David Raab asks the big question: "Does On-Demand Business Intelligence Make Sense?"

If there's an elephant in the room, analyst David Raab is not shy about pointing it out. It's a big question -- and very likely the same question that a lot of business and IT managers are asking themselves as they think about their 2009 goals.  In the past few years, a number of new vendors offering "on-demand business intelligence" have popped up and David's article does a fine job of identifying their different approaches.

I highly recommend reading the entire article, but if you only catch the big conclusion at the end, that's worth it, too.  Here's the excerpt:

"Although the jury is still out, I believe the answer is yes. . . the greatest potential lies with automated tools and analytical databases.  These should let developers create an integrated process that requires little effort from the vendor or its clients, and is substantially more flexible and cheaper than conventional alternatives."

The shift to on-demand business intelligence, no matter which vendor you choose, is something that we are cheering for in 2009.  Customers now have more choices, and the opportunity for more flexible and affordable business intelligence.

Peering into 2009 and seeing an on-demand world

Shawn Rogers of the BeyeNetwork posted his twtpoll on how new technology is expected to influence Business Intelligence in 2009. From his results, below, it's not surprising to see that the BI cognoscenti expect 2009 to be the year of Software as a Service (SaaS).

You can take Shawn's poll by clicking here.