Do you want to gain a holistic view of your business processes? With stockpiles of data stored in organizational warehouses, business intelligence and reporting tools transform unstructured data into actionable insights for businesses to enable faster decision-making and profitable operations.
Combining data and text mining, predictive analytics, and performance management, business intelligence is a vast field that derives relevant information by analyzing raw unstructured data. Whether it is the human resource strategic department, business intelligence and reporting tools cover it all. According to MicroStrategy’s survey, 64% of users credit their success to Business intelligence tools. Today, we reveal the top 7 open source business intelligence and reporting tools.
Business Intelligence and Reporting
Ever wondered where all the raw data goes? Businesses generate data in massive quantities and if not utilized correctly, it might cause them to lose out on tactical strategies and effective decision-making. Human interpretations are getting obsolete with every passing day as businesses are aware of the discrepancies found between human intelligence and actual outcomes. This is where business intelligence comes into play. Business intelligence is the utilization of BI tools to create comprehensive reports and charts that provide an overall view of the historical performance and future trends.
The top three departments supported by BI tools comprise executive management, finance, and operations as per Dresner. On the whole, business intelligence tools have taken over the business arena and organizations are adopting this newfound technology to thrive in the evolving marketplace.
The Uses of Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools
Competitive Analysis
Businesses do not operate in isolation from their competitors. To assess the external threats and opportunities in the competitive environment, businesses deploy BI tools. Many businesses are under the impression that utilizing basic information from Google Analytics and account statements are enough to stay competitive but it actually requires business intelligence tools to remain ahead of the competition.
Business intelligence tools not only analyze the current market performance but leverage historical data, market trends, and social signals to generate insights and drive growth. Sign up for DotNet Report’s services today and remain two steps ahead of the competition.
Risk Identification
Business Intelligence software uncovers what usually remains hidden from the management’s perspective. With thousands of risks lingering over your organization’s head all the time, it would be a grave mistake to remain oblivious to the whole situation. Business intelligence tools enable organizations to gain an understanding of the market trends and forecast future situations to make the right financial, hiring, and operational decisions. DotNet Report’s predictive analytics feature detects threats, generates leads and estimates the financial performance of the organization.
Track Information
Organizations that fail to meet the ongoing market requirements and stick to conventional data analysis methods often suffer at the hands of data mismanagement. With heaps of data entering an organization daily, businesses prefer relying on business intelligence tools for data centralization and analysis.
Business Intelligence tools such as DotNet Report offer unparalleled features that generate comprehensive and visually appealing reports to translate data into an actionable format. By centralizing the decentralized data on a single platform, DotNet guarantees higher ROI and faster decision-making.
Top 7 Open Source Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools
1. DotNet Report
According to NewVantage Partners, a striking 73.4% of organizations currently see it as a challenge to adopt BI tools. Whether there is a lack of knowledge or simply the complex process of installing a business intelligence software, businesses are often reluctant to switch to business intelligence and reporting tools. As a relatively new entrant in the market, DotNet Report offers an easily embeddable open source ad hoc reporting engine. By embedding our software into your system, you will be able to gain access to the following features.
Features
- Automatic drill-down reports
- Export to PDF option
- Schedule reports
- Personalized charts, reports, and graphs
- Visual customizable dashboards
- Multi-tenant user support
- Server-side sorting
- Report scheduler
- Open source front-end that facilitates brand alignment
In the past, the complexity of BI and reporting tools limited report generation to the IT department. Executives relied on technical support to gain an insight into the overall performance of the organization and guide future action. Our goal is to bring an end to this external reliance and offer a tool that eradicates the need of the IT department.
With our self-service reporting tool, executives can generate business reports on their own, saving 30% of the IT department’s time. Our open-source code enables a seamless transition into high-quality reports. Users can also personalize the layout through an open-source front-end code to align it with their brand image. Regardless of the number of users and servers, our pricing range remains affordable for small and medium-sized businesses. Currently, we offer the following packages.
Packages
- Open (free trial version)
- Premium ($85/month)
- Premium ($165/month)
- Enterprise ($635/month)
The packages vary according to features, so we recommend you to avail the free trial version before signing up for any of the above-mentioned packages.
An Insight into DotNet Report’s Timeline
- Install DotNet Report and run the free trial version
- Purchase license
- Incorporate it into your existing systems
- Release the beta version
- By the end of week 4, users can start generating reports
To gain a sneak peek of our offerings, book a demo today.
2. JasperSoft BI Tools
Equipping you with self-service capabilities and embeddable dashboards and reports, JasperSoft is one of the top business intelligence tools present in the market.
Solutions
- Embedded reporting software
- Production reporting software that generates large amounts of interactive reports
Currently, it is serving the educational, financial, and government sectors with its insightful
software and web-based reports. The on-demand demo showcases its capabilities, dashboards and data visualization, and embedding methods. One of the drawbacks is the lack of response to queries from the JI community. The pricing begins at £233.00 per year and varies according to features.
3. Metabase
Most businesses are reluctant to adopt business intelligence tools as it requires a certain level of expertise. Metabase is a business intelligence tool that offers a user-friendly interface and one of the fastest sets up which takes only five minutes to complete. Facilitating the whole team, this business intelligence tool translates data into easy-to-comprehend visualizations.
Products
- Business analytics
- Embedded analytics
- Interactive dashboards
Pricing
- Starter ($85/month)
- Pro ($500/month)
- Enterprise (Custom quote)
It offers customized solutions for small, medium, and large enterprises. However, it offers a limited range of AI/ML features and data visualizations. We recommend you sign up for a 14-day free trial version before purchasing the product.
4. Knowage
A business intelligence tool that not only focuses on the present but generates future insight too, Knowage, is one of the top business intelligence tools that facilitate data-driven growth. Catering to conventional business requirements and fusing them with modern business intelligence is Knowage’s unique selling proposition. Let’s take a look at its features and offerings.
Features
- Data preparation
- Data exploration
- Ad-hoc reporting
- Data mining
- Data visualization
- Augmented analytics
Along with these features, it provides additional administrative support to the management by monitoring profiles, auditing department, subscriptions, etc.
Annual Pricing Plans
- Essential (12.800,00 EUR)
- Professional (16.000,00 EUR)
- Extensive (23.500,00 EUR)
Visit the website for registration and further information.
5. Preset
Powered by an open-source Apache Superset, Preset is a contemporary business intelligence tool for the whole team. It is an easy-to-use software that requires no additional support or extensive training programs. Preset aims to unlock data potential by transforming raw data into insightful reports for the entire team.
Features
- 40+ data visualizations
- Interactive dashboards
- Comprehensive charts
- Slack integration
Pricing
- Starter (Free)
- Professional ($20/month)
- Enterprise (Custom)
You gain access to dashboards that represent your data through a few click. Register here for a free trial.
6. Looker
Looker is a business intelligence tool that enables users to control and analyze data for data-driven decision-making. Currently serving 2000 businesses worldwide, Looker is surely one of the top business intelligence tools that exist in the market today.
Features
- Data metrics combination
- 360-degree user understanding
- Data control
Looker does not limit its features to technical experts only; interactive dashboards facilitate users at every level. The current pricing range is $3000-$5000 per month. To book a demo.
7. Tableau
Created by an academy award-winning professor and a data scientist, Tableau is a leading business intelligence software company. Its customers receive an end-to-end solution that fits all the business requirements. Users can either opt for the self-hosting or tableau-hosting option.
Features
- Vast personalization options
- AskData feature
- Tablet and mobile support
- Multiple data connectors
- Embedded analytics
- CRM analytics
Pricing
- Tableau viewer ($15/month)
- Tableau explorer ($42/month)
- Tableau creator ($70/month)
Unfortunately, Tableau only offers fixed pricing models.
Amongst all the open source business intelligence tools present in the market, DotNet Report is one of the leading companies that offer a seamlessly embeddable ad-hoc engine. Our unparalleled customer support begins with a free trial and continues throughout the product’s lifetime.
Visit our website to schedule a demo or sign up for the free trial version today and generate actionable insights for your business.
Limitations to Using Open Source Business Intelligence Platform
One of the major limitations to using open source business intelligence platform is the lack of vendor support.
Open source software is created, developed, and maintained by volunteers or small teams with limited resources.
This means there are fewer people available to provide technical expertise and support when problems arise or if questions about platform capabilities come up.
You should also know that not all open source solutions have active communities where users can find help from peers.
Another limitation to using open source business intelligence platform is that they may be difficult to implement and customize due to a lack of user-friendly tools.
Open source solutions often require manually coding queries and scripts instead of relying on easy-to-use drag-and-drop interfaces as in commercial solutions, making them less accessible for novice users.
Furthermore, some products may be missing key features of commercial alternatives such as visualizations or reporting tools which makes them inadequate for certain use cases.
In addition to the aforementioned information, it can be challenging or costly depending on the situation to integrate open source business intelligence platforms into existing IT infrastructure due to compatibility issues with other applications or databases that need accessing for analytics projects to run successfully.
What’s more important is the fact that security protocols are properly set up within an organization’s IT systems when working with sensitive data types so appropriate measures must be taken when deploying an open source solution in order to ensure users comply with regulations, such as; GDPR or HIPAA standards related privacy and data protection laws.
Benefits of Using Open Source Business Intelligence Software Over Conventional Tools
Open source business intelligence software offers numerous benefits when compared to conventional tools. These benefits include:
1. Cost savings aspect concerning open source business intelligence tools
Open source business intelligence products are typically free or have lower costs associated with them than commercially available options.
This makes open source solutions ideal for businesses on a tight budget, as well as those who may not need the features of more expensive tools.
Because most open source business intelligence tools do not require licensing fees or maintenance costs, there is less financial risk for businesses that opt for these solutions over traditional ones.
2. Flexibility
Open source business intelligence products provide users with significant flexibility when it comes to their data processing needs.
Many open source products are highly configurable and allow users to customize various aspects of their solution to meet their specific requirements.
Traditional corporate analytics systems can often be inflexible and cannot be fully tailored towards an organization’s unique needs.
3. Security
Open-source software is generally secure since its code base is publicly accessible and regularly updated by developers all around the world looking for potential vulnerabilities in the code.
Since this process allows any bug or security issue to be found quickly and fixed swiftly, organizations can rest easy knowing that their information is secure in an open-source system over traditional systems which can be more difficult to maintain due to proprietary coding and complex infrastructure components.
FAQS
Is There Any Program Interpreted As The Ultimate Open Source Business Intelligence Tool?
Guess what? You’re in luck this time.
Other than Dotnet Report, yes, there is such a program available that has been interpreted as the ultimate open source business intelligence tool.
This program is called Pentaho Business Analytics Suite, and it is an end-to-end business intelligence solution that provides data integration, visualization, analysis, and reporting capabilities for organizations of all sizes.
Pentaho allows users to measure performance across multiple dimensions to identify trends, improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and manage risk more effectively.
From a cursory perspective, the tool offers all the features needed for an enterprise-level BI system including data warehousing components to build cubes from structured data sources, and flexible reporting tools with easy access to real-time information. Furthermore, since this software uses open source technology (the Apache Foundation’s HadoopBig Data platform), organizations have full flexibility in terms of customization according to their requirements.
