BrightGauge vs. Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer (discontinued)

Any data-driven business that requires metrics and performance benchmarks, that need to drill into data for analysis, should use Bright Gauge. If you don't require data that can be displayed in a meaningful way, and that's not important to your business, then this product is probably not for you; otherwise, it's great.

Discoverer is well suited as a reporting tool where data integration doesn't play a major role. Discoverer suits very well situations where a user has to run a query every day. Discoverer reports can be scheduled and the user can just view the data instead of running the query manually. Also, Discoverer takes away the pain of managing the database credentials. Discoverer is not well suited to situations where the whole enterprise wants to view the same dashboard. Discoverer is more of a departmental BI tool. Discoverer doesn't offer many options to integrate data unless one has to create and handle integration using PL/SQL.

• Near real-time data in dashboards is a game changer for decision making
• Easy of setup of gauges, dashboards and reports makes the product versatile
• Automated scheduled reporting increases visibility and reduces workload.

• SQL friendly which allows for fast adoption for those users who know how to write in SQL. This makes integration with other programs much easier.
• Accessing data is very fast even with larger data sets.
• The layout is clean and organized similar to a spreadsheet which allows for easier viewing and analyzing of the data.

• Support quality has decreased since BrightGauge was acquired by Continuum then ConnectWise.
• It would be helpful to be able to change multiple similar gauges at one time, as opposed to individually.
• Reporting system could be improved. At the moment, I am not comfortable scheduling reports to be sent to customers.

• There is always room for more scalability and optimization of performance.
• Oracle BI changes a lot from version to version. A smoother transition into a new version would be very helpful.
• Oracle BI's reporting tool is a little hard to use at first. The UI/UX of the tool can use improvement.

Usability is BrightGauge's strength. Granting the ability of virtually any user to be able to create a dashboard is incredibly valuable. If an organization very simple and straight forward reporting needs then BrightGauge is a perfect fit for them. Connecting to the dataset we used was very quick and easy and I imagine it would be the same for any major data source you would like to pull from.

We did not need to use BrightGauge's support for the entire time that we used it. Best support is always the one that isn't needed because nothing breaks.

We looked very briefly at Solar Winds, but due to Connectwise the reporting was not very accurate and was conflicted.

Discoverer was already in place when I joined the company so I was not involved in the selection process. However, I have been involved in the review of Discoverer as compared to alternatives including Business Objects, OBIEE, and SSRS. On a cost benefit analysis Discoverer always came out on top. Changing to another tool never provided enough additional functionality to overcome the cost of conversion and ongoing maintenance.

• ROI can be difficult to measure specifically on a tool like this, but quicker, easier access to information is key.
• Decrease workload and time in creation of reports has definitely created an ROI.

• We have used Discoverer to respond to state sales and use tax audits and saved the company more than the cost of the product. Discoverer has thus assisted in our objective of managing costs.
• Discoverer is used to provide reports for EEOC reporting assisting our goal of complying with all government requirements.