Summary

Increasingly, line-of-business managers are making it a priority to use business intelligence (BI) in the operations of their units. However, they are impeded by the fact that many current BI products were designed for use in analytics by technically sophisticated users, not for easy-to-use deployment in operations. But now BI provider InetSoft has released a major new version of its iSuite software that makes advanced BI capabilities easier to use and interact with as part of operational management decision-making. Ventana Research believes that BI providers must expand into Operations if they are to continue to compete and grow. ISuite 9.0 demonstrates that BI tools can serve the needs of this potentially large, distinct market.

Assessment

InetSoft’s dedicated BI platform and tools have delivered and continue to offer management reporting and dashboards that are easy to configure and deploy. To date the products have appealed to organizations that want a simpler way to do business analysis by merely identifying their data sources and then rapidly assembling reports and dashboards. InetSoft accomplishes this with a unique “data block” model that can map data from multiple sources into a BI environment that also supports a spreadsheet-like user interface.

Version 9 of iSuite expands its capabilities in collaboration and exploration. These capabilities are integrated with the established InetSoft platform, which now uses Ajax-based technology to simplify user interaction. InetSoft has added a visual composer that provides a dynamic way to drag, drop and associate data with charts, tables and other presentation components. In earlier versions this was done in an ad-hoc reporting format; the new approach should help business users assemble their information more quickly.

Version 9 has other useful additions for business users, including facilities for filtering data, building metrics from measures, other iterative analytic capabilities and direct publishing to Microsoft PowerPoint. A standard calendar display simplifies selecting the desired time intervals for analysis and reporting. To distribute and provide access to information, iSuite enables users to assemble dashboards with pages of content appropriate for each area of the business. For more sophisticated users, it offers geographic mapping, scorecarding, management of metrics and the ability to set thresholds for action. Now packaged in both professional and enterprise editions, the product has been made more cost-effective by pricing per CPU rather than by named user, which has been the method used by most BI providers.

Market Impact

Being able to use BI for operational purposes is a significant opportunity for any size organization, but especially for those of medium size. Ironically, though, the consolidation of the BI market over the last five years through mergers and acquisitions has made it more complicated rather than simpler to assemble and deploy particular capabilities. Large vendors such as Oracle and Business Objects have more components to configure than do smaller competitors, which impacts not only deployment but also the total cost of software and consumption of resources. In this market, many vendors tout their products as providing capabilities to address every need, which is often not accurate – and, more to the point, not needed by every customer. In this market, InetSoft has a clear opportunity. To seize it, though, it must demonstrate the relative simplicity of its approach to new customers seeking dedicated operational BI capabilities.

Recommendation

The need for BI in areas of operational management and in departments such as marketing, sales, supply chain and manufacturing demand for applications that are easier to use. InetSoft’s iSuite version 9 does provide easier deployment and a more straightforward user experience. Ventana Research recommends that organizations looking for a simpler approach to operational BI consider less broadly known technology providers such as InetSoft.

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