With its purchase of the New Zealand-based Weka open source data mining project, Pentaho demonstrates its commitment to providing a comprehensive open source business intelligence suite, according to a company spokesperson. A Ventana Research analyst confirms that the move is a good thing, noting that data mining is one of the top BI capabilities that users look for. Weka team members aren't disappointed either, according to this piece, which says the project has grown such that it needs commercial-grade support and resources to continue.
Open source business intelligence software vendor Pentaho snagged a customer from SAP Business Objects recently when Delta Dental of Virginia agreed to use Pentaho's extract, transform, load (ETL) and reporting tools rather than similar wares from Business Objects.
InformationWeek reports the dental benefits provider made the switch after a comparison of the two BI systems revealed that it could accomplish its goals more quickly and at a lower price with Pentaho than it had been with Business Objects. With the move to Pentaho, Delta Dental joins a group of customers that includes Lifetime Networks, Wachovia and Sun Microsystems, among others.
Lora covers the emergence of open software and standards in IT Business Edge's Leveraging Open Source weekly report. Read her blog, Open for Business, to learn about open source solutions for real cost-savings and efficiency.
