| Interview with Yellowfin Business Intelligence CEO Glen Rabie [message #247337] |
Wed, 11 July 2007 12:56 |
Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: info.yellowfin.com.au
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(ACP) Reporter Michael T Franks recently had the opportunity to talk to
Yellowfin CEO Glen Rabie about Business Intelligence software, Web/BI 2, the
BI software scene and Yellowfin's aggressive approach to a competitive
market space. Here is that complete interview:
Michael Franks: What do you think about the uptake of business intelligence
in the corporate community?
Glen Rabie: BI is pervasive, in the sense that virtually all organisations
in some form within their IT environment - from excel through to the big
global brands. If we exclude excel from the equation, however, we know that
75% of BI software ends up as shelf ware - only partially implemented and
often not at all. It's the pain, complexity and cost that are holding up
this market segment.
MF: What is Yellowfin's position in the current BI climate?
GR: Fast growing and dynamic. We are not locked into the old way of doing
things and are delivering fantastic results through our easy to use and
implement solution.
MF: Gartner rates Business intelligence as number two in the list of
priorities for CIO's. Is that your shared perception?
GR: I think as a concept yes that would be correct - but the gap between a
strategic wish and the realities of operational IT, which tends to be shaped
by IT priorities, is large. For example I have been watching this list for
a number of years now and it is always the same - BI is number one or two.
I just do not believe that with the traditional tool sets and approach that
BI is actually being delivered in line with this Strategic need.
MF: Yellowfin's motto is "Making BI Easy", what does that really mean for
you?
GR: It comes back to basics. Who is the customer? Most BI products are
developer centric tools not end user or business user applications. They
have been designed for the wrong person - what do most developers know about
business information and analysis needs? So why create tools for the techie
when really the business user needs to be able to access their own data. I
know everyone is talking about this but at Yellowfin we are passionate about
it. What we strive for in our user interface is an application that anyone
with basic web skills and business knowledge can use to gain insight into
their business - it is that simple. What this means however, is that it has
to be easy to implement, integrate and use - BI is a life cycle. We are
also aware that for us it is a journey and that is why with each new release
we aim to make BI even easier.
MF: Talking about new releases, you have just released version 3.2. Is this
a major release and what can you tell us about any new features you are
excited about?
GR: I have to be honest I get excited about every Yellowfin release. This
one especially - we have really made some wonderful changes to the UI - we
just keep refining and refining. Also this release and 3.3 will be heavily
focussed on data visualisation - so better charting options, and more user
interaction with the data such as date sliders and the ability to annotate
data in a report. Very very exciting stuff. The positive feedback we are
getting is overwhelming.
MF: What is Yellowfin's position on WEB2 and BI 2 market trends, are they
real or just marketing hype ?
GR: Hype - all technologies mature and Web2.0 is just a continuum of
improved delivery over the web. Where is the quantum leap that really gets
people taking notice? For my part I am waiting for Web3.0!
MF: How far can you go in BI innovation, are there only so many sensible
ways to deal with data sets.?
GR: Probably - it is all pretty basic - tables and charts - it's the
delivery that matters. I think the future of BI is going to come through
improvements in web delivery, and collaboration. The reality though is that
most users still just want to generate fairly basic reports - and this after
15 years of a recognised BI market - why not get this bit right before
trying to deliver too many more widgets.
MF: How has the market reacted to your interesting approach to pricing
structures ?
GR: I assume you are referring to our OEM pricing. Well with much interest
and bemusement. Our model is easy - we do not have a price for an OEM
partner - we work with them to determine a pricing structure that best fits
their price model. It is the only way that we can ensure maximised revenue
for all. We do not give Yellowfin away but we determine how it fits for
each partner uniquely.
MF: How is the Yellowfin platform doing in the corporate space from your
perspective?
GR: Very well - through our channel partners - either OEM or resellers
Yellowfin has been very successful in quickly entering the market and
securing very large customer sites. We continue to focus on solving
specific BI issues that can quickly deliver a ROI rather than bloated
enterprise deployments.
MF: Ok, let's talk about Business Objects and Cognos. Clearly in terms of
market share these are the leaders, both having strong presence in large
global corporations. How do you compete or not compete with these
established players ?
GR: I think they need to re-think their strategy. Their market - the top
500 is saturated with product and yet not delivering results - and their
attempts to capture the mid-market are set for failure. To work in these
markets you have to be channel centric. Yet even though they rely on
channels for implementation the predominant strategy continues to be direct
selling. It's going to be tough for them. Also the market is changing.
Embedded BI is shifting the goal posts - big enterprise projects have failed
and most users just want to get data out of the business processes they are
responsible for. I think the biggest threat is going to be nimble players
that can cherry pick multiple processes within an organisation through
multiple channels and grow customer share.
MM: What about the open source applications, like Pentaho? Are they a
competitive threat in the BI market?
GR: The Pentaho and Jasper Soft approach is an interesting model - yes open
source - but scratch the surface and if you want enterprise support or the
best tools they have to offer you are back to a user pays scenario. The
issue facing open source BI is that users - either corporate users or
software vendors do not actually want to get their hands dirty in the code.
They both have core businesses to worry about. So when paying the same for
a quasi open source versus a proprietary application chances are that
companies will choose the best product - now being biased I would say that
would be Yellowfin! What I love about them is that they are raising
awareness of alternative BI options.
MF: Microsoft is dipping more than its big toe in the BI market. What sort
of threat are they to both the niche and established players in the market?
GR: Well they are a threat - and always have been. Excel is their BI
platform. Reporting and Analytical services are woeful end user reporting
solutions. I think that even Microsoft will compete with itself in the BI
space - their market which is the excel user is incredibly hard to convert -
especially if the tools on offer do not live up to the same level of ease of
use. Their underlying strategy is to own the enterprise stack. This will
be their failure in the long run because they do not have a laser like focus
on BI - it will just be another product in their stable. That approach will
just not be good enough moving forward.
MF: Is educating the market about Yellowfin a major strategic imperative?
GR: Yes and no - like all new kids on the block we do not have a globally
recognizable brand. But then outside of BI neither do Business Objects or
Cognos. Sure if you know the industry you know the products but take one
step outside and it is a free for all. One thing that has occurred over the
past 10 years is that there has been a massive education of the market for
BI in general. So when people go looking for product they tend to be
scouring the web to find what's right for them - and this is what is working
for us. Either web traffic or channels - both are quickly growing our base.
MF: You mentioned that making your software easy and friendly is a clear
point of differentiation for Yellowfin in the market, are other BI products
so unfriendly, haven't they spent massive amounts on product development?
GR: Well they have - and I would suggest that a fair component of that spend
has been on what are now legacy applications and integration of 3rd party
acquired products. Coming back to my earlier point we have a different end
user. The traditional tools are aimed at developers whilst our entire
application is written with the business user in mind. An easy to use,
fully integrated web interface.
MF: Do you give away anything for free?
GR: Yes - advice. Try Yellowfin you will be amazed! Oh yes our evaluation
and developer licenses are free.
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