Business Intelligence
The coming year will be a defining year for BI products
because Microsoft is determined to make BI
mainstream. According to Francois Ajenstat, Microsoft
director of product management for SQL
Server, BI has become a priority for CIOs. “BI is now
the number one CIO priority according to Gartner,”
says Ajenstat. “I believe that more users will want to
benefit from the value of BI…proprietary and costly
solutions are no longer required and won’t enable pervasive
BI to become a reality.”
Microsoft’s initiative is to provide an end-to-end
solution that integrates BI from the DBA to the business
user through Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server 2007. Although SQL Server 2005
includes powerful BI components, Microsoft has
stepped up the BI features in SQL Server 2008. SQL
Server 2008 includes a BI platform that offers data
integration and management, enhanced reporting
options that let you create reports in Microsoft Word
or Excel, and analysis tools such as SQL Server Analysis
Services (SSAS) data mining algorithms.
Microsoft is out to conquer the business end of
BI, starting with its new performance management
release, Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server
2007. This product lets you monitor and analyze business
performance as well as plan business activities.
“We need to step back and look at Microsoft’s BI
offering, which starts with SQL Server for the BI infrastructure,
Office 2007 (Excel, SharePoint) for end
user delivery, and PerformancePoint Server for analytical
applications,” explains Ajenstat. “SQL Server
is the foundation that enables our pervasive BI vision
to become a reality and ultimately ensure that we add
value to any decision at any levels of the company.”
New to the BI scene in 2007 were BI servers. HP
announced that it would offer a server preconfigured
with SQL Server 2005, which can be used to deploy BI
solutions. Microsoft and Dell recently followed suit:
Dell began producing a line of its PowerEdge servers
preconfigured with SQL Server 2005, and will begin
offering PowerEdge servers preconfigured with SQL
Server 2008 following the SQL Server 2008 launch.
Dell will also offer servers preconfigured with PerformancePoint
Server 2007 as an add-on.
With all this activity coming from the big players,
we expect the BI market to really heat up in 2008.
Whether you’re thinking about BI solutions or are already
implementing them, you’ll want to pay close attention
to this market. 2008 will be the year when you’ll
be seeing lots of new BI products and initiatives. We’ve
listed the products available in this arena today.
Business Intelligence
Reporting Tools
• Analyzer 2007, Strategy Companion, www.strategycompanion.com
• BusinessObjects XI R2, Business Objects, www.businessobjects.com
• DSP Performance Canvas 2007, DSPanel, www.dspanel.com
• Dundas Chart, Dundas Data Visualization, www.dundas.com
• Radius90, 90 Degree Software, www.90degreesoftware.com
• RSinteract, ICS, www.rsinteract.com
• SQL-RD, ChristianSteven Software, www.christiansteven.com
• Tableau, Tableau Software, www.tableausoftware.com
• XLCubed, XLCubed, www.xlcubed.com
Performance Management Tools
• Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007,
Microsoft, www.microsoft.com
BI Servers
• Dell PowerEdge Server preconfigured with
SQL Server 2005, Dell, www.dell.com
• SAS Enterprise BI Server, HP, www.hp.com
Development
XML
• Stylus Studio 2007 XML Enterprise Suite,
DataDirect Technologies, www.stylusstudio.com
• Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft, www.microsoft.com
• XMLSpy 2008, Altova, www.altova.com
ASP.NET
• Dundas Gauge for .NET, Dundas Data Visualization, www.dundas.com
• FileUp Enterprise Edition, SoftArtisans, www.softartisans.com
• NConstruct, Biro M&T, www.nconstruct.com
• ScaleOut StateServer, ScaleOut Software, www.scaleoutsoftware.com
• Strangeloop AppScaler, Strangeloop Networks, www.strangeloopnetworks.com
Database
• ApexSQL Developer Studio, ApexSQL, www.apexsql.com
• DatabaseSpy 2008, Altova, www.altova.com
• DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET, DataDirect
Technologies, www.datadirect.com
• DataKraft Studio, DataKraft, www.datakraft.net
• NConstruct, Biro M&T, www.nconstruct.com
• Rapid SQL, Embarcadero Technologies, www.embarcadero.com
• SQL Farm Combine, SQL Farms, www.sqlfarms.com
• Toad Data Modeler, Quest Software, www.quest.com
Administration
Backup and Recovery
• Double-Take for Windows, Double-Take Software, www.doubletake.com
• HyperBac for SQL Server, Xceleon Technologies, www.hyperbac.com
• LiteSpeed, Quest Software, www.quest.com
• Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager
(DPM), Microsoft, www.microsoft.com
• SQL Backup, Red Gate Software, www.red-gate.com
• SQLsafe, Idera, www.idera.com
• Time Navigator, Atempo, www.atempo.com
• UltraBac, UltraBac Software, www.ultrabac.com
Virtualization
• ESX Server 3.5, VMware, www.vmware.com
• HP PolyServe Database Utility for SQL Server, HP, www.hp.com
• Virtual Iron 4.0, Virtual Iron Software, www.virtualiron.com
• Windows Server 2008 (Windows Server virtualization—WSv), Microsoft, www.microsoft.com
Hardware
• HP ProLiant DL585, HP, www.hp.com
• IBM System Storage N5000, IBM, www.ibm.com
• SecureSphere, Imperva, www.imperva.com
End of Article
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