Editor's note
Enterprises are dealing with vast amounts of data about their customers, prospects, internal business processes, suppliers, partners and competitors. To transform this data into actionable information that can help increase revenue, profitability and business efficiency, many organizations are turning to BI analytics tools. Although the BI tools market might be considered mature, it's constantly evolving to address the changing analytics needs of today's organizations.
Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all BI analytics tool, and deciding which software to buy shouldn't be based on the product with the most features. Rather, organizations should determine which tool enables the types of analysis your users need and will use.
This buyer's guide examines the three categories of BI analytics tools -- guided analysis and reporting, self-service BI and analysis, and advanced analytics -- and the BI tool styles and capabilities they support. We will help you identify and classify your analytical needs, as well as examine some business use cases for which these BI analytics tools are optimized. In addition, we will help you determine your must-have and nice-to-have features, so you can create a shortlist of BI analytics tools that are the best fit for your organization.
To help you further narrow down your list of potential BI analytics products, this guide compares 12 of the leading BI analytics products on the market today and provides overviews that examine the items central to the decision-making process.
1A business case for BI analytics tools
There are several key data or analytical characteristics that need to be considered when creating your BI business use cases.
2Comparing the top BI analytics products
Which BI analytics tool should you buy for your organization? Take a look at our comparison of the top 12 vendors in the market and review the pros and cons of their products.
3BI analytics tools product overviews
These overviews examine the features, available editions, licensing costs and support for the 12 top BI analytics tools in today's market.
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Examining the Birst BI and predictive analytics tool
Centralized BI and IT teams can use Birst to connect with decentralized teams on the business side. Learn more about the BI and predictive analytics tool. Read Now
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IBM Cognos Business Intelligence offers self-service BI
The latest version of IBM Cognos Business Intelligence is managed by IT but provides end users with a simplified setup and deployment. Read Now
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Information Builders WebFOCUS helps leverage BI analytics
The Information Builders WebFOCUS platform includes several BI analytics tools that users can leverage to perform predictive analytics, statistical modeling and big data analytics. Read Now
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Logi Analytics provides self-service analytics
Logi Vision and Logi Info self-service analytics products enable users to perform reporting and dashboarding, scorecarding, search, ad hoc queries, OLAP and data discovery. Read Now
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Exploring Microsoft Power BI SaaS analytics products
Microsoft Power BI SaaS analytics lets users view their most critical data via a live dashboard, create interactive reports and access their data on the go. Read Now
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MicroStrategy 10 promotes self-service analytics
The MicroStrategy 10 analytics and BI platform lets users tap into data from a variety of sources to create and distribute customized reports. Plug-ins can extend functionality. Read Now
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Examining the Qlik data visualization platform
The Qlik data visualization platform aims to help users access, present, explore and capitalize on their data. Read Now
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Insight into Oracle Business Intelligence Foundation Suite
Oracle Business Intelligence Foundation Suite enables users to access information through interactive dashboards, search and mobile devices. Read Now
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A look at SAP BusinessObjects BI suite
SAP BusinessObjects BI platform provides users with self-service access to information to support the decision-making process. Find out what's different in version 4.1. Read Now
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SAS Visual Analytics software supports data discovery
SAS Visual Analytics software provides self-service BI and reporting capabilities aimed at helping non-technical users identify meaningful patterns and relationships in data. Read Now
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Exploring Tableau visualization and analytics products
Tableau helps users of all technical skill levels quickly analyze, visualize and share data with colleagues so they can make data-driven decisions. Read Now
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TIBCO Analytics targets data-driven users
TIBCO Spotfire provides users with self-service analytics capabilities, while TIBCO Jaspersoft aims to enable developers to make faster decisions based on actionable data. Read Now