Pentaho Goes “Open Core” With Lucidera OLAP Viewer

Open-source BI vendor Pentaho has purchased technology rights from failed BI SaaS vendor LucidEra, and plans to combine LucidEra’s Clearview, a reporting and analysis OLAP front end for non-technical users, with the Mondrian open source OLAP engine used by Pentaho Analysis,  in a new offering called Pentaho Analyzer Enterprise Edition, available both on-premise and on-demand. Clearview willContinue reading “Pentaho Goes “Open Core” With Lucidera OLAP Viewer”

Kalido Virtual Conference Scores Big

I’ve been critical of virtual conferences in the past, but I just saw the future, and it works. Kalido, a relatively small vendor, has demonstrated that careful preparation, serious commitment, and the right team can allow smaller firms to “punch above their weight,” putting on an event that captures great leads, promotes and sustains community, collects requirementsContinue reading “Kalido Virtual Conference Scores Big”

Netezza Still Tops ADBMS Insurgents

Netezza’s 2009 so far has demonstrated that its ADBMS leadership is firming up. Several vendors have navigated a difficult year in the general economic sphere and in their own market’s quest for visibility, and Netezza has pushed forward with some aggressive moves from atop the pack. Phil Francisco, Vice President of Product Management and ProductContinue reading “Netezza Still Tops ADBMS Insurgents”

Workday and Vertica: Cracking the 100 Customer Mark

Workday announced today that it has passed the 100-customer mark, and the milestone struck me as another important rite of passage. Such milestones are especially important in emerging markets that have not yet achieved mainstream recognition. In Workday’s case, this arguably represents a substantial step forward in the enterprise-class SaaS-based application market. Following in theContinue reading “Workday and Vertica: Cracking the 100 Customer Mark”

Cognos Showcases Strong Momentum, Ambitious Plans

IBM’s Cognos analyst event this week in lovely Ottawa, Canada showcased strong evidence of progress and continuing momentum for one of the  largest software acquisitions of recent years. An international group of analysts listened to a series of discussions that highlighted key developments: The launch of Cognos Express, aimed at mid-market buyers New Analytic Applications that continueContinue reading “Cognos Showcases Strong Momentum, Ambitious Plans”

IBM Software Partner Programs To Get a Boost From Sandy Carter

Sandy Carter is excited. If you know her, that shouldn’t be a surprise – she’s one of the most enthusiastic, engaging and social media-savvy folks at IBM. And after a couple of years with WebSphere, where she has been an effective leader and evangelist , she’s taken on a new challenge: taking IBM’s already exemplaryContinue reading “IBM Software Partner Programs To Get a Boost From Sandy Carter”

HP Scores Big Win

Perhaps I should have called this piece “Blogger Eats Words.” Hewlett-Packard has landed (pun intended) precisely the kind of strategic partnership win I recently suggested it is not positioned for, based on its recent description of its portfolio in a quarterly earnings call. The victory comes exactly where I suggested it needed to: with a services-ledContinue reading “HP Scores Big Win”

AR: Continuity of Contact Makes A Difference

I’ve been an independent analyst for a few months now, and it’s been an eye-opening experience in many ways. One has been the way some organizations I dealt with for a decade forgot my name the next day. This is not intended to embarrass anyone; I will name no names. It’s about best practices forContinue reading “AR: Continuity of Contact Makes A Difference”

Is HP Really A Strategic Enterprise Partner? Disappointing Q3 Betrays Gaps

HP announced third quarter results, and the news wasn’t good. It wasn’t all bad, either – there are bright spots in the portfolio, although not enough. HP’s assessment of the future is upbeat, which seems to have observers all a-twitter (no pun intended.) For me, a fresh look at how HP’s portfolio is structured, and how theContinue reading “Is HP Really A Strategic Enterprise Partner? Disappointing Q3 Betrays Gaps”

Oracle, Sleeves Rolled Up, Flexes EPM Muscles

It’s been a while since Oracle made the series of acquisitions that redrew the map on applications software, and they have been fairly successful there. The broadening of the portfolio created considerable challenges for the rationalization of Oracle’s BI strategy, and I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Paul Rodwick and Bill Guilmart,Continue reading “Oracle, Sleeves Rolled Up, Flexes EPM Muscles”