In the beginning, open source solutions were the shiny play things of the techno crowd. After all, they were fun, new, and most importantly, free. No one would have considered using them in any real world corporate IT shops.

Today, open source solutions are not only being considered, they are being implemented by large and small enterprises -- at rates that are mind-boggling. This paper examines the challenges faced by organizations today regarding their BI, data integration, and data warehousing environments, why traditional solutions fall short, and the rise of upstart open source companies.

A thought leader, visionary, and practitioner in the rapidly growing fields of business intelligence and customer focused-strategy, Claudia Imhoff, Ph.D. is a popular and dynamic speaker and internationally recognized expert on analytical CRM, business intelligence, and the infrastructure to support these initiatives.