And then there were two. As Oracle and SAP have consolidated enterprise applications from scores of providers down to basically two vendors, have they reduced choice and freedom in the world of analytic applications and business intelligence tools? Some are saying that the consolidation of enterprise applications and analytic tools and applications has resulted in more customer dissatisfaction, not less. For many, it seems like license prices are up, implementation costs are up, and data is even less accessible than before.
With the combination of Siebel’s nQuire and Hyperion into Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus (OBIEE Plus), along with the fusing of Peoplesoft’s Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) – and, soon, Golden Gate’s data integration products – customers now don’t have much choice but to turn to their ERP provider of choice for reporting and analytics. A similar fate is awaiting SAP’s customers with Business Objects’ tools being combined with the Business Warehouse (BW) – now referred to as SAP Netweaver Business Intelligence (SAP BI).
Has this resulted in higher prices to purchase and implement reporting and analytics for line of business owners? One of our system integration partners, Glenridge Solutions of Atlanta, GA, thinks so. In fact, they are now targeting customers that are unhappy with the seven figure license and services price tags quoted from their ERP provider to deploy reporting and analytic solutions. Glenridge’s offering based on the Kickfire platform and open source business intelligence tools – along with their own domain knowledge in departmental reporting and analytics – can be deployed for a fraction of that cost.
Along with the downturn in the economy forcing data warehouse managers to consider lower-cost alternatives, is the consolidation of enterprise and analytic applications contributing to the resurgence of more affordable, fast time-to-value data marts?
Tags: business intelligence, data mart, Data Warehouse Appliance, data warehousing, Kickfire, open source
