BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RENT

by Curt Hall

With application service providers (ASPs) receiving so much attention these days, sooner or later the question had to arise: is it possible to outsource business intelligence (BI) applications? Pose this question to most data warehouse and BI application developers, and you're pretty sure to get a nasty look of disdain. The reply you're most likely to hear is that "BI applications are too complex to outsource." This was certainly my initial reaction. However, in examining the question further, I've come to the conclusion that the possibility for outsourcing some BI applications does exist. Furthermore, the prospects are sure to increase over the next 12 to 18 months, as more vendors begin to offer hosted BI applications and online data analysis services. However, I must qualify my position by stating that the ASP model is so new that the prospect of outsourcing any application, let alone a BI application, brings up a wide range of issues and considerations. Consequently, companies wanting to outsource BI applications are advised to proceed cautiously.

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BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RENT March 2000