Yellowfin Business Intelligence Review

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Product Details

Like other BI vendors, Yellowfin emphasizes user ability to create their own reports while maintaining IT governance. But Yellowfin also offers more functionalities within the platform, such as connecting from multiple data sources on the fly, the ability to drill anywhere within the data, and advanced calculations. Yellowfin also has over 50 data visualization types for users to choose from.

In 2014, Yellowfin has released Yellowfin 7 with enhanced features. For instance, Yellowfin has introduced its new content-creation module for streamlining BI steps and includes easy-to-configure formatting controls for mass distribution. Also within this module is the ability to create multiple charts within a single dataset, and to add custom text, images, or annotation for data visualization. Other enhancements include ad-hoc analysis from any browser or mobile device. Users can also view, sort and explore their BI content from their mobile device. And finally, there is an enhanced Administration Console that streamlines administration functions, i.e. allowing administrators to manage their account and users within a single screen.

Features

We've indicated Yellowfin's standard features below. However, we want to highlight a few additional features.

Like most BI vendors, Yellowfin offers mobile BI capability. Yet, one unique feature is its Location Intelligence. The Location Intelligence functionality allows users to see their data in map form, in addition to charts, graphs, etc. When looking at a map, users can find geographic trends (i.e. customer demographic) within their data. Users can also find new customer markets to tap into. Yellowfin offers a variety of mapping visualization formats, allowing users to easly merge spatial and regular data to create multilayered maps in a variety for formats, from basic Google Maps, to GIS data sets and Web Maps Services (WMS). Yellowfin also allows users to integrate or create mash-ups using existing GIS tools – such as ESRI or MapInfo – via WMS.

Yellowfin also promotes collaboration within its BI platform. Users can share data and reports within their company or outside of the company. Other users can then follow the data and even make comments, much like a social media site. Users can even customize his or her "timeline" and even create decision polls. Timeline is similar to a Facebook newsfeed - it catalogs each user's actions within Yellowfin. Yellowfin emphasizes security within the platform - users have the ability to make comments public or private and even authenticate who can access data.

Target Market

Yellowfin's BI platform is aimed at many different industries (healthcare, media, finance, etc), as well as specific roles and functions within the company (i.e. marketing, sales, HR, etc). We've listed some of Yellowfin's customers below:

Implementation/Integration

Users can expect deployment within hours or days, not weeks or months. Yellowfin offers a single simple all-inclusive per user per annum subscription licensing model – software, maintenance, support and upgrades are included. There are no catches or add-on licenses to contend with. Yellowfin enables organizations to purchase subscriptions straight from its site, with a 5-user license starter pack coming in at $3,000 per annum. This covers Web access, mobile access and access to all functionalities. For larger numbers of users, potential clients can contact Yellowfin for quotes.

Customer Service & Support

Yellowfin offers training on its platform - users can choose either a instructor-led webinar or classroom/onsite training. The webinar is three3 hours and is $475 per person (or $3,000 per company); there is a self-guided tutorial included. Classroom, or face-to-face, training, is one1 day and costs $800. Please note that Tthere are three3 levels of the training -– exploration, advanced, and expert.
Yellowfin offers various support, such as an online wiki, customer support center that includes access to a documentation section, and as well as an online forum. Users can also contact Yellowfin directly for help.

Shortcomings

Yellowfin has received customer feedback in two areas and they are planning to make improvement for a future product update based on that feedback:

1.) Regardless of BI platform, customers are still used to working with spreadsheets and will like to continue doing so - therefore Yellowfin is planning to improve the process of importing data via CSV.

2.) Some customers have struggled using the Location-based Intelligence feature in terms of sourcing base-layer maps. Yellowfin has plans to improve that by shipping with base maps, geocoding to postcode level data, as well as Geo Packs that include demographic and socio-economic data for particular regions.

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About

Yellowfin was founded by a group of BI professionals that have worked with traditional BI solutions - and realize a solution was needed to be easy to use and less expensive. Their mission is also to help their clients use data to improve their businesses. Yellowfin is also the leader in Mobile BI, Collaborative BI, and Location Intelligence. This year, they've been recognized in Gartner's 2014 Magic Quadrant study, as a Champion BI Vendor from Info-Tech Research Group, and Hot Vendor in Mobile BI from Ventana Research.

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