Microsoft’s business intelligence (BI) technology, including SQL Server 2005 with Integration Services for data integration, Reporting Services for production reporting, and Analysis Services for analytic functionality, provides a solid, albeit incomplete, solution for analytic and enterprise reporting. The offering provides good usability and application development capabilities, with average analytic functionality — highlighted by the OLAP functionality in Analysis Services. Microsoft is one of a growing number of vendors; including Actuate, Business Objects, Cognos, Hyperion, and MicroStrategy; that offer both analytic and enterprise reporting capabilities on an integrated platform; however, the newness and immaturity of Reporting Services with the brand new report authoring capabilities make this a work in progress. As a result, Microsoft is a strong performer in both enterprise and analytic reporting with a greater emphasis on analytic reporting.
