Why are organizations moving to Microsoft's BI platform?
The other day I was asked "Why are organizations moving to Microsoft's BI platform? Is there a white paper or something that outlines the reasons?" Well instead of writing a white paper I thought I would answer that question here. This is a tough question to answer or position, but if answered well will win MS and you a lot of business and take a lot away from the competition.
Why would you migrate from your existing investment in another BI technology?
1. Lower TCO: This is derived by lower license fees, less vendor management (e.g. managing multiple vendors), less end user training, less system administration, etc. Obviously, there would be a shorter term cost, but hopefully a longer term savings.
2. Better utilization of BI budget: I been working with some organisation that would rather be paying consulting organizations or internal staff for their efforts to help develop content for their BI solution instead of spending that money on maintenance fees for high priced software that they are not fully utilising. This is assuming they have installed all the modules they are paying for which 90% is not the case.
3. END USER ACCEPTANCE OF THE SOLUTION: Let's not forget that this is the whole reason why we do it. Do what makes the end user happy and is easiest for them? Think from the point of view of existing employees and future employees. How much turn over does the organisation have. This then can become significant.
4. The number of Microsoft BI partners: There are a lot of partners out there so you are not tied into a particular organization. If your service provider is not serving you well you can choose someone else to work with. When working directly with the BI vendor you don't always have this luxury.
5. Available resources: There are a lot of Microsoft SQL and BI resources out there in the world(e.g. books, training courses, PEOPLE). Not to mention #4 above. Have you ever tried to hire a Microstrategy or Hummingbird resource in Australia compared to someone with Microsoft skills?
6. Because you own 2 BI solutions: There are a lot of customers that have been using SQL Server for years and haven't realised the BI benefits that have come along the way, so they have used another BI tool on top of their SQL Server system. Now they are starting to migrate to SQL and phase out the old BI solution or at least they are starting to do some side by side implementations and evaluations to make sure they are using the best BI solution.
7. Future direction of the solution. Microsoft has a big investment in their BI tools moving forward beyond where they are at today.
8. Because the organisation is implementing an intranet site, work flow solution or some other solution that starts to make you think "why am I not also using Microsoft's BI solution." For instance if you are looking at implementing SharePoint for your intranet site then it makes you start to look at what information will enhance your intranet solution. What Microsoft BI tools can I utilise?
I am sure there are many more to consider, but that's a list to get ya started.
Why would you migrate from your existing investment in another BI technology?
1. Lower TCO: This is derived by lower license fees, less vendor management (e.g. managing multiple vendors), less end user training, less system administration, etc. Obviously, there would be a shorter term cost, but hopefully a longer term savings.
2. Better utilization of BI budget: I been working with some organisation that would rather be paying consulting organizations or internal staff for their efforts to help develop content for their BI solution instead of spending that money on maintenance fees for high priced software that they are not fully utilising. This is assuming they have installed all the modules they are paying for which 90% is not the case.
3. END USER ACCEPTANCE OF THE SOLUTION: Let's not forget that this is the whole reason why we do it. Do what makes the end user happy and is easiest for them? Think from the point of view of existing employees and future employees. How much turn over does the organisation have. This then can become significant.
4. The number of Microsoft BI partners: There are a lot of partners out there so you are not tied into a particular organization. If your service provider is not serving you well you can choose someone else to work with. When working directly with the BI vendor you don't always have this luxury.
5. Available resources: There are a lot of Microsoft SQL and BI resources out there in the world(e.g. books, training courses, PEOPLE). Not to mention #4 above. Have you ever tried to hire a Microstrategy or Hummingbird resource in Australia compared to someone with Microsoft skills?
6. Because you own 2 BI solutions: There are a lot of customers that have been using SQL Server for years and haven't realised the BI benefits that have come along the way, so they have used another BI tool on top of their SQL Server system. Now they are starting to migrate to SQL and phase out the old BI solution or at least they are starting to do some side by side implementations and evaluations to make sure they are using the best BI solution.
7. Future direction of the solution. Microsoft has a big investment in their BI tools moving forward beyond where they are at today.
8. Because the organisation is implementing an intranet site, work flow solution or some other solution that starts to make you think "why am I not also using Microsoft's BI solution." For instance if you are looking at implementing SharePoint for your intranet site then it makes you start to look at what information will enhance your intranet solution. What Microsoft BI tools can I utilise?
I am sure there are many more to consider, but that's a list to get ya started.
posted by md_miller at
11:09 PM
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