With the help of Logi Analytics, Progress Software has embedded business intelligence capabilities into its integrated stack of enterprise software, providing its customers with another way to wrangle more useful knowledge from their business data.
Progress OpenEdge Analytics360 should cost enterprises much less than a typical BI implementation would run, said Bob Palumbo, Progress’ vice president of product marketing and management.
The new offering is integrated into Progress’ OpenEdge development platform. OpenEdge is a complete stack for building enterprise applications, including development tools, middleware and a database. Approximately 1,500 independent software vendors, integrators, and Progress channel partners use OpenEdge to build and run applications on behalf of about 50,000 organizations.
The new package is based on the BI suite of tools from Logi Analytics, and includes capabilities for user dashboards, ad hoc queries, and visual analysis. The functionality can be embedded into other Progress applications, giving end users the ability to manipulate interactive graphs and charts from within the application itself.
The release was driven by customer demand for a built-in BI package, according to Jerry Rulli, president of the Progress OpenEdge business unit. Previously, customers would have to install and configure BI software from scratch, as well as install, configure and maintain the supporting databases and data warehouse software.
Running BI software on top of the OpenEdge database and associated middleware eliminates most of this setup work, as well as the ongoing maintenance chores.
Progress hopes the package will provide additional savings with a set of key performance indicators (KPIs), or useful metrics designed to meet the specific needs of a variety of industries, eliminating the need for each organization to generate KPIs on their own. Channel partners can also further customize the software for the specific industry verticals they serve.
Education software provider Skyward has been using an early version of the product to build a system for school principals and teachers to quickly see how well their students fare with new lesson plans and programs. The company was able to develop the software in about three months, much more quickly than it can take to build out a full BI system from scratch, according to the company.
This is not the first time Progress has offered an integrated BI package for its customers; the company has also offered software from Crystal Reports and Actuate.
The core offering costs around $50,000 for a basic implementation, and can vary depending on the size and complexity of installation.
Progress announced the product at its annual users’ group meeting, held this week in Westford, Massachusetts.