Microstrategy Cloud BI is one of the premier enterprise cloud BI solutions. It delivers all the functionality of the Microstrategy BI platform, but without the infrastructure and operational costs. In fact with its BI, analytics and data integration capabilities it will provide a complete analytics solution for many organisations (and Microstratgy also supports the deployment of predictive analytics models). MicroStrategy’s unique Direct Connect technology provides high performance access to any on-premises or cloud-based data source.
It provides all the charts, dashboards, reporting and analytics capabilities that might reasonably be needed, and the mobile device support is rated as the best in the industry. Drill down, drill through, pivots and filters are directly available in dashboards and other structures, and the user interface is primarily drag and drop with context menus when needed.
Document distribution can be scheduled as needed, and users can subscribe to reports provided the necessary permissions are granted. Extensive collaboration features mean tens can get the information they need, and provide input as required.
The price of Microstrategy products and services can be high, but there is an element of ‘you get what you pay for’ involved here.
It should be remembered that Microstrategy is a long term player in BI, and its solutions have matured to meet enterprise needs. The cloud solution does not compromise this in any way, and the extensive data integration capabilities mean that virtually all data sources can be employed – internal and external. In any case Microstrategy provides free desktop versions of its BI platform so users can try (for as long as they like), before they buy.
These free versions are not some cut down offering, but fully functional and capable of connecting with a variety of data sources. The cloud version is the same product and so the interface is pretty much the same.