BI SEARCH AND TEXT ANALYTICS - The Data Warehousing Institute

BI SEARCH AND TEXT ANALYTICSHyperionLike other leading BI platforms, Hyperion System 9 supports Google OneBox for Enterprise, afeature of the Google Search Appliance. As with other BI-to-Google integrations, corporate endusers can search via Google to hit all enterprise sources, including BI repositories. The GooglepoweredHyperion solution is accessible through the Hyperion System 9 Workspace, providing asingle point of entry to the various Hyperion System 9 modules and report repositories, as well asdata sources known to the BI platform, like relational databases, Essbase, SAP BW, and financialmanagement applications. Besides finding reports, end users can get direct answers to searchquestions that require a numeric answer.Information Builders (IBI)IBI WebFOCUS Intelligent Search integrates with the Google Search Appliance and GoogleOneBox to gain the usual benefits of BI content via enterprise search. But IBI’s approach “one ups”other BI-to-Google integrations by including the special application integration and data integrationcapabilities of connectors and other interfaces from iWay Software, an IBI subsidiary. iWay’sconnectors extend the reach of search to almost any structured, semi-structured, or unstructureddata source imaginable. WebFOCUS Magnify is a brand new product that screens messages ona bus, enhances selected messages, then sends enhanced messages directly to the search indexingmechanism, which in turn makes information accessible via search within seconds of its origin.Search VendorsBefore looking for a search engine to use for BI purposes, decide which configuration you want. Inmany configurations that integrate a BI platform with an enterprise search platform, BI contentbecomes one small brick in the larger brick wall of enterprise search content. This is usually the casewith Google Search Appliance or IBM OmniFind. Just about any search engine (say, from marketleaders Autonomy and Verity) will work in a low-end configuration where BI search merely indexesthe reports of a single BI repository. Another route is to employ a search product that itself includesanalytic and data integration capabilities that complement those of a BI platform or data warehouse,as with Endeca and FAST.Thanks to OneBox, Googlesuddenly has influence onBI search.GoogleGoogle Search Appliance (GSA) is an enterprise search solution consisting of purpose-builthardware and software bundled into a server blade. Early in 2006, Google released Google OneBox,a new interoperability feature that extends GSA’s reach to several BI platforms (Business Objects,Cognos, Hyperion, Information Builders, SAS) and operational applications (Employease, Netsuite,Oracle, Salesforce.com). Google’s sudden and influential appearance in BI has led some industryobservers to call this development the “Googlization of BI.” But let’s not forget that BI platformscan also integrate with other enterprise search tools, most commonly those from Autonomy, Endeca,FAST, and IBM. GSA is known for its low price ($30,000 entry level), speedy deployment (withinhours), and easy expansion (just plug in more blades).28 TDWI RESEARCH