WebFOCUS (Information Builders) Review

OLAP REPORT REVIEW: WebFOCUS 7.6 (Information Builders)

Authors: Nigel Pendse & Barney Finucane Released: 2008 Pages: 26 + Factbase Single User Price: $595 USD An in-depth product evaluation and rating WebFOCUS: OLAP delivery through a production reporting tool This review covers WebFOCUS 7.6, a unique and now long-lived product which offers simple OLAP reporting capabilities. WebFOCUS runs as a mid-tier server on J2EE platforms but unlike most BI products, Information Builders claim that this versatility means that a large proportion of its customers deploy the product on non-windows servers. Without doubt, one of the key strengths of WebFOCUS is the vast range of data sources it can access. Using Information Builders' proprietary iWay adapters, the need for an intermediate data warehouse is bypassed. In this 26-page review, extensively illustrated with screenshots and examples, we uncover the strengths and weaknesses while delving into some of the components of WebFOCUS such as: Visual Discovery Developer Studio PowerPainter The 'Factbase' section shows how we scored the product, along with detailed and helpful notes on many of the features and functionality of WebFOCUS. Though WebFOCUS remains a relatively small player, it occupies a space of its own in the marketplace and may be worth considering if your reporting requirements necessitate access to a variety of data sources. As always with The OLAP Report, this is a 100% unbiased, vendor-independent review. A sample of some of the specially generated screenshots from this review. Click to enlarge.

Contents: Product overview Licensing Architecture and administration Output formats Active Reports Publishing reports The FOCUS language Data access Front-ends Standard reporting The Report Assistant Developer Studio Report Painter PDF Layout Painter Ad hoc reports Matrix reports OLAP-enabled reports Prompting PowerPainter Charts Visual Discovery Conclusions and scores Strengths and weaknesses Similar products Factbase (including scores) Ask a question about this product? Other customers also purchased: Cognos 8 BI review Oracle Hyperion SQR Production Reporting BusinessObjects Enterprise XI review Email a colleague about this product

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