Brio Software Inc. next month will begin shipping Brio Performance Suite 8, which combines reporting and analysis technologies in a single package. The suite also will offer browser-based interfaces for users and administrators.

Reporting tools that capture data from production systems such as enterprise resource planning applications and tools for analyzing information in data warehouses are often sold separately. Brio's new suite combines them with common information-management, metadata, and security capabilities. The goal is to make it easier to manage large-scale deployments of the software and easier for users to access and analyze data from disparate sources.

"Reporting is still their core strength," says Forrester Research analyst Nate Root, noting that Brio's SQR reporting software is installed at 10,000 customer sites. "As a general business-intelligence platform, they are making strides." But the vendor is still behind market heavyweights Cognos Inc. and Business Objects SA in some areas, he says, such as providing data extraction, transformation, and loading tools. The software does offer new personalization features, role-based security, and improved data-update capabilities. Pricing will start around $150,000.