Intellient: Niche or application vendors (BI)

Application vendor or niche? Niche or application vendor? Marc Scheepbouwer, managing director of Intellient, an EOH company, explains that a company's choice of supplier of business intelligence (BI) tools has to do with the benefits the vendor can offer now and far into the future.

"While there are arguments both for and against the choice of either an application vendor or niche vendor, it essentially comes down to what will be most suitable for each individual company."

Scheepbouwer advises being realistic as a key choice criterion: "You need to consider your ability to take action according to the results the tools deliver; they must enable your business at the end of the day. You need to ask your vendor, no matter whether they are an application vendor or a specialist, how their tools will enhance your company's bigger picture.

"BI is about standardising the way people act and making decisions on behalf of your company. Your BI platform must, therefore, extend broadly into your organisation, standardising both your metrics and your financial and marketing processes. Your chosen vendor must enable this."

He goes on to explain that an application vendor can often offer an all-in-one solution in terms of a "suite" approach, which can make compelling business sense in terms of integration with their other products the organisation has already invested in. On the other hand, however, a niche vendor that supports open standards and the development of a heterogeneous environment should also be able to accomplish this with its applications.

The most important part of the decision would thus seem to be based on the specific vendor's offering. Scheepbouwer adds that while standalone vendors can often boast newer technologies, their resources in terms of integrating these products with others can be somewhat limited. "There is always value in niche technology. That being said, the corresponding functionality must be there to support it. Your company must look at the degree of integration on offer.

"A niche vendor could be the solution if it enables you to leverage off your existing platform. You need to consider your long-term ability to spread the business value of your tools to as many business areas as possible."

While broad-spectrum BI applications are typically the solution of choice for most companies, Scheepbouwer is quick to explain that very niche applications may be appropriate for some. "Take the example of predictive data mining. Knowing the probability of a certain response might be crucial for a business and, while this may not be an application that is highly integrated, it can add huge value to the business and act as a platform for decision-making well into the future."

As to the argument about the necessity of BI applications themselves, Scheepbouwer is adamant they offer incredible breadth and depth to a company, and are vital business enablers. "Some people would argue that with spreadsheets becoming increasingly powerful - not to mention cheaper and faster - BI tools are becoming unnecessary. I would have to disagree."

"Spreadsheets, no matter what functionality they now include, are simply not designed to share. BI tools, on the other hand, are all about sharing information and the central derivation of data. They give the user access to choice in terms of accessing information from a central data source. They are also much more efficient from a company risk point of view."

With so much attention currently focused on BI solutions, companies with highly integrated, effective products are sure to emerge the ultimate winners. Knowing where your company is and where you want to take it will go a long way in guaranteeing you choose a vendor who ultimately makes your BI tool the most strategic partner it can be.