A Whitepaper for

Business and IT
Decision-Makers

On-Demand Business
Intelligence Solutions:
A New Way to Achieve Your Corporate
Objectives in Today’s Challenging
Economy

An Independent analysis published on behalf of SAP BusinessObjects.

 Whitepaper On-Demand Business Intelligence Solutions

Executive Summary
Businesses of all sizes are facing escalating challenges. Although these challenges
are being compounded by today’s increasingly difficult economic environment, they
go beyond the problems caused by the financial crisis. They also include
competitive, organizational and technical challenges.
Globalization and eCommerce have lowered barriers to entry in nearly every
industry and reshaped the competitive landscape in almost every market.
Increasingly dispersed operations are redefining the workplace and demanding new
ways for people to communicate and collaborate internally and externally.
These macro-market trends are making it more important than ever before for
corporate executives and end users to have the ability to access critical information
to make more effective business decisions.
Yet, in too many cases, corporate executives and end users still view information
technology and enterprise applications as an obstacle to success rather than a key
enabler of operational efficiency.
Traditional business intelligence systems were designed for highly centralized work
environments with very structured information requirements and significant
customization requirements. While there is still a place for these traditional systems
in some situations, it is becoming imperative that key performance indicators (KPIs)
and other essential corporate data be readily available to people throughout the
organization so they can act on it quickly and effectively.
This growing requirement is fueling the demand for a new generation of real-time
business intelligence (BI) solutions delivered in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
model.
SaaS-oriented BI solutions are available ”on-demand” via the Web in a turn-key
form that enables users to accelerate their deployment, and include access controls
which allow users to obtain valuable corporate information more quickly and easily
rather than discouraging them from doing so.
A general misconception about SaaS is that it is an ”one-size-fits-all” service that
forces every user to take advantage of a single, standardized solution. In reality,
SaaS-based BI solutions come in a variety forms, with varying pricing, packaging,
delivery, and support options.
This whitepaper will examine how this new generation of SaaS-based BI solutions is
responding to the escalating challenges facing companies of all sizes today. It will
also show the various SaaS-based BI solutions being offered by SAP that can help
organizations satisfy the rapidly changing needs of corporate executives and end
users as they work to achieve their business objectives.

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 Whitepaper On-Demand Business Intelligence Solutions

Key Market Trends Reshaping Business

Companies of all sizes are facing a series of business challenges which are driving
them to fundamentally restructure the way they operate and rethink the way the
acquire software to support their business operations.
These challenges include:
• A changing economic environment
• A changing competitive landscape
• Changing workplace dynamics
Today’s economic crisis is forcing companies to cut back on their operations, reduce
capital spending, and focus on their core competencies to meet their immediate
business objectives. Yet, nearly every industry and marketplace is also being
reshaped by the dual forces of globalization and eCommerce, which have opened
the door to new players for goods and services of all types.
As a result, commoditization is making it more difficult for companies to differentiate
their goods and services, and easier for customers to switch suppliers. In response
to these competitive trends, companies of all sizes must work harder to win and
retain their customers. In order to overcome this challenge, companies must build
closer working relationships with customers, as well as with key business partners.
To achieve this objective, field personnel and other customer-facing staff must have
access to the right information to respond to changing customer requirements and
make the correct decisions regarding new products and services. Companies must
be able to gather and push data to and from the field to make decisions more
effectively and act more quickly. These requirements are even more challenging for
geographically dispersed operations with remote workers who sit outside the
corporate firewall.
A worldwide survey of 1,527 CIOs conducted by Gartner’s Executive Programs
(EXP) from September 15 to December 15, 2008, confirms the importance of these
business requirements. Gartner’s survey found that IT executives are facing greater
challenges than ever supporting their business users. Although aligning IT with
business goals has long been a challenge for most companies, it has now become
imperative that IT organizations properly align with business units and overall
corporate objectives.
Specifically, Gartner’s EXP survey found that the top business priority for companies
participating in the program was to improve business processes. Not coincidentally,
the survey also found that the top IT priority was to improve business intelligence.
(See Table 1.)

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Table 1
Gartner Executive Program Survey
Top 10 Business and Technology Priorities in 20091
Ranking Top 10 Technology Priorities Ranking
Top 10 Business Priorities
Business process improvement 1 Business intelligence 1
Reducing enterprise costs 2 Enterprise applications (ERP, CRM 2
and others)
Improving enterprise workforce 3 Servers and storage technologies 3
effectiveness (virtualization)
Attracting and retaining new 4 Legacy application modernization 4
customers
Increasing the use of 5 Collaboration technologies 5
information/analytics
Creating new products or services 6 Networking, voice and data 6
(innovation) communications
Targeting customers and markets 7 Technical infrastructure 7
more effectively
Managing change initiatives 8 Security technologies 8
Expanding current customer 9 Service-oriented applications and 9
relationships architecture
Expanding into new markets and 10 Document management 10
geographies

Source: Gartner (January 2009)

In the past, large-scale enterprises invested heavily in sophisticated business
intelligence systems that required significant customization and support to generate
meaningful information and analysis on a structured basis. In today’s world, these
organizations require an additional layer of ad hoc reports to identify and respond to
rapidly changing market forces and internal requirements in a cost-effective manner.
Small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) have been unable to deploy sophisticated
business intelligence systems like those used by large enterprises because of the
cost and skills required. However, in a world in which SMBs must compete on a
global scale, it is becoming increasingly important for them to leverage critical data
in same way as large enterprises.
As a consequence, businesses of all sizes are investigating and adopting new forms
of software to fulfill the promise of business intelligence.

The Benefits of Software-as-a-Service Business Intelligence

A growing number of businesses of all sizes are seeking to leverage a new
generation of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to satisfy their business
intelligence needs.
SaaS solutions offer a web-based alternative to traditional software applications.
These solutions not only eliminate many of the up-front costs of software acquisition
and deployment but also shift some of the burden of success to the vendor. They

1
“Gartner EXP Worldwide Survey of More than 1,500 CIOs Shows IT Spending to Be Flat in 2009”, press
release issued on January 14, 2009.

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 Whitepaper On-Demand Business Intelligence Solutions

accelerate the time to value and can even provide new levels of value which were
not possible with on-premise software products.
For those companies which already have a BI system in place, today’s SaaS
solutions enable them to extend the value of their existing investments. Companies
without an existing BI system can quickly acquire and deploy a SaaS-based BI
solution to address their requirements without the up-front and ongoing costs
associated with traditional BI systems. Instead, companies can leverage SaaS’
subscription pricing model and convert the fixed capital costs of software acquisition
into a more variable operating expense.
Traditional, on-premise business intelligence solutions were designed to allow
companies to create highly customized data collection and analysis systems that
integrated with their existing database architectures and met their specific business
needs. While this benefited many large enterprises, the cost and complexity of
traditional, on-premise business intelligence solutions also prevented many SMBs
with limited budgets and internal staff from taking advantage of these applications.
SaaS business intelligence solutions provide companies of all sizes a turn-key
approach for meeting their data integration and analysis needs. These SaaS-based
BI solutions include a set of common templates with meta-configuration capabilities
to respond to their individual requirements.
SaaS-based BI solutions are Web-based and enable companies to leverage the
ubiquity of the Internet to permit users - both remote employees and strategic
partners - to access and share important data from anywhere at any time. This can
permit more effective decision-making, as well as tighter collaboration and
coordination internally and with partners.
The SaaS-based BI solutions can also more quickly link to various databases or
documents, such as spreadsheets. They include ad hoc query engines and intuitive,
Web-based interfaces that permit personalized analysis and reporting. The SaaS
solutions also include a set of application program interfaces (APIs) which enable
them to interoperate with third-party applications.
Today’s SaaS-based BI solutions also enable companies to establish strict access
control rules to alleviate concerns regarding security threats and ensure corporate
compliance without compromising the corporate firewall.
Although many large enterprises have invested heavily in their own security
measures, given the ongoing series of security violations reported within well-known
companies, many are recognizing that Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No.
70 certified SaaS providers may be better equipped to safeguard their valuable
data. SMBs which lack in-house security capabilities are especially interested in
leveraging the SaaS vendor’s security skills and resources.
Today’s SaaS-based BI solutions also permit users to access and integrate with a
wide array of data sources. These sources can range from elaborate, enterprise-
scale databases within multinational corporations to critical business information
collected on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets within SMBs.
SaaS-based BI solutions also give users quicker access to the latest updates and
upgrades developed by the vendor without having to worry about them disrupting
their operations. Additional users can also be provisioned more quickly and easily.

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 Whitepaper On-Demand Business Intelligence Solutions

The SaaS approach also enables users to benefit from the innovations of their peers
and to share aggregated benchmark statistics across the population of users. This is
a new level of value which wasn’t possible in traditional on-premise software
deployments, where it was impossible to collect common usage statistics in a
routine fashion. Now, various companies can share common benchmarks and best
practices that can help them improve their business effectiveness.

The Software-as-a-Service Market Experiencing Rapid Growth

Over the past three years, THINKstrategies has seen a steady increase in customer
interest and adoption of on-demand SaaS solutions. Our most recent survey of
more than 100 companies, conducted in October 2008 in conjunction with Cutter
Consortium, found 63% of the companies had adopted a SaaS solution—nearly
double the percentage in 2007! (See Figure 1)
Figure 1
Percent of Companies Using and Considering SaaS Solutions

Source: THINKstrategies/Cutter Consortium 2008.

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 Whitepaper On-Demand Business Intelligence Solutions

Not only are businesses adopting SaaS at a greater rate than the major market
research firms recognize, but THINKstrategies and Cutter Consortium’s surveys
also found that more than 90% of SaaS users are satisfied with their solutions,
plan to expand their use of SaaS, and would encourage their peers to
consider SaaS solutions.
As a result of these trends, IDC forecasts the SaaS market will experience a 24.4%
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and will exceed $15 billion in 2012.2

Selecting a SaaS-Based BI Solution

The growing popularity of SaaS solutions is attracting a widening array of providers,
ranging from start-ups to established players. Sorting through the various providers
can be difficult.
Here are the key factors which IT and corporate decision-makers should take into
consideration when they are selecting a SaaS-based BI solution:
• Vendor Viability – Today’s turbulent economic environment will inevitability
result in an industry shakeout of many of today’s SaaS vendors. Because the
fate of a company’s critical BI data and analysis can depend on the future of
their SaaS solution vendor, it is important to select the vendor that is most likely
to survive in an increasingly challenging economic and competitive climate.
• Vendor Experience – Related to vendor viability is the extent of the vendor’s
industry experience. The company should not only have proven software
capabilities, but an extensive track-record of success delivering a variety of BI
solutions to organizations across an assortment of industries.
• Scope of Functionality – Today’s BI SaaS start-ups generally focus on specific
business functions, such as sales analytics, or software platforms, such as
Salesforce.com. This can limit the overall value of these on-demand BI
solutions. Therefore, it is important for IT/business decision-makers to carefully
evaluate the scope of their functional requirements and select an on-demand BI
solution which can satisfy their needs fully.
• Reliability – Because companies continuously rely on their business
intelligence solutions to make both strategic and tactical decisions, the
application must be available 24x7. Therefore, companies should carefully
review the SaaS vendors’ uptime performance records, service delivery
infrastructure capabilities, hosting company relationships, and service level
agreements (SLAs).
• Scalability – One advantage of an on-demand solution is that it can be adopted
in an incremental fashion. This permits companies to test SaaS solutions in pilot
situations or add new users or application modules on an as-needed basis. At
the same time, the on-demand application should be able to accommodate an
increasing number of users to grow with a company’s needs.
• Integration/Migration – Being able to easily integrate and migrate data to and
from a business intelligence platform is a key consideration. Companies that
2
“Worldwide Software on Demand 2008-2012 Forecast and 2007 Vendor Shares: Moving Toward an On-
Demand World” (IDC #213197, July 2008).

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 Whitepaper On-Demand Business Intelligence Solutions

have already deployed on-premise business intelligence applications should

evaluate how well on-demand solutions can integrate into their existing
platforms. Companies that are adopting an on-demand business intelligence
solution to take advantage of this type of functionality for the first time should
consider whether they may want to migrate to an on-premise solution in the
future as their needs change. Selecting an on-demand solution that can easily
integrate with an on-premise platform and permit data accessibility behind the
firewall will ensure the greatest ROI.
• Security – Given the sensitive nature of the data and analysis captured by a
business intelligence application, it is critical that companies carefully examine
the security measures which the on-demand solution vendors have adopted to
protect their proprietary information. Can they access data behind the firewall?
Encryption and other technical safeguards should be in place, and the solution
should have SAS 70 certification to ensure that the vendor has the proper
policies and procedures to protect its customers’ valuable data.
• Packaging & Pricing – Since no one solution can meet every business need, it
is important for companies to find a software model that aligns best with their
requirements from a packaging and pricing standpoint. This means that the
vendor should offer a combination of on-premise and on-demand, SaaS-based
BI alternatives:

SAP BusinessObjects’ Approach to SaaS-Based BI

SAP BusinessObjects’ OnDemand offerings enable users to leverage business
intelligence (BI) solutions via the Web without having to buy, deploy and manage
servers. This not only reduces the upfront costs associated with traditional on-
premise applications, it also allows users to gain the benefits of their BI solution
more quickly, reducing the time to value. Those who already know or use Crystal
Reports can easily incorporate these online report sharing solutions.

The SAP BusinessObjects OnDemand offerings include:

• SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand – Offloads BI and data warehousing

infrastructure to a hosted platform so users can start analyzing their data
more quickly.

• crystalreports.com – Allows users to share reports over the Web easily and
securely to encourage better communications and collaboration.

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Summary and Conclusions

Deepening economic problems, escalating competitive challenges and changing
workplace requirements are combining to force companies of all sizes to seek more
effective methods of generating and leveraging business intelligence.
Because of these trends, companies must collect, analyze, and share corporate
data more effectively so they can make better business decisions to satisfy the
needs of their employees, customers, and partners.
While many large enterprises and SMBs have recognized the potential value of
business intelligence applications, they have often been unable to take full
advantage of traditional, on-premise solutions because of their cost or complexity.
Today’s new generation of SaaS-based BI solutions enables companies that
couldn’t afford traditional, on-premise applications in the past to finally leverage this
powerful resource at a reasonable price. These solutions also permit companies
that already have a BI system in place to extend its value.
In order to select the right SaaS-based BI solution, companies should carefully
evaluate their reliability, scalability, integration, migration, and security capabilities.
In addition, companies should also assess the long-term viability of the SaaS vendor
to ensure that they will be able to survive today’s tough economic and competitive
challenges.

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***************
This independent analysis was sponsored by SAP BusinessObjects.

About SAP BusinessObjects

SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software, offering applications and services that
enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With
more than 82,000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges,
including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol “SAP.”

The SAP® BusinessObjects™ portfolio transforms the way the world works by connecting people,
information and businesses. With open, heterogeneous solutions in the areas of business
intelligence; information management; governance, risk and compliance; and enterprise
performance management, the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio enables organizations to close the
gap between business strategy and execution. SAP BusinessObjects OnDemand offerings bring
business intelligence to customers via software as a service (SaaS). The applications are run
online, there’s no need to purchase software, hardware, and maintenance, it’s all included in the
monthly user fees.

About THINKstrategies, Inc.

THINKstrategies is a strategic consulting services company formed specifically to address the
unprecedented business challenges facing IT managers, solutions providers and investors today
as the technology industry shifts toward a services orientation. The company’s mission is to help
our clients re-THINK their corporate strategies, and refocus their limited resources to achieve their
business objectives. We help enterprise decision-makers with their sourcing strategies, IT solutions
providers with their marketing strategies, and venture firms with their investment strategies.
THINKstrategies is also the founder of the Software-as-a-Service Showplace (www.saas-
showplace.com), the largest vendor-independent, online directory and information resource center
with SaaS solutions in 80 application and industry categories. For more information regarding our
unique services, visit www.thinkstrategies.com, or contact us at info@thinkstrategies.com.

© THINKstrategies, Inc., 2009 www.thinkstrategies.com p.10