Analytical Applications
Alternatively, companies can also decide to integrate their analytical applications with their operational applications such as Customer Relationship Management Software. In such a situation, they expose their Application Programming Interface to inter-link BI software or components.
Similarly, relational data base companies have increasingly integrated analytical applications on their databases. Microsoft, for example, now supports analytical applications on its ‘Yukon’ SQL Server which includes support for OLAP, statistical and data mining functions besides database queries.
The integration of business and analytical applications has to extend to linking content repositories; this was not possible with the available integration technologies. With the advent of web services, XML and a gamut of object-oriented, component based technologies enables integration of structured and unstructured data. IBM has bolstered the prospects of the technology by acquiring Venetica and uses its content integration middleware into its DB2 Information Integrator suite.
Depending on their business needs, companies can decide on the kind of package they want to buy. If they would rather focus on specific departments, they can decide to buy packaged analytical applications such as especially the finance department. On the other hand, they could opt for integrated packages which include data management and integration, analytical tools and applications and collaboration software. Companies can also decide to customize their business intelligence software and elect to buy analytical development environment which allows them to use components to build applications for their needs.
The overlapping functions of business intelligence and enterprise management have also attracted many different types of vendors from the enterprise resource planning, performance management and business process management space besides best-of-breed innovators who excel in some segments of the process. Buyers, therefore, have to weigh the benefits of staying with their familiar ERP vendors who increasingly have the ability to package business intelligence packages versus choosing the richer functionality of ‘pure-play’ business intelligence vendors or the niche ‘best-of-breed’ innovators. While the increasing availability of integration tools, with the advent of web services, XML and Java, afford the ability to conveniently extend ERP packages, management of a diversity of vendors does increase costs.