(Business Intelligence software) Software that enables users to obtain enterprise-wide information more easily. Such products are considered a step up from the typical decision support tools because they more tightly integrate querying, reporting, OLAP, data mining and data warehousing functions.
Many products claim BI capabilities, but the end goal is to let users slice and dice the information from their organization's numerous databases without having to wait for their IT departments to develop complex queries.
BI Evolution
Business intelligence was the 1990s buzzword for the management information system (MIS) of the 1970s and the decision support system (DSS) and executive information system (EIS) of the 1980s. MIS implementations often failed because the hardware was too slow and the software was not sophisticated. Countless DSS, EIS and OLAP tools followed, which added functionality, but were often point solutions to the problem. BI implies yet more integration and ease of use (of course, no matter what the subject, every new approach in the information field is touted as the one providing more integration and greater ease of use). See Business Objects, business intelligence portal, EIS and DSS.
Many products claim BI capabilities, but the end goal is to let users slice and dice the information from their organization's numerous databases without having to wait for their IT departments to develop complex queries.
BI Evolution
Business intelligence was the 1990s buzzword for the management information system (MIS) of the 1970s and the decision support system (DSS) and executive information system (EIS) of the 1980s. MIS implementations often failed because the hardware was too slow and the software was not sophisticated. Countless DSS, EIS and OLAP tools followed, which added functionality, but were often point solutions to the problem. BI implies yet more integration and ease of use (of course, no matter what the subject, every new approach in the information field is touted as the one providing more integration and greater ease of use). See Business Objects, business intelligence portal, EIS and DSS.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Business Intelligence in the Cloud
- The presenter of this webcast gives practical information about cloud computing and demonstrates a new approach to business intelligence. No longer are dedicated hardware and software required to meet ad hoc or unpredictable BI requirements.
- Webcasts 2009-11-10
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- Three reasons this is a bad paradigm...Security, security and...let's see, what was that other thing...oh yeah, security. The comment "enterprise customers are likely to take their time moving sensitive data into Amazon?s RDS effort" should be nominated for the understatement of the year award. What's more likely is...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-27
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- Discussion threads 2009-10-22
- mySQL founders fork on the post-Oracle future
- paranoia againi remember paranoia when sun bought openoffice and mysql...look they are still here!!!and oracle bought sun...people will be paranoid for some time, and than that story will go to oblivion just like any other paranoid story in open source world.Oracle must commit 1 billion for MySQLand also 5 billions...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-20
- DOJ probes IBM's mainframe business
- M/F competitionThere use to be plug compatible m/f from Amdahl and Fujitsu. When IBM switched from bi-polar to CMOS technology, the competition was unable to make the same switch. They have left the field.A few years ago, there was a small manufacturer of a PC server capable of...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-08
- EU approves new browser ballot for Windows 7
- Cheeky...Bit cheeky that you choose which browser you want via a ballot screen displayed from inside internet explorer... subliminal message?Not enough!This ballot stiffles competition from smaller shops that would try to make their own browser.All available browsers shold be included, not justthe 'big guys'.The original ideea with no browser at...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-07
- Web data services extend data access and distribution beyond the RDB-BI straightjacket
- Newly Expected Trend CompassI am sending you links on the newly expected Trend Compass which is still in our Lab.http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v2/babyboomers/http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v2/bank-trx/http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v2/advertising/Tell me what you think of the new look and feature.RE: Web data services extend data access and distribution beyond the RDB-BI straightjacketEpic Systems has developed a Data Visualization software "Trend...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-06
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- Software downloads 2009-10-05
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- Discussion threads 2009-09-24
- SuccessFactors: Backing into business intelligence?
- Good Luck to SuccessFactorsSuccessFactors has a great offering. What Siebel got completely wrong with ERM, Successfactors got it right from a product and On-Demand delivery perspective. Given that they are now public, I can imagine the growth pressures being faced, now.However, the reporting mashup initiative is naive. It has been...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-11
- DBConvert for Excel & MS SQL 1.0.0 (Windows)
- DBConvert for Excel & MS SQL is a reliable bi-directional database migration tool which allows you to convert data between MS SQL database and MS Excel. You can convert your entire .xml file to MS SQL or select definite ranges of data from MS Excel spreadsheet to create as many...
- Software downloads 2009-08-27
- BEIKS Spanish-English Dictionary for Palm OS 6.0 (Mobile)
- The compact and carefully selected Spanish to English dictionary, features approx. 40,000 headwords, making it more than sufficient for the widest range of language reference needs. Whether professional on the job or a language student on the go you should find this dictionary a handy and useful addition to your...
- Software downloads 2009-08-21
- BEIKS Swedish to English Dictionary for Palm OS 6.0 (Mobile)
- The compact and carefully selected Swedish to English dictionary, features approx. 21,000 headwords, making it more than sufficient for the widest range of language reference needs. Whether professional on the job or a language student on the go you should find this dictionary a handy and useful addition to your...
- Software downloads 2009-08-21
- Active BI Portal Manager 3.2.0.5 (Windows)
- Active BI Portal Manager is business intelligence software that provides an integrated solution for designing and deploying reports and Web forms over the Internet and intranet. Active BI Portal consists of two parts Active BI Portal Manager which works on Windows only and server part which is collection of PHP...
- Software downloads 2009-08-13
- Are health IT vendors trying to pull a fast one?
- Not sure about your last question, i guess he would be the best person...to ask.I think that sage, GE, siemans and mckesson do have the experience necessary to make good decisions, but these are also the guys who make software for the healthcare field.Maybe their vested interest also includes self...
- Discussion threads 2009-08-10
- News to know: SOA, Google Voice app; Twitter bots; Google Wave; Clunkers
- Here are today's notable headlines. You can get News To Know via email alert and RSS daily. For continuous updates see BNET's around-the-Web tech coverage. Joe McKendrick: More SOA tools emerge in the cloud Jason Hiner: Forget the iPhone app, Google Voice coming as...
- Blog posts 2009-08-10
- The World's Best Business Intelligence Applications: Customer-Facing, Revenue-Generating BI
- If one is looking to leverage business intelligence software to create an application that will have maximum impact on organization, perhaps one should look outside the traditional boundaries of BI. Think beyond the classic analytical application for a few back-office analysts, and envision how the wide distribution of data to...
- White papers 2009-08-05
- Microsoft: Buy now, buy later ...
- Microsoft: Buy now, buy later ...Anytime Upgrade is like calling you a idiotLet say you go out and buy Home Premium the default version as it is called.Then you see the anytime upgrade button it is like being called a idiot for not buying the best version to start with.I...
- Discussion threads 2009-08-03
- Nationwide Financial Leverages Consolidated BI Platform for Risk Management, Sales & Marketing Analyses
- Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. NFS provides financial services that help consumers invest and protect their long-term assets, and also offers retirement plans and services through public- and private-sector employers. NFS has an impressive growth record through its ability to offer customized retirement products that give customers more choices and control...
- Case studies 2009-08-01
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