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Product reviews |
The OLAP Report On-Line has information on more than 40 OLAP and
other BI products. There are more than 20 full reviews, sometimes covering multiple
products from one vendor, averaging over 9000 words including detailed scores
tables. Other products only merit shorter summary reviews. We eventually expand
the shorter reviews if the products achieve a market presence sufficient to
justify the attention, or freeze them if not. Frozen reviews are indicated thus:
The reviews are divided into two groups: the first section is for reviews of products that remain on sale and which we expect to update periodically. The second section is for older reviews of products which are either no longer on sale, or which have achieved too little impact to justify further attention. They are left on-line as an archive, but there is no likelihood that they will be updated.
We do not believe that reviews of this detail, on such a wide range of OLAP products, are available anywhere else; and even the less detailed reviews that are available elsewhere are not kept up to date in this way. Note that these reviews are not vendor-sponsored, and vendors do not pay to be included.
This is an interactive service. We encourage readers to contact the authors with additional information, corrections, suggestions and queries. We will try and respond as quickly as possible. Each product review has the author’s name and e-mail address so that you know whom to contact.
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Subscribers can view all reviews by clicking on the product names; non-subscribers can purchase some individual reviews by clicking on the Buy now button. For more information about each review, please click on the ‘i’ button |
Product |
Notes |
Pages |
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| A sophisticated driver-based planning application, built on ABC (activity-based costing) foundations, developed by ALG which was acquired by Business Objects in October 2006. |
28 |
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Soon to be acquired by Cognos, the underrated, but fast growing and fast performing, in-memory OLAP server, available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, now with scalable Web access |
36 |
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Versatile tool for building Web-based applications which work with a remarkable range of applications, and relational and multidimensional databases |
21 |
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Includes coverage of WebIntelligence, Voyager and Polestar |
19 |
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New-style product overview of Crystal Reports |
13 |
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An integrated financial reporting, planning, consolidation and reporting system, being acquired by Business Objects |
29 |
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An integrated budgeting, financial reporting and statutory consolidation suite using SQL Server 2000, now owned by CDC |
21 |
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The top-down and bottom-up planning and budgeting system formerly called Adaytum Planning |
31 |
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New-style product review of Cognos 8 BI (release 8.4). A detailed new factbase is also provided. |
15 |
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The former Siebel BI is now Oracle's flagship BI product. A detailed factbase is also provided. |
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The first post-Oracle release of the well-known MOLAP, now with much enhanced time series handling |
45 |
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SQR, which is also used within PeopleSoft, may have a brighter future under Oracle |
11 | |
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Hyperion’s two leading financial applications, now more integrated than previously |
50 |
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Oracle Hyperion Interactive Reporting 9.2 (former Brio) |
The former Brio has a new owner and a new name, but an uncertain future |
14 |
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A well established production reporting tool that can not only access popular OLAP databases, but provides basic OLAP analysis on live data from a myriad of both modern and legacy sources. |
26 |
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The latest release of Cube Views, which acts as OLAP middleware in DB2 8.2 |
28 |
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The first preview of the all-new, in-memory, column-oriented analysis tool, due to ship in 2010, illustrated with copious screen shots |
14 |
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A preview of Microsoft’s all-new planning and consolidation application due for release before the end of 2007 |
32 |
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| The 2005 release of Microsoft's mass market OLAP server, including a preview of SQL Server 2008 (code-named Katmai). |
52 |
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One of the most popular third party front-end platforms for Microsoft Analysis Services, recently acquired by Microsoft. Includes information on the recent 6.1 release. |
43 |
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MicroStrategy 7i (7.5.2), with a factbase on MicroStrategy 8.1.2 |
Version of leading ROLAP suite, now available in 64-bit versions and with Microsoft Office add-in options. Now links to a new factbase on MicroStrategy 8.1.2. |
57 |
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The oldest OLAP product line, now at the end of its development life, plus information on its little-used successor, the Oracle OLAP Option |
35 |
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A leading budgeting and Web reporting system built on SQL Server and Analysis Services; now owned by SAP |
27 |
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Advanced Windows, Web and Excel client tool suite for Microsoft Analysis Services and now SAP BW as well |
48 |
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An attractive tool aimed at providing fast, simple analysis for end-users |
19 |
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SAP’s Business Information Warehouse |
35 |
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An innovative, multi-pane multidimensional visual analysis tool for both OLAP and relational data sources |
21 |
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Summary review of version of this easy-to-deploy Danish EIS |
17 |
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A very interactive OLAP front-end, now acquired by Applix, which also works with Microsoft Analysis Services, SAP BW and Applix TM1, as well as the original Essbase |
38 |
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A very interactive specialist analysis tool with advanced graphics |
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This major section on OLAP and spreadsheets includes examples from 15 products and mini reviews of four Excel add-ins for Analysis Services: IntelligentApps, MIS Plain, Visual OLAP and XLCubed |
70 |
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Archive: older product reviews which will not be updated again |
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Summary review of this ActiveX Web client that works with Oracle Express and Microsoft Analysis Services |
5 |
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Version 8.5, the last release of the now discontinued
Holos |
19 |
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Summary review of one of the early Excel add-ins
for Analysis Services, subsequently acquired and now discontinued
by Business Objects |
12 |
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CA acquired and snuffed out this once-respected
ROLAP from the former Information Advantage in April 2000 |
34 |
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Sophisticated financial reporting application from PwC, now transferred to Cartesis and discontinued |
11 |
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Version 10 of Crystal Analysis (now renamed OLAP
Intelligence in BusinessObjects XI) and the OLAP features in Crystal
Reports |
56 |
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OLAP cube factory, discontinued when Broadbase
(now Kana) acquired the company |
6 |
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The underrated products previously known as CrossTarget |
9 |
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Integrated budgeting, consolidation and financial reporting package from Comshare, acquired by Geac, which was itself soon acquired by Golden Gate Capital, resulting in heavy cutbacks in MPC development plans |
35 |
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OLAP application building environment, later
targeted on balanced scorecard applications which went bankrupt |
16 |
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Summary review of this desktop OLAP (formerly called Andyne PaBLO) |
5 |
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The two financial OLAP applications from the former Hyperion Software, now part of Hyperion Solutions and superseded by modern Web-based replacements also reviewed in The OLAP Report. |
15 |
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Popular OLAP front-end for Essbase, now renamed
Hyperion Analyzer |
9 |
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IBM's version of Essbase 5; DB2 OLAP Server subsequently became identical to Hyperion Essbase and we therefore dropped the separate review. DB2 OLAP Server has now been discontinued altogether. |
10 |
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Discontinued ROLAP, now owned by IBM |
9 |
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A complex, but capable, consolidation application from a small and relatively unknown vendor |
14 |
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Summary review of this innovative set-based data
selection tool used for power-assisting relational and desktop OLAPs
(subsequently acquired by Business Objects, but no longer available
as a separate product) |
4 |
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Specialized compressed data mart system, now
Italian owned and little-known |
4 |
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Venerable OLAP vendor, now an independent company
again, after having had a number of owners over the decades |
9 |
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"Data mart in a box" which includes both ETL and basic OLAP query capabilities |
9 |
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Slow-selling and now discontinued financial reporting
system |
11 |
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A, an early hybrid OLAP which made little market
impact |
3 |
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The AS/400 version of Essbase, acquired by SPSS
in February 2001 |
5 |
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Ambitious but ultimately disappointing ROLAP server, acquired by SymphonyRPM |
13 |
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