BI Reporting Applications

Presented by Scott MitchellDWApplications

CompanyX BI Requirements Advanced data visualizations that: spot trends, patterns, and outliers

Dashboards of interconnected visualizations and reports

Integration with stats tools for predictive analytics

High performance in-memory BI reduce overall system/DB workload

Static and Ad-hoc self-service web based reporting interface

Pixel perfect reports that are required for compliance reporting

Real-time OLAP capabilities of sorting, drilling and pivoting

Graphically visualize data through data exploration

On-demand reporting capabilities that empower business users

Exporting of data to formats such as excel, pdf, csv, ppt, access

Scheduling and automation of data distribution to various outputs

Reusable object based development expedites report creation

Embedded integration with web and mobile technology

Secured user access to control data and application functionality

Ease of configuration and system administration through automation

Summary of BI Applications Pentaho – Open Source BI Platform Leader

Full Suite of BI, Analytics, Mobile and Data Integration tools available Require plug-ins from open source vendors to compete with commercial products Requires additional development and more technical skill set for implementation Enterprise version and support and available for yearly subscription Meets immediate requirements for Ad-hoc reporting, Dashboarding and Application Integration

MicroStrategy – Leader in Traditional BI platforms Leads other traditional BI applications in broad range of functionality Independent pure-play BI not tied to larger infrastructure purchase like Oracle/IBM Powerful SQL engine that allows for business query ad-hoc reports builders Large range of integration possibilities with open APIs Competes with specialty providers in areas of dashboards and visualization

Tableau – Leader in Visualization and Dashboards Excellent visualization and dash boarding capabilities Metadata object reuse and SQL engine capabilities with server component Limited integration with external apps through Java and iframes

QlikView – Leader in ease of use for End User Dashboards Creation Minimal setup required to deliver initial dashboard results Ability to meet subset of BI dashboard prototype requirements Limited object reuse from centralized metadata and SQL generation

BIScorecard

About the AuthorCindi Howson is the founder of BI Scorecard®, a resource for in-depth BI product reviews, based on exclusive hands-on testing. Ms. Howsonis the author of Successful Business Intelligence: Secrets to Making BI a Killer App, a TDWI (The Data Warehousing Institute) faculty member, and a contributing expert to Information Week prior to founding BI Scorecard®.

BI Capabilities Business Query– Provides an ability for a non-technical user to create a report

by drag and drop of objects on a report template and behind the scenes well structured SQL is generated.

Production Reporting – Creates high quality pixel-perfect formats for integration into the compliance reports required by external third parties

Dashboard/Interactive Reports – Allows for multiple data sources to be displayed on a single interface to provide an overview of the subject area and the ability to interact and personalize the view of the data

OLAP – Enables the user to conduct multi-dimensional analysis by drilling, pivoting, sorting and on the fly calculations

Data Exploration/Visual discovery - A new simplified end-user interface for enabling functionality made available through dashboards, production reporting, OLAP and business query capabilities

Scheduling/Distribution – Allows for emails, alerts, caches and reports to be scheduled through event or time based triggers

Predictive Analytics – Allows for the integration of Statistical Packages to be integrated into the BI reporting architecture (SPSS, SAS, r)

Enterprise Administration/Architecture – Provides the appropriate interfaces and APIs necessary for integration and automation of enterprise scale system administration and monitoring.

BI Magic Quadrant

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner describes leaders as "Leaders are vendors that are reasonably strong in the breadth and depth of their BI platform capabilities and can deliver on enterprise-wide implementations that support a broad BI strategy. Leaders articulate a business proposition that resonates with buyers, supported by the viability and operational capability to deliver on a global basis."

Read The Review

PentahoPros(+) Low Cost - Open Source Project

Dashboards and Visualization

Business Query Ad-hoc Reporting

Predictive Analytics Integration

Pixel Perfect Formatting

Application Integration API

Advanced Security Capabilities

Mobile Reporting App

Cons(-) Requires technical resources for

implementation

Requires plug-ins to compete with commercial products

User interface will be less intuitive out of the box without customization

Demos and Links Pentaho (Eval Software) Pentaho Demos Pentaho Webcasts

Penthao Analyst Reviews Pentaho Training

MicroStrategy Pros(+) Data Volume and Scale Business Query Ad-hoc Pixel Perfect Formatting Scheduled Distribution Dashboards and Visualization Predictive Analytics Integration Portal Integration API Advanced SQL and Metadata Administration Automation Advanced Security Capabilities

Cons(-) Specialty BI tools lead in

Visualizations Specialty BI tools have a simplified

user interface Product works best with well

defined data model

Demos and Links MicroStrategy BI Reporting Suite (Eval Software) MicroStrategy Demos MicroStrategy Webcasts MicroStrategy Analyst Reviews MicroStrategy Free On-demand Training

Tableau Pros(+) Data Exploration

Advanced Data Visualizations

Intuitive End-User Interface

Web Based Report Development

Mash-ups non-structured data

High business user adoption

Cons(-) Data Scalability

Limited Scheduling/Distribution

Limited Production Reporting

Limited Integration APIs

Limited Stats Integration

Limited Administration Automation

Demos and Links Tableau Desktop (Eval Software) Tableau Demos Tableau Webcasts Tableau Analyst Reviews Tableau Free On-demand Training

QlikViewPros(+) Excellent Dashboard Capabilities

Ease of use for data mashups

Little to no data modeling required

Rapid Deployment

Ease of Use for End User

Auto-detect Relationships

In-memory BI

Data Exploration

Cons(-) In-Memory Architecture Data Scalability

Limited direct Query Access

Limited Scheduling/Distribution

Limited Metadata/Object Reuse

Limited Integration APIs

Limited Administration Automation

Enterprise readiness and scalability

No Usages Stats integration

Demos and Links QlikView BI Kit (Eval Software) QlikView Demos QlikView Webcasts QlikView Analyst Reviews QlikView Free On-demand Training

Reference Material Links Analyst Links

BIScorecard

Gartner Magic Quadrant

Product Links

Pentaho

MicroStrategy

Tableau

QlikView

MicroStrategy Comparison

Visualization Plugins (Available for additional visualizations in Pentaho and MicroStrategy)

HighCharts Graphs

HighCharts Maps

D3js