Which business-intelligence software offers the best bang for the buck? The answer depends on the specific application and the number of users. Ventana Research evaluated software from five leading vendors based on 12 application scenarios with either 1,000 or 10,000 users and found that ownership costs varied greatly. Actuate Corp., for example, had the lowest cost for creating dashboards for 10,000 users, while Information Builders Inc.'s cost was lowest for personalized reports for 10,000 users. Vendors often brag about their ownership costs, Ventana analyst Eric Rogge says, "but rarely have any proven factual analysis to back up the claim."
