We came across a very funny page on a proprietary vendor’s web site:
“Why do companies and organizations look to MicroStrategy for best-in-class reporting and business intelligence?”

We particularly liked Reason 4:

4. Better than open source
“Unlike some code in open source reporting products, MicroStrategy’s code is 100% safe and secure. We understand that many companies restrict the use of open source products to protect themselves from legal issues that can arise from misappropriated code. MicroStrategy supports the open source movement, ensuring that our products are optimized for open source operating systems (Linux), databases (mySQL and PostgreSQL), Web servers (Apache HTTP Server), and application servers (Apache Tomcat and JBoss). It’s important to note that open source BI products are not as mature as those from commercial vendors and they require more developer and administrator expertise, which increases the total cost of ownership.”

This is an excellent example of how to present every open source cliché in less than 150 words: unreliability, lack of maturity, TCO increaser, etc.

Is the code in open source reporting products safer, or less safe, than proprietary solutions? I can only say that open source vendors try to respect standards, which is hardly the case with the majority of proprietary vendors. And if, by chance, this is not the case, the open source user can dive into the code and correct it. Can you say the same for proprietary products?

And how can companies using MicroStrategy “protect themselves from legal issues that can arise from misappropriated code?”  Oh yes… their indemnification clause. Open source has that, too.

Does MicroStrategy support the open source movement to ensure that its products are optimized for open source operating systems, because the company supports proprietary alternatives? Or because USERS DEMAND IT?

And where do they get that open source BI products are not as mature as those from commercial vendors?

Old quibbles, old trial, old lies

MicroStrategy seems like the last of the dinosaurs: still alive, yes, but for how long. With thinking like this, I won’t be at all surprised to welcome a few new clients who want to find out if open source solutions really increase TCO. Let’s help them increase their knowledge!

Bertrand

Heard anything about Informatica lately? The news I get isn’t very good. Amid speculation of a takeover and rumors of irrelevance, it seems that the historical leader of proprietary data integration technologies is more than ever at a crossroads.

On one hand, the Redwood City company particularly distinguished itself by its absence at the TDWI conference and show - the event of the BI world in spite of the presence of its principal competitors: SAP, Oracle, IBM, and Talend. We’ve become accustomed to a more commanding presence from Informatica which, this year, seems to have decided to save. Sometimes an absence speaks more loudly than a presence. And it seems that most of the major announcements at TDWI were from vendors offering alternatives, such as open source. See our launch of version 3.1 of our flagship products, or Vertica’s introduction of Vertica Analytic Database 3.0.

At the same time, Informatica World 2009, the vendor’s annual conference scheduled to be held June 2nd through 4th in Las Vegas was canceled and replaced by a 2-day event called - I’m not making this up - “Deep Dive”.  Maybe a reference to the future of the company? Of course, the cancellation was “because of the uncertainty with the worldwide economy, and in response to feedback from many of you, our customers, who are feeling the pressure to contain costs” and not for Informatica’s budgetary concerns. Sure.

Meanwhile the company announced its financial results for last quarter - $109.1 million, up five percent from the $103.7 million, recorded in the first quarter of 2008, as well as the acquisition of Applimation for approximately $40 million. However, listening carefully to the earnings call on April 23, 2009 we learned that Informatica signed only 59 new customers this past quarter. Given a sales force of approximately 300, this is particularly low - only one sales rep in five managed to convince a prospect - which underlines the difficulties they are having today in positioning themselves against the competition, and especially against open source. Clearly, change is in the air. In comparison, Talend signs over 50 new accounts per month!

According to certain knowledgeable sources, Informatica is finding it difficult to maintain its lead as a proprietary vendor and the race for acquisitions as a means of incorporating new functionality can’t go on much longer. But where Informatica is experiencing the greatest difficulty is in convincing companies that to integrate data they must invest considerably more than they would for open source solutions and for a similar result. We know this because more and more often we’re competing for the same accounts.

This sort of information can’t be pleasant for Informatica’s management. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rumors proved true in the coming months

This perspective proves that the big proprietary vendors have missed the boat in this new computing era, which depends on regular communication with clients and, especially, a break away from licensing and focus on service. We saw that last week with SAP’s announcement of its new support policy. And Oracle is hearing the same tune as it sees the massive migration of former Sunopsis users to open source alternatives.

In the end, it’s always the users who decide and this is mostly good news for open source vendors - and for the users of course!

Bertrand