With business intelligence (BI) software will be in 2007 for enterprises of all sizes to buy new software, many IT decision makers find themselves faced with difficult choices.
They can follow the mainstream of business applications vendors, such as Oracle, SAP or Microsoft; also could go with a business intelligence companies such as Business Objects, MicroStrategy or Cognos; or you can follow the database management system vendors, such as Sybase and - again - Microsoft and Oracle, now many of them home can be built directly in the database software business intelligence functions.
Too many choices can be overwhelming. But in the end, business intelligence experts say, make a right choice for business intelligence means you understand your company's position and future direction of a very clear understanding.
For those already in the Oracle database management system or business applications to invest heavily in business, jump to Oracle BI probably is not so hard. Similarly, for those who invest heavily in SAP's enterprise is the same. But those who for a long time in the future need for more flexibility within the company, might want to consider is the business intelligence professional experts, MAS Strategies, said Michael Schiff, chief engineer, he is a business intelligence and data warehousing consulting consultant.
"One component is the position you are now. But if you go with the business intelligence experts, it is a good choice, their technology is transferable, no matter where you can use it, "Schiff said. "This is why these guys stay in business - they co-operate for everyone. "
IT software buyers tried first, according to their company's infrastructure to select the business intelligence provider. If they are from different vendors using a set of entirely different technologies, then a vendor-agnostic experts is one way to go, Schiff said.
Or, they are satisfied with the software and from Oracle, SAP or Microsoft technical support was best off standard, he said. In that case, he added, be sure to let big vendors know that your business is with business intelligence experts had "serious thought". This is also a good deal and save money in a good negotiating strategy.
Consider the situation of business objects
In addition to all the business intelligence expert, Schiff said he was most impressed with Business Objects because of its wide range of software and services. He said he also likes the company because they are chaotic in recent years in integrating acquisitions dry very beautiful - a Crystal Reports including the 2003 acquisition strategy, which is a very well-known supplier of enterprise reporting software.
"I used to joke that, Crystal Reports is in addition to the most widely used spreadsheet outside of business intelligence products," Schiff said.
When you find the time to any business intelligence experts, he said, to ensure that it Keyi provide a broad range of products, and has to take into consideration needs of Biangeng, it is very 重要.
"When you basically are in a special area of the market to find business intelligence experts, you have to be careful," he said.
Learn Oracle Business Intelligence
Oracle in recent years has greatly expanded his business intelligence products. In 2005, the company's business intelligence products to their application server products from separated and began a standard package format. In early 2006, Oracle acquired CRM giant Siebel Systems Inc., The price of 58 million to complete the transaction, greatly expanded Oracle's BI capabilities, experts say.
Oracle now provides four independent business intelligence package: Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition, Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Standard Edition, Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Edition (Oracle BI Publisher) and Oracle Real-Time Decisions (Oracle Real-Time Decisions).
Enterprise Edition from the Siebel acquisition by the almost entirely of software, Oracle said it was a broad platform that allows companies to build can be analyzed and non-Oracle systems from Oracle Business Intelligence data.
Standard Edition includes Oracle Discoverer, which for the Oracle database and business applications optimized. According to the company, Discoverer is a query, reporting, analysis and web publishing tool that allows users to access the data center, data warehouses, online transaction processing systems and Oracle E-Business Suite information.
Business Intelligence Publisher (BI Publisher), also known as Oracle XML Publisher, as part of the standard version, or as a separate product release. Oracle said the software for complex, distributed environments provides a centralized architecture, it can publish the information in multiple formats to employees, customers and business partners.
Oracle's real-time decision-making software - is the August acquisition of Sigma Dynamics of the results - can be used to connect to Oracle Fusion Middleware and other business intelligence products, to analyze data and make decisions related to customer relationship management. This software has been used before in the acquisition of Sigma in Siebel Real-Time Decisions, is essentially a high-performance transactional server that delivers real-time decision-making, and based on interactions with customers and business processes to provide advice.
What brought Sigma
Oracle's acquisition of the Sigma Dynamics is a very successful strategy for the Declaration, Sheryl Kingstone said that he was in the CRM software expert and analyst with Boston-based Yankee Group.
Once Oracle's Fusion Middleware suite is complete, we can provide a more componentized and interoperable set of applications, Sigma's software can not only provide information based CRM system has the ability to make decisions, but also can be based on logistical office applications, such as order management, financial and billing systems data in decision-making.
"Sigma Dynamics Oracle's CRM to increase the level of intelligence," Kingstone said. "It can standardize the data, so you do not have a vertical field of experience, and you can really overall perspective on the business use of information. "
Remember that before a justice in weighing the many BI options, Kingstone said.
"It's complicated, but there is a truth," she said.