The tragic sign of our times is the fact that if the thing is good, it must be expensive. Nothing good could be cheap, not even mentioning for free. Are there exceptions? Business Intelligence seems to be the last area where the exceptions could exist, nonetheless MicroStrategy Reporting Suite makes the difference. Even though it's not a full alternative to MicroStrategy Report Services (which is company paid solution), can be a sufficient Business Intelligence tools packet for small and mid-sized organizations. And what's the best about the Reporting Suite is the fact that it's completely free. With no restrictions in functionality nor capabilities.

Costless no longer means useless

MicroStrategy Reporting Suite, unlike Report Services, is dedicated to small and midsized organizations. It's the consequence of the fact that the license can cover up to 100 workstations (named users), nonetheless each of them is - therefore - supplied with a full BI suite. The fundamental of the Reporting Suite tool is to turn never ending rows of data into graphs, visualizations, and - in general - reports that are easy to consume even by the very beginning business users. The shortest, then, would be to say that the goal of MicroStrategy's software is to explain data to organization managers.

Some people still doubt in the free tools usability. In case of MicroStrategy Reporting Suite there is nothing to doubt in. It's a great software for daily Web based reporting, boardroom reporting, illustrating data (turning from numbers into visualizations), diving into specific areas of data (to check what's the cause of current situation, for instance), and constant performance monitoring (based on scorecard indicators and company metrics).
Once there are reports prepared, MicroStrategy Reporting Suite allows to add the elements of predictive analytics to them, so that quite a lot about the company future can be told. And after all these things are done, one can export the reports to PDF documents, MS Office Excel spreadsheets, or other popular files.

Why Reporting Suite?

The difference between MicroStrategy Reporting Suite and open source software is slight but meaningful. At the very beginning, the Reporting Suite is the result of hundreds of professional engineers' work what ensures it's safe and secure. Unlike open source applications, Reporting Suite's code meets all the technical requirements what makes it a rightful option.

The MicroStrategy Reporting Suite consists of rightful - commercial - applications, thereupon one doesn't need to be afraid of their usability. With no holes in the code, they require less IT support and - therefore - minimize the maintenance costs. Unlike many open source productions, the Reporting Suite works well within different environments including MS Windows, UNIX, and Linux.
It's also prepared for cooperation with all common database systems and Web and application servers.
Finally, even though MicroStrategy wants to distinguish Reporting Suite from open source applications, it simultaneously supports the open source idea (full support for Linux operating system, mySQL and PostgreSQL databases, Apache HTTP Server web server, and Apache Tomcat and JBOSS application servers).

MicroStrategy Reporting Suite support

Deciding on solutions at no charge, some people think they simultaneously agree to resign from any support. Groundlessly. MicroStrategy never lets its customers count on themselves solely, regardless of how much they have paid (or haven't paid) for the solution. Thereupon, there is a 60-day e-mail support provided the same as unrestrained and free phone consultations (accessible in English language) for business users from Europe and North America. Moreover, there is an unrestrained access to all online resources provided. There, at the company official website, one can get an access to online support, online training, interesting and instructive video guides. Finally, one gets also the chance to talk to participants of online community within Reporting Suite forum.

MicroStrategy Reporting Suite is a compromise between rightful commercial solutions and open source software. It offers a wide set of functionalities, simultaneously remaining free of charge. In point of fact, it's therefore one of few such solutions accessible in the market. If worth considering, it depends.
As for most of small and midsize business appliances, it's enough and - maybe - a bit more (with its predictive analytics elements). However, the number of licenses is restrained to 100 what's difficult to agree on within many organizations.

MicroStrategy Reporting Suite resources

• http://www.microstrategy.com/freereportingsoftware/learnmore/Reporting_Suite_Highlights.pdf - here's the essence about the MicroStrategy Reporting Suite idea, technical aspect, support, and functionality. Even though there are only two pages, a lot of information could have been included, and - thereupon - remains useful. From many points of view, it's a good source of information to begin with and to answer the question why to pay attention to the solution which actually isn't neither commercial nor open source. The brochure explains in a very few words the advantages of free Reporting Suite, and points exactly what one can get with it.
• http://www.microstrategy.com/freereportingsoftware/ - official website devoted to the Reporting Suite provides all useful information that could convince business users to decide on the solution. There's a free quickstart guide description of what's included within the suite, why it's free, and what the solution could be supplied with and how. Moreover, there is a subpage devoted to the software architecture, and the one to analysts opinions. Finally, MicroStrategy specialists answer the question why to choose free Reporting Suite instead the solutions by other companies. If one's interested and wants to dive deeper into the complexity of Reporting Suite, he can watch numerous videos or read the instructions. However, he should be prepared for a little bit impeded access - there often is a registration needed to get to required information.
• http://esj.com/articles/2009/06/10/microstrategy-suite.aspx - the article by Stephen Swoyer explains the idea of MicroStrategy Reporting Suite. Explains what's the difference between the title solution and paid MicroStrategy Report Services, and points out which companies can benefit from each solution. Also, there is quite an interesting story included - a few words about the Reporting Suite history, causes, idea, and quite a lot of information about the technical bases of the solution. And, what's most important, it's written from the external point of view, thereupon there is no manipulated information included.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroStrategy_Reporting_Suite - a few words from Wikipedia. Just the essence, nonetheless that's what a lot of people are looking for, these days. A few facts, enough words, a little bit of knowledge - that's what Wikipedia is known for, and - simultaneously - that's what every business user should know about MicroStrategy Reporting Suite. Even if he's not interested in giving it a try.