Great Technical System Essay Sample

Business Intelligence software assists in the management of the business or the organization performance. It helps in collecting data. It also stores facts, analyzes it, and gives access easily whenever the data is needed. ("Business Intelligence", 2006)

It is a big help in making decisions for the organization. And in decision-making, information is a vital factor to take in consideration. All good decisions rely on good information. Business intelligence software filters the incoming information of the organization. It analyzes these data and identifies which are the useful ones. Through the Business Intelligence software, the management can acquire relevant, suitable, and precise information. BI software not only retrieves data. It also processes the information in a way that the users will easily understand it. Through this, the organization will be able to make decisions better. In some companies, they use data warehouses. This is where the gathered information is logically collected.("Business Intelligence", 2006)

In running the application, of course, there are requirements to be settled. First thing to pay attention to is the access to the warehouse. User access should be secured and are well determined. Secondly, the capacity should be also take in consideration. This is the data volume of the software. The data retention should also be checked. In this aspect, one should identify for how long information will be kept or stored. Lastly, Business Intelligence software needs to identify the benchmark and completion goal. Here, one has to specify the target basis and performance. ("Business Intelligence", 2006)

There are several vendors that offer Business Intelligence. In their own way, they typically outline BI. And they merchandize tools to perform BI the way they perceive it. One of these vendors is the IBM. IBM implements BI strategies and approaches that are unified. In one interview of eWEEK with Karen Parrish, vice president of worldwide business intelligence solutions, she mentioned some IBM's business intelligence mission. She said that their one major mission is to protect investments. Many of their clients want to be assured that they will be continually getting profits since investing nowadays is very costly. Second task they want to accomplish is delivering solutions. They will be providing specific solutions in solving problems in enterprise. Their technology in BI and in knowledge management will make these solutions accessible to the clients. (Callaghan, 2005) Exceptional integration of enterprise, occupational and technology skills are being offered by IBM. They present tested solutions focusing on areas that exhibit enormous potentials in producing business credit for an organization. They are now combining wide business intelligence capabilities with analytical qualities and tools in reach of IBM Research so that they can provide up-to-date solutions to most perplexing problems in business world today. . Their solutions on business dilemma are also based on experience. These problems cover customer, finance, and supplier matters. They also give attention to particular approaches and procedures in securing productivity and control in the organization. ("Business Intelligence", 2006)

IBM's latest product is the Data Warehouse Edition. It is a set of programs that perform different functions.  One is the Information Integrator. It enables a person to come up to variant sources of information. There is the Intelligent Miner. It functions in captivation and analytic. Another product is the ETL, which stands for extraction, transformation, and loading. There is its capability called OfficeConnect. It lets a person use spreadsheets as the demonstration layer of the Data Warehouse Edition. They all come in complete package. Today, clients can purchase those qualities one at a time. For example, if the client wants only the Information Integrator, he/she can get only that single capability. (Callaghan, 2005)

Microsoft is also a vendor of Business Intelligence. It provides software that will put an end to information overload or underload. It will provide employees an easier way of finding relevant information. Then they will be able to use these data in making decisions intelligently. Through this, organization will also be able to adapt to changes in business environment quickly. But Microsoft has already tied up with SAP. While Microsoft is the largest software maker in the world, SAP is the leading maker of business application software. SAP is a Germany-based company that has been focusing in business applications like bookkeeping. Microsoft provides SAP's customers operating system and database software. (Gilbert, 2003)

Last but not the least is the Oracle E-business Suite. It offers integrated business applications. In the midst of tight competitions and pressures, Oracle E-business Suite suggests effective practices to a business so that it will survive all the changes and challenges. Like IBM, it also helps enterprises to secure their present investments. It also lengthens the worth of their operations. It keeps their business applications updated. Oracle is also a great help in information management. In terms of solutions and decision-making, it provides good services to its clients. It aids the user to compress procedures and accumulate business intelligence. It enhances the competitiveness of an organization. Lastly, it reduces their cost and increases their profit. ("Oracle E-Business Suite")

References:

Business Intelligence. (2006).   Retrieved September 6, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Intelligence

Callaghan, D. (2005). BI Solutions, Products on Tap.   Retrieved September 7, 2006, from http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1749648,00.asp

Gilbert, A. (2003). Microsoft and SAP square up for business applications battle Retrieved September 7, 2006, from http://www.zdnet.co.uk/insight/software/applications/0,39020466,39118466-2,00.htm

Oracle E-Business Suite.   Retrieved September 7, 2006, from http://www.oracle.com/applications/e-business-suite.html