Oracle Discoverer (discontinued) vs. TARGIT

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.

Incentivized

Targit is very strong when the data is presented to the system. Because of this, we are able to report on almost all of the information that is valuable to us. When we have questions or ideas on how to better leverage Targit, they are great to work with. We track our sales progress/process in Targit and AP tracks things such as outstanding invoices, open invoices, etc

• 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.

Incentivized

• Quick start-up and report turnaround time.
• Easy drag and drop capabilities as well as user friendly command options.
• Ability to share reports among other users making it easy to use an already created report and simply changing the criteria to suit your own needs.
• Ability to save a base report that can be modified as needed repeatedly, instead of recreating from scratch.
• Easy visual for final layout.
• Ability to run multiple reports within one screen without jumping around.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• Probably one of our biggest complaints from the user community is the inability for the user to see the details behind the data. I know with the tool you can write reporting services reports that would allow users to see the detail by right clicking on a measure and selecting Actions, but for a very lean IT shop there simply has not been time to build these Actions for every possible scenario a user might want to see detailed reporting on.
• Another complaint I've heard is the inability for the user to know exactly what the data represents from the source. If Targit had maybe some type of capability to hover over a measure or dimension and see a pop up of a more detailed description this might help resolve that issue.
• The most difficult concepts to teach our users is how and when to use comparisons and the syntax for calculations. Creating comparisons has become much simpler with the 2k11 release but it is still difficult for my users.

It is very easy to use and I am proficient at this point to be able to figure out how to run most of the reports I need. I have had the time to "play around" in TARGIT and really teach myself about the visibility settings and other aspects - though other users have needed help with some of these aspects - but once you conceptually understand how to build the reports, it is very simple from a power user perspective.

Incentivized

Everything on the back end needs to be correct, which sometimes it may not be set up or missing some variables. Some of the more difficult parts of Targit require a lot more attention and object creation to work properly

Everyone I've dealt with at Targit genuinely cares about me and my success, and they respond to questions quickly and accurately. There is literally nothing more I could ask for from their support.

Incentivized

Make sure all of the back end work is done prior to getting Targit set up. Every variable you may need for calculations needs to be correct and every item needs to be uniform so it is read properly.

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.

Incentivized

It really met our business requirements when we were searching for a reporting/Bi tool and the flexible business model of being able to introduce additional functionally as your organization grows and requires it made the investment decision the right one for us. The functionality available in comparison to the investment is well worth it.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• We have been looking at our Product Hit Rate by Customer instead of just looking into Customer hit rate and adjusted our offerings accordingly.
• Giving people the ability to run their own ad-hoc reports rather than to request them from IT is a great benefit to my department.