QlikTech QlikView 7.5
The latest version of QlikTech's business intelligence platform offers improved end-user access, better data analysis tools, Web services support and a pricing model geared to broad deployment. Improved access is delivered through a personal start-up screen with an integrated Web browser that creates a home page where users begin their analyses. New tools support on-the-fly creation of dimensions, infinitely nested aggregations and statistical analyses, giving users greater flexibility to explore data. The development toolset has been expanded with wizards, improved reports and a KPI library of all tracked metrics. A new Web Services plug-in can tap data sources from many SOA applications. The vendor has also introduced an optional licensing model based on usage, so customers can deliver BI to many "lite" users without the cost of per-seat pricing or usage constraints of concurrent-user approaches.
OutlookSoft 5
This upgrade of the company's business performance management suite focuses on financial and operational planning, budgeting, reporting and analytical requirements. Users can access OutlookSoft 5 data either through Microsoft Office or a Web browser. Built on a services-oriented architecture, the new product can also draw from other software and data stores using services. The upgrade also supports Oracle databases as well as Microsoft SQL Server. OutlookSoft 5 will eventually replace OutlookSoft CPM, so the vendor plans to introduce tools for data, metadata and content migration in the third quarter.
IBM WebSphere Content Discovery
This new product taps business intelligence applications as well as structured and unstructured information using IBM's search technology. The product can search conventional BI reports from systems such as Cognos, extracting data as well as contextual column and row header information. Discovery also employs text-mining technology, to extract relevant information from documents, intranets and Web sites as well as textual comments, descriptions and note fields in CRM systems, ERP and other business applications. Finally, Discovery also supports natural language queries, using the technology acquired in the iPhrase purchase last year, allowing users unfamiliar with formal query structures to gain access to data that might not be readily available in a pre-existing BI report.
Business Objects Crystal Vision
Business Objects has released Crystal Vision and Crystal Vision Server, incorporating tools that Business Objects acquired with the Infomersion purchase. Crystal Vision is a desktop product combining the reporting technology from Crystal Reports with visualization and dashboard features available in Crystal Xcelsius. Users can create reports from their data, then create a dashboard or interactive analytic on top of the data, which can then be refreshed as required. Crystal Vision Server adds the back-end server components to publish the reports and dashboards to the Web, and leverages the technology found in BusinessObjects Enterprise.
Wily Technology Introscope 7
Web applications are growing like Topsy: that is, into systems snarling with complexity and testing the capabilities of their managers. Critical to the customer experience, Web application management is in danger if it falls into the silos and prevents managers from monitoring and improving end-to-end performance. CA's Wily Technology division has released Introscope 7 as a scalable architecture with "intelligent automation" usability improvements designed to enable end-to-end Web application management. As a single source for all performance information, CA says Introscope supports the needs of IT and non-IT users to access and take action on performance data.
