lowering the cost of business intelligence with open source

8/7/2019 Lowering the Cost of Business Intelligence With Open Source

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Lower ing t he Cos t o f Bus iness In te l l igence Wi th Open Source

Lowering the Cost of BusinessIntelligence With Open Source

A Comparison of Open Source and Traditional Vendor Costs

2010 Technology White Paper


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Lower ing t he Cos t o f Bus iness In te l l igence Wi th Open Source

TABLEOFCONTENTS

Summary....................................................................................................................... 1

CostComparisons: HowtheVendorsMeasureUp.....................................................3

TheMazeofSoftwareLicensing............................................................................. 3

ComparingProductCosts....................................................................................... 3

ComparisonofOpenSourceandTraditionalSoftware..........................................4

Conclusion............................................................................................................... 6

TotalCostofOwnershipandBusinessIntelligenceTools............................................8

ComponentsofTCOforBusinessIntelligence........................................................8

SimplifyingAssumptionsforThisReport................................................................ 8

CommunityVersusCommercialOpenSource........................................................9

VendorPricingDetailsUsedinThisPaper.................................................................. 11

IBM:Cognos8................................................................................................. 12

MicroStrategy:ReportingSuiteandMicroStrategy9....................................14

Oracle:OracleBusinessIntelligenceSE1andEE+..........................................16

Pentaho:PentahoBISuite.............................................................................. 17

SAP:BusinessObjectsEdgeandEnterprisePremium.....................................18

About

the

Author

........................................................................................................

19


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Tota l Cos t o f B I Sof tware

SummaryWhenlookingatthetotalcostofownership(TCO)ofBItools,it'sknownthatlabortrumpsallotherfactorswhenafullprojectisconsideredfromstarttofinish.Thisisoftenusedasa

justificationtoignorethecostofsoftwareandsupport,sincethelargestproportionofaBIproject'scostatanypointintimeisdominatedbylabor.

TheproblemwiththisthinkingisthatthereislittleevidenceofasignificantdifferenceineffortrequiredwithdifferentBItools,eitherduringdevelopmentorinmaintenance.Withtheoveralldifferencesbeingrelativelysmall,onethingwecanfocusonisthetotalcostofsoftware(TCS)sincethisispartlyunderourcontrol.

Thetopreasongivenfortheuseofopensourcebusinessintelligencesoftwareiscostsavings.

Thequestioniswhetheropensourcematterswhenitcomestolicenseandsupportcosts.How

realarecostsavings?HowmuchdoesBIsoftwareandongoingsupportactuallycost?

Thisisacomplexquestionbecauseoftheextremevariabilityandlackoftransparencyin

traditionalenterprisesoftwarelicensemodels,packagingandpricing.

Theshortansweristhatopen source

doesmatter.Attheentrylevelwitha

smallnumberofusers,opensource

canbealittletoalotlessexpensive.

Astheenvironmentscalesupthe

differencebecomesmuchmore

noticeable,asshowninFigure1.$36,592

$223,257

$1,499,826

$

$200,000

$400,000

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

$1,400,000

$1,600,000

Small Medium Large

Cost

savings

Thischartshowsthecostsavings

betweentheaverageofthetopfour

BIvendorsandPentaho,theopen

sourcevendorusedinthispaper.

Sizeofdeploymentenvironment

Figure1:Average3yearcostsavingswithopensourceBI

Withasmallconfigurationof25users,theaveragecostdifferenceisabout50%or$36,000.

Withalargeconfigurationof500usersthedifferenceisslightlymorethan15times.Thereisa

widerangebetweentheleastandmostexpensivevendors,sothesavingsvaryconsiderably

dependingonwhichvendoryouareconsidering.

Akeymetrictousewhencomparingsoftwarecostacrossdifferentsizedenvironmentsisthe

average

cost

per

user.

It

varies

over

the

size

of

environment

because

vendors

have

different

pricingmodelsforentrylevelandlargerconfigurations.ThismetricwillhelpifyouwanttoknowhowmuchitwillcosttogrowthesizeofaBIdeployment.Inmanyopensourcemodelstheperusercostdecreasessincethepriceisnotbasedonnumberofusers.

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ThechartinFigure2showstheperusercostsavingsoverathreeyearperiodwhenusingopensource.ThecostofthetopBIvendorswasaveragedineachofthreedifferentlysizedenvironmentsandcomparedtothecost

Theincreaseinperusersavingsfromsmalltolargeisaresult

ofanopensourcelicenseforthesameenvironment.

ofthe

s,

andsupportcostswith

.

s.

$1,464

$2,233

$3,000

$

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

$3,500

Small Medium Large

AverageperUserCostSavings

costdifferenceinentrylevelBIpackagesfromthetopvendorsandtheirstandardenterpriselicenseandthegenerallicensescalingadvantageofopensourcelicensemodels.

Asarule,youcanexpecttosaveonbothlicense

Page 2

opensourcebusinessintelligencetools.However,thesavingswillvarydependingonagreatmanyfactors

TherestofthispaperexplainsthedetailsofenterpriseBIlicensing,thefactorsthataffectprices,andthecostsofthetopven n

dorsforaspecificsetofconfiguratio

Figure2:Average3yearcostsavingsper

userofopensourceBI,bydeploymentsize

savings

Cost


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Cost Comparisons: How the Vendors Measure Up

Thispaperexaminesthesoftwareandsupportcostsoftheleadingbusinessintelligence

providersandcomparesthemtoacommercialopensourcevendor(Pentaho)inanattemptto

answerthequestionofwhetheropensourcematterswhencomparingthetotalcostofBI

software.

The Maze of Software Licensing

UnderstandingBIlicensesandpricingisdifficultforbuyers.Eachvendororganizesfeaturesdifferentlyandassignsthemtodifferentcomponentsoruserroles.Typically,atleastonefeatureyourequireexistsinanaddonmodulethatoffersnoothervaluebutsignificantcost.Youhavetorelyonthesalesreptonavigatethroughthecomplexityanddeliverthebestconfigurationpossible.

Themanyfactorsthatareusedtodeterminethepriceofthesoftwareareanotherchallenge.

Most

vendors

treat

this

information

as

if

it

were

a

trade

secret,

like

they

do

with

their

list

prices.Thislackoftransparencyisproblemforthebuyerinmuchthesamewaylackoftransparencyisaproblemforanewcarbuyer.What'sareasonableprice?Howmuchareotherspayingforthesamesoftware?Opensourcevendorstendtohavemoretransparentandsimplerlicensemodelsthatlendtransparencytotheprocess.

Comparing Product Costs

ThebestwaytocompareBIcostsistocreatescenarioswiththenumberandtypesofusers,thenusethescenariostopricethesoftware.WeusedthreedifferentscenariostoemulateanentrylevelorsmalldepartmentconfigurationandthegrowthpathfromthistoarolloutofBItoabroaderorganization.ThetypesandnumberofusersareshowninTable1.

Thesmallconfigurationisatotalof25users,mediumforusis100users,andlargeis500users.

Weappliedthe80182ruleforthedistributionofBIusers,where

80%oftheusersdolittlemorethanbasicinteractionwith

existingreportsordashboards,18%oftheusersmodifytheobjectsanddoamodestlevelofadhocqueryandanalysis,and2%areprofessionalBIdevelopersoranalystswhosupportothersintheirdepartment.WealsoincludeasmallnumberofBIadministratorsresponsiblefortheoverallmanagementoftheenvironment.It'simportanttodothiswhenbuyingBItoolsbecauseofthelargedifferenceinthecostofcomponents,makingiteasytooverpay.

Size Total

Users

Admin

Users

Professional

Developers

Expert

Users

Basic

Users

Small 25 1 1 2 21

Medium 100 2 3 10 85

Large 500 3 15 50 432

Table1:usagescenariosandusercounts

Thelevelofinteractionatthebasiclevelisviewingdashboards,runningandschedulingreports,fillinginreportparametersandsimplesortingandfilteringofresults.ExpertusersandprofessionaldevelopersneedtheabilitytocreateobjectsintheBIenvironmentandperformadhocactivities.

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ComparingBIproductsisdifficultbecauseofthevariabilityinpackagingandbundlingoffeatures.Ourassumptionisthatanyenduserfeaturesbeyondthecorefunctionsofstaticandinteractivereports,dashboards,andadhocqueryandanalysisisanextraandirrelevanttoourcosting.

Allproductconfigurationswecreatedaremeanttoprovideonlythesefunctionsforthegiven

scenario.Thealternativeapproachistotryandgetanapplesapplesfeaturebasedconfiguration.Thisisalmostimpossible.

Vendorstrytocompeteonnumerousfeaturesaspointsofdifferentiation,whichconfusescomparison.It'sbestwhenevaluatingBIsoftwaretosticktothefeaturesyouplantouseandnottrytofactorinaddedvalueofuniquefeaturesandtheirrelativecost.

Ourcostestimatesincludetheproductionandnonproduction(developmentandtest)environments.Thecostcoversboththeinitialpriceandthethreeyearcostofsupportandmaintenance.

Comparison of Open Source and Traditional SoftwareOnewaytoseehowseriousvendorsareaboutloweringtheirTCSisbylookingathowtheircostscalesupwiththenumberofusers.Figure3showstheaverageperusercostoverthreeyears.Movingfromasmall25userenvironmenttoalarger500userenvironmentactuallyincreasestheperusercostwithtraditionalBI,whiledecreasingwithopensource.

Small Medium Large$

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

$3,500

Cost

AverageCostperUser

AvgCostTrad. $2,664 $3,103 $3,174

AvgCostOpen $1,200 $870 $174

Figure3:averagecostperuser,comparingtraditionalandopensourceacrossscenarios

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TheriseincostshowninFigure3isnotrepresentativeofallBIvendors.Thecostperuserdeclinesforsome,likeCognos,whileincreasingforothers.ThisisshowninFigure4.TheriseincostperuseracrossourscenariosissomewhatmisleadingbecausethesmallscenariosforallvendorsbutCognosareusingentrylevelpackages.Thiscanreducethecostperuserbyhalf.

$4,072

$1,271

$2,922

$1,200

$2,390

$3,191

$2,897

$4,230

$870

$2,093$1,902

$2,808

$3,732

$174

$4,252

$

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

$3,500

$4,000

$4,500

Cognos Microstrategy Oracle Pentaho SAP

small medium large

Figure4:averagecostperuseroverthreeyears,byvendorandscenario

Whatisimportanttonoteisthejumpincostperuserwhenaddinglicenses.Ifyoutakeadvantageofoneoftheseentrylevelpackageswithaplantodeploytomorepeopleatalatertime,thecostperusercouldpotentiallydouble.

Ifyourenvironmentwon'tgrowortheBIpackageisgenerousenough(asitiswithSAP)thentheseoptionsaregood,althoughstillnotasinexpensiveasopensource.IfyourenvironmentwillgrowbeyondtheBIvendor'sentrylevelpackagethenbepreparedforabigincrease.It'satthispointwherethecostadvantageof

Figure5showsthetotalcost

opensourceBIbecomesapparent.

I

or

20

in

size

averaged acrosstraditionalBproductsandcomparedtothecommercialopensourcecost.Fthesmallconfigurationtheaveragecostwastwicethatofopensource.

With500usersthedifferenceinaveragepriceballoonstoalmosttimesthecostofopensource.

However,thereisawiderange$66,592

$310,257

$1,586,826

$30,000

$87,000

$87,000

$ $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,500,000 $2,000,000

Small

Medium

Large

pricebetweenthetraditionalBIvendorsacrosseachofthethreescenarios.Whencomparingtotal Avg3YearCostOpen Avg3YearCostTrad

Figure5:averageBIcostperconfiguration,comparing

traditionalandopensource

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costitcanbemoreinterestingtoseehowtheindividualvendorscompare.

Thetotalthreeyearcostandthebreakdownbetweenlicenseandsupportareshownforallfive

allple,

sare

forIBMhad

for

e

the

onthepriceisnotzerohereisbecausewehadtoaddseverallicensesu

kages.

mationinthisreportcanbeusedasaguideline,howevertheexact

configurationoflicensesisacomplextasksoadjustingthesenumbersmaynottranslateto

tional

and

entthatopensourcecanofferacostadvantage.Theamount

willvarydependingonthesizeofyourenvironment,availabilityofentrylevelBIpackagesfrom

traditionalvendors,andthefeaturesyourequire.

vendorsinTable2,brokenoutbyvendorandscenario.Thefullconfigurationandpricingdetailsareshowninthe"VendorPricingDetails"sectionwhichfollowsthisone.

The

gap

between

MicroStrategyandPentahoismuch

Vendor Size Total License

Cost

Total Support

Cost

Total Cost

Small 58,184 43,618 101,802

Cognos Medium 182,356 136,707 319,063

Large 543,584 407,608 951,192

Small 10,100 21,666 31,766

MicroStrategy Medium 174,500 115,170 289,670

Large 845,800 558,228 1,404,028

Small 36,000 23,760 59,760

SAP Medium 131,750 86,955 218,705

Large 1,595,670 1,053,142 2,648,812Small 17,600 29,040 73,040

Oracle Medium 254,800 168,168 422,968

Large 1,124,200 741,972 1,866,172

Small 0 30,000 30,000

Pentaho Medium 0 87,000 87,000

Large 0 87,000 87,000

narrowerforthesmscenariointhisexamandallthevendorclosestincostatthislevel.

Thereasonforthisissimple:allthevendorsexcept

configurationspricedentrylevelthatwewereabletouse.ThismadtraditionalBIproductsmorecompetitive.

MicroStrategyisusinganopensourcetacticattheentrylevel:theygivesoftwareawayforfreeforupto100users.Thereastomeettheuserfeaturereq

Whilethisisaninterestingoffer,itcomeswithacatch,asdomostoftheentrylevelpacMostarelimitedtoasmallnumberofCPUs,usuallyfewerCPUsthanisrealisticfora

Table2:threeyeartotalcostoflicenseandsupportbyvendorandscenario

irementsinourconfiguration.

productionenvironmentwithmorethanasmallnumberofusers.Thisisincontrasttoanopensourcelicensewherethatlimitationdoesnotapply.

Conclusion

Thepricinginfor

your

environment.

We

avoided

discount

practices,

so

the

real

costs

across

both

tradiopensourcevendorswillbelower.Youcanconsiderthispricingasthehighendofwhatyou

couldpayforthesescenarios.

Atthispointitshouldbeappar

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Therationalefordeployingopensourcemaybecostsavings,butthatcostcanalsovarybaseonthereasonfordeploying.Ifthegoalistoreplaceexistingsoftwarethenthefocusshouldbeareductioninsupportcost.Ifthegoalistoadduse

d

rsornewfeaturesthenthefocusshouldbeontherelativecostsbetweenproducts.

.ThedeploymentscenariosareshowninFigure6.

Figure

6:

Deployment

scenarios

for

open

source

BI

NewprojectsareabetterdeploymentmodelforopensourcebecausethehighcostofacquisitionisasignificantbarriertostartingaBIproject.Traditionalvendors'productshavebeentoocostlyformostdepartmentalbudgetsorsmalltomediumsizedcompanies.

TherecentintroductionofSMBandentrylevelpackagingbyBIvendorshasloweredthebarriertoentry,butnottothesam theentrylevelandSMB

stcost

iseasier

onistoevaluateopensourcelikeanyotherenterprisesoftware.Price

Fromasurveyofopensourceuserslastyear,wefoundthattheprimarymodeofdeployment

wasfornewlicensesratherthanreplacementofexistingtools,with32%oforganizationsaddinguserstoanexistingenvironmentviaopensourceratherthantheincumbentvendorand41%usingopensourceforanewproject

18%

41%

Addingnewfunctionalitytoanexistingsystem

Usingaspartofanewsystemorproject

16%

11%

14%

Replacingproprietarysoftware

Replacinginternallydevelopedsoftware

Supplementingasystemwithsimilarfeatures

elevelascommercialopensource.Despiteofferings,thegapbetweentheleastandmostexpensiveBItoolsisthreetimestheloweproduct.

Anotheradvantageopensourcecanofferissimplicityandtransparencyoflicensing.Ittoseehowmuchyouwillpaynowandinthefuture.ThetraditionalBIvendorshavetaken

stepstosimplifytheirmodels,butthelackoftransparencywithbundling,editions,components,usertypesandenvironmentswilllikelycontinue.

Ourfinalrecommendatidoesn'tmatterifthesoftwaredoesn'tdowhatyouneed.Opensourcesoftwareisstillsoftwareandshouldbeevaluatedagainstthesamesetofcriteriayouwouldusewithasimilarapplicationfromatraditionalvendor.

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Total Cost of Ownership and Business Intelligence Tools

Components of TCO for Business Intelligence

In

order

to

compare

BI

costs

and

determine

whether

open

source

matters,

we

need

to

look

brieflyattotalcostofownership.MostBITCOreportsestimatethecostbreakdownovera

threeyearperiodtobeapproximately70%labor,20%softwareand10%hardware,asshownin

Figure3.

Hardware

10%

Software

20%

Labor

70%

Astandardthreeyeartimeperiodwasusedtocalculate

thetotalinitialandongoingcostsofBIsoftware.Three

tofiveyearsarecommonlyusedbecausethattendsto

betherangecompaniesusetodepreciatecapitalized

assets,assumingtheycancapitalizesoftware.ForBI

software,alongerperiodislikelytobeabetterfit

becausetheBItoolrefreshcycleformost

implementationsisfiveyears.Wekepttothestandard

ofthreeyearsforthispaper. Figure3:divisionofBIcostsoverthreeyears

Forexample,the2007IDCstudy"DemonstratingBusinessValue:SellingtoYourCLevel

Executives"putstaffingcostintherangeof60%to85%overthreeyears.Theiradvicetosave

moneylongtermistoevaluatethefeaturesthatreducestaffingcosts.

Theproblemwiththisadviceisthatlaborsavingdifferencesarehardtofindorquantify

betweenthetoolsexceptoverthebaselineofhandcoding.Claimsofincreasedproductivityvia

new

features

are

often

offset

by

decreased

productivity

due

to

more

product

complexity.

Given

thesimilarityinfeaturesacrossBIproducts,it'sfairtoassumeproductivityisequivalentacross

mostvendors'products.Thereforetheprimarycontrollablecostwillbesoftwareandsupport.

UnderuseisanotherreasontofocusonsoftwareasakeyfactorinreducingBIcosts.Mostorganizationsarenotfullyalignedwiththeirlicenses.Someusemoresoftwarethantheirlicensesallow,butmanymorearepayingforunusedsoftware.SeveralsurveysoftheBImarketreportthatmorethanhalfofBIlicensesgounused.

Simplifying Assumptions for This Report

Tomakethecostcomparisonmorestraightforwardwemadeseveralsimplifyingassumptions:

Theunderlyingdatawarehouseisthesameinallcases,andwe'resimplylayeringBIontopofthatplatform.Thismeansthedatabaseandhardwarecostsareequivalentacross

thedifferentBItools.

TherearedifferencesinhardwarerequirementsfordifferentBItools,butit'smostoftenthecasethatifatoolhasasmallerserverfootprintthenitshiftsworkloadtothe

database,orviceversa.Thismeansthathardwarecostsaresimplyshifted,andthereis

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notasignificantdifferenceinhardwarecostacrossBIvendorsfortherangeofsize

configurationswe'reusing.

Todate,wearenotawareofanyviablequantitativestudiesshowingthatonevendorissignificantlyeasiertouseormanagethananyother.By"significant"wemeaneasierto

thepointwherethenumberofBIstaffismeasurablylowerforagivenvendor.This

meanswecanassumethatlaborcostsarereasonablycloseacrossthetools.

Allofthevendorshaveentrylevelandsmalltomidmarket(SMB)packages.Theseareusuallyrestrictedtocompaniesofagivenrevenuesizeoremployeecount,sotheycan't

beusedortheygiveadistortedviewthatappliestoonlyoneportionofthemarket.We

usedapackageonlyifitwasapplicabletoallcustomersandfitourscenarios.

Giventheseassumptions,theprimarycostdifferentiatorfromoneBIenvironmenttoanother

willnotbelaborbutthepriceofsoftwarelicensesandsupport.Henceourfocusonthetotal

costofsoftware(TCS)ratherthanthetotalcostofownership.

Community Versus Commercial Open Source

Thereisstillconfusioninthemarketaboutwhatconstitutesopensourceandthedifferencebetweencommunityandcommercialeditions.Whenwelookatsoftwarecost,wearelookingatsupported,enterpriseversionsofopensourceBIsoftwarebecausethatismostcommonlydeployedbyorganizations.Ifwewerecomparingunsupportedorcommunityeditionsofopensourcethenthepaidlicenseandsupportcostswouldbezero.

Therearetwomodelsofsupportforopensource.Oneiscommunitybasedopensource,oftencall"freeandopensource"orFOSSforshort.Theotheriscommercialopensourcesoftware,usuallyabbreviatedasCOSS.

Mostpeoplearefamiliarwiththefreeandopensourcemodelbecauseit'sbeenaroundthelongestandreceivesthemostattention.Inthismodel,volunteerscontributetodevelopmentandmaintenanceofthesoftware.Insomecases,theymaybefulltimeemployeesofanonprofitorganizationowningthesoftware,buttheprojectdoesnotoperatelikeatraditionalsoftwarecompany.Thereisnoprofitmotive.Thesoftwareisavailablefreeofchargetoanyonewhowantsit.

ManyofthemythsaboutcommercialopensourcestemfromthisorigininthesharewareandFOSSworld.Intheearlydays,opensourcewasoftendesignedandbuiltforpersonalusebyindividualdevelopersratherthanaspartofanorganization'sITinfrastructure.

BecausemostpeoplearefamiliarwiththeFOSSmodel,theymisapplytheideastotheCOSS

model.Commercialopensourcecameaboutforadifferentreason.CommercialopensourcevendorsmakemoneybyfillinggapsintheFOSSmodel,forexamplebyaddingenterprisefeaturesandsupport.

Enterpriseuseofopensourcewaschallengingintheearlydaysbecausetheproductslackedmuchofthe"finishing"workcommercialproductsreceive.DocumentationinFOSSprojectsisoftenweak,qualityvariesbasedoncommunity,andregularlyscheduledfixes,softwarereleasesandsupportareoftenlacking.

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Commercialopensourceevolvedwithrecognitionthatcompaniesarewillingtopayforsupport,service,andotherlesstangibleitemslikeindemnificationorcertifyinginteroperabilitywithothervendor'sproducts.

Acommercialopensourcevendorissimilartoatraditionalsoftwarevendor,butonedifferenceisthatthesourcecodeisnotshroudedinsecrecy.Thisenablesmoreanddeeperinteraction

betweencustomersanddevelopers,makingtheopensourcemodelmorecommunityfocusedthanthetraditionalmodel.

IncontrasttothemajorityofFOSSprojects,commercialopensourcevendorsemploymostoftheproject'sdevelopersandexpecttomakeaprofitwhiledoingso.Theyprovidethesameservicesandsupportthattraditionalvendorsdo,frequentlywithmoreflexibilityandlowercost.COSSvendorsuseelementsoftheproprietarymodelsuchasprovidingsupportcontractsorsellingnonopensourcecomponentsthatcanbepurchasedinadditionto,orinplaceof,thefreeversionofthesoftware.

Thetwodifferenteditionsofsoftwarethatareoffered(communityandcommercial)cancauseconfusion.Whenyouevaluatesoftwareitisimportanttonotewhetheryouarelookingatthe

freeorpaidversion.

COSSvendorsarestillsoftwarecompanies.Ifyoupurchaseapaidenterpriseversionthenyou'llfindthattheexperienceisnotsubstantiallydifferentthanbuyingsoftwarefromaproprietaryvendor.ThekeydifferenceisthetransparencywithwhichCOSSvendorsoperate.

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Vendor Pricing Details Used in This PaperThissectioncontainsthedetailedconfigurationsforeachvendorbysmall,mediumandlargescenarios.

Thelackoftransparencyinlicensingandpricesmadethisinformationdifficulttoobtain.We

started

with

the

information

that

is

publicly

available

at

the

GSA

web

site,

but

this

information

canbeinaccurateandoftenreflectsgovernmentdiscounts.Thereforemostofthepricinginformationherewasprovidedbyvendors.

Inallcasesweattemptedtomaintainthelistpricesandensurethatnodiscountswereappliedsoourcomparisonscouldbemeaningful.Thisexcludedallgovernment,educationalandSMBdiscounts.

Evenwiththis,pricescouldvarydependingonwhatassumptionsaremadeaboutspecificpackaging,editions,bundlesandfeatures.Wedisclosedeverylineitemandwhatusersitwasfortomaketheseassumptionsclear.

One

notable

omission

from

the

leading

BI

vendors

(based

on

market

share)

is

Microsoft.

Our

assumptionofacommondatawarehouseplatformmeantwecouldnotincludethembecausetheyforceaspecificoperatingsystemanddatabaseintothemix.Theothervendorsdon'thavethisdependency.OurestimatedpricingforMicrosoftshowedthemtoberoughlyinlinewithotherBIvendors'perusercostsifalldependenciesaretakenintoaccount.

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IBM: Cognos 8

ThepricingforIBMinthesmallconfigurationisthehighestasaresultoftheiromissionofsomecomponentsfromtheirentrylevelpackageandtheirpolicyofchargingfordevelopmentandtestenvironments.Thisaddsconsiderablytotheirpriceinboththesmallandmediumconfigurations.

Thelicensingofdevelopmentandtestisbasedon"processorvalueunits"whichvarybasedonCPUmodels.It'snecessarytoconsultIBM'swebsitetoworkouttheexactnumberofPVUstomultiplytheunitcostby.Inourcase,assumingInteldualcoreXeonprocessors,thisworkedoutto100perCPUwhichisreflectedinthe"units'columnofthepricechart.

IBMpricingforsmallBIconfiguration

User type Product Component Description Units

Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Admin / IT

IBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ADMINISTRATOR AUTHORIZED USER

LICENSE + SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 1 13,500$ -$ 13,500$ 13,500$

Admin / IT


ANNUAL SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT RENEWAL 1 -$ 2,700$ -$ 5,400$

Professional

IBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONAL AUTHORIZED USER


ProfessionalIBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONAL AUTHORIZED USERANNUAL SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT RENEWAL 1 -$ 648$ -$ 1,296$

Expert user

IBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ADVANCED BUSINESS AUTHOR

AUTHORIZED USER LICENSE + SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 3 1,630$ -$ 4,890$ 4,890$

Expert user


AUTHORIZED USER ANNUAL SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT RENEWAL 3 -$ 326$ -$ 1,956$

Basic user

IBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE CONSUMER AUTHORIZED USER

LICENSE + SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 20 865$ -$ 17,300$ 17,300$

Basic user


ANNUAL SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT RENEWAL 20 -$ 173$ -$ 6,920$

Dev environment

IBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR NON-PRODUCTION

ENVIRONMENT PROCESSOR VALUE UNIT (PVU) LICENSE + SW SUBSCRIPTION

& SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 100 338$ -$ 33,800$ 33,800$

Dev environment


ENVIRONMENT PROCESSOR VALUE UNIT (PVU) ANNUAL SW SUBSCRIPTION &

SUPPORT RENEWAL 100 -$ 68$ -$ 13,500$

Test environment n/a 0 -$ -$ -$ -$

Test environment n/a 0 -$ 68$ -$ -$

Note: dev environment is a single cpu dual core Xeon, PVU calc per IBM is 50*2 Totals 72,730$ 101,802$

Themediumconfigurationaddsusersandatestenvironment,butusesthesameeditionandmodelasthesmallconfiguration(shownonnextpage).

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IBMpricingformediumBIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Admin / IT



Admin / IT



Professional



Professional



Expert userIBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ADVANCED BUSINESS AUTHORAUTHORIZED USER LICENSE + SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 10 1,630$ -$ 16,300$ 16,300$

Expert user


AUTHORIZED USER ANNUAL SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT RENEW AL 10 -$ 326$ -$ 6,520$

Basic user



Basic user



Dev environment



& SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 200 338$ -$ 67,600$ 67,600$

Dev environment



SUPPORT RENEWAL 200 -$ 68$ -$ 27,000$

Test environment



& SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 100 338$ -$ 33,800$ 33,800$

Test environment



SUPPORT RENEWAL 100 -$ 68$ -$ 13,500$

Note: assumed dev environment is dual CPU dual core Xeon, test is 1 CPU, PVU/core per IBM is 50 Totals 227,945$ 319,063$

InthelargeconfigurationIBMcostlessthantheothertraditionallylicensedBIproducts.Basedontheirlicensestructureandpolicies,onecouldinferthattheyarefocusedonthelarger

IBMpricingforlargeBIconfiguration

environmentsattheexpenseofthesmallerendoftheBImarket.


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Admin / IT



Admin / IT



Professional



Professional



Expert user


AUTHORIZED USER LICENSE + SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 50 1,630$ -$ 81,500$ 81,500$

Expert user


AUTHORIZED USER ANNUAL SW SUBSCRIPTION & SUPPORT RENEW AL 50 -$ 326$ -$ 32,600$

Basic user



Basic user



Dev environment



& SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 200 338$ -$ 67,600$ 67,600$

Dev environment



SUPPORT RENEWAL 200 -$ 68$ -$ 27,000$

Test environment

IBM COGNOS 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR NON-PRODUCTIONENVIRONMENT PROCESSOR VALUE UNIT (PVU) LICENSE + SW SUBSCRIPTION

& SUPPORT 12 MONTHS 200 338$ -$ 67,600$ 67,600$

Test environment



SUPPORT RENEWAL 200 -$ 68$ -$ 27,000$

Note: assumed dev environment is dual CPU dual core Xeon, test is 1 CPU, PVU/core per IBM is 50 Totals 679,480$ 951,192$

Page 13


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MicroStrategy: Reporting Suite and MicroStrategy 9

ThesmallconfigurationforMicroStrategyqualifiesfortheMicroStrategyReportingSuite.Thelicensingforthiseditionisfreeforthefirst100namedusers,makingitadirectchallengertotheopensourceBIofferingsonthemarket.Thesupportcostisalsoverylow,makingitattractiveforentrylevelBIenvironmentsjustgettingstarted.

Thecostsshownarehigherthanjustthesupportcostbecauseinourconfigurationthereareafewcomponentsneededtomeetourcorefeaturerequirementsandtheseneedadditionallicenses.AnotherfactoristhelimitofReportingSuitetoasinglecore(notasingleCPU),whichseverelylimitstheusabilityoftheproduct.BuyingsupportandadditionallicensespermitsanadditionalcoreandanadditionalserverforoneofMicroStrategysservercomponents,allowingareasonabledepartmentalserverconfiguration.

ComponentrequirementsandlimitationsarethereasonitsimportanttoensurethatanyBIconfigurationyouarelookingathasthecorefeaturesyouneed.

MicroStrategypricingforsmallBIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Base license Standard Technical Support, Reporting Suite, 25 users 1 -$ 5,000$ 5,000$ 15,000$Admin / IT covered in line 1 1 -$ -$ -$ -$

Professional covered in line 1 1 -$ -$ -$ -$

Expert user MicroStrategy Report Services Option 3 400$ 88$ 1,464$ 1,992$

Expert user MicroStrategy Web Analyst Option 3 300$ 66$ 1,098$ 1,494$

Basic user MicroStrategy Report Services Option 20 400$ 88$ 9,760$ 13,280$

Dev environment Named user licenses have access to dev/test 1 -$ -$ -$ -$

Test environment n/a 0 -$ -$ -$ -$

Totals 17,322$ 31,766$

OurmediumconfigurationalsoqualifiesforMicroStrategyReportingSuite,howevertheCPUlimitationsmakeitunreasonabletoconsiderfora100userenvironment.Theenterpriselicensingisusedfortheconfiguration(showninthetablebelow).Thisisthereasonforthelargepriceincreaseovertheentrylevelconfiguration.

ThejumpincostdemonstratesoneoftheproblemswithentrylevelandSMBconfigurationsforenterprisesoftware:thecostssometimesdontscaleupasusersareadded.Thiscreatesalargeincreasewhenmovingtoenterpriseeditionlicenses.

Page 14


17/21


18/21


Oracle: Oracle Business Intell igence SE1 and EE+

ForthesmallconfigurationwewereabletotakeadvantageofOraclesBusinessIntelligenceStandardEditionOne,aBIeditionforlessthan50users.ThiseditionincludesacopyoftheOracledatabaseandOracleWarehouseBuilderbutitislimitedto2CPUs andOWBisconstrainedtothelocaldatabaseasatarget.Thismakesitunrealisticforafulldatawarehouse

environment

but

it

remains

suitable

for

the

BI

component.

OraclepricingforsmallBIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Admin / IT Server Administrator 1 5,800$ 1,276$ 7,076$ 9,628$

Admin / IT Standard Edition One 1 1,200$ 264$ 1,464$ 1,992$

Professional Standard Edition One 1 1,200$ 264$ 1,464$ 1,992$

Expert user Standard Edition One 3 1,200$ 264$ 4,392$ 5,976$

Basic user Standard Edition One 20 1,200$ 264$ 29,280$ 39,840$

Dev environment Server Administrator 1 5,800$ 1,276$ 7,076$ 9,628$

Dev environment Standard Edition One 2 1,200$ 264$ 2,928$ 3,984$

Test environment 0 0 -$ -$ -$ -$

Totals 53,680$ 73,040$

ThemediumandlargeconfigurationsbothuseOracleBusinessIntelligenceSuiteEnterpriseEditionPlus.Oraclechargesfornonproductionuse.ThecombinationofhigherperuserpricesandthechargefordevelopmentandtestenvironmentsincreasedthecostofOracleforthelargerconfigurations.

OraclepricingformediumBIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Admin / IT Server Administrator 2 5,800$ 1,276$ 14,152$ 19,256$

Admin / IT Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 2 2,000$ 440$ 4,880$ 6,640$

Professional Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 3 2,000$ 440$ 7,320$ 9,960$

Expert user Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 10 2,000$ 440$ 24,400$ 33,200$

Basic user Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 85 2,000$ 440$ 207,400$ 282,200$Dev environment Server Administrator 2 5,800$ 1,276$ 14,152$ 19,256$

Dev environment Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 5 2,000$ 440$ 12,200$ 16,600$

Test environment Server Administrator 2 5,800$ 1,276$ 14,152$ 19,256$

Test environment Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 5 2,000$ 440$ 12,200$ 16,600$

Totals 310,856$ 422,968$

ThelargeconfigurationusesthesameOBIEE+edition.


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

dmin / IT Server Administrator 3 5,800$ 1,276$ 21,228$ 28,884$

Admin / IT Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 3 2,000$ 440$ 7,320$ 9,960$

Professional Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 15 2,000$ 440$ 36,600$ 49,800$Expert user Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 50 2,000$ 440$ 122,000$ 166,000$

Basic user Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 432 2,000$ 440$ 1,054,080$ 1,434,240$

Dev environment Server Administrator 3 5,800$ 1,276$ 21,228$ 28,884$

Dev environment Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 18 2,000$ 440$ 43,920$ 59,760$

Test environment Server Administrator 3 5,800$ 1,276$ 21,228$ 28,884$

Test environment Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition Pl 18 2,000$ 440$ 43,920$ 59,760$

Totals 1,371,524$ 1,866,172$

A

Page 16


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OraclepricingforlargeBIconfigurationPentaho: Pentaho BI Suite

Pentahoprovidessoftwareunderasubscriptionlicense,withtheprimaryfactorbeingthenumberofusers.Forthesmallconfigurationweusedthe"Silver"level,whichimposesa

restriction

of

no

more

than

25

users.

Like

other

BI

vendors,

this

is

an

entry

level

license

meaningit'sdesignedprimarilyfortheSMBandstartermarket.

PentahopricingforsmallBIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Support Pentaho Silver edition 1 -$ 10,000$ 10,000$ 30,000$

Admin / IT covered in line 1 1 -$ -$ -$ -$


Expert user covered in line 1 3 -$ -$ -$ -$

Basic user covered in line 1 20 -$ -$ -$ -$

Dev environment no charge 1 -$ -$ -$ -$

Test environment 0 0 -$ -$ -$ -$

Totals 10,000$ 30,000$

Themediumconfigurationusesa"Gold"PentahoEnterpriseEditionsubscription.Theseare

unlimiteduserlicensespricedbyCPUband.Forourconfigurationthisplacesanupperlimitof6

CPUs(notcores,somulticoreCPUscanbeused).Forboththemediumandlargeconfiguration

wewerethereforeabletousethefirsttiersincetheservercouldcontainupto24cores.

Pentahopricingformedium BIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Support Pentaho Gold edition 1 -$ 29,000$ 29,000$ 87,000$




Basic user covered in line 1 85 -$ -$ -$ -$Dev environment no charge 2 -$ -$ -$ -$

Test environment no charge 3 -$ -$ -$ -$

Totals 29,000$ 87,000$

Pentahopricingforlarge BIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Support Pentaho Gold edition 1 -$ 29,000$ 29,000$ 87,000$




Basic user covered in line 1 432 -$ -$ -$ -$Dev environment no charge 2 -$ -$ -$ -$

Test environment no charge 3 -$ -$ -$ -$

Totals 29,000$ 87,000$

Page 17


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SAP: BusinessObjects Edge and Enterprise Professional

ThesmallconfigurationqualifiedfortheSAPBusinessObjectsEdgeeditionwhichincludesallrelevantfunctionalityandenoughlicensesofadminandprofessionaldevelopercomponentsthatnoadditionallicenseswererequired.TheEdgeeditionislimitedtoasingleserverbuttheserversizeisnotlimitedasitiswithsimilareditionsofMicroStrategyandOracle.

SAPpricingforsmallBIconfiguration

User type Product Component Description UnitsSoftwarePrice

SupportPrice

First YearCost

3 YearTotal

Base license Business Objects Edge 3.1 Standard 10 NUL 3 36,000$ 7,920$ 43,920$ 59,760$

Admin / IT 1 dev license per 10 NULs, covered in line 1 1 -$ -$ -$ -$

Professional 1 dev license per 10 NULs, covered in line 1 1 -$ -$ -$ -$

Expert user 1 dev license per 10 NULs, covered in line 1 3 -$ -$ -$ -$



Test environment Named user licenses have access to dev/test 0 -$ -$ -$ -$

Totals 43,920$ 59,760$

TheEdgepackagingmadeSAPmorecompetitiveforthesmallandmediumconfigurationseventhoughbothPentaho'sandMicroStrategy'sbaselicenseswerefreeandonlyafewaddoncomponentsaddedtothecostofMicroStrategy.ThismadeSAPthelowestcosttraditional

SAPpricing

vendor

for

the

medium

configuration.

formediumBIconfigurationThelargeconfigurationrequ vendors.SAPchangedtheirpricingpolicy environments,making

SAPpricingforlargeBIconfiguration


Software

Price

Support

Price

First Year

Cost

3 Year

Total

Base license Business Objects Edge 3.1 Standard 10 NUL 10 12,000$ 2,640$ 146,400$ 199,200$

Admin / IT SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise Named User 2 1,220$ 268$ 2,977$ 4,050$

Professional SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise Named User 3 1,220$ 268$ 4,465$ 6,076$

Expert user 1 dev license per 10 NULs, covered in line 1 10 -$ -$ -$ -$




Totals 153,842$ 209,326$

iredenterpriselicensing,aswithalltheotherandnolongerchargesfornonproduction

themmorecompetitivewithenterpriselicensing.

User type Product Component Description Units Price Price Cost

ar

Total

Admin / IT SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise Prof. QRA Named User 3 1,250$ 275$ 4,575$ 6,225$

Admin / IT SAP BusinessObjects Desktop Intelligence Named User 3 1,130$ 249$ 4,136$ 5,627$

Admin / IT SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise Named User 3 1,220$ 268$ 4,465$ 6,076$

Admin / IT SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Named User 3 1,130$ 249$ 4,136$ 5,627$

Professional SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise Prof. QRA Named User 15 1,250$ 275$ 22,875$ 31,125$

Professional SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise Named User 15 1,220$ 268$ 22,326$ 30,378$

Professional SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Named User 15 1,130$ 249$ 20,679$ 28,137$

Expert user SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise Prof. QRA Named User 50 1,250$ 275$ 76,250$ 103,750$

Expert user SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise Named User 50 1,220$ 268$ 74,420$ 101,260$Expert user SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Named User 50 1,130$ 249$ 68,930$ 93,790$

Basic user SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise Prof. QRA Named User 432 1,250$ 275$ 658,800$ 896,400$

Basic user SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise Interactive Viewing NUL 432 570$ 125$ 300,413$ 408,758$

Basic user SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Interactive Viewing NUL 432 570$ 125$ 300,413$ 408,758$



Totals 1,562,417$ 2,125,912$

Software Support First Year 3 Ye

Page 18


21/21


About the Author

MarkMadsenisaresearchanalystfocusedoninformationmanagement,BIandanalytics.MarkisanawardwinningarchitectandformerCTOwhoseworkhasbeenfeaturedinnumerous

industry

publications.

He

is

an

international

speaker

and

manages

the

open

source

channel

at

theBusinessIntelligenceNetwork.FormoreinformationortocontactMark,visithttp://ThirdNature.net.

ThirdNatureisaresearchandconsultingfirmfocusedonnewpracticesandemergingtechnologyforbusinessintelligence,dataintegrationandinformationmanagement.Thegoalofthecompanyistohelp

organizationslearnhowtotakeadvantageofnewinformationdrivenmanagementpracticesandapplications.Weofferconsulting,educationandresearchservicestosupportbusinessandITorganizationsandtechnologyvendors.

lowering the cost of business intelligence with open source

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