be queried with SQL OBI EE is ROLAP Hyperion Essbase is primarily MOLAP but supports HOLAP Exalytics for In-memory OLAP Server MOLAP/HOLAP
SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst
Web Report Studio & Web OLAP Viewer BIRT Data Analyzer Analyzer Jaspersoft Ad-Hoc Analysis UI Designer or Dashboards
Mondrian Jaspersoft OLAP (Mondrian)
ROLAP ROLAP ROLAP
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Dashboards
As web-based business query and OLAP tools have reached a reasonable level of maturity and adoption, dashboards have fast become the next major area of innovation and adoption. There are a number of niche dashboard vendors and new products from BI suite vendors. According to industry visualization expert Stephen Few, President of Perceptual Edge, “a dashboard is a visual form of information display, which is used to monitor what’s currently going on in the business at a glance.” Any tool that can display multiple objects from multiple data sources, then, can correctly be referred to as a dashboard. For some vendors, a report can correctly be referred to as a dashboard, and for others, a portal may provide the dashboard capabilities. Better dashboard products, though, go well beyond these two basic criteria. Ideally, users want to assemble their own dashboards with the information relevant to their job. Not all tools allow this, though, and may force IT to build dashboards in advance. For BI Scorecard® to consider something a dashboard, it must enable information from multiple data sources, be highly visual, have a way of highlighting exceptions (traffic lighting or alerts), and have a degree of interactivity. The following table lists dashboard-specific products. Keep in mind, however, that you may be able to use functionality within the core BI tool to build a basic dashboard. As well, specialty vendors such as QlikTech, Dundas, and iDashboards provide dashboard capabilities.
Platform Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst Specialty QlikTech iDashboards Dundas QlikView Product Xcelsius renamed Dashboards in 4.0 Design Studio replaces Web Application Designer (for BW & HANA) Workspace Dynamic Enterprise Dashboards (released March 2007) Dashboard Designer, a rich client product that is part of PerformancePoint builds the dashboards that are deployed via portals in SharePoint. PowerView and PowerPivot support dashboards as well Developer Studio and Portal in v8 Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards Oracle Endeca Information Discovery for exploratory dashboards, unstructured content SAS Visual Analytics Designer BIRT 360 Dashboards Dashboards Dashboards
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Performance Management
Performance management applications include budgeting and planning and financial consolidation. On the customer buying side, the degree to which customers buy BI and performance management from the same vendor depends not only on product capabilities, but also on the degree to which the CFO and CIO co-operate. It’s important to note that budgeting and planning does not apply to financial metrics only, but also to workforce, capital, and so on.
Vendor SAP Business Objects Planning / Financial Reporting / Consolidation Lead product for planning: SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (acquired by SAP from OutlookSoft in 2007) For consolidations: Business Objects Financial Consolidations (acquired from Cartesis in 2007) and SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (from OutlookSoft) Controller, Planning NA NA NA Hyperion Financial Manager, Hyperion Planning SAS Financial Management NA
IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Birst
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Scorecards
Whereas dashboards present multiple numbers in different ways, a scorecard focuses on a given metric and compares it to target. In analyzing performance versus the target, a scorecard may provide a root cause analysis and track accountability. Scorecard products are often certified by the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative. Scorecards contain agreedupon metrics or key performance indicators aligned with the company’s strategy. These kinds of strategic scorecards are sometimes included as part of a total performance management solution and certain industry analysts will count scorecards as part of the performance management industry. Key performance indicators may also be an option within a dashboard product. While KPIs within a dashboard may provide a snapshot of a KPI, within strategic scorecards, the KPIs are at a higher level, allowing you to assign accountability and track root causes via strategy maps.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Birst Product SAP Strategy Management (acquired from Pilot Software in 2007) Metrics Studio replaced by TM1 Scorecarding 2013 NA PerformancePoint, monitoring capabilities (based on earlier Business Scorecard Manager) Performance Management Framework Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management (new in 11g) Strategic Performance Management BIRT 360 NA
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Predictive Analytics and Data Mining
Data mining is a particular kind of analysis that reveals patterns in data using various algorithms. Whereas standard query and reporting tools require you to ask a specific question, a data mining tool will help users discover relationships or show patterns in a more exploratory fashion. Predictive analytics allow users to create a model, test the model based on actual data, and then project future results. Data mining is used in predictive analysis, fraud detection, customer segmentation, and market basket analysis. Although data mining is one segment of the BI market, it continues to be an application reserved for specialist users with SAS, SPSS, Angoss, and open source R leading the market. Each vendor has a different approach in where the analytics should be done. In the past, statisticians have largely extracted data from source systems and data warehouses to perform analyses outside of the BI environment. In 2008, SAS and Teradata entered into a joint technology agreement where more of the processing is pushed to the database. In an effort to make BI more actionable, some BI vendors are incorporating data mining and predictive analytics into their BI suite. This does not mean that predictive analytics will become “mainstream”, but rather, that the results of such analysis can be readily incorporated into every day reports and decision-making.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Pentaho TIBCO Spotfire Tableau Product Predictive Analysis released in Q1 2013, KXEN acquired in Q3 2013. HANA has predictive algorithms. SPSS acquired in 2009 Data Mining Services (clustering, association, linear regression embedded within. MicroStrategy 8); one of the few that can access predictive models using PMML created in 3rd party data mining software. SQL Server, decision trees and clustering. Data Mining add-in in Excel leverage Analysis Services Predictive Analysis (released Q3 2009) based on R Data Mining option for the database or for Essbase. Real Time Decisioning combines rules and statistical. Enterprise Miner, plus stored processes exposed to Web Report Studio. Rapid Predictive Modeler (RPM) became part of the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office for users to create models in Excel August 2010. Weka Statistics Services, S+ , with R run-time engine in Spotfire 5 (Q4 2012) R integration to be added in Q4 2013
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Visual Data Discovery
Advanced visualizations are increasingly appearing in dashboard products from BI vendors, but for the most part, better capabilities exist in specialty products. Visual Data Discovery tools speed the time to insight through the use of visualizations, best practices in visual perception, and easy exploration. Such tools support business agility and selfservice BI through a variety of innovations that may include in-memory processing and mashing of multiple data sources. The difference in these tools versus most dashboard products is usually in: 1. the degree of sophisticated analysis and visualization types such as small multiples, spark lines, heat maps, histograms, waterfall charts, bullet graphs, and so on. 2. adherence to best practices according to the visualization community 3. degree of out-of-the box, automatic interactivity and visual exploration versus first rendering data in tabular data display and then creating a chart 4. ease at which an individual user can explore data, connect to new data sources, and mash data from multiple sources, without the support of IT in getting started
Product Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Specialty QlikTech TIBCO Tableau Advizor Solutions Datawatch QlikView Spotfire Tableau Visual Discovery Desktop (acquired Panopticon in Q2 2013) Desktop v11 (Next is Web) Desktop Desktop and some Web Desktop Desktop Explorer has some light weight visual discovery capabilities. Visual Intelligence released in May 2012. Rebranded Lumira May 2013 Cognos Insight released February 2012. Project Neo in beta Q1 1014 for NLP and discovery Visual Insight new interface in Q1 2011. SharePoint PowerView released in 2012, added to Excel 2013 Visual Discovery (OEM’d from Advizor Solutions) Exalytics with OBI EE smart visualizations. Oracle Endeca is more for textual dashboards. JMP , Visual Analytics Explorer released in Q1 2012 for business users BIRT Analytics (acquired from Quiterian Q4 2012) Web or Desktop Authoring Explorer Web Lumira Desktop Desktop Web Desktop, Excel Desktop Web Web Web
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The Business Intelligence Market
Business Intelligence and Its Market Segments Defined
2013 ASK LLC d.b.a. BI Scorecard This publication may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission. All rights reserved. WWW.BISCORECARD.COM Revision Date: 12/3/2013
PAGE 1 OF 11
The Business Intelligence Market
Business Intelligence and Its Market Segments Defined
Business intelligence allows people at all levels of an organization to access, interact with, and analyze data to manage the business, improve performance, discover opportunities, and operate efficiently. It is not a technology you implement and then put in maintenance mode; it is an approach and set of technologies that are continuously evolving and adapting as the business climate changes, users discover new opportunities to leverage information, and the industry innovates. Companies of all sizes and industries leverage business intelligence to identify cost saving opportunities and to improve services and products as a way of beating the competition. When you implement business intelligence tools, the focus of the project is not to finish, but rather, to deliver a certain amount of value and functionality within a predefined period. There was a time when the BI tools market was synonymous with query and reporting. Then OLAP arrived on the scene in the mid 1990s and analytic applications in the late 1990s (they’ve both been around longer but called something different). Dashboards, inmemory analytics, and advanced visualization and discovery seem to be the latest buzz. Meanwhile, a number of related technologies such as data warehousing and enterprise information management are now also referred to as BI technologies. Such technologies certainly provide the “plumbing” for business intelligence, but sometimes these semantics only confuse the industry as to what technologies we are discussing. Thus, the front-end components that business users interact with are now generally referred to as BI tools or BI platforms; usually a platform includes multiple tools and modules. If you are evaluating vendor products, it is important to understand which functionality you are looking for and whether or not the vendor has a solution in that space. The following are segments within the BI market. If you analyze BI market shares, keep in mind that analysts will isolate and/or combine these segments differently. For each ® segment, the tables list BI vendors currently covered by BI Scorecard and their respective solutions. The tables are not representative of which vendors are leaders in any one segment, but rather, allow you to compare vendor offerings across the segments. We recommend you use this report to assess the breadth of a vendor’s product line and as a way of ensuring you are comparing like-for-like products. Use this report to appropriately position products by use case and optimal user profile. For a review of the products’ strengths and weaknesses, refer to the BI Scorecard® Strategic and Product Summary.
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Query and Reporting
Query and reporting is the process of querying a data source, then formatting it to create a report, either a production-style report, such as an invoice, or a management-style report. These two market segments go by many names, creating a fair amount of customer confusion. The needs within production reporting are often different than the needs within business query and reporting. Yet sometimes, the needs blur and the lines cross … and just as you can use a hammer to get a screw into the wall, you can use a production reporting tool for management reporting. The converse, however, is not true; rarely can you use a business query and reporting tool to develop production reports. A business query tool may not support pixel-perfect layouts, normalized data sources, or programmability that IT developers demand. With business query and reporting, the data source is more often a data warehouse or data mart (though not always). Whereas IT develops production reports, power users and casual business users develop their own reports with business query tools. The following table compares some additional characteristics that help distinguish production-style reports from business-style reports. These characteristics are by no means absolutes. Neither of these segments is precise. Production reports are not necessarily pixel-perfect, although some are. Reports generated with business query tools can be used individually, departmentally or enterprise-wide.
Characteristic Primary author Purpose Report delivery Print quality User base Data source Level of data detail Scope Usage IT Developer Monitor or complete an operational task Paper or e-bill, embedded in an application Pixel-perfect 10s of 1000s OLTP – real time Granular Operational Often embedded within an OLTP application Production Business Query & Reporting Power user or business user Decision-making and analysis Portal, spreadsheet, email Presentation quality 100s or 1000s Data warehouse or mart, occasionally OLTP Aggregated Tactical, strategic BI as a separate application
The characteristics and authors of these two types of queries and reports are distinct. Yet must they be distinct tools? Vendors have been trying to converge these segements for years, but even when a vendor serves both segments, often it is via distinct interfaces with varying degrees of shared components. Cognos was the first vendor to launch one product that serves both production style reporting and business query and reporting: ReportNet, launched in September 2003. In reality, though, Cognos 8 has distinct studios for the different segments (Report Studio and Query Studio), as does Cognos 10 (Report Studio and Business Insight). MicroStrategy launched Report Services in December 2003 for highly formatted reports. While it can create pixel perfect reporting, rarely is MicroStrategy deployed against an On-line Transaction Processing (OLTP) system. Crystal Reports is one of those products whose sweet spot is production reporting, yet it can also be used for business-style reports that IT develops. Microsoft Reporting Services also has two interfaces – Report Designer within Visual Studio and Report Builder. The
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report output and definition created for either is the same, but each interface serves distinct authoring requirements for sophisticated versus casual users.
Production Reporting
Production reporting typically involves querying an OLTP database, then formatting it to create a document, perhaps an invoice, a bank statement, a check, or a list of open orders. When the reporting is not against the transaction system, it may be against an operational data store or detailed data within a data warehouse. Often, production style reporting is done via custom programming as the information needs and report layout may rarely change. One of the challenges with vendors who focus exclusively on production reporting is that users may never know they are using a BI tool; the product is so embedded within the OLTP application that there is little brand awareness for the BI tool. Other key players in this market segment include Actuate, LogiXML, and inetSoft. Production reporting tools are more likely to have a desktop authoring interface but not always.
Vendor SAP BusinessObjects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst Product Crystal Reports (acquired in 2003 from Crystal Decisions) SAP Business Explorer (BEx) Report Designer will be replaced by Crystal Reports Cognos Report Studio Report Services (launched in 2003) Reporting Services Report Designer interface within Visual Studio (launched in 2004) Web Focus Developer Studio Oracle Publisher is the lead product NA, although you can write SAS code to create a highly formatted report BIRT Designer Pro Report Designer Jasper Reports Designer, Layout mode Web or Desktop Desktop
Web Either Desktop Desktop Either
Desktop Desktop Desktop Web
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Business Query and Reporting
Business query and reporting tools are intended for users who want to author their own reports. These users are less concerned with the precise layout (since they aren’t trying to generate an invoice) but do want charts and tables quickly and intuitively. The formatting capabilities vary dramatically in this segment. Tools in this segment are also referred to as “ad hoc” query tools, but often the reports created by business users become standard reports and are not exclusively used for ad hoc business questions. Nowadays the Web is predominantly the authoring environment.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst Product Web Intelligence for Web-based authoring Cognos 10.2 Workspace for viewing and Workspace Advanced for greater authoring (renamed from Business Insight) Desktop for desktop authoring Web for Web-based authoring Report Builder Smart Client InfoAssist Oracle Answers (from Siebel Analytics acquisition), a Web-based interface within Oracle BI Enterprise Edition Web Report Studio as part of EBI platform, or SAS Visual Analytics Designer BIRT Studio Web Ad-Hoc Query Tool (WAQR) Ad hoc Reporting Designer
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On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
OLAP and its architectures are defined in more depth in the OLAP criteria. Many BI vendors provide both query and reporting solutions as well as an OLAP tool. Some BI vendors provide it via one integrated product; others offer separate products. In its broadest definition, OLAP provides interactive, multidimensional analysis with different dimensions and different levels of detail. In evaluating OLAP tools, it’s helpful to distinguish between platform issues and user interface issues. There are a few specialty vendors in this segment such as arcplan, Panorama Novaview, Strategy Companion, and Paris Technologies PowerOLAP that provide OLAP viewers to integrate with third-party OLAP platforms. With the rise of in-memory computing and analytic databases, the need for a separate multi-dimensional database can be challenged.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos OLAP Platform Web Intelligence SAP NetWeaver BW(InfoCubes) PowerPlay Server TM1 (acquired from Applix in 2007) Architecture DOLAP/ROLAP SAP HANA for in-memory OLAP MOLAP PowerCubes and TM1, or ROLAP in Cognos 8 Dynamic Cubes in Cognos 10.2 User Interfaces Web Intelligence Voyager renamed Analysis Edition for OLAP in 4.0 Cognos 10 Workspace Analysis Studio supported as migration strategy. Executive Viewer for TM1 also used in Cognos Express Desktop Web Excel PowerPivot Performance Point , Analysis capabilities based on ProClarity InfoAssist OLAP Option supports any SQL-based tools OBBI EE Answers
MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server OLAP Services provides OLAP caching and in-memory Analysis Services
ROLAP
Microsoft
MOLAP, HOLAP, ROLAP SQL Server 2012 In-Memory Tabular Data Models
Information Builders Oracle
OEM columnar database, Hyperstage (2012) OLAP Option for the database Hyperion Essbase Exalytics OLAP Option is MOLAP stored in the RDBMS but that can be queried with SQL OBI EE is ROLAP Hyperion Essbase is primarily MOLAP but supports HOLAP Exalytics for In-memory OLAP Server MOLAP/HOLAP
SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst
Web Report Studio & Web OLAP Viewer BIRT Data Analyzer Analyzer Jaspersoft Ad-Hoc Analysis UI Designer or Dashboards
Mondrian Jaspersoft OLAP (Mondrian)
ROLAP ROLAP ROLAP
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Dashboards
As web-based business query and OLAP tools have reached a reasonable level of maturity and adoption, dashboards have fast become the next major area of innovation and adoption. There are a number of niche dashboard vendors and new products from BI suite vendors. According to industry visualization expert Stephen Few, President of Perceptual Edge, “a dashboard is a visual form of information display, which is used to monitor what’s currently going on in the business at a glance.” Any tool that can display multiple objects from multiple data sources, then, can correctly be referred to as a dashboard. For some vendors, a report can correctly be referred to as a dashboard, and for others, a portal may provide the dashboard capabilities. Better dashboard products, though, go well beyond these two basic criteria. Ideally, users want to assemble their own dashboards with the information relevant to their job. Not all tools allow this, though, and may force IT to build dashboards in advance. For BI Scorecard® to consider something a dashboard, it must enable information from multiple data sources, be highly visual, have a way of highlighting exceptions (traffic lighting or alerts), and have a degree of interactivity. The following table lists dashboard-specific products. Keep in mind, however, that you may be able to use functionality within the core BI tool to build a basic dashboard. As well, specialty vendors such as QlikTech, Dundas, and iDashboards provide dashboard capabilities.
Platform Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Pentaho Jaspersoft Birst Specialty QlikTech iDashboards Dundas QlikView Product Xcelsius renamed Dashboards in 4.0 Design Studio replaces Web Application Designer (for BW & HANA) Workspace Dynamic Enterprise Dashboards (released March 2007) Dashboard Designer, a rich client product that is part of PerformancePoint builds the dashboards that are deployed via portals in SharePoint. PowerView and PowerPivot support dashboards as well Developer Studio and Portal in v8 Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards Oracle Endeca Information Discovery for exploratory dashboards, unstructured content SAS Visual Analytics Designer BIRT 360 Dashboards Dashboards Dashboards
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Performance Management
Performance management applications include budgeting and planning and financial consolidation. On the customer buying side, the degree to which customers buy BI and performance management from the same vendor depends not only on product capabilities, but also on the degree to which the CFO and CIO co-operate. It’s important to note that budgeting and planning does not apply to financial metrics only, but also to workforce, capital, and so on.
Vendor SAP Business Objects Planning / Financial Reporting / Consolidation Lead product for planning: SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (acquired by SAP from OutlookSoft in 2007) For consolidations: Business Objects Financial Consolidations (acquired from Cartesis in 2007) and SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (from OutlookSoft) Controller, Planning NA NA NA Hyperion Financial Manager, Hyperion Planning SAS Financial Management NA
IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Birst
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Scorecards
Whereas dashboards present multiple numbers in different ways, a scorecard focuses on a given metric and compares it to target. In analyzing performance versus the target, a scorecard may provide a root cause analysis and track accountability. Scorecard products are often certified by the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative. Scorecards contain agreedupon metrics or key performance indicators aligned with the company’s strategy. These kinds of strategic scorecards are sometimes included as part of a total performance management solution and certain industry analysts will count scorecards as part of the performance management industry. Key performance indicators may also be an option within a dashboard product. While KPIs within a dashboard may provide a snapshot of a KPI, within strategic scorecards, the KPIs are at a higher level, allowing you to assign accountability and track root causes via strategy maps.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Birst Product SAP Strategy Management (acquired from Pilot Software in 2007) Metrics Studio replaced by TM1 Scorecarding 2013 NA PerformancePoint, monitoring capabilities (based on earlier Business Scorecard Manager) Performance Management Framework Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management (new in 11g) Strategic Performance Management BIRT 360 NA
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Predictive Analytics and Data Mining
Data mining is a particular kind of analysis that reveals patterns in data using various algorithms. Whereas standard query and reporting tools require you to ask a specific question, a data mining tool will help users discover relationships or show patterns in a more exploratory fashion. Predictive analytics allow users to create a model, test the model based on actual data, and then project future results. Data mining is used in predictive analysis, fraud detection, customer segmentation, and market basket analysis. Although data mining is one segment of the BI market, it continues to be an application reserved for specialist users with SAS, SPSS, Angoss, and open source R leading the market. Each vendor has a different approach in where the analytics should be done. In the past, statisticians have largely extracted data from source systems and data warehouses to perform analyses outside of the BI environment. In 2008, SAS and Teradata entered into a joint technology agreement where more of the processing is pushed to the database. In an effort to make BI more actionable, some BI vendors are incorporating data mining and predictive analytics into their BI suite. This does not mean that predictive analytics will become “mainstream”, but rather, that the results of such analysis can be readily incorporated into every day reports and decision-making.
Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Pentaho TIBCO Spotfire Tableau Product Predictive Analysis released in Q1 2013, KXEN acquired in Q3 2013. HANA has predictive algorithms. SPSS acquired in 2009 Data Mining Services (clustering, association, linear regression embedded within. MicroStrategy 8); one of the few that can access predictive models using PMML created in 3rd party data mining software. SQL Server, decision trees and clustering. Data Mining add-in in Excel leverage Analysis Services Predictive Analysis (released Q3 2009) based on R Data Mining option for the database or for Essbase. Real Time Decisioning combines rules and statistical. Enterprise Miner, plus stored processes exposed to Web Report Studio. Rapid Predictive Modeler (RPM) became part of the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office for users to create models in Excel August 2010. Weka Statistics Services, S+ , with R run-time engine in Spotfire 5 (Q4 2012) R integration to be added in Q4 2013
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Visual Data Discovery
Advanced visualizations are increasingly appearing in dashboard products from BI vendors, but for the most part, better capabilities exist in specialty products. Visual Data Discovery tools speed the time to insight through the use of visualizations, best practices in visual perception, and easy exploration. Such tools support business agility and selfservice BI through a variety of innovations that may include in-memory processing and mashing of multiple data sources. The difference in these tools versus most dashboard products is usually in: 1. the degree of sophisticated analysis and visualization types such as small multiples, spark lines, heat maps, histograms, waterfall charts, bullet graphs, and so on. 2. adherence to best practices according to the visualization community 3. degree of out-of-the box, automatic interactivity and visual exploration versus first rendering data in tabular data display and then creating a chart 4. ease at which an individual user can explore data, connect to new data sources, and mash data from multiple sources, without the support of IT in getting started
Product Vendor SAP Business Objects IBM Cognos MicroStrategy Microsoft Information Builders Oracle SAS Actuate Specialty QlikTech TIBCO Tableau Advizor Solutions Datawatch QlikView Spotfire Tableau Visual Discovery Desktop (acquired Panopticon in Q2 2013) Desktop v11 (Next is Web) Desktop Desktop and some Web Desktop Desktop Explorer has some light weight visual discovery capabilities. Visual Intelligence released in May 2012. Rebranded Lumira May 2013 Cognos Insight released February 2012. Project Neo in beta Q1 1014 for NLP and discovery Visual Insight new interface in Q1 2011. SharePoint PowerView released in 2012, added to Excel 2013 Visual Discovery (OEM’d from Advizor Solutions) Exalytics with OBI EE smart visualizations. Oracle Endeca is more for textual dashboards. JMP , Visual Analytics Explorer released in Q1 2012 for business users BIRT Analytics (acquired from Quiterian Q4 2012) Web or Desktop Authoring Explorer Web Lumira Desktop Desktop Web Desktop, Excel Desktop Web Web Web
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