Is SQL Server 2005—even with significantly improved OLAP, ETL, and reporting features—worth the cost?
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    The Web analytics market is growing at a healthy 30 percent year-over-year clip
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    One in four companies will purchase and deploy a dashboard solution in 2005
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Announcement of a delay with version 2 rankles some users, but most are taking it in stride
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    For a company that has sometimes seemed to lack direction, Informatica is back on track
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    With its new FPM offering, Actuate is competing more aggressively against performance-management specialists such as Cognos and Hyperion
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Warehouse 8.0 means that Teradata is still the vendor to beat in the high-end data warehousing space.
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
    
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Readers report: MicroStrategy has done a very good job supporting existing customers with point upgrades and other enhancements 
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Informatica CEO Sohaib Abbasi charts a pragmatic course when talking about his company’s vendor partners—but pulls no punches on the subject of ETL competitors
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    BI suite boasts improved support for heterogeneous data sources, new data mining capabilities, and integration with SAP BW
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Designed for mid-market customers, Crystal Reports Server XI offers a subset of the capabilities of the BusinessObjects XI suite
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    CRM competitors could target potentially disaffected customers—particularly if Oracle is less than sincere about servicing them
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    As the major enterprise application vendors flesh out their analytic offerings, Siebel is in the forefront
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Business intelligence vendors must make their software more affordable—and provide better service once it’s been sold
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    As Microsoft preps its most ambitious business intelligence offering to date—SQL Server 2005—the good relations it enjoys with some long-time BI partners could be at risk
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Is Cognos positioning itself to better tackle Business Objects on its own turf?
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    In the age of SCO, patent suits are fraught with peril—especially for end users, who can find themselves simmering in the legal hot seat
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    It’s no silver bullet, but those who have used XI say the product goes a long way to addressing most of their concerns
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    With as much as 75 percent of corporate data still sitting on the mainframe, Big Iron is a platform few BI vendors can afford to ignore
                    
		            
                
                    
                    
                    
                 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    There’s little risk for CRM vendors who wish to get into the social networking game—and the potential upside is enormous