InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

SMB Specialists: Microsoft Delivers BI As A Fringe Benefit

12 Brawny Business Intelligence Products For SMBs

Start The Discussion | Doug Henschen | June 13, 2011 16:30 PM

Business intelligence isn't just for the big boys anymore. Check out our short list of star SMB options, from easy-to-deploy SaaS choices to affordable versions of the biggest BI suites.

12 Brawny Business Intelligence Products For SMBs

Informationweek Discussions

To upload an avatar photo, first complete your Disqus profile. | View the list of supported HTML tags you can use to style comments. | Please read our commenting policy.

Previous Slide Next Slide 8 of 15

SMB Specialists: Microsoft Delivers BI As A Fringe Benefit

Microsoft's answer for BI appeals to enterprises large and small, but midsize firms, in particular, like the fact that if you license Microsoft SQL Server, SharePoint (Enterprise), and Microsoft Office, you own all the components of Microsoft BI. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 provides built-in Reporting Services, Analysis Services, Integration Services, and the PowerPivot in-memory-analysis plug-in for Excel. SharePoint Enterprise Edition gives you PerformancePoint Services for dashboards, scorecards, and analytics. And Microsoft Office gives you Excel, which is a ubiquitous data-consumption tool, exploited by Microsoft as well as most other BI vendors. You'll need IT's support to make the most of integration, reporting, and analysis services, but SharePoint and Excel are familiar, easy to use, and versatile in serving many needs.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Midmarket CIOs Rate Analytics As Top To-Do Item

5 Factors In Agile BI

Cost, IT Support Top BI Obstacles For SMBs

What's Next In Analytics

Can Open Source Solve Big Data For SMBs?

The Ultimate Shortcut To Fast Analysis