In: Operations Management
Please explain what are some downsides to open-source BI solutions; discuss a k-12th educational institution's experience with open-source BI. What are the benefits and limitations of on-demand BI; finally, debate the pros and cons of customization vs. configurable solutions.
Answer:
Though the initial costs could be smaller, applications for open source business intelligence has the downside of long-term costs. First, you have to manage the developer team that is developing and running the program. This is data protection and governance. These are also the expected costs; the potential for vulnerabilities from an unregulated, free-floating program will grow very quickly. Another drawback is that open source solutions are usually less robust than proprietary solutions. You get what you pay for, so you may be best suited to a fully sponsored vendor solution if you need robust features such as data discovery, OLAP processing, or interactive visualization. It’s more labour-intensive and has a lot of opportunities to go wrong when you do it yourself, so this is a fairly significant drawback. Each component will be different in how it interacts with other components, with your custom code, and with your broader application. Consequently, modules are constrained by inputs they end up receiving and without much coding skills they can not drive action outside of themselves. With every single component you implement, coding yourself allows you to meet your security requirements. Open-source modules can provide little or no assist to ease security integration to accelerate implementation.Unlike current frameworks for designing embedded analytics, open-source BI modules are not designed to use the existing security architecture in your application.
On-demand BI provides the opportunity to evaluate vital business information easily and effectively so that companies can be more responsive and profitable. In comparison to conventional solutions, on-demand BI is simple to deploy, affordable, and easy to scale. On-demand BI, sometimes referred to as software-as-a-service, hosting BI, or cloud computing in various iterations offers the power of business intelligence solutions delivered over the Internet, rather than through a licensed and installed product. In difficult economic times, the element of an on-demand system that receives the most interest is cost – there is far less upfront capital investment. BI systems include customized dashboards that give schools, colleges and universities the ability to get up and running with specific information instantly, and goals for instant winning and providing the foundation for data-driven decisions.BI software is used to reduce uncertainty in educational organisations. Administrative management and enhancement of academic performance.sing on-demand or software-as-a-service ( SaaS) BI solutions that can be delivered at a much faster rate and much lower initial cost than conventional on-site software installations. On-demand BI systems have made their names by serving small and medium-sized businesses, educational organizations that usually do not have these. For both sides, the relationship makes a lot of sense. On-demand BI solutions are easy to install. Taking key business decisions based on intuition will spell disaster; if achieved through analytics, it's preferable. BI software makes it easy to capture, render and interpret data using analytical tools. BI systems interpret unstructured data based on both qualitative and quantitative metrics to better explain what happened and why it happened. BI on-demand is not the same as subscription pricing. SAS has also paid an annual fee for its on-premise apps, for example. Perpetual licenses are rare for a hosting company, but they exist outside of BI — e.g. lifetime fee deals for host websites. On-demand BI specifically targets consumers who are price-sensitive and who need less complexity first. Yet there is nothing in the rule book that states a hosting service needs to be cheaper than an on-premise counterpart. The possibility of leakage is one of the most pressing issues of on-demand BI program. If you use BI applications to manage confidential information, it could be revealed by a mistake in the process, which could damage your company, customers or employees. Pricing may not be as transparent with some SaaS offers as it should be, and as a consequence, businesses can find themselves overspending. Customization, additional modules, and live support also come with extra price tags. A glut of data can mean that much of what the BI software analyze is useless or unhelpful, fuzzy tests and processes slow down.
A customized system is built explicitly and for one client only, locking the company into a static workflow that can only be modified by recruiting prohibitive engineers to upgrade the system code. Software designed to allow simple configuration through an intuitive user interface includes the ability to add or modify users, security rights, approval routings, fields, page. Truly configurable applications are also completely supported once new versions are released. Let us discuss important benefits and drawbacks of customization and configurable solutions.
Configurable solutions:
Implementation time is significantly reduced: Since you are buying a program whose underlying framework is the same for all users, implementation will take as little as a month or less and this usually requires an implementation expert working with you to configure the system as you want it from the beginning.
The frequency of usage keeps the solution at the cutting edge of technology: With thousands of companies using the same core framework, the software vendor receives regular input and can recognize and implement the changes that will support as many users as possible.
Upgrades to the system are normally free: while a personalized solution allows you to employ a software developer to make any improvements or upgrades, configurable device providers are continuously applying updates to the device for you, without any time or money being spent on the end. Besides, these updates are usually free (included in the cost of your subscription).
A broad peer group is right at your fingertips: Most reliable configurable software providers provide peers, online groups, with whom you can share best practices and learn about new and creative ways that others use or customize their device.
Customization Solutions:
Implementation is drawn out and expensive: You have something built from scratch that you can use only. That takes a lot of time to complete, meaning you'll be left in limbo while it's being developed and will probably pay much more because of the hours involved in the creation.
Stagnant Framework: it doesn't adapt to the industry. as developments gradually shift the face of the donor group, you 're stuck with the process you've introduced years ago, including features that may be outdated now.
Peer group: Nobody else uses the same software as you do, meaning you don't have peers to discuss system-related questions or ideas with.
Higher overall ownership costs: while it sounds appealing to get something tailor-made for you alone, doing so entails constant and unpredictable costs, most of which are listed above. By the end of the day, you 're investing a lot more on a program that keeps you from following the new business trends and best practices.