|
Competing on Decisions, by Neil Raden
Neil Raden is a consultant and analyst and a partner and co-founder of Smart (enough) Systems LLC, a research and advisory firm specializing in analytics, business Intelligence and decision management. He is also the co-author of the book "Smart (Enough) Systems." Write him at neil@smartenoughsystems.com. See More by Neil Raden One-Stop-Shop BI Equals One Big Yawn!
Okay, I waited for the last shoe to drop. Now that IBM plans to gobble up Cognos, leaving only Microstrategy as an independent BI pure-play, and a much smaller one than Hyperion, Business Objects or Cognos, I'm ready to offer my opinion of the whole thing. Yawn. Who cares? All it means is that Business Intelligence software as we know it is a mature technology that finally got some attention from well-heeled giants like Oracle, SAP and IBM. Don't expect them to take these platforms and rocket them into the stratosphere. All they are after are the impressive customer lists and what we used to call in the commercial property and casualty business, gross line underwriting. One-stop-shop. Give me the whole deal. What is likely to happen is that smaller, newer products will start to eat into the market share because 1) buyers are always a little suspicious of the one-stop-shop approach, 2) VC-funded start-ups have no trouble getting visibility, 3) business intelligence is an old idea. New approaches are needed, and are not likely to come from these three. When you hear that business intelligence is a critical need for organizations, it's like the telephone game. People in companies tell IT they need tools to make them more efficient, to automate small decisions, to integrate things they do, both routine and out of the ordinary. IT hears that they need access to a data warehouse and vendors hear that they need interactive, ad hoc and reporting tools. Bottom line: they don't need more BI, they need something much better. All three of these BI vendors have made substantial progress in refurbishing their products for a completely new world, but refurbishing only goes so far. The architectures can't really cut it. They need to scale, they need to be intelligent, they need to react in real-time when necessary, unattended when appropriate. They need to live on the Web. Products like that are coming from start-ups. SAP, as an applications company, is most likely to retool its BI acquisitions into players for the next decade. I'm not sure about Oracle yet, I'll know more in a few days. IBM? Seems like a software roach motel – companies check in but don't check out. Neil Raden is the founder of Hired Brains, providers of consulting, research and analysis in Business Intelligence, Performance Management, real-time analytics and information/semantic integration. Neil is co-author of the just-released book "Smart Enough Systems," with business rules expert James Taylor. E-MAIL | SLASHDOT | DIGG This is a public forum. CMP Technology and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. CMP Technology makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers. Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of CMP Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in CMP Technology's Terms of Service. Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.
|
Blog Channels
Cindi Howson on Business Intelligence The Brain Food Blogger Tony Byrne on Content Management SQL Puzzlers by Joe Celko Rajan Chandras on IT & Information Management Seth Grimes on Analytics In Context by Doug Henschen Phil Kemelor on Web Analytics Sandy Kemsley's Column Two Nelson King on Enterprise App Development David Linthicum on Software as a Service Natural Insight, By Mark Madsen Alan Pelz-Sharpe on Content Management Mark Smith on Performance Management Neil Raden on Business Intelligence Bruce Silver on Business Process Management Product Maven Subscribe to RSS Archives
|
|
|












