BI Vendors
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My company is looking at several vendors of BI software for our data warehouse. We have never had a data warehouse before and are learning everything from scratch. Does anyone have any opinions on the following vendors...
Panorama
Proclarity
Cognos
Business Objects
Information Builders
We are hoping to bring in someone who has lots of DW experience to help us decide on one of these vendors. But, we are interested in opinions of people who have experience with these vendors.
Thanks for the help!!
--Lori
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Hi Lori
All of these tools are Query tools. How to show the data.
The hard part is to transform the data. Usually you hire a consultant for this.
You should not try to develop a DW on your own if you do not have the knowledge or experience.
A DW is a hefty beast. Difficult to make and hard to maintain.
The question you should ask your self is, do we REALY need a DW ? This is not a silly question and could save your company big bucks.
What business system are you running ? And on what plattform ?
I myself developed a Query/extraction tool for our company and everybody is happy with it. I convinced by superiors that we did not need a DW and saved us over 100.000$.
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Lori,
I would echo everything that Fernando says however assuming you are going ahead with it here's some useful info.
Panorama & ProClarity are dependant on you building multidimensional cubes in Analysis Services. If that sentance baffles you then you should stop reading now and go back and re-assess what you are trying to produce and how you are going to go about it I.e. what is your back-end system goinng to be). The choice of front-end query tool comes later.
For what its worth I think Panorama is a better tool than ProClarity offering better functionality and a better, simpler user interface.
Business Objects is more of a ROLAP tool than Panorama & ProClarity. Your choice here again depends on your back-end platform. If you're going to assess Business Objects then you may want to look at Microsotrategy as well. Around my company Microsotrategy is generally regarded as a more functionally rich product but we still prefer to work with Business Objects for political reasons - Microstrategy's people seem to shoot themselves in the foot sometimes with their licensing/supprt contracts.
I don't know anything significant about Cognos & Information Builders.
Regards
Jamie Thomson
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson -
If you have a SQL Server in your org. then you already have a OLAP solution for FREE. With EXCEL installed you have everything you will need.
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Ooo...not sure about using Excel for reporting. Its up to you of course but weigh up the pros/cons
Pros:
Cheap
Accessible
Cons:
No centralised report repository to enable enterprise wide reporting
Calculation occurs locally (I think)
Lack of interface
Reduced functionality
No centralised management of data distribution
Most (all??) of the tools you mention can output to Excel if thats where you want the data and some have an excel addin that enable you to access the data without the web front-end
It depends what your requirements are I guess - and how much money you have to spend.
Jamie Thomson
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson -
Hi Jamie
The idé is if Lori has a MS SQL Server system then he can use the FREE Olap solution provided with it.
The data should come from the centralised SQL Server system. You only use EXCEL for viewing the data.
And MS SQL Server is NOT cheap (
)But as i said earlier Lori should get some outside help if he is going to implement a full DW. What i mean is that he does not need to buy any additional software if he already has a MS SQL Server in his org.
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I couldn't agree more. When I said cheap I was referring to Excel, not SQL Server.
Lori, you should note that you need a SQL Server license for every machine on which you run a SQL Server component. So if for eaxmple you were to run your data warehouse on 1 server and have Analysis Services (i.e. the OLAP solution) cubes on another server then Analysis Services is not free.
Hope this helps.
Jamie Thomson
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson -
Wow!! What good advice!! We do have SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition on the server where we are intending to house the data for the DW. We do know that we are going to have to transform the data loaded into the DW with DTS. We are already building a mockup of our DW and are expecting the consultant we bring in to help make our decision to also assist us with design. The vendor we choose will have to help us build cubes. However, while SQL Server is already in place, I am a little concerned about Analysis Services since as far as I understand AS is not cluster aware and the SQL Server where the DW will be is on a clustered server. All I know about the vendors is that I would prefer someone that allows us maximum control over the data and the cubes. I am afraid of getting into a situation where the vendor software has all the control over everything and if we decide to make changes it will be a MAJOR hassle. We are already signed up for classes in building cubes too.
We are looking for a vendor that really stands out in the eyes of those who have experience with those tools. There is no wrong or right opinion for the software. We just want to make an informed decision.
Keep the opinions coming!!!
--Lori
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Hi Lori
Analysis Services holds its own data. So when the data is transformed it is independent of MS SQL Server. You can put any data in Analysis Services from any source.
PS. Non of the vendors give any control over the data. They are only viewers of data.
My tip is to learn a little bit of OLAP from microsoft´s homepage. Then you will see that all you need is included with MS SQL Server + EXCEL (for viewing)
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Seeing as you are using Analysis Services the choice should come down to Panorama or ProClarity as they are specifically for use with AS and therefore have features that the other's won't.
My personal preference is for Panorama due to it having a nicer look-and-feel (IMO) and also a nice feature called Bubble-Up Exceptions.
HTH.
Jamie Thomson
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson -
Ha ha. Fernando and I obviously aren't going to agree about this!
Jamie Thomson
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson -
Lori,
Can I suggest you take a look at our web site http://www.iconium.co.uk/prd_thirdpty.htm - we are partners with or implementors of all the tools that are mentioned in the conversation above, plus some others - for example Temtec Viewer is well received among accounting-type users, whereas some of the features in Proclarity or Panorama can be better liked by those in marketing roles. We even get into low-cost data mining against AS cubes.
As with most things it really is down to the requirement, the budget and the fit with the users.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any further.
Toby Waldock
Iconium Limited
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Hi Lori,
I'm a Cognos partner, so I may be a bit prejudiced...
Cognos has a full suite of B.I. products to do everything from building a dimensionally-aware DW (DecisionStream) to presenting the data in detail (ReportNet or Impromptu) or dimensionally (PowerPlay OLAP). All end user tools can be thick client (installed on each machine) or use the zero-footprint browser interface. The browser interface make deployment painless; no software to install or update for the users.
Much depends on the purpose of the DW. Maybe you only need a single subject DataMart to start with. You can easily develop such a solution with DTS and a little knowhow. Larger, multi-subject DWs require more planning and are best left to those with experience.
For just a few fixed reports you can use any delivery mechanism with which you are comfortable. If you need more sophisticated reports, or many reports, or ease of security and administration, you are probably better off with vendor supported software. Even though it is possible to develop such a system in house, it exposes the company to disruption of service if/when key personnel leave. If you are looking for job security, develop a system in house. If you would like to learn a marketable skill, use vendor supported software.
Don
http://www.biadvantage.com -
Hi fellas
I represent the byer side not the seller side !
I stand for my opinion that you have all that you need already.
The difficult part is not to know our needs, even if that also is sometimes hard to drag out of the users, but to know ALL the possible solutions out there.
First learn what your users want, Then figure out what they need, That is not always the same thing.
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So far we are going to start with 1 data mart that will show sales and needs to be able to be queried by salesmen and even possibly customers. We are planning on expanding later on to other things. We do need a tool for reporting so that is why we are looking at these vendors. Our users range from "power users" to executives who will only want to see certain reports. The "power users" need to be able to query the DW all the way to the lowest level of data in the DW. We also want IT to not have to spend lots of time creating new reports for these users. We want the users empowered to find what they need themselves.
We have seen demos by all of these vendors and are waiting to work with a DW/BI expert to give us a hand in what to pick and help with how we are getting there. I don't want sales pitches, I want opinions from the people who have used these vendors. What is good and what is bad about them? For instance, does any one vendor make it difficult to make changes to cubes, or to add new ones? What about speed? Are any really slow despite being on a really good server/network? You get the picture....
--Lori
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