I remember VB 1.0 I was project leader 12 years ago on a job that needed a GUI visualization front-end (the core was a telephony application to be written in C). I could have had the front-end custom written in Motif with Unix workstations, but that would have been prohibitively expensive.VB had been on the market for just one week, and I knew it was ragged and not mature. But it did the job. And it was dirt cheap.
And so with Data Analyzer. Sure, its ragged and immature (no cross-tabs in the grid, for example). But at less than 200 bucks a pop, its BI for the masses. Will it do the job? Maybe 70% of it. Compared to zero for most business users currently, thats a quantum leap. And all this thin/thick client business? What does a business user care about the techie stuff? Am I going to see about installing en masse into my clent base? Absolutely!
Your point about Business Objects etc is well taken. I put BO into my last two clients. Its fabulously powerful. But its also several thou per seat! The one to worry about is Crystal Analysis. In my view, this is direct competition. Especially when I can put DA onto a hundred desktops for about 6K with volume discounts.
I expect to see DA bundled eventually. Probably not into Office, more likely into the SQL Server bundle. This one is a stayer. If I were an ISV Partner, Id be losing sleep.
