Have been following Frank Buytendijk's (VP Corporate Strategy) blog for some time now, he writes some interesting stuff, dont miss the one with the start trek approach.

In one of his posts Frank points to the "Insights" section on the hyperion site, in which there is a good article titled "BI Standardization versus Fragmentation: Confusion Abounds". This article focuses on a now famous problem of having multiple BI - Reporting / OLAP tools within the enterprise, Highlighted in a survey by TWDI, organizations average three production reporting tools, three OLAP tools, two dashboard applications, two end-user query and reporting tools, 1.5 data mining tools, and 1.5 planning/modeling tools.Combining these figures, organizations have an average of 13 BI tools and three BI vendors. Now many companies have now embarked on the journey of standardization TDWI study shows that 66 percent of organizations are actively considering a standardization initiative and an additional 17 percent have already launched such an initiative.

Another statistic that is highlighted in the article is that "Gartner suggests that through 2009, the number of end-user-oriented Business Intelligence tools and applications will double"

Standardization or fragementation is surely a CIO dilemma faced by many organization, as with most dilemma's there is no one answer that fits all, In this case frank comments "not every organization needs to have the same standard, so there is room for many tools and applications in the market. However, new entrants are not likely to have the breadth and depth needed to function as a standard. It is more likely they serve a specific niche need.In reality there is no such thing as a single trend. Many trends-whether complementary or conflicting-blend together to paint an overall picture of a market. Some will lead to standardization, others to fragmentation. Conflicting trends are a natural phenomenon."

A section that i found very interesting from the article is:

It is rare that a single tool standard is realistic for many organizations. In some cases it just makes sense to use niche tools for very specific purposes. Another reason is because the multiplicity of trends, such as those presented here, lead to fragmentation.The best way of grappling with this Paradox is to strive for a "portfolio" framework that synthesizes fragmentation and standardization. A synthesized portfolio integrates the heterogeneous landscape of source systems, leads to a standardized and single version of the truth, yet opens up that framework for specific functionality.In such a portfolio, there is a place for BI/BPM tools packaged with ERP applications. These tools can function as ERP-specific reporting environments, with data marts as a staging area for enterprise BI tools, shielding the later from the complexities of the ERP data model. A comprehensive BI platform that supports performance management applications acts as the integration point on top of the ERP-specific BI tools.The platform approach is by nature open to niche functionality and is required by very specific business domains. Yet it supports the businesses standardization requirements. It is an approach that allows you to have your BI cake, and eat it, too, so to speak.

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Prashanth Rai