BI in the Cloud? Yes, and on the Ground, Too

Slowly but surely, with lots of criticism and skepticism, the business intelligence (BI) software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is gaining ground

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Boris Evelson, Information Management Blogs, January 27, 2010

Slowly but surely, with lots of criticism and skepticism, the business intelligence (BI) software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is gaining ground. It's a road full of peril - at least two BI SaaS startups have failed this year - but what software market segment has not seen its share of failures? Although I do not see a stampede to replace traditional BI applications with SaaS alternatives in the near future, BI SaaS does have a few legitimate use cases even today, such as complementary BI, in coexistence with traditional BI, BI workspaces, and BI for small and some midsize businesses.

In our latest BI SaaS research report we recommend the following structured approach to see if BI SaaS is right for you and if you are ready for BI SaaS:

1. Map your BI requirements and IT culture to one of five BI SaaS use cases
2. Evaluate and consider scenarios where BI SaaS may be a right or wrong fit for you
3. Select the BI SaaS vendor that fits your business, technical, and operational requirements, including your tolerance for risk

First we identified 5 following BI SaaS use casess

1. Coexistence case: on-premises BI complemented with SaaS BI in enterprises
2. SaaS-centric case in enterprises: main BI application in enterprises committed to SaaS
3. SaaS-centric case in midmarket: main BI application in midsized businesses
4. Elasticity case: BI for companies with strong variations in activity from season to season
5. Power user flexibility case: BI workspaces are often considered necessary by power analysts

Read more.