Today’s business intelligence (BI) software products are expected to handle a broad spectrum of activities, from scheduled reporting to ad hoc queries to complex analytical processing. To meet user needs, BI vendors that were formerly concerned mainly with enterprise reporting are now delivering enterprise business intelligence suites (EBIS) consisting of production reporting, portal connections, spreadsheet connections, ad hoc reporting, and OLAP viewing.

This makes it easier to purchase and maintain software assets because IT managers can minimize the number of vendors they work with. But it also necessitates careful planning and cost projections to ensure IT resources aren’t overwhelmed by burgeoning use of the tools.