SQL Server to Link with OLAP Competitor

The SQL Server business intelligence (BI) platform will be linked with System 9 BI+, a package of financial analysis and business performance management solutions from Hyperion, according to an Apr. 2006 announcement from the companies. Hyperion is the second largest vendor of online analytic processing (OLAP) software and the closest competitor to SQL Server Analysis Services, Microsoft’s OLAP and data mining platform. Integration could benefit the companies’ joint customers, giving them a way of consolidating views of data stored in Hyperion and Microsoft systems.

Integration will take multiple forms, according to the announcement. For example, customers will be able to use Reporting Services, SQL Server’s managed reporting platform, to build reports from data in Essbase Analytics, Hyperion’s OLAP platform. In addition, customers will be able to use Hyperion’s analysis and visualization tools to view data stored in Analysis Services. Furthermore, the announcement indicates that Hyperion will be able to use Integration Services—SQL Server’s extract, transform, and load (ETL) engine—to gather data from heterogeneous data sources.