New BI Guide helps companies cut through the BI confusion

June 2013 · Oak Brook, IL

After experiencing exponential growth over the last few years, the Business Intelligence (BI) software market slowed slightly in 2012. According to the research firm, Gartner, confusion surrounding BI technology terms played a significant role in this slowdown. The fact is, despite having more options than ever before, businesses face a growing problem: With an ever-increasing number of BI vendors touting their own solutions and terminology, choosing a BI solution is now a confusing process.

To help address this growing issue, software platform developer mrc announces the release of a new Business Intelligence Guide entitled, "Essential Features of a Good Business Intelligence Solution." The new guide helps companies cut through the BI confusion and understand which features and capabilities they must target in a BI solution. It breaks the criteria up into four categories:

• High-level Features. In this section, readers learn about essential big-picture elements of a good BI solution. It explains strategic aspects of Business Intelligence that often determine the long-term success of a BI solution.
• Security Features. With BI applications, companies often limit data and application access by user or user group. This section outlines essential security features that dictate a company's level of control over the data, the applications, and overall user access.
• Must-have Applications. Not every BI solution includes the same reporting and analytical applications. This section outlines 6 essential reporting and BI applications that companies must look for in a good solution.
• Advanced Features. This section outlines a few uncommon features that only the more advanced BI solutions include. While uncommon, these features often add enormous value and can make or break a BI project.

"We see so much confusion surrounding the topic of Business Intelligence," says Sal Stangarone, mrc's Senior Product Consultant. "Companies don't fully understand all of the terminology and their available options. Hopefully, this BI Guide will educate these companies, and help them avoid any costly mistakes."

The BI Guide can be found here: www.mrc-productivity.com/Research/BIPaper.pdf.

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