Business Intelligence Software Vendors - MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy - BI Solutions

For years, MicroStrategy has been selling very effectively at the high end of the market (large data sets, large number of users and widely distributed BI applications) with a highly functional, but highly priced, relational OLAP-based BI platform. Expect MicroStrategy to continue focusing on the high end of the market, selling large, enterprisewide BI platforms supported by its "BI Factory" message. This claims efficient deployments, with low total cost of ownership, of numerous BI projects by leveraging shared, scalable infrastructure.

By focusing on the high end of the market, MicroStrategy avoids some of the price competition that is impacting other traditional pure-play BI vendors. Also, by focusing on just BI platforms and eschewing ancillary markets, such as data integration and corporate performance management, MicroStrategy will maintain its consistently high margins. MicroStrategy is positioned in the Visionaries quadrant because it has built one of the most technically superior BI platforms in the market, particularly due to its tight platform integration, scalable ROLAP architecture and fully object-oriented metadata model.

However, given its reliance on technical differentiation, MicroStrategy is vulnerable to the increasing parity within the BI platform market, particularly the flattening effects of in-memory analysis that enables better performance against large data sets.

Moreover, many customers have complained that MicroStrategy can be difficult to negotiate with — refusing to alter terms and conditions from previously signed contracts. For example, customers can't perform a partial maintenance renewal. This frustration has caused some MicroStrategy customers to seek lower-priced BI platform alternatives.

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