Top 10 BI predictions For 2012 by Boris Evelson

Boris Evelson
Forrester Research
for Information Management Blogs, November 15, 2011           
Here are my top 10 predictions for business intelligence in 2012:

1. It’s all about getting things done. Standards, a single version of the truth, and enterprise-grade platforms continue to be important, but individual BI tools with the functionality to get things done trumps standards.
2. Enterprises will learn to live with multiple BI tools. Forrester client inquiries about how to live with multiple BI tools far exceed inquiries about platform consolidations.
3. More BI will move into the hands of end users. IT will learn not fight it or risk becoming irrelevant. IT will also learn not to fight spreadmart/spreadsheet wars or risk becoming irrelevant. Why? See prediction #1.
4. Those BI platforms that support “managed” end user self-service will become more popular. It’s like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. No management or control is not acceptable, but too much control does not work. Finding the right win-win combination that combines the flexibility and agility that self-service brings with behind-the-scenes monitoring and adjusting will become the name of the game.
5. Mobile BI will go mainstream. One needs to make decisions when and where they need to be made. Not “when I get back to the office,” which may be too late.
6. Cloud BI will continue to chip away at on-premises BI, but it’s still a long road ahead. Heavy customization and integration of enterprise BI platforms, tools, and applications done by subject-matter experts and consultants will not go away.
7. BI-specific DBMSes (in-memory, others) will go mainstream.
8. Big data will start to move out of silos and into enterprise IT. IT will start to learn how to live with it.
9. Exploration (without preconceived notions, prebuilt fixed data models, or up-front specific questions in mind) will be the new bread and butter of BI suites in addition to reporting, querying, OLAP, and dashboards/data visualization.
10. BI users will start demanding — and vendors will start delivering — BI tools integrated with email and collaboration platforms. Just integrating BI with Excel is no longer enough.

SharePoint in the NEWS

IN THE COMMUNITY

There are many aspects to SharePoint: collaboration, document storage and retrieval, workflow, business intelligence, search, security, governance, and so much more. Along with that, there is literally a ton of documentation and technical information for using the software. The problem for many SharePoint users is, where is it all, and where do I find it? You see folks on Twitter longing for a unified site where all the SharePoint information can be stored, sorted and retrieved, kind of a SharePoint for SharePoint information! Since that doesn’t exist, the question remains: Where do I go for solid technical information on SharePoint? If you’re like me, you want to get your information from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. That’s not to say other sources aren’t reliable or informative; it’s just that if I buy, say, a toaster, I’d rather read the company’s manual than notes from Ed the repairman. Nina Ruchirat is a Microsoft senior content project manager, and she has provided to SPTechReport a large amount of technical information, sorted by role, and other SharePoint resources (see Linkapalooza below). She indicated that all canonical documentation from Microsoft has been written, edited and technology reviewed through the SharePoint product team, and that the content group is placing a greater emphasis on social media and community content, with an eye toward best practices and case studies. Microsoft’s Ruchirat will be presenting a session at SPTechCon 2012 February in San Francisco on navigating through these sites to find the exact information you’re looking for. She also asks the community to give her feedback at @MSNinaR on Twitter for the types of content people most desire. “We’re focused on discoverability, and programming instant answers via search,” she said. “We want to get this content out and into people’s hands.” We hope you find this as helpful as we have. — David

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IN THE NEWS

Mindjet announces visual collaboration software for SharePoint

By David Rubinstein Mindjet yesterday released Connect SP for SharePoint, software that the company said provides visual collaboration and enhanced document discovery features for enterprises looking to increase adoption within their organizations. The software, according to the company, provides a more intuitive visual display that makes it easier for workers to share ideas on projects while locating information faster and collaborating directly inside the SharePoint environment. “Connect SP displays information in a visual manner, so team members can better understand and align on critical issues and plans,” said Blaine Mathieu, chief product officer at Mindjet, in a statement announcing the software. Connect SP, an extension of the company’s Connect collaboration software, works off the existing SharePoint implementation’s infrastructure for managing governance, security and compliance issues. It uses the Connect mapping client for capturing and organizing ideas and information in a single view.

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LINKAPALOOZA

Today, The Linker turns his forum over to Nina Ruchirat, Microsoft senior content project manager, who lists the related links and resources she’ll be discussing at SPTechCon 2012 in San Francisco. There are a lot of them, as you can see, which is why The Linker pitched this as a session to the SPTechCon powers that be. You can follow Nina at @MSNinaR on Twitter. IT Pro TechNet SharePoint TechCenter... TechNet Library Technical Documentation... SharePoint Server 2010 TechCenter... SharePoint Foundation 2010 TechCenter... SharePoint Online Administration TechCenter... To the SharePoint (IT Pro Content Team) blog... MSOffice_IT Pro on Twitter (Office and SharePoint)... Developer MSDN SharePoint Developer Center... MSDN Library Technical Documentation... SharePoint 2010 Software Development Kit... What's new for Developers in SharePoint 2010... SharePoint 2010 Developer Resource Centers... SharePointDev (Developer Content Team) blog... MSDN_Office on Twitter (Office and SharePoint)... LOB information workers SharePoint Server 2010 help content... Get the Point (IW Content Team)... SharePoint Online SharePoint Online Administration TechCenter... SharePoint Online planning guide for Office 365 for enterprises... Forums SharePoint technical forums... SharePoint Online technical forums...

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Using HTML5 and CSS3 with SharePoint 2010

By Randy Drisgill, SharePoint911 In one of my previous articles, I talked about how everyone at conferences asks about mobile, but I’d say the second most frequently asked question is about HTML5 and SharePoint. HTML5 is certainly the future of the Web, but as a person that leans toward the design side of things, I really think CSS3 is way more exciting. READ MORE Randy Drisgill is a consultant at SharePoint911 and a Microsoft MVP in the technology.

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