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"We're seeing mashups with GIS mapping technology as well as on- demand BI solutions that let users combine and display their own data with data from external sources," says IDC analyst Dan Vesset. "The goal is to get IT out of development [of user interfaces and reports] and get them more involved in data quality and data integrations. That's their highest value-add." (See "BI 2.0 means change for IT.")

"Another very big change is an awareness of BI's potential at the business management layer in companies," Vesset notes. "Business is seeing real value in analytics. Many organizations are starting information management groups and BI competency centers that sit on the business side."

A New Way of Thinking

One example is the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. The BI team there has incorporated geographical mapping capabilities, including location intelligence features from Pitney Bowes Inc.'s MapInfo software, into its Cognos BI dashboard as a way to make information accessible in geographical form to users across the entire agency. Before, only 12 superusers had access to geographical tools. Now, all 300 of the agency's workers can access and manipulate BI data in geographical form, says Carl Richardson, BI project manager.

"We anticipate that more people will do analysis," says Richardson. "It will allow the average user to think geographically when it comes to data. They could create both thematic and point maps on data, which is important to them in their individual reporting groups."

One example would be to combine data on housing units, loans and public transportation so that it could then be analyzed and displayed in a map format to show how many of the agency's housing units are located close to public transportation.

"Being able to work with that data in graphic form as opposed to putting that data in a database would allow us to react a lot quicker," Richardson says.

For now, mapping tools are probably the most popular kind of BI mashups, also known as "bashups," but experts say the possibilities are almost endless. Technologies such as integrated search and in-memory analytics will make it easier to index large amounts of structured data and build high-performance analytical applications against increasingly large data sets. They also promise to empower users to explore data and discover new insights in new ways.

At Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, a health insurer in Rochester, N.Y., enterprise architect Mike Axelrod is using JustSystems Inc.'s XFY software and experimenting with linking claims data and wellness program data so employers can analyze the cost effectiveness of different programs and benefits.

Looking ahead, Axelrod says he foresees a scenario in which people who work out at a gym could have the exercise equipment they use upload data to a Web-based health log. Users could then combine that data with other information to analyze their overall health and progress toward their personal goals.

Mashups, Axelrod says, "solve the old-school problem of data isolation."

Excellus is also using JustSystems' mashup technology in its customer-service call centers to display data on a single screen, even though that data may reside in multiple systems - including green-screen and Web-based applications, Axelrod says. JustSystems' XFY technology can handle multiple pieces of XML data simultaneously on the screen, according to the company.

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