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1EvaluationSummary1.1GeneralAssessment1.1.1SolutionsproposedbysuppliersCognosBusinessObjectsCognosproposedasingleproductReportNettomeetalltherequirementswithinthechecklisti.e.reporting,analysis,portal,security,schedulingandadministration.Thissingleproductpositioningdoessimplifyunderstanding.ReportNetisnowafairlystableproducthavingbeenaroundinproductionsince2003withlargescaledeployments.BusinessObjectproposedthreeproducts:-BusinessObjectsEnterprise.Acommondeploymentplatformwhichincludesportal,security,schedulingandadministration.-CrystalReports.Primarilytargetedatcomplexreportauthoring,viewing,running.-WebIntelligence.Focusedonad-hocqueryandanalysisandsimplereportformatting.TherearesomeoverlapsbetweenWebIntelligenceandCrystalReportsandattimesitisdifficulttounderstandwhentousewhichproduct.WhilstCrystalReportsandWebIntelligencearematureproductswithintheBusinessObjectsproductlinetheintegrationofthetwointoasinglecommonplatformthroughBusinessObjectsEnterprisewasonlyreleasedintoproductioninJan2005andhasyettobeproveninlargescaleenterprises.1.1.2GartnerpositioningofsuppliersGartner’spositioningofbothBusinessObjectsandCognosintheEnterpriseBusinessIntelligenceSuite(EBIS)marketputsthembothintheLeadersquadrantwithCognosslightlyahead.OneofthekeytrendsintheBItoolmarketplaceistheconvergenceofenterprisereportingandenterprisebusinessintelligencesuites(EBIS)i.e.theabilitytoprovidead-hocqueryandanalysisaswellaslargescalerobustreportingthroughasinglesupplierandproduct.GartneragainputsCognosaheadinthisconvergencewithitsreleaseofReportNet,howeveritisworthnothingthatGartnerhasnotevaluatedthelatestreleaseofBusinessObjectsEnterprise(releasedJan2005)1.2ChecklistAssessmentThefollowingisanassessmentofthesupplierresponsestothechecklistcategories.Theassessmentisbasedonthewrittenresponsesaswellasthe1:1sessionsheld.1.2.1Functional1.2.1.1WebAnalysisFeaturesCognosBusinessObjectsStrengths-Businessuserisabletocreatead-hocqueriesandreportsthroughazeroclientwebinterface.-Abusinessmetadatalayerispresentedsothattheuserdoesnotneedtounderstandtheunderlyingdatabasestructures.Concerns-ReportNetdoesnothaveOLAPtypefunctionalityi.e.slice&dice,drilldown.IfusersrequirethisthenPowerPlaymustbeused.Someformoflimiteddrilldowncanbeprovidedbylinkingtogethermultiplereportsorbuildingaverylargereportwithallthedefinedhierarchies.WebIntelligenceistargetedasthewebanalysistool.Strengths-Businessuserisabletocreatead-hocqueriesandreportsthroughawebinterface(notzeroclient)-Abusinessmetadatalayerispresentedsothattheuserdoesnotneedtounderstandtheunderlyingdatabasestructures.-HastheabilitytoperformOLAPtypeanalysisi.e.slice&dice,drilldown.Concerns-WebIntelligenceisnotzeroclient.Ajavaappletisdownloadedtothebrowserattimeofuse.-BusinessObjectsdoesnothaveaseparateOLAPdatabaseforadvanceOLAPfunctionality.OLAPIntelligenceisafrontendwhichisusedtoaccessthirdpartyOLAPcubes.1.2.1.2WebReportWriting&ChartingFeaturesCognosBusinessObjectsStrengths-Professionalreportauthoringthroughazeroclientwithabilitytodevelopdynamicheadersandfooterstopresentpartnerspecificlogos.-Verysimpletouseandusesthesamebusinessmetadatalayerasad-hocqueryandreporting.-Rangeofcalculationsandfunctionsavailable.Concerns-Alwaysrequireswebconnectiontodevelopreports.SomedevelopersmayprefertoauthorreportsofflineinwhichcaseacopyofReportNetwillberequiredonlaptop.-WillonlysupportrelationaldatabaseCrystalReportsistargetedastheProfessionalreportauthoringtool.Strengths-Professionalreportauthoringwithabilitytodevelopdynamicheadersandfooterstopresentpartnerspecificlogos.-Awiderangeoffunctionsandcalculationsavailabletotheuser.-Canaccessarangeofdatasourcesincludingnon-SQLe.g.Excel,XML.Concerns-DoesnotusethesamebusinessmetadatalayerasWebIntelligence.-Cannotdevelopprofessionalreportsusingzeroclientwebinterface.Requiresdesktopproduct.datasourcese.g.Oracle,DB2,SQLServer-Complextouseforbusinessuser.1.2.1.3Desktop/MicrosoftIntegrationCognosBusinessObjectsStrengths-Providesbasicfunctionalitytoexportdatatoexcel,pdf,html,xmlandcsvformat.-IntegratescorporateemailsystemviaSMTPConcerns-NointegrationwithWord.Strengths-Providesbasicfunctionalitytoexporttovariousformatssuchasexcel,wordetcaswellasadvancedtightintegrationwithMicrosoftOfficewherebyreportsandcanbeembeddedinOfficeproductssuchasPowerPointandalsorefreshed.-IntegratescorporateemailsystemviaSMTPConcerns-WebIntelligencehasfewerexportcapabilitiesthanCrystalReportse.g.cannotexportreportdatatoexcel.1.2.1.4AutomationofRoutineProcessesCognosBusinessObjectsStrengths-Providesgoodreportschedulingcapabilitieswhichcanbecontrolledbyusers.-Abletoburstreportse.g.runasinglereportandthenburstitoutbyemailtoanumberofcustomers-Hasalertingcapabilitiesbasedonreportevents.Concerns-N/AStrengths-Providesgoodreportschedulingcapabilitieswhichcanbecontrolledbyusers.-Hasalertingcapabilitiesbasedonreportevents.-Providescollaborationfacilitiestoenableuserstocommentonreports.Concerns-BurstingseemstobeavailableonlyinWebIntelligencebutnotinCrystalReports.1.2.1.5SecurityFeaturesCognosBusinessObjectsStrengths-Canauthenticateu