Microsoft is on the final leg of their journey to release their dedicated BI technology to support Performance Management. This enterprise level move has been expected for some time and with the multi-year pre-marketing of the technology there are high expectations of its potential. Will it perform?
Microsoft PerformancePoint is a platform and set of tools which include the long awaited version of Microsoft Excel Server - and many components are aimed at the BI and performance management markets. The group of products is a critical first step towards becoming an enterprise class provider, but is it a large enough first step? I’m not sure yet, but let’s take a couple of examples and see what you think.
The Microsoft global BI conference in May gave potential partners and customers a deeper insight into the product direction. There is a lot of excitement about what is possible with the technology, which offers everything from score-carding to centralized enterprise spreadsheets to broader dashboards and interactive analysis capabilities. While good, there are challenges in the required dependencies of SQL Server and Microsoft Office to make the product perform at its fully marketed capabilities. This complexity inevitably adds to the cost of ownership of the Microsoft approach to BI and performance management.
It’s not clear whether Microsoft PerformancePoint has been designed to address the simpler needs of the small to medium sized organizations, as the technology appears to be more geared to the needs of larger enterprises, which require customization and configuration. While Microsoft channel partners will appreciate the consulting required, the complexity of their platform and technologies is really no different than any other enterprise BI technology. No simpler and no more complex - Microsoft has not gained an advantage to other BI providers in this area.
Microsoft is aggressively marketing their ability to make BI pervasive. We have heard this before, but at this point the expectations are high, and I am not sure Microsoft is prepared to make BI pervasive or even be competitive.
With their broad portfolio of technologies - from mobile to collaborative - Microsoft should prepare to expand BI through mobile technologies like Microsoft Windows Mobile or collaborative technologies like Groove, which is part of the Microsoft Office family. Oddly, Microsoft has not reached the same level of capabilities or vision as other BI providers like Business Objects, Cognos, Information Builders and MicroStrategy who have already ship mobile BI capabilities and expanded into collaborative capabilities.
Upon further investigation of Microsoft’s understanding of the mobile elements of BI and millions of devices already in business today (BlackBerry, Palm, etc.), it appears they have no strategy Personally, I use a Microsoft Mobile device from Verizon, which I thought would be a great place to see Microsoft BI work, but nothing is available and my six-month old phone has memory management and form factor design issues and will probably not integrate with Microsoft PerformancePoint.
At the core of Microsoft strategy is the next step in utilizing spreadsheets in an enterprise fashion. The basic challenges of business today in managing, delivering and auditing spreadsheets, simplifying the access and interactions on information at all levels in an organization and determining where to extend BI into line of business functions is not yet full ready with Microsoft PerformancePoint. While the products provide a key first step forward, many of the technology providers in this space have advanced significantly, providing more Microsoft empowered capabilities than Microsoft themselves. Though the first release of their products are coming out later this year it will not be easy for you. Understanding the next major release and what dependencies of other infrastructure like Microsoft Office and Microsoft SQL Server will probably be more important as you determine if Microsoft can satisfy your business needs in their product cycles. If you do not do this, be prepared for a lot of consulting to make this work in your enterprise and stay competitive with what other organizations have already found in BI from other suppliers.
Microsoft may not be fully prepared for your enterprise, but like any technology, a lot of patience and hard work can endure through the rough spots.
Let me know your thoughts
