At Bespoke Software we work with many application
technologies from many different vendors from IBM to Kalido. However we are pragmatic
in advising on technology decisions and firmly believe that a vital
component in selecting technology has to be the ability to find
resource to support that technology both internally and from
outside agencies. With these considerations in mind we are
continually finding that a sure bet for Bermuda based companies can
often be one of the Microsoft technology platforms.
Specifically in Database and Business Intelligence solutions,
Microsoft are both technology leaders and at the same time one of
the easiest platforms to find IT resource for. When you consider
Cost Benefit and ROI it is hard to argue against the Microsoft
Business Intelligence tool set delivered with MS SQL2005 and MS
SQL2008. Both deliver ETL Tools with SSIS(Extract Transform and
Load), a Database Platform optimised for Data Warehousing with SQL
Server, Advanced Analytic OLAP capabilities with MS Analysis
Services and a thin client Enterprise reporting solution with SQL
Reporting Services. This combination of tools purchased separately
could total in the $100,000+ price range. Microsoft delivers the
entire suite in one package for a fraction of that cost!
Equally revolutionary in cost, ease of use, ease of deployment and
wide spread acceptance is Microsoft's portal technology
"SharePoint". Already well on the way to becoming the ubiquitous
portal technology SharePoint is targeted by Microsoft to be their
delivery mechanism of choice for all of their server technologies
from Shared Office applications to Business Intelligence
solutions.