TDWI World Conference

Prerequisite: This course assumes knowledge of DW fundamentals and basic BI concepts.

Cindi Howson

As the face for the data warehouse, the BI tool is the most important component to business users. Select a great tool that facilitates insights, and users will embrace business intelligence. Fail to manage your BI tool portfolio, and you will waste money on shelfware, frustrate users, and never achieve a single version of the truth.

Understanding strategic and functional differences between solutions from "Big 4" and BI pure-plays is critical to developing a successful BI tool strategy. The morning session will highlight recent events and what it means for BI buyers, provide a methodology for making better BI investments, and review major components and features of a BI platform. Specific product examples are interwoven for illustrative purposes.

The afternoon session addresses how to maximize scripted demos as part of your selection process. With a one-of-kind BI bake off, three leading BI vendors participate in carefully scripted demos so you can see the tools in action and compare how they fulfill critical criteria. Vendors use a consistent sample data set so you get a true side-by-side comparison.

You Will Learn

• An overview of the business intelligence market and vendors’ positions
• A framework for evaluating business intelligence vendors and suites
• Functional differences between leading BI suites
• How three leading vendors fulfill key criteria (through carefully scripted demos)

Geared To

• Project sponsors and BI directors; business analysts; BI application owners