I would like to find out who are the best vendors of MIS (Management
Information Systems) solutions, for a Microsoft environment.  We want
to select an MIS solution for a medium sized Microsoft oriented
company, and want to know which vendors should be evaluated.

The MIS solution is intended to give an overview of the company and
act as a kind of dashboard for any critical information or figures.  I
would like to have a list of the 7 best/leading/most recognised
vendors of these types of solutions.

Some general things to be considered are:
- If the vendor has won any awards
- If they are a leader in their field
- If they integrate with other Microsoft products 
- If they have a large installation base or good references

In the answer please state the interface (web or application) that each MIS uses.

---

Request for Question Clarification by tox-ga on 14 Jun 2004 08:02 PDT

redcap20004-ga,
I am well on my my way to answering your question. However, it seems
that MIS solutions are specific to the particular type of business
that you are running. For example, one of the companies I found, EFI,
offers MIS solutions for printing companies
(http://www.efi.com/products/printMIS.fhtml). Do you want any type of
MIS solution? Or will solutions such as the in my link suffice?

---

Clarification of Question by redcap2004-ga on 14 Jun 2004 09:06 PDT

We want to use it for a financial services company.  So either MIS
solutions that are specific to this (or similar) industries, or
otherwise a generic solution.
On a different note, perhaps there is a portal/MIS combination that
would also suit our needs in two areas?  Just something to consider.

Thanks for asking!

I've located and selected seven business intelligence/MIS dashboards
for your review. Each has the capabilities you've requested, and each
is highly regarded by customers and industry experts. Most vendors
show experience in Financial industries. The "best" for your company
will, of course, depend upon your unique situation.

Vendors are listed in alphabetic order. 


Business Objects [BusinessObjects, Crystal]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"BusinessObjects provides integrated query, reporting, and analysis
capabilities for your enterprise. It is a web-enabled full client that
allows business users to easily track, understand, and manage the
wealth of information stored in multiple data sources within and
beyond your enterprise."

Applicable Products: Business Intelligence, Crystal

Business Objects
http://www.businessobjects.com

Business Objects Product Overview
http://www.businessobjects.com/products/

Customers By Industry
http://www.businessobjects.com/customers/byindustry.asp

Awards
http://www.businessobjects.com/customers/awards.asp


"Business Objects customers are leveraging our analytic solutions to
gain strategic insight from the boardroom to the shop floor. Senior
executives utilize dashboards and scorecards of key business metrics
to manage their complex and changing business landscapes. Managers
need insight into the specific business problems and processes they
own. Front-line users need to know what actions to take today to be
more competitive tomorrow."

Analytic Applications Customer List
http://www.businessobjects.com/customers/analytic.asp

Microsoft Integration: Business Objects Continues to Expand
Integration with Microsoft

http://www.businessobjects.com/news/press/press2004/20040526_microsoft_teched_part.asp



Cognos [Visualizer, Enterprise Business Intelligence]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Cognos Visualizer uses sophisticated visual reports
("visualizations") to communicate complex business data quickly and
intuitively. Using visualizations, you can display multiple measures
simultaneously and create dashboards with a diverse selection of maps
and charts. When people view several reports at once, they can see how
information correlates and make better decisions. Cognos Visualizer is
an integrated component of the comprehensive BI from Cognos."

Cognos Business Intelligence Visualization and Dashboarding
http://www.cognos.com/products/businessintelligence/visualization_dashboards/

Visualizer Fact Sheet
http://www.cognos.com/products/visualizer/fs_visualizer.pdf

Cognos Customer Successes (Financial Services Industry)
http://www.cognos.com/company/success/ss_banking.html?sblid=mnutop_customers

Cognos Industry Analysis Reviews
http://www.cognos.com/news/analyst_reviews.html?sblid=mnutop_news

Cognos Awards
http://www.cognos.com/news/awards/index.html?sblid=mnutop_news



Hyperion Solutions
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hyperion query and reporting is a proven, comprehensive and
easy-to-use solution that delivers information delivery and insight to
all corners of the enterprise, from strategy to operations and to all
classes of users. Query and reporting provides all users with access
to information that is relevant to their specific business needs.

"With Hyperion, our employees will have easy access to timely
information from which to make better decisions. It?s a cost-effective
solution for us to deploy because Hyperion's ease-of-use requires
virtually no training for our nearly 300 remote decision-makers."

Hyperion BI
http://www.hyperion.com/products/bi_platform/q_and_r/index.cfm

"Translate strategies into action. Identify and track key performance
indicators as predictive measures for future success.

As the data that managers review and analyze increases in volume and
complexity, they need easier ways to keep track of KPIs (key
performance indicators) and other metrics that allow them to pinpoint
critical business issues-and take corrective action quickly.  Sales
managers need regular forecast updates, purchasing managers need to
track vendor performance, and services managers must track customer
retention rates.  Performance dashboards can deliver this type of
critical performance information in a visual, graphical format so
executives and managers can quickly spot trends and also drill deeper
for more details.

Hyperion Products / Dashboards
http://www.hyperion.com/products/applications/performance_scorecarding
/

With registration, you may tour Hyperion Solutions in several sectors. 

Hyperion Performance Management
http://www.hyperion.com/products/downloads/downloadreq223.cfm

Turn Data Into Insight - Dare to Dashboard
http://www.hyperion.com/dashboard/

Hyperion Customers (by industry)
http://www.hyperion.com/customers/success_stories/custbyindustry.cfm



ProClarity [Instant Dashboard]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"So you have information - loads of it, actually. Inventory and sales
information, vendor data, trends, product profitability and, well, you
name it.

If you could just analyze it in different combinations, see it from
all angles and deliver it quickly in an easy-to-understand format,
your company would run more efficiently.

That's where ProClarity comes in. One of the many enhancements in
ProClarity Analytics Suite version 5.3, the ProClarity Dashboard
Server allows you to quickly deploy your key business metrics. Let us
show you how."

ProClarity Instant Dashboard/Server
http://www.proclarity.com/products/instantdashboard.asp

"The ProClarity Analytics Platform (a "BI platform") is a
component-based approach to building custom BI applications, with all
of the functionality completely exposed via application programming
interfaces. With a Web-based multitier Component Object Model
architecture (in the future, it will be based on Microsoft .NET),
ProClarity Analytics Platform supports online analytical processing
(OLAP) with its desktop, Web and rich clients, which have common
analysis functionality. It is optimized for the Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Analysis Services environment, using Analysis Services as its
data source and analytic functionality. In theory, ProClarity should
be able to use other ODBO-compliant OLAP servers, but this is not
supported. Thus, this is a limitation of the product. The basic
ProClarity Analytics Platform is functional as delivered for query and
analysis and does not require customization. It is a starting point
for building custom applications, or enterprises can use the
ProClarity components to build a custom application for the
enterprise."

Cool Vendors in BI, BAM and Data Warehousing
Alan H. Tiedrich, Howard J. Dresner, Kevin H. Strange, Frank
Buytendijk, Bill Gassman, Bill Hostmann
http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/proclarity/120265.html

Financial Industry Solutions
http://www.proclarity.com/solutions/solutions_financial.asp

Awards
http://www.proclarity.com/news/news_awards.asp

Dashboard for a Day Offer (until June 15,2004)
http://www.proclarity.com/products/instantdashboard.asp



SAP [Business Information Warehouse]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"With the SAP Business Information Warehouse you can analyze data from
the operative R/3 applications as well from any other business
application and external data source such as databases, online
services and the Internet. The functionality of the  Administrator
Workbench is designed for controlling, monitoring and maintaining all
data retrieval processes."

SAP Library - Business Information Warehouse
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_bw21c/helpdata/en/e3/e60138fede083de10000009b38f8cf/frameset.htm

SAP Data Warehouse Management

Data warehouse management -- SAP Business Intelligence enables you to
create and control data warehouses and align technology infrastructure
with business requirements. You can also control, monitor, and
maintain all processes connected with data staging and processing in
SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW), a core part of SAP
Business Intelligence. SAP BW supports the processing of large volumes
of data within the data warehouse.

Extraction, transformation, and loading -- With SAP Business
Intelligence, you can extract, integrate, and transform data from
multiple sources, including enterprise resource planning (ERP)
systems, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, online
exchanges, click-stream data sources, XML data sources, and relational
databases. Data-cleansing functions and the application of business
rules ensure data quality.

Business modeling -- SAP Business Intelligence lets you model an
information architecture to match the business structure in either an
enterprisewide data warehouse or a distributed environment. It
provides information for analysis quickly, in the right context, and
at the appropriate level of detail. Plus, it addresses the
requirements of global companies, as it can be deployed in a
distributed environment with multiple data warehouses and data marts."

SAP Data Warehousing
http://www.sap.com/solutions/netweaver/businessintelligence/keycapabilities/datawarehousing.asp

SAP Industry Profile

Banking
http://www.sap.com/solutions/industry/banking/

Finance http://www.sap.com/solutions/industry/financialserviceproviders/



Targit [Analysis]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"The TARGIT Analysis Suite of products has taken a lead in the field
of analysis and reporting tools because of its exceptional graphical
and interactive interface which is genuinely easy for everyone to use.
Combined together with a strong and seamless integration with all
major technology providers, TARGIT is the platform chosen by companies
all over the world.

Targit Analysis 
http://www.targit.dk/pdf/TARGITinfopack(US).pdf

Key Benefits of a TARGIT solution:

-- Decreases the internal workload and sharpens the focus on critical
   business areas 
-- Quick and easy identification of key performance factors 
-- Simplifies complex data management 
-- Improves decision-making at all organizational levels 
-- Provides a better rate of return on investment in systems, such as
   ERP, SCM and CRM 
-- Better customer retention and satisfaction 
-- Enables faster response to sudden changes in market 
-- Enhances performance monitoring 
-- Gives your global offices consistent information and statistics
-- Allows employees to use their time more efficiently 

Targit is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
http://www.targit.dk/analysis_suite.thtml

White Papers
------------

TARGIT Analysis 2K3 (1,6MB) 
http://www.targit.dk/pdf/TARGITAnalysis2K3TechnicalWhitepaper.pdf

TARGIT Analysis NET 2K3 (1,4mB)
http://www.targit.dk/pdf/TARGITAnalysisNET2K3TechnicalWhitepaper.pdf
 
TARGIT Analysis Report 2K3 (2,4MB) 
http://www.targit.dk/pdf/TARGITAnalysisReport2K3TechnicalWhitepaper.pdf


Temtec [Executive Viewer]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Executive Viewer provides users real-time web access to online
analytical processing (OLAP) databases such as Microsoft Analysis
Services and Hyperion Essbase for advanced ad-hoc analysis as well as
distributed reporting. Power users and non-power users alike can gain
insight into their business with on-the-fly answers to critical
questions, converting stored data into actionable information.  With
no programming or training needed, users can explore data from any
perspective, dynamically sort/select/pivot information, create
on-the-fly calculations, identify exceptions, generate graphs, print
fully formatted reports, and more ? with unbeatable response times."

Temtec Executive Viewer
http://www.temtec.com/products.asp?level1=executive_viewer


Temtec Customer List (Financial Services)
http://www.temtec.com/customers.asp?level1=customer_list#banking

Temtec offers both a Tour and a Live Test:

Interactive Tour
http://www.temtec.com/products.asp?level1=interactive_tour

Live Test
http://www.temtec.com/products.asp?level1=live_test

Third Party Reviews
http://www.temtec.com/news.asp?level1=third_party


Additional Resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------

OLAP Report
http://www.olapreport.com/market.htm#Commentary

Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing
http://www.dw-institute.com/


Search Strategy/Terms
----------------------------------------------------------------------

MIS finance
"data warehousing" dashboard
"data warehouse" OR olap
"mis systems" vendor
business intelligence dashboard
"business intelligence" executive decision software OR server
"knowledge management" executive decision software OR server

----------------------------------------------------------------------


I hope you find these selections helpful. Should you have questions
about the material or links provided, please, feel free to ask for
clarification.

---larre

Thank you for your answer and useful links!

I would like to add that TARGIT actually won the 'Worldwide Business
Intelligence Solution of the Year' award from Microsoft at the
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference held in New Orleans in 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/CaseStudy.asp?CaseStudyID=14572
http://www.targit.com/news_article.thtml?id=1000678

As mentioned in your response, you are looking for a software solution
that will "give an overview of the company and act as a kind of
dashboard for any critical information or figures".  From this
description alone I would say that a Performance Management /
Measurement system is best suited towards your needs.  I would
recommend taking a look at www.bscol.com and look at the certified
vendors on that page.  It is a mix of vendors who are dedicated to
this space (all they do is Performance Management) such as:
1) performancesoft Inc. (www.performacesoft.com)
2) Corvu (www.corvu.com)
3) QPR (www.qpr.com)
And there are other BI and ERP vendors who have added Performance
Management Modules to their existing systems:
1) Cognos
2) Hyperion
3) Oracle 
Certainly not an all-inclusive list but should be something to help
you with your investigation.

Good Luck!

There's a great solution our company uses: Q4bis BI tools. They
provide full range of products and services world-wide. We find them
much more user-friendly than TARGIT after an evaluation of both. Not
only user friendly, but also developer friendly. TARGIT we found is
quite hard to understand for our management, and requires too much
time to design the reports to look easy-to-understand. with Q4bis,
reports are easily formatted, requires minimal end-user training, easy
setup and maintenance.

http://www.q4bis.com

they have a variety of products to support a company:

Analysis, Analysis Web, DataServer, Cube Builder, Template Builder,
Budget, Reports Publisher.
works with multiple ERP systems. We found it great! although TARGIT
does have a prettier graphical interface, Q4bis was much better
overall.

I am DWH Consultant in Germany. There are three leading vendors for BI
solutions in the world:
1. Cognos (The BI products are named PowerPlay and ReportNet)
2. Business Objects
3. MicroStrategy
Any of these three has its pros and cons and the decision for one
product depends on the individual requirements.