BI platforms allow users to build applications to help them get to know, understand and optimize their business. Gartner defines a BI platform as a software platform that offers 13 different functionalities.
These functions are organized into 3 categories: integration, information supply, and analysis. In 2009
many large suppliers have focused on improving integration of BI platform components to achieve better collaboration between their often externally acquired tools. Information supply continues to be the core focus of most BI projects today, however Gartner sees an increase in demand for tools that enable more simple and intuitive analyses of data to gain new insights.
Gartner's BI platform definition has largely stayed the same as in former years, however this year a 13th functionality was added for “search-based BI”.
(Quoted and interpreted from below source.)
OLAP — This enables end users to analyze data with extremely fast query and calculation performance, enabling a style of analysis known as “slicing and dicing.” This capability could span a variety of storage architectures, such as relational, multidimensional and in-memory.
Interactive visualization — This gives the ability to display numerous aspects of the data more efficiently by using interactive pictures and charts, instead of rows and columns. Over time, advanced visualization will go beyond just slicing and dicing data to include more process-driven BI projects, allowing all stakeholders to better understand the workflow through a visual representation.
Predictive modeling and data mining — This capability enables organizations to classify categorical variables and to estimate continuous variables using advanced mathematical techniques. BI developers are able to integrate models easily into BI reports, dashboards and analysis.
Scorecards — These take the metrics displayed in a dashboard a step further by applying them to a strategy map that aligns key performance indicators with a strategic objective. Scorecard metrics should be linked to related reports and information to perform further analysis. A scorecard implies the use of a performance management methodology such as Six Sigma or a balanced scorecard framework.
Source: Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, Rita L. Sallam, Bill Hostmann, James Richardson, Andreas Bitterer, 29 januari 2010. Interpreted by John Geerlings MSc.