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Posted by YellowFin Announcements on 07/11/07 12:03
(ACP) Reporter Michael T Franks recently had the opportunity to
talkwfin CEO Glen Rabie about Business Intelligence software, Web/BI
2, the BI software scene and Yellowfin's aggressive approach to a
competitive market space. Here is
that complete interview:
Michael Franks: What do you think about the uptake of business
intelligence in the corporate community?
Glen Rabie: BI is pervasive, in the sense that virtually all
organisations in some form within their IT environment - from excel
through to the big global brands. If we exclude excel from the
equation, however, we know that 75% of BI
software ends up as shelf ware - only partially implemented and often
not at all. It's the pain, complexity and cost that are holding up
this market segment.
MF: What is Yellowfin's position in the current BI climate?
GR: Fast growing and dynamic. We are not locked into the old way of
doing things and are delivering fantastic results through our easy to
use and implement solution.
MF: Gartner rates Business intelligence as number two in the list of
priorities for CIO's. Is that your shared perception?
GR: I think as a concept yes that would be correct - but the gap
between a strategic wish and the realities of operational IT, which
tends to be shaped by IT priorities, is large. For example I have
been watching this list for a number of
years now and it is always the same - BI is number one or two. I just
do not believe that with the traditional tool sets and approach that
BI is actually being delivered in line with this Strategic need.
MF: Yellowfin's motto is "Making BI Easy", what does that really mean
for you?
GR: It comes back to basics. Who is the customer? Most BI products
are developer centric tools not end user or business user
applications. They have been designed for the wrong person - what do
most developers know about
business information and analysis needs? So why create tools for the
techie when really the business user needs to be able to access their
own data. I know everyone is talking about this but at Yellowfin we
are passionate about it. What
we strive for in our user interface is an application that anyone with
basic web skills and business knowledge can use to gain insight into
their business - it is that simple. What this means however, is that
it has to be easy to implement,
integrate and use - BI is a life cycle. We are also aware that for us
it is a journey and that is why with each new release we aim to make
BI even easier.
MF: Talking about new releases, you have just released version 3.2. Is
this a major release and what can you tell us about any new features
you are excited about?
GR: I have to be honest I get excited about every Yellowfin release.
This one especially - we have really made some wonderful changes to
the UI - we just keep refining and refining. Also this release and
3.3 will be heavily focussed on
data visualisation - so better charting options, and more user
interaction with the data such as date sliders and the ability to
annotate data in a report. Very very exciting stuff. The positive
feedback we are getting is overwhelming.
MF: What is Yellowfin's position on WEB2 and BI 2 market trends, are
they real or just marketing hype ?
GR: Hype - all technologies mature and Web2.0 is just a continuum of
improved delivery over the web. Where is the quantum leap that really
gets people taking notice? For my part I am waiting for Web3.0!
MF: How far can you go in BI innovation, are there only so many
sensible ways to deal with data sets.?
GR: Probably - it is all pretty basic - tables and charts - it's the
delivery that matters. I think the future of BI is going to come
through improvements in web delivery, and collaboration. The reality
though is that most users still just want to
generate fairly basic reports - and this after 15 years of a
recognised BI market - why not get this bit right before trying to
deliver too many more widgets.
MF: How has the market reacted to your interesting approach to pricing
structures ?
GR: I assume you are referring to our OEM pricing. Well with much
interest and bemusement. Our model is easy - we do not have a price
for an OEM partner - we work with them to determine a pricing
structure that best fits their price
model. It is the only way that we can ensure maximised revenue for
all. We do not give Yellowfin away but we determine how it fits for
each partner uniquely.
MF: How is the Yellowfin platform doing in the corporate space from
your perspective?
GR: Very well - through our channel partners - either OEM or resellers
Yellowfin has been very successful in quickly entering the market and
securing very large customer sites. We continue to focus on solving
specific BI issues that can
quickly deliver a ROI rather than bloated enterprise deployments.
MF: Ok, let's talk about Business Objects and Cognos. Clearly in
terms of market share these are the leaders, both having strong
presence in large global corporations. How do you compete or not
compete with these established players ?
GR: I think they need to re-think their strategy. Their market - the
top 500 is saturated with product and yet not delivering results - and
their attempts to capture the mid-market are set for failure. To work
in these markets you have to be
channel centric. Yet even though they rely on channels for
implementation the predominant strategy continues to be direct
selling. It's going to be tough for them. Also the market is
changing. Embedded BI is shifting the goal posts - big
enterprise projects have failed and most users just want to get data
out of the business processes they are responsible for. I think the
biggest threat is going to be nimble players that can cherry pick
multiple processes within an organisation
through multiple channels and grow customer share.
MM: What about the open source applications, like Pentaho? Are they a
competitive threat in the BI market?
GR: The Pentaho and Jasper Soft approach is an interesting model - yes
open source - but scratch the surface and if you want enterprise
support or the best tools they have to offer you are back to a user
pays scenario. The issue facing
open source BI is that users - either corporate users or software
vendors do not actually want to get their hands dirty in the code.
They both have core businesses to worry about. So when paying the
same for a quasi open source
versus a proprietary application chances are that companies will
choose the best product - now being biased I would say that would be
Yellowfin! What I love about them is that they are raising awareness
of alternative BI options.
MF: Microsoft is dipping more than its big toe in the BI market. What
sort of threat are they to both the niche and established players in
the market?
GR: Well they are a threat - and always have been. Excel is their BI
platform. Reporting and Analytical services are woeful end user
reporting solutions. I think that even Microsoft will compete with
itself in the BI space - their market
which is the excel user is incredibly hard to convert - especially if
the tools on offer do not live up to the same level of ease of use.
Their underlying strategy is to own the enterprise stack. This will
be their failure in the long run because
they do not have a laser like focus on BI - it will just be another
product in their stable. That approach will just not be good enough
moving forward.
MF: Is educating the market about Yellowfin a major strategic
imperative?
GR: Yes and no - like all new kids on the block we do not have a
globally recognizable brand. But then outside of BI neither do
Business Objects or Cognos. Sure if you know the industry you know
the products but take one step outside
and it is a free for all. One thing that has occurred over the past
10 years is that there has been a massive education of the market for
BI in general. So when people go looking for product they tend to be
scouring the web to find what's
right for them - and this is what is working for us. Either web
traffic or channels - both are quickly growing our base.
MF: You mentioned that making your software easy and friendly is a
clear point of differentiation for Yellowfin in the market, are other
BI products so unfriendly, haven't they spent massive amounts on
product development?
GR: Well they have - and I would suggest that a fair component of that
spend has been on what are now legacy applications and integration of
3rd party acquired products. Coming back to my earlier point we have
a different end user.
The traditional tools are aimed at developers whilst our entire
application is written with the business user in mind. An easy to
use, fully integrated web interface.
MF: Do you give away anything for free?
GR: Yes - advice. Try Yellowfin you will be amazed! Oh yes our
evaluation and developer licenses are free.
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