SaaS, or Software as a Service, isn’t new. But it sure seems to be that way with what is coming from that software model these days. It finally has grown legs and is taking off running.
One of the services that SaaS can provide is business intelligence reports. Not only does it deliver them, but it can prospectively deliver them more efficiently than traditional in hours business intelligence reports. There is a simple reason here, the data warehouse doesn’t need to be stored in house, nor does it need to be an incurred expense in a traditional sense. The time slice needed for the report is what you end up actually paying for.
Some companies that are providing business intelligence and general OLAP reports include; WebTrends, SalesForce, and Web2expense. A write up on this particular topic can be found over at Host Analytics about the total cost of ownership.
We certainly think so at LucidEra! Your readers may be interested in our 2008 predictions here: http://www.lucidera.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/02/whats-in-store-for-business-intelligence-in-2008/