We installed a Netscape Directory Server for testing, and then connected the Cognos Server to our SQL 2000 database. Some metadata (table names, column names and descriptions, and relationships) is read from the database and stored locally for better overall performance. Any additional metadata (aliases, renaming of columns and so on) is stored locally on the server. In comparison, MicroStrategy 7i stores and manages metadata in the target database. Based on our tests, the products that store metadata locally perform better.
Cognos makes creating reports a snap and provides robust tools to manipulate the data in report format. The package even lets you change the view of the data--including report layout, data included and chart types--and save that personalized view for future use. No other vendor's product lets you personalize reports. We liked the flexibility this feature offers end users.
Cognos' pricing fell right in the middle of all the the products, at $130,000 for the scenario we used, including a 25 percent annual maintenance fee--the highest fee of any product in this review. Like Microsoft, Cognos offers a flat per-user fee. Such a pricing model is comparatively easy to calculate, and makes it simple to start small and grow as user demand increases.
Cognos Series 7, $300 to $500 per user depending on configuration and project parameters. Cognos, (800) 426-4667. http://www.cognos.com
Information Builders Webfocus 4.3.6
Through its partnership with Microsoft, Information Builders provides Web support for Excel that, well, excels. If you're running an all-Microsoft shop with Excel jockeys for business analysts, you'll derive benefits from this program that you can't get from the competition--even Microsoft Data Analyzer. Not only can you view and manipulate reports in Excel format within the WebFocus Web interface, you can drill through data while in an Excel spreadsheet--something unique among the products tested. We were pleased with Information Builders' extensive database and system support, which outpaced the competition. In addition to its exceptionally varied platform support (Linux, Sequent and Tru64 included), WebFocus supports any industry Web server that provides CGI, Servlet and ISAPI. Kudos!
Like Brio Intelligence and Cognos Series 7, Information Builders' WebFocus stores its metadata locally, so its performance was on par with the competition. With out-of-the box reporting functionality that provides KPI (key performance indicator) reports for the insurance, health-care and automotive industries, Information Builders makes getting running quickly a no-brainer.
WebFocus does a good job of notifying you of changes in your data. If a high-profile customer calls, inventory falls below a certain threshold, your profit margin falls below a given level, or you reach your monthly sales target and will be receiving that commission check you've been waiting for, these notification systems can alert you immediately to the event. WebFocus is not unique in this regard, however: Cognos provides "agents" that take the concept a step further by letting you perform actions based on events, such as running additional queries and taking into consideration values that arise from the analysis of additional data.
We liked Information Builders' package-deal pricing. With a tag of $67,309 for our scenario, only Microsoft could beat its pricing.
WebFocus 4.3.6, pricing based on configuration. Information Builders, (800) 969-INFO, (212) 736-4433. http://www.informationbuilders.com
Brio Intelligence 6.6
Brio Intelligence ties with Cognos for the best methods of dealing with dirty data. The product also provides an easy-to-use interface that makes report building a breeze. However, limited Web server support (Microsoft IIS and iPlanet only) and a less robust security model than Cognos Series 7's prevented this product from earning our top spot. Web server support is an issue; if an organization has standardized on IBM's WebSphere or BEA WebLogic, for example, the company will need to make an extra purchase to deploy the solution.
Brio Intelligence impressed us with its quick uptime and all-in-one report creation. The drag-and-drop interface let us install, connect to our database and create a detailed analysis within half an hour. We also liked the product's integration with Netegrity, which enables single sign-on access and data security across the Brio product suite. Brio provides access control on its design models, ensuring that developed reports cannot be modified without proper authorization. However, the product still lacks some of the security tools, such as role-based access control, that Cognos Series 7 and others provide. This shortcoming resulted in a lower score in the area of security.
Brio Intelligence handled our fairly dirty data without a problem, as did the products from Cognos and MicroStrategy. For example, our database contained several columns that required a simple Boolean value--an X designated a "yes" and an empty string meant "no." Some data, however, was entered as neither an X or empty, but contained other single character values, such as Y for yes. Using grouping functions provided by Brio, we grouped all the tuples (a collection of attributes) that represented a positive value (X's and Y's) into a single "virtual" column.
Normalized data (see "Data: Clean and Normal"), on the other hand, was a problem for both Brio and MicroStrategy. While both solutions eventually dealt with the problem, they entailed much more work than Cognos and Information Builders. Both Brio Intelligence and MicroStrategy required us to create separate "views" to deal with the normalized data. For each duplicate column that used the same lookup table, the products had to create a separate report.
Brio Intelligence 6.6, from $55 for Quickview and $54,995 for full server. Brio Software, (800) 879-2746, (408) 496-7400. http://www.brio.com
Microstrategy 7i
MicroStrategy 7i provided the most extensive RBAC-based security model of the products we tested, but it took a long time to generate reports, unlike the rest of the products. ACLs can be created on a combination of object/report/function/user basis, providing for the most control over data and application access in our tests. We loved the ability to limit access to report functionality and objects (prebuilt queries that represent typical business objects, such as a customer or an order). Other vendors should provide such a high level of security.
MicroStrategy, unlike its competitors, stores its metadata in the target database. This means that creating and running reports requires a connection to the database; it also degrades the solution's overall performance noticeably and sucks up CPU resources. The other products ran consistently at less than 20 percent CPU utilization while running reports, but MicroStrategy maxed out our server, with 100 percent CPU utilization while generating reports.
Right out of the box, MicroStrategy includes the interface to its financial modeling language. FML offers specialized functionality and assistance in building reports designed specifically for analysis of financial data. This feature is unique among the products we tested, and lets you create financial reports much more easily than the other products do. MicroStrategy's FML also includes aggregation and functions specifically designed for financial reports that were not found in other products we tested.
Also included out of the box is a series of templated reports for measuring KPI across a number of business functions. Although Cognos and Information Builders include templates and canned reports, neither provides the breadth of coverage offered by MicroStrategy.
MicroStrategy's pricing model is the most confusing and frustrating of the products tested. We understand (but dislike) pricing based on number of CPUs, but server pricing based on the speed of those CPUs is truly undesirable. Oh, and by the way, MicroStrategy has the highest cost to implement our scenario--$210,016, including an 18 percent annual maintenance fee.
MicroStrategy 7i starts at $900 per user not including development software. MicroStrategy, (888) 537-8135, (703) 848-8600. http://www.microstrategy.com
Microsoft Data Analyzer
While Microsoft Data Analyzer integrates with Microsoft Office far more completely than the competition and is an excellent tool for analysis of numerical data, customers should be wary of this inexpensive solution for analyzing data in more complex ways. We liked Data Analyzer's unique ability to create reports in PowerPoint format as well as in Excel. The desktop client provided an intensely graphical means of viewing and analyzing data, but it fell short of the other products in terms of platform and database support. Drawing data from non-Microsoft sources, though possible, is more complicated than with other products. To build cubes to access additional databases, Data Analyzer requires SQL Analysis Services, which requires SQL Server.
The desktop client's filters let you focus on specific aspects of the data set being analyzed. You can filter by any column in the report with a single click or you can get more complex and build a filter based on data in the OLAP cube. Drill-down capabilities are comparable to other products that deal directly with OLAP data, but the cubes must be prebuilt and are static. Once you hit the end of the cube's drill path, you are finished. In comparison, Cognos' solution let us drill down into the database even if the path was not built into the cube.
Data Analyzer requires the use of SQL Analysis Services, and while Analysis Services provides support for OLAP, MOLAP and ROLAP (multidimensional and relational OLAP, respectively), you can't access data directly from Data Analyzer. This means that Data Analyzer cannot easily manipulate data provided by the competition from desktop or Web clients. Data Analyzer's performance was more than acceptable, and while we'd recommend Microsoft's solution for small or midsize shops for regular reporting of financial-based data, we would not be comfortable recommending it for enterprise-class data analysis of CRM or less numerically based data.
We were impressed with Microsoft's no annual maintenance fee and per-user pricing. With a price tag of $18,000 for the scenario we used, a small to midsize organization can incorporate a business-intelligence solution easily.
Microsoft Data Analyzer, $170. Microsoft Corp., (800) 426-9400. http://www.microsoft.com
Technology editor Lori MacVittie has been a software developer and a network administrator. Most recently, she was a member of the technical architecture team for a global transportation and logistics organization. Write to her at lmacvittie@nwc.com.
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