10 technical features that make a Business Intelligence solution scalable

So what are the important factors that make a Business Intelligence (BI) solution easily scalable? There are a plethora of reasons, but here are ten technology factors to consider:

1. LDAP connectivity: The ability for a BI solution to connect to an organization’s LDAP server enables any employee recognized by the existing network to immediately log onto, and start using, the BI platform.

 

2. Web-based: A Web-based BI application ensures all users, no matter time or location, have the same up-to-date view of their organizational data – data is delivered and consumed in a uniform environment.
   1. Multi-threaded environment: A Web-based application also provides a multi-threaded environment that allows users to share resources concurrently.

    

3. Java-based: An enterprise Java-based application can leverage open standards to ensure the best possible integration with multiple operating systems (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc), architecture and security systems. Support for multiple platforms allows data to be processed on the platform where it resides, to minimize network usage, and optimize performance.

 

4. Support for multiple databases, sources and data types: Support for a breadth of databases and data types enables an organization to quickly extract and analyze the breath of its data to gain a complete near real-time view of its operations.

 

5. Federated queries: The ability to combine data from different systems in a single report empowers users to discover and examine new relationships and trends between various business operations, functions and departments.

 

6. Single integrated application: A single integrated application makes it easy to increase deployment size because all the components of the solution can be scaled simultaneously.

 

7. Stateless connection: A BI solution with a stateless connection means that the CPU is only engaged, and database operations only performed, in the instant when an action or query is performed. Therefore, a stateless connection supports more concurrent users and allows a greater number of queries to be performed faster.

 

8. Session replication: Session replication allows users to experience seamless connectivity. If a user’s connection drops-out during a session, they are automatically transferred to another server where their session information has been automatically stored. From a users perspective, their session is never disturbed or disrupted.

 

9. Easy installation: Avoid BI solutions with cumbersome installation processes that require each prospective user to install a client on their PC.

 

10. Data restriction and security: The ability to easily partition data access by user group/type, and a robust user authentication process, are both critical to effective data management practices for BI deployments of scale. Data partitioning and user authentication ensure the security of corporate data assets, and are increasingly important, given the mounting number of people accessing, analyzing and sharing corporate data from mobile devices.