16
May
Posted in Cloud app integration news by Mike Ponta on May 16 2011
Waltham, Massachusetts-based Oco, Inc. was last week purchased by big four accounting firm Deloitte. Deloitte said in a press release that the acquisition “demonstrates Deloitte’s commitment to the managed analytics marketplace.”
Oco offers easily deployed Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics software as a service. Oco is billed as offering the first SaaS BI tools. Oco also offers business-driven data integration and specialized integration tools for SAP users.
Jorge Garcia of TEC Blog writes that the acquisition of specialized vendor Oco by a multinational services firm like Deloitte shows how SaaS BI is becoming a “basic necessity” for SMBs.
Boris Evelson at Forrester Research writes in a blog post that the Oco acquisition makes sense, as BI capability dovetails well with Deloitte’s audit services focus.
4
Nov
Posted in Cloud app integration news by Mike Ponta on Nov 4 2010
Fiorano software yesterday announced the launch of Fiorano Cloud Platform, a platform built upon the Fiorano Enterprise Service Bus designed to integrate both SaaS and on-premise applications. The Fiorano Cloud Platform is designed to allow for business process and data integration between various sources and locations. It is hosted on Amazon EC2 and targets cloud integration for service-oriented architecture (SOA).
Dell on Tuesday announced that it will acquire Software as a Service integration provider Boomi. Dell looks to use the Boomi acquisition to help support customers looking to transition to cloud computing. Boomi’s AtomSphere application platform is designed to simplify data transfer between cloud and on-premise applications.
The author here takes a look at how GoodData is embedding business intelligence (BI) dashboards into partner applications. The author suggests that GoodData’s strategy is an alternative to other BI vendors, who look to market stand-alone tools. He considers the advantages of each option in this post from ebizQ.
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14
Sep
Posted in Cloud app integration news by Mike Ponta on Sep 14 2010
A recent report from the Aberdeen group concluded that the integration of SaaS BI increases use among employees, specifically self-service users, when compared to on premise business intelligence tools. The report looked closely at San Francisco accessory retailer Timbuk2, who used SaaS BI from PivotLink. According to the report, SaaS BI attracted more users across the enterprise, saved money, and encouraged business agility.
CRM provider Idea2 today announced that its customer data management tool will be available in the Google Apps marketplace. The release says that through integration with Google Apps, Idea2 can offer small businesses the same level of sophistication used at larger companies. The release highlights integration with Google Calendar and Gmail.
Software hosting provider LoadSpring Solutions Inc. and cost model developer Hard Dollar today announced the launch of a suite of hosted project cost management tools. Hard Dollar recently announced integration with Microsoft Project and Primavera budget and scheduling tools.
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10
Sep
Posted in Cloud app integration news by Mike Ponta on Sep 10 2010
The government of the city of Los Angeles is nearly finished migrating to Google Apps, according to this case study from Information Week. The city chose to migrate to Google Apps in order to save money and improve collaboration between employees. The switch to Google’s SaaS office suite will cut down on server use, and so save the city $150,000 a year in electric bills.
Cradles to Crayons, a Boston-based nonprofit organization that provides school supplies to children in need, has taken a SaaS BI tool and used it to help get more kids ready for school. The organization used Oco BI from Oco Inc. to help allocate volunteers, forecast supplies, and support fund-raising efforts.
According to the author, integration is often responsible for going over budget when implementing SaaS tools. Before choosing to go with a SaaS solution, be sure to determine whether the integration can be done by an in-house team or whether professional services will be needed. Also, determine how integration will affect the functionality of existing applications. Failure to do so can result in unforeseen costs.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is software that combines geospatial data—data that describes the location of something, such as a customer or shipping destination, for example—as well as more typical data sets and allows the user to visualize by overlaying the data on a map and providing analytic tools. GIS is most often used in government, utilities, and telecommunications: it has numerous uses when interpreting census data or energy consumption, for example, because it allows the user to recognize trends visually.
According to the CEO of one GIS provider, though, GIS adoption in other industries has been slow. James Doherty, CEO of espatial, believes that creating SaaS GIS offerings that integrate with familiar enterprise applications is the key to growth in the industry. Read more… »
16
Aug
Posted in Cloud app integration news by Mike Ponta on Aug 16 2010
Central Desktop today released Central Desktop for Office, a Web-based collaboration platform that integrates with Microsoft Office. The tool allows users to collaboratively and simultaneously edit Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents over the Internet. Central Desktop acknowledges that Office 2010 includes co-authoring capabilities, but says that its product is a cost-effective alternative to an Office 2010 upgrade. It is positioned as an alternative to SharePoint for SMBs.
IBM last Friday announced that it would acquire Unica Corporation for $480 million. Unica is a provider of SaaS and on-premise business analytics and process acceleration tools. It will be incorporated into the Business Analytics and Optimization consulting organization at IBM, where it will join recent acquisitions Coremetrics and Cognos, among others. Powerful SaaS BI integrations can be expected.
There’s a fine line between welcomed product updates and immediately deleted corporate spam, and it seems that most companies send the latter. So that a community-driven company like funny tee-shirt vendor Threadless can succeed with e-mail marketing seems to suggest the technology can now meet the needs of the not-so-heartless. Threadless used ExactTarget, a Web-based marketing platform that integrates with Salesforce CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, Omniture and Webtrends, to create successful e-mail and social network marketing campaigns.
The BI market has seen a lot of press this year, as part of a broader movement toward closer collaboration between business and IT departments. Back in February, IDC predicted the SaaS BI market would grow over 20% each year through 2013. It’s no surprise, then, that BI vendors are expanding their SaaS presence.
A recent report from the Aberdeen group concluded that the integration of SaaS BI increases use among employees, specifically self-service users, when compared to on premise business intelligence tools. The report looked closely at San Francisco accessory retailer Timbuk2, who used SaaS BI from PivotLink. According to the report, SaaS BI attracted more users across the enterprise, saved money, and encouraged business agility.
Business Intelligence service provider GoodData this August announced the availability of its GoodData Snap in the SnapLogic SnapStore, allowing users to integrate GoodData services within SnapLogic’s data integration platform. The GoodData tool helps users create dashboards, perform operational reporting, and conduct analysis. GoodData promises “data to dashboard in a week.”
Also in August, BI services provider Information Control Corporation (ICC) announced a partnership with Business Intelligence SaaS provider Bi3. A reseller, ICC will recommend Bi3 to its clients. The Bi3 SaaS offering features integration of BI and Business Process Management (BPM) tools.
In the same month, Bilander released version 2.0 of Binocle, its business intelligence Software-as-a-Service. The aim of the product is “to put business users in the driver’s seat,” according to the release. Binocle offers integration with Microsoft Office products, as well as Salesforce.com CRM, MS-CRM, and vTiger.
In any company, the IT department increasingly holds the tools for smart business decisions while the business department holds the expertise. Business and IT departments are thus working closer together than ever before, and a SaaS BI service can help bridge the gap between the two. As recent surveys show, and as tools like the GoodData Snap and Bilander’s Binocle suggest, Business Intelligence is on the rise. That’s because BI can make data and data analysis more accessible to business users through easier collaboration over the Web and by facilitating the creation of easy-to-use dashboards and visualizations.
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SaaS BI integration resources
SaaS BI Continues to Draw Interest, Traction (Enterprise Systems)
SaaS BI provider Birst conducted a survey to gauge interest level and concerns about prospective users of SaaS BI. The results are not surprising: Many respondents said that complexity of integration was one of their top concerns.
BI SaaS Vendors Are Not Created Equal (Information Management)
Blogger Boris Evelson takes a look at the different capabilities BI vendors offer. The leading BI tool remains, perhaps surprisingly, Microsoft Excel. But today’s pure BI offerings are capable of much more, and Evelson creates a helpful checklist for determining which vendor is right for you. BI integration services are an important consideration, Evelson writes.
SaaS BI Vendor LucidEra Set to Fold (CIO)
Find out why LucidEra was unable to hang on in the competitive SaaS BI market. The article suggests that LucidEra was too expensive for small companies and lacked capability for large ones. The article also suggests that integration issues can be a hindrance to BI implementation. It may be that integration challenges were part of the problem.
SaaS BI growing (ebizQ)
Blogger David Linthicum takes a look at expectations for the growing SaaS BI market. While he’s not as enthusiastic as others, he acknowledges that SaaS BI is particularly useful in enterprise mashups and in the front office.
SaaS business intelligence (BI) software, technology and market guide (SearchBusinessAnalytics)
This special report on SaaS BI takes a look at recent news, market trends, and tips related to SaaS BI, including a special section on SaaS BI integration. That this section is titled “IT Darwinism” suggests how important good integration to the survival of a SaaS BI implementation.
Report shows benefits of SaaS Business Intelligence (Press release)
A recent report from the Aberdeen group concluded that the integration of SaaS BI increases use among employees, specifically self-service users, when compared to on premise business intelligence tools. The report looked closely at San Francisco accessory retailer Timbuk2, who used SaaS BI from PivotLink. According to the report, SaaS BI attracted more users across the enterprise, saved money, and encouraged business agility.
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