Beyond performance management, the latest platform enhancements aim to improve critical business decision-making elements, including data integrity, business intelligence and advanced analytics, according to Michael Corcoran, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Information Builders.
“In many of these areas, [WebFOCUS 8] goes beyond what the bigger guys have,” says Mark Smith, CEO and executive vice president of research for Ventana Research comparing the new release to Oracle and SAP products. “Here you have flexibility and customization to assemble and deploy what you need when you need it.”
According to Information Builders, WebFOCUS 8 boasts the ability to incorporate data profiling, real-time data quality management and master data management capabilities, with tools that cleanse, enrich and merge and match all data assets.
Additionally, the performance management framework is fully integrated into the platform and linked to analytical and operational reporting features. IT and the business are able to collaborate with metrics in this edition, with the addition of key risk indicators, scorecards, dashboards and strategy maps.
The integration of performance management brings the business side and IT closer together, according to Smith. Embedding collaboration elements is something that the business has been wanting for a while.
Rich Internet applications are built within the environment, allowing developers to incorporate animation, Web 2.0 gadgets and interactive GIS without third party tools. The new release also includes real-time business activity monitoring and the ability to enable complex event processing.
WebFOCUS 8 is now available in beta form.
Adrienne Baker is associate editor at Information Management. She can be reached at adrienne.baker@sourcemedia.com.
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