Globalisation, increasing competition and the current economic and financial crises are accompanied by a wide range of changes in companies. Some experts are of the opinion that characteristics such as incomplete information, high business risks and a high level of dynamism will remain business-defining characteristics in the long term. Companies must therefore react quickly to changes and trends and decision-making processes must be agile and flexible.

Against this backdrop, the requirements for business intelligence in general and reporting in particular are changing. In future, analytical applications should be proactive, integrated reporting tools that are mobile, flexible and scalable and offer comprehensive self-service functions. Analytical applications, delivered as a service, offer a potential solution for this.

The aim of the project group was to create a business intelligence system in the cloud. The first step was to familiarise themselves with the topic of BI and the cloud and to look at existing products and approaches. An architectural proposal for a BI cloud system was then developed and realised using modern technologies (e.g. HP Convered Cloud and SAP HANA). The prototype system was tested and evaluated in a case study.

The project group works together with "sparring and technology partners". Experts from the business world were also available for questions and discussions.

The case study came from the energy industry, resulting in the schematic architecture shown in the graphic.

• Contact: Oliver Norkus (oliver.norkus@uol.de)