Business Intelligence Industry News and Articles

Get Real About Operational BI
Posted by Neil Raden, Intelligent Enterprise Weblog
July 16, 2007

There is a lot of conflicting information about the term “Operational BI.” We need some research to sort out the jargon and propose a clear definition for the term. Read More...

The True Colors of Key Performance Indicators
by Gabriel Fuchs, B-Eye-Network
July 12, 2007

The usage of colors when presenting key performance indicators (KPIs) in dashboards helps to highlight good or bad performance. Naming the colors appropriately will add even more professionalism to the dashboard presentation. Read More...

Key Success Factors for a Performance Dashboard
by Tom Kawamoto and Bob Mathers, DM Review Magazine
July 2007

Performance Dashboards can be designed and developed to address a wide range of objectives, from monitoring the viability of a global organization's business strategy, to keeping a check on a department's ability to achieve service-level targets. Read More...

Beyond the Dashboard: Making Better Decisions
by Gabriel Fuchs, BI-BestPractices.com
May 24, 2007

Charts and graphics are integral parts of modern business reporting. The reason is easy to understand: charts give a richer view of a specific business activity, often highlighting important trends. Read More...

Prepare for the Combination of BI and Search
by Ventana Research, Intelligent Enterprise
May 20, 2007

Want a single interface to all information in the enterprise? That's what 83 percent of survey respondents said they want from the combination of business intelligence and search, but better access alone won't justify an investment. Read More...

BI Analyst Take: BI for the SMB
by Lyndsay Wise, DM Review.com
May 17, 2007

The BI market for small and medium businesses (SMBs) is relatively immature but is near the market acceleration point. To continue market growth, BI vendors have shifted their attention and price points toward the needs of SMBs (i.e., with a subset of functionality). Read More...

The State of Business Intelligence
by David Stodder, Intelligent Enterprise
March 30, 2007

There's a transformational change going on in business intelligence. Next-generation BI promises speedier, automated decision-making, thanks to affordable computing and storage platforms and advances in business activity monitoring. We assess the changes in the market. Read More...

Business Intelligence 2.0: Simpler, More Accessible, Inevitable
by Neil Raden, Intelligent Enterprise
February 1, 2007

Say goodbye to complicated interfaces, disconnected analytics and shelfware. An emerging era for BI will bring simplicity, broad access and better ties between analysis and action. Read More...

Gartner: It's Business Intelligence 2.0 Time
by Colin Barker, ZD Net UK News
January 30, 2007

Forget talk of Web 2.0, it's time for BI 2.0, according to Gartner. The analyst group has laid out its case for improving the use of business intelligence in enterprises. Read More...

Five Common Pitfalls to Avoid in BI Projects,
Part 1 and Part 2
by Lyndsay Wise, DM Review
January 18, 2007

The main driver for a BI project should be the use of BI tools to increase performance not the implementation of BI based on an organizational initiative that is not tied to identifiable and actionable benefits. Read More...

SOA for Busines Intelligence
DM Review Extended Edition
December 2006

A recent study from Ventana Research reveals several significant trends in service-oriented architecture (SOA) for business intelligence (BI). Read more...

Avoiding Common Dashboard Pitfalls
by Matt Christensen, DM Review Magazine
November 2006

Create meaningful dashboards by understanding what to measure, how to approach a project and what to look for in technology. Read More...

Search Is On in Enterprise Business Intelligence
by Damian Rinaldi, Software Magazine
September 2006

Traditionally, executives and managers would be “fed” their information by a team of BI analysts in standardized and custom-built reports...Intelligent dashboards have streamlined the flow of information to the traditional constituency, but BI professionals still have to perform the underlying analysis behind what is presented, and IT professionals have generally had to help build the dashboards or reports that the executives consumed. That’s beginning to change now, especially as BI and enterprise search technology start to combine... Read More...

In Praise of Dashboard Ubiquity
by Stephen Swoyer, Enterprise Systems
October 11, 2006

The real driver for dashboard success, and the main reason why the dashboard will become not just an indispensable tool, is that effective dashboardization has real and tangible effects. The dashboards of today help organizations communicate strategy, monitor and adjust the execution of strategy, and deliver insights and information to all. Read More...

The Ins and Outs of BI Software Licensing
by Stephen Swoyer, Enterprise Systems
September 13, 2006

Few things are more confusing than the variegated ins and slippery outs of BI licensing. Is the complexity of BI licensing, like the certainty of death and taxes, just something customers must accept? Not necessarily. Read More...

The Seven Pillars of BI Success
by Cindi Howson, Intelligent Enterprise Magazine
September 1, 2006

Business intelligence tools may be getting better, but technology is only part of the story. To succeed you must develop measures, set a strategy, manage effectively, ensure executive support, choose the right tools, standardize on a platform and align the BI strategy with business. Read More...

The Collapse of Competition
by Dana Blankenhorn, ZD Net Blogs - Open Source
August 25, 2006

At the same time that free and open source software is growing, the old proprietary model is collapsing. Read More...

Web 2.0's Effect on Business Intelligence
by Neil Raden, Intelligent Enterprise
May 1, 2006

Aspects of Web 2.0 are having an impact on business intelligence that will prove to be profound in a few years. Read More...

Embracing Simplicity Can Reap Huge Business Intelligence Benefits
by Darren Cunningham and Timo Elliott, DM Direct Special Report
April 25, 2006

The root cause of complexity in BI - and in IT generally - is that the industry lacks a clear definition of the concept, making it difficult for simplicity to drive product design. Such a definition must be built upon three fundamental pillars of simplicity: an easy-to-use interface, usable features, and ease of deployment and administration. Read More...

BI Spending To Increase
by Rick Whiting, Business Intelligence Pipeline
March 6, 2006

Business intelligence tools are making it onto the "gotta have" list at more businesses, and projected spending on the software is on the rise at many companies. Read More...

Business Intelligence: Not Just for Bosses Anymore
by Meridith Levinson, CIO Magazine
January 15, 2006

Business intelligence has long been about spitting out data—often irrelevant and outdated—to a few big bosses. But today’s BI is both more meaningful and more egalitarian. Read More...