David Menninger's Analyst Perspectives

QlikView 11 Advances Collaboration and Changes Course on Mobility

Posted by David Menninger on Oct 28, 2011 8:13:08 AM

QlikTech recently introduced QlikView 11, the latest version of its business intelligence (BI) software, which emphasizes new collaboration features as well as enhancements to its user interface. In an about-face, though, in its approach to mobile access, the company has moved away from its native iPad application to a browser-based app using HTML5 technology.

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Topics: Mobile, QlikView, Sales Performance, Social Media, Supply Chain Performance, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Collaboration, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Workforce Performance, Digital Technology

Oracle Invests Into Information Applications by Acquiring Endeca

Posted by David Menninger on Oct 20, 2011 8:45:48 AM

In a move that may indicate the beginning of a new wave of activity in the business intelligence (BI) market, Oracle has announced its intention to acquire Endeca. Founded in 1999, Endeca originally focused on search capabilities for online commerce. Users selected a product attribute, and the software automatically revised the remaining selection criteria based on products matching the previous selection. We have been covering Endeca as part of the BI and information applications marketing. For instance, if the products only come in one color, the color attribute would be removed from the selection criteria and possibly replaced by other relevant criteria. Most of us take this behavior for granted as it has been adopted or imitated by many e-commerce sites and other Web properties.

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Topics: Predictive Analytics, Sales Performance, Social Media, Supply Chain Performance, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Information Applications, Workforce Performance

Teradata: All in the Family of Appliances and Big Data

Posted by David Menninger on Oct 15, 2011 4:33:47 AM

Teradata recently held its Partners User Group meeting (Twitter hashtag #TDPUG11) in San Diego. Analysts were briefed previously on some of the announcements, which I covered in an earlier post.

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Topics: Big Data, Data Warehousing, Predictive Analytics, Sales Performance, Supply Chain Performance, Teradata, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Workforce Performance, Digital Technology

Oracle Big Data Appliance and Cloud Computing Stand on Shoulders of Giants

Posted by David Menninger on Oct 15, 2011 4:05:24 AM

Oracle made several announcements at its recent Open World event demonstrating its strengths in the business computing market but also that it is standing on the shoulders of giants. The company has developed the expertise, processes and market share to scale out the ideas and innovations of others. Don’t get me wrong: That statement is not an indictment. Large organizations often have challenges with innovation. They are not as nimble as their smaller competitors. On the other hand, small organizations often have challenges scaling out their successes. In an earlier post I characterized the software market as a sort of ecosystem, and this is how it works. Large organizations often look to imitate or acquire smaller firms for their innovations.

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Topics: Big Data, Sales Performance, Social Media, Supply Chain Performance, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, NoSQL, Oracle, Workforce Performance, Strata+Hadoop, Digital Technology

Steve Jobs Leaves an Indelible Mark on Business Intelligence

Posted by David Menninger on Oct 7, 2011 6:01:12 AM

About 30 years ago, perhaps on this very day, I was sitting in front of an Apple II working on a VisiCalc spreadsheet. At the time, I don’t think I even knew who Steve Jobs was. I wasn’t in the software industry yet. I was working for a public accounting firm. The Apple II sat in a corner of the office “typing pool.” For those of you who don’t know what a typing pool was, there was no swimming involved – it was a group of full-time employees with dedicated equipment who did all the typing and word processing tasks of the office.

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Topics: Mobile, Sales Performance, Social Media, Supply Chain Performance, Sustainability, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Business Mobility, Business Performance, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), Information Applications, Information Management, Location Intelligence, Operational Intelligence, Visualization, IT Performance Management (ITPM)

Oracle Unveils the BI Appliance Called Exalytics

Posted by David Menninger on Oct 3, 2011 11:14:12 AM

Oracle kicked off its Open World 2011 conference with the announcement ofExalytics, a new data warehouse appliance specifically for business intelligence (BI). Three years ago when Oracle introduced the Exadata product line it was based on hardware from Hewlett-Packard. Since then it has acquired Sun Microsystems and replaced the HP components in Exadata, assuming complete control over the hardware and software included in the appliance. Oracle also introduced two other appliance products: Exalogic, which is focused on Oracle Applications, and more recently the Oracle Database Machine. Oracle’s new tag line, “Hardware and software, engineered to work together,” indicates its emphasis on these appliances and the potential for more, perhaps even some to be announced at Open World.

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Topics: Sales Performance, Supply Chain Performance, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Exalytics, Financial Performance, Oracle, Visualization, Workforce Performance, Digital Technology