Future Imperatives for Business Intelligence Platforms, According to Gartner (2025 Edition)
In a recent report by Gartner, the best Business Intelligence (BI) platforms are identified as those that can address a range of enterprise needs, including metrics creation, data storytelling, composable analytics, and governance. While no single platform excels in every area, several vendors stand out for their strengths in each use case.
## Use Case Breakdown and Leading Platforms
### Metrics Creation
Strategy One is recognized for its robust metrics layer, essential for organizations needing to define, manage, and monitor business metrics centrally. Pyramid Analytics excels in supporting organizations that require sophisticated metric definition and governance, often integrated seamlessly with other BI tools. Looker is well-known for its powerful data modeling and semantic layer, allowing for flexible and scalable metric creation.
### Data Storytelling
Tableau offers strong visual analytics and data storytelling features, making it easy for users to create engaging, interactive dashboards that communicate insights effectively. Qlik provides intuitive drag-and-drop visualization and robust storytelling capabilities, especially suitable for business users without deep technical skills. Microsoft Power BI stands out for its integration with Microsoft 365 and Teams, enabling collaborative data storytelling across the organization.
### Composable Analytics
Pyramid Analytics is noted by Gartner for its ability to combine multiple BI resources, supporting more complex and varied use cases. Strategy One excels in providing embedded analytics and tools for integrating insights directly into business workflows, thanks to strong API and SDK support. Looker supports composable analytics through its open APIs and embeddable visualizations, enabling flexible integration with business applications.
### Governance
Cloud-native BI platforms, such as those available on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, are increasingly important for governance, offering granular access controls and compliance frameworks. Strategy One is specifically highlighted for its customer-managed deployments on major cloud providers, meeting strict regulatory and governance needs. Traditional leaders like Tableau, Qlik, and Power BI offer comprehensive administration tools, including audit trails, usage tracking, and analytics catalogs, ensuring data governance at scale.
## Summary Table
| Use Case | Leading Platforms | |-----------------------|------------------------------------------------| | Metrics Creation | Strategy One, Pyramid Analytics, Looker | | Data Storytelling | Tableau, Qlik, Microsoft Power BI | | Composable Analytics | Pyramid Analytics, Strategy One, Looker | | Governance | Cloud-native platforms, Strategy One, Tableau/Qlik/Power BI |
## Key Trends from Gartner
- AI-driven analytics: Platforms are increasingly integrating AI for natural language querying and automated insight generation, helping democratize data access. - Embedded and composable analytics: The ability to embed analytics directly into business applications and workflows is now critical. - Cloud-native and hybrid deployments: Flexibility, scalability, and governance are driving the shift toward cloud-native BI architectures. - Analytics catalog and metrics layer: Features like searchable, discoverable dashboards and centralized metric management are essential for enterprise-wide analytics maturity.
In conclusion, while no single platform leads in all use cases, Strategy One, Pyramid Analytics, Looker, Tableau, Qlik, and Microsoft Power BI are consistently highlighted by Gartner for their strengths across metrics creation, data storytelling, composable analytics, and governance. Platform administration capabilities, including tools for tracking usage, managing costs, and admin intervention, are also crucial for effective BI platform implementation.
In the realm of finance, Strategy One and Pyramid Analytics have demonstrated impressive capabilities in metrics creation, while Looker excels in data modeling and semantic layer, making them invaluable assets for organizations seeking robust metric definition and governance. On the side of business, Tableau and Microsoft Power BI shine in data storytelling, offering engaging, interactive dashboards that effectively communicate critical insights. Lastly, technology-wise, Pyramid Analytics, Strategy One, and Looker dominate in the area of composable analytics, enabling integration with business applications for flexible and varied use cases.
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