Overview of business intelligence solutions. They are commonly used for plain reporting, performance management, dashboarding and business analytics.
The following BI solutions are included in the BI Tool Suvey 2012, a thorough and in-depth comparison of all popular BI solutions. The survey of Passionned Group, an independent consultancy and research company based in The Netherlands, examined sixteen BI solutions on 103 criteria.
Vendor independent comparison
In random order the BI solutions that are part of the Business Intelligence Tool survey. The research identified and examined the most critical business and technical criteria important for high productivity and Business Intelligence systems that actually add value to your organization. Download the BI Tool Survey 2012 for a thorough comparison of the BI solutions listed in the table below.
BI solutions compared in the BI survey
| No. | Business Intelligence Solutions | Latest version | Vendor |
| 1. | Oracle Enterprise BI Server | 11g1 | Oracle |
| 2. | SAP Business Objects Enterprise XI | r4 | SAP |
| 3. | Microsoft BI tools (integrated BI offering*) | 2008/2010 | Microsoft |
| 4. | SAS Enterprise BI Server | 9.2 | SAS Institute |
| 5. | Microstrategy | 9 | Microstrategy |
| 6. | IBM Cognos Series 10 | 10.1 | IBM |
| 7. | QlikView | 11  | QlikTech |
| 8. | Board Management IntelligenceToolkit | 7.1 | Board International |
| 9. | BizzScore Suite | 7.3 | EFM Software |
| 10. | WebFocus | 8 | Information Builders |
| 11. | Oracle Hyperion System | 9 | Oracle |
| 12. | SAP NetWeaver BI | 7.3 | SAP |
| 13. | JasperSoft (open source) | 4.5 | JasperSoft |
| 14. | Style Intelligence | 11 | InetSoft |
| 15. | Pentaho BI suite (open source) | 4 | Pentaho |
| 16. | Tableau Software | 6.1 | Tableau Software |
* The following Microsoft BI solutions are evaluated in the BI Tool Survey: SQL Server Analysis Service (SSAS), SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS) in combination with Excel and Excel Services, where relevant accessed by SharePoint (MOSS 2010).
>>> The niche players Arcplan, Spotfire, Talend, Actuate and Panorama software were not included, because they did not want to fill in the questionnaire and the comparison cannot be done without the vendor’s cooperation.
How to select a BI solution
Often organisations find it difficult and labour intensive to execute a software selection process in order to gather all the necessary data. The BI Tool Survey 2012 is designed to help you perform the selection quickly and efficiently. Here are the seven steps to select a BI solution:
- Create a business intelligence strategy
- Define criteria
- Create a short-list
- Invite Business Intelligence vendors for a demonstration
- Perform a proof-of-concept
- Negotiate
- Close the deal
More information: Choosing and selecting a BI software solution.
The BI Tool Survey 2012: 16 solutions evaluated
Get all information to select the best (enterprise) BI solution for the best price by ordering the BI Tool Survey 2012. You will get real insight into using BI solutions to build successful BI applications and we will send you results of comparing sixteen BI solutions across 103 criteria. Open the table of contents to see what’s in the BI Tool Survey 2012. The price is stated in Euros and excludes local taxes. Applicable taxes will be applied during the checkout process.
If the business intelligence solution you want more information on is not on the list above and you would like it to be included, please fill in the evaluation request form and we will evaluate the business intelligence solution for free.
Customers in 37 countries benefit from our 100% vendor independent survey. The survey is made in collaboration with Bloor Research, one of Europe's leading independent IT research organizations.