11 Business Intelligence Leaders
Published October 9, 2015 10:37 AM
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Updated October 9, 2015 10:39 AM
1 Min Read
Who qualified?
To land on Forresters radar, vendors must offer a complete, self-contained, fully functional BI platform development environment. Plus, the BI platform must have the ability to query databases using SQL and MDX. Finally, vendors must have sufficient market presence (based on a range of factors). Based on those variables, here are the 11 top BI software platforms for Q1 2015, based on the latest Forrester Wave: Enterprise Business Intelligence Platforms research. This slideshow originally appeared on Information Management.
1. SAS
SAS attracts customers for data management (ETL, MDM, and data quality) and BI products; expertise with specific vertical industries; and for professional services guidance, Forrester noted. Still, areas of weakness include lack of commercial pricing transparency, the market researcher concluded.
2. SAP
Customers embrace SAP to benefit from one-stop shopping for data management (ETL, MDM, data warehouse, and DQ), BI products including the HANA appliance, and SAPs vertical market and ERP expertise, Forrester said. Still, some SAP offerings lack integration and consistent user interfaces, Forrester concluded.
3. IBM
One of the few companies that can offer complete integrated BI software, hardware and professional services. Despite innovations involving Cognos and Watson, IBM still was late with some cloud BI capabilities, Forrester noted. Also, customers may not want to bet all of their hardware and software on a single vendor.
4. Microsoft
Excel remains the de-facto most-used BI platform worldwide, Forrester says. Excels BI links to SQL Server, Office and SharePoint also continue to get stronger. But Forrester points to Microsofts Power BI cloud service as a way to increasingly leverage Microsoft BI without getting locked into other Microsoft solutions.
5. Information Builders
The companys WebFOCUS platform remains a preferred choice for enterprises where high-end scalability and a broad set of integrated BI components are top requirements, Forrester says. Still, Information Builders was a bit late with cloud-based applications, the researcher noted.
6. Oracle
Oracle BI Enterprise Edition (OBIEE), Oracle BI Applications, and Fusion versions of Oracle ERP and CRM applications enable plug-and-play BI deployment, a truly unique and differentiated capability, Forrester asserted. Still, Oracle lacks desktop self-service BI tool offerings, Forrester noted.
7. OpenText Actuate
OpenText acquired Actuate in January 2015. Massive scalability remains Actuates sweet spot. Its top use cases involve distributing complex, interactive online statements to customers of large financial services institutions, the researcher said. Still, OpenText and Actuate could post-merger integration challenges, Forrester pointed out.
8. MicroStrategy
MicroStrategys integrated architecture delivers seamless desktop, server, cloud, and mobile BI, Forrester asserted. Its one of the few remaining pure-play BI vendors and a challenge could involve MicroStrategys heavy reliance on partners for ETL, DQ and MDM components.
9. Tableau
Tableau Software continues to disrupt the BI market with highly intuitive data visualization, Forrester stated. However, large enterprise features are still in the early stages of development. Plus, many of the companys partners have been acquired.
10. Tibco
TIBCO Software excels in advanced data visualization and now offers a full open source?BI stack (thanks to the Jaspersoft acquisition of 2014), Forrester noted. Still, customers need to see more integration between TIBCOs Spotfire and Jaspersoft platforms, the market researcher said.
11. Qlik
Qlik remains a top choice for self-service data exploration, Forrester stated. Still, Qlik has been a bit late to the public cloud market especially when it comes to a native, multitenant cloud version of Qlik Sense which was still in beta mode as of the researchs writing, Forrester said.