In-Depth

Microsoft 'Coopetates' With Hyperion

Just because Microsoft is now a business intelligence player doesn’t mean it can’t "coopetate", so to speak, with the best of them.

• By Stephen Swoyer
• 05/10/2006

Just because Microsoft Corp. is now a full-fledged business intelligence (BI) player doesn’t mean it can’t "coopetate", so to speak, with the best of them.

Late last month, Microsoft did just that, notching a deal with Hyperion Solutions Corp.—a putative BI competitor, now that Redmond is the proprietor of its own ProClarity-based BI stack—to integrate its SQL Server-based BI stack with Hyperion’s System 9 BI suite.

The two partners plan a series of initiatives designed to tightly couple SQL Server BI services with Essbase and other Hyperion System 9 BI components. Specific integration touch points include SQL Server Reporting Services (reporting and report lifecycle management), Analysis Services (OLAP and data mining) and Integration Services (ETL and limited data quality capabilities).

Microsoft officials say it’s all about making things easier—i.e., more interoperable—for joint customers. “We continue to hear from customers that the need for increased interoperability is significant in making the most of existing IT investments,” said Robert Bernard, general manager of the Global ISV Group at Microsoft, in a statement. “Microsoft is committed to its expansive partner network building on the Microsoft platform and to continuing to form strong relationships with our global … [ISVs] to benefit our mutual customers.”

For example, the partners say, increased integration between Hyperion’s and Microsoft’s BI platforms will enable users to create unified enterprise views by combining reports and data from both environments. This also lets them exploit the information delivery and data analysis tools of their choosing.

“By integrating our leading BPM technology with Microsoft technology, we accelerate our ability to help our customers achieve information democracy—a state in which actionable insight is in the hands of all—across their enterprises,” said Howard Dresner, chief strategy officer for Hyperion, in a statement.

Long-term, Hyperion and Microsoft officials say, joint customers will benefit in a number of ways. For starters, customers can use SQL Server Reporting Services to access Hyperion’s Essbase Analytics, or—similarly—display Microsoft reports in Hyperion’s System 9 Workspace environment. Similarly, joint customers can use Hyperion’s System 9 suite to access SQL Server Analysis Services, or tap SQL Server Integration Services for data access.

Check in later this month when we speak with Alex Payne, senior product manager in Microsoft’s Office business applications group, about Redmond’s ambitious BI strategy and about its increasingly "coopetitive" relations with BI partners such as Hyperion.