Embracing Excel
Microsoft Excel is a much-beloved desktop tool for business intelligence, yet many people want to contain its use or replace it
by Philip Russom
November 18, 2003
Real Time, Realistically
Your definition of real time has deep ramifications for business processes and the technologies that support them
by Philip Russom
September 17, 2003
21st-Century Green Bar
The legacy of green-bar reporting lives on, in both positive and negative ways
by Philip Russom
July 18, 2003
A Report by Any Other Name
The term 'report' can mean anything, causing confusion about which styles of reports end users need
by Philip Russom
May 31, 2003
A Virtual Point of View
Despite limitations, virtual approaches to data integration hold great potential for certain applications
by Philip Russom
April 5, 2003
Two Heads Are Better Than One
BI is usually a solitary pursuit - so when and why should users collaborate over reports and analyses?
by Philip Russom
January 1, 2003
Shrink Wrap
A look back at the (mostly) diminishing IT software sector
by Philip Russom, Nelson King, Ganesh Variar, Barry Grushkin, and Sergiu S. Simmel
January 1, 2003
Five Easy Pieces
Many corporations want to adopt the methods of business performance management. But where do you start and where do you go from there?
by Philip Russom
October 8, 2002
Analytic Apps Meet BPM
The result is not compromise, but enrichment
by Philip Russom
September 17, 2002
The Ongoing Evolution of BI Web Services
A new SDK from Cognos Inc. shows Web services are evolving for business intelligence.
by Philip Russom
August 21, 2002
Building From the Bottom Up
Most end users just need reports, not sophisticated analytics. So why are many companies ignoring this fact?
by Philip Russom
August 12, 2002
The State of BI for the Masses
Immature support for evolving Web environments is the leading technology barrier to business intelligence.
by Philip Russom
August 7, 2002
Data Profiling FAQ
Data profiling tools and best practices should be part of the planning process for most projects that impact pre-existing databases.
by Philip Russom
August 1, 2002
Fish Eat Fish -- Another ETL Vendor is Swallowed
Business Objects' acquisition of Acta Technology indicates a recurring market pattern that suggests ETL vendors are approaching extinction
by Philip Russom
July 11, 2002
Customers in the Crystal Ball
Microsoft Corporation is producing a new CRM packaged application, and version 1.0 will include reporting enabled by Crystal Enterprise
by Philip Russom
June 25, 2002
Informatica PowerCenterRT FAQ
PowerCenterRT -- a new special edition of PowerCenter from Informatica -- brings ETL into real-time to enable real-time alerts in metrics-driven analytic applications
by Philip Russom
June 11, 2002
The BI Majority Rules
Actuate 6 addresses the wide majority of business intelligence (BI) users, who need information delivered via a reporting system, not via an analytic platform.
by Philip Russom
May 29, 2002
Managing Spaghetti Content
Every content management application demands a well-ordered taxonomy. The challenge is to maintain taxonomy quality as content evolves over time
by Philip Russom
May 28, 2002
New Plumbing for Analytic Applications
Microsoft's new Accelerator for BI automates the process of designing and deploying ETL and data model plumbing, so you can focus on business requirements for custom sinks and faucets.
by Philip Russom
May 14, 2002
Enterprise-Scope Suites of Analytic Applications
New packaged analytic applications -- integrated into suites that cover multiple domains across the enterprise -- present both challenges and benefits.
by Philip Russom
April 30, 2002
The Best-Laid Business Plans
Enterprise software for business performance management (BPM) is all the rage lately. But the software is pointless unless you first have a business plan against which you can gauge performance.
by Philip Russom
April 16, 2002
Paving the Path to Epiphany
An off-road romp through the wilderness of data has its own rewards, yet most users of analytic applications need a paved path that leads straight to an analytic epiphany
by Philip Russom
April 3, 2002
Data Quality Week
Ascential Software's announcement to acquire data-quality tool vendor Vality Technology momentarily puts data quality in the limelight
by Philip Russom
March 19, 2002
From Back To Front
Informatica expands from ETL back end to dashboard front end
by Philip Russom
March 8, 2002
Scoping Out Portals
Scope of content is a good place to start when assessing a corporate portal, like SAP Portals' Enterprise Portal 5.0.
by Philip Russom
March 6, 2002
BI Web Services take a Step Forward
The newly released Microsoft Visual Studio .NET includes a special version of Crystal Reports that brings Web services for business intelligence (BI) one step closer to user adoption.
by Philip Russom
February 20, 2002
MicroStrategy 7i Weaves a Wider Web
The series of releases known as 7i will advance Web-based reporting and introduce new UNIX-based versions of MicroStrategy's servers.
by Philip Russom
February 5, 2002
Nonanalytic Nonapplications
Most analytic applications lack the interactivity and procedural structure to be called such
by Philip Russom
February 1, 2002
From BI Extranets to Web Services
Business Objects pioneered the BI extranet, and now they're expanding to include Web services. But are BI users and the immature technologies of Web services ready?
by Philip Russom
January 23, 2002
An Eye for the Needle
Accurately representing knowledge workers' domain expertise in a corporate portal's taxonomy is one of the greatest challenges to the development of portal-based content management applications
by Philip Russom
January 14, 2002
