Business Intelligence Software Vendors - Hyperion Solutions

Hyperion Solutions

As a BI platform vendor, Hyperion has traditionally offered very strong analysis, but had weaker reporting and integration capabilities. Hyperion has now significantly improved these capabilities with System 9. These technical improvements, coupled with the success Hyperion had in 2006 upgrading its customer base to System 9, were enough to propel Hyperion into the Leaders quadrant. Hyperion benefits from its tight relationship with the CFO office, a particularly strong product champion, at most of its customers' sites. In addition, Hyperion has demonstrated strong vision with the acquisition of Razza — now Hyperion Master Data Management — to provide a single repository for all BI-related metadata. Currently, BI metadata serves only one purpose, that of a semantic layer for self-service reporting. Razza's technology enables BI-related metadata to be consumed by any application — not just ad hoc query tools — and, therefore, creates a central hub for business metrics and dimensions.

Finally, with the release of the aggregate storage option (ASO) and the resolution of a dispute over patents with HyperRoll, Hyperion can now provide OLAP capabilities for much larger, sparser data sets. This is a key component that will allow Hyperion to position itself as a BI vendor in operational subject areas beyond just finance. To maintain its leadership position, Hyperion must execute on its metadata vision. The Razza technology gives Hyperion a way to synchronize and publish BI metadata from a single source, but this technology has yet to be completely integrated with the entire Hyperion BI platform. A single metadata model that spans multiple projects for all BI platform capabilities, including reports, dashboards and OLAP, isn't expected from Hyperion until mid-2007. Hyperion must also continue to execute by upgrading its installed base to System 9. This could prove challenging as customer complaints about the System 9 enablement fee increased significantly in 2H06. Now that Hyperion has upgraded much of its stalwart bastion of financial management customers, Hyperion will need to waive, or substantially reduce, the fee to encourage upgrades.

Source: http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/oracle/145507.html