Business Intelligence software like Data Analysis, Data Mining, Predictive Analytics etc., have been the fortyfold of big players like IBM, Oracle, SAP etc., With the arrival of Open source BI software, it is no longer! If we have a look at the Northbridge venture partners’ report on the survey taken with global enterprises, 52% of the respondents have told that Database is the sector that is going to be disturbed by Open Source, in the next five years time. SaaS, Virtualized Infrastructure and Cloud Computing are the trends that will, in turn, have the greatest impact on Open Source Players.
Let us look at some of the open source players who have made buzz in the past.
Pentaho
Pentaho is one of the Business Intelligence Suite worth having a look. It can be implemented on premises as license based or as SaaS – Software as a Service model. This suite has Data Analysis, Dashboard, ETL, Data Mining etc., With OLAP analysis and data mining capabilities; this could be a better BI suite a company would like to have. A web based interface allows users to create ad hoc queries and reports. Not only several thousand companies have gone for it, also, they say the support and services are good. In many installations it goes with MySQL database. Quite interesting to note that, Pentaho has an Apple iPad plug-in!
Actuate
Actuate is RIA ready! What is RIA ready? Rich Internet Applications provide an engaging experience to users. Small, Medium and Large Organizations in various industry sectors have gone for Actuate and implemented it successfully. Actuate offers a full set of BI tools. Actuate has partnership with Eclipse platform. As per Forrester Consulting Research report BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools) by Actuate provides highest ROI – Return on Investment. Actuate has got several patents and Awards.
Jasper
Jaspersoft offers several enterprise class BI tools. In the year 2010, it has won the prestigious Intelligent Enterprise Magazine Editors choice award. Jaspersoft has plans to expand its portfolio. The companies who have installed Jaspersoft BI Suite are telling that it is easy process compared to other software; any type of file from any department can easily integrate with Jaspersoft. Particularly, when compared to Pentaho, more intuitive and easy to manage.
While the proprietary BI suites from big boys are costing a mountain as license cost, the open source alternatives, the ones that mentioned above (or that the ones that you may come across) are best cost effective bets. Whether they are going to throw away the big players, or not, is not the point we are taking up here. But, we emphasize that those who have adopted open source software successfully are definitely benefited cost-wise.