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Tools Comparison 
The tools in the BI market vary as widely as tools in other software application areas, from simple and free, to sophisticated and expensive. If we look at the different types of solutions, for reporting, analysis, and measurement – we can better understand the pro’s and con’s of their feature sets.
At the high end of the cost and sophistication spectrum, we find Cognos and Business Objects. These companies provide large BI offerings in their own right and many large companies use them to provide variations of BI solutions to end users. However many innovative companies today are using pieces of these high-end products, as web-parts in Microsoft BI Solutions that make use of Business Scorecard Manager for the overall presentation.
ProClarity is another example of a higher-end analysis product, and Microsoft recently purchased the company to round the Microsoft BI suite based on SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft Office analytical tools.
BI for the Masses
As the broad range of the market is trending toward “BI for the masses” in an attempt to put real-time performance data into the hands of organizational workers, the mid-range tools are enjoying an increasing popularity.
Thus in many Microsoft oriented BI Solutions today we are seeing Microsoft’s Business Scorecard Manager for scorecards, Excel Pivot-Tables and Pivot-Charts for analysis, and SQL Server reporting tools such as Cizer.Net ad-hoc reporting – all of which can be used by business people without having to go to class or read a manual.
Looking at what is out there today, it is important to note that the Gartner Group shows the Microsoft BI toolset as increasing in sophistication; approaching the capability of the high-end tools at a fraction of the cost.
Savvy customers are also finding that the Microsoft tools and 3rd party extensions such as a Cizer.Net Reporting, are easier to integrate because they are built on a common SQL Server 2005 platform, and Microsoft Office aesthetic.