Is the cloud BI market heating up?
“The cloud BI market is heating up," according to industry analysts Ovum.
So much so, they say, that companies such as Microsoft, Tableau and Roambi are just a few examples of BI vendors that have improved and expanded their cloud capabilities recently.
Add to that a growing number of startups, such as GoodData, BIME and Birst, whose primary delivery model is cloud, and Ovum has an answer…
"It is clear that the cloud is becoming a more cost-effective delivery model for BI vendors to offer their software," says Fredrik Tunvall, analyst, Software IT, Ovum.
"Many BI vendors are increasingly betting on the “land and expand” model as the way to push their products: a single user or department will adopt the product, champion it, and spread it via word of mouth within the organisation."
According to Tunvall, the benefit for enterprises is the ability to start with as little as one user and grow to thousands, allowing companies to start smaller projects quickly and scale later as organisational needs change.
"This can be particular;y useful for SMBs or departments that can’t afford IT involvement, both in terms of time and money," Tunvall argues.
"Business IT users across the organisation can go online, sign up, and start analysing their data within minutes rather than weeks."
Question marks?
However the cloud model still has several question marks.
"The cloud does make sense as a SaaS for BI reporting and dashboarding applications that rely on a limited set of data and are fitted for specific roles or use cases, e.g. to monitor sales performance or track success of online marketing campaigns," Tunvall says.
"But organisations that think the cloud provides quick and easy setup for any type of BI application might have to rethink.
"The reality is that most BI applications used today need customisation and rely on data from multiple operational sources, which is never easy or quick to set up, be it in the cloud or on-premise.”
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