Business Intelligence (BI) Tools
BI Tools Comparison Chart
Learn about the business intelligence tools available and supported by Boise State BIRS.
For a description of these business intelligence tools, please visit Data Cookbook – Tools.
| Needs | OAC | Data Visualizer | OTBI | MyInsights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Service | Yes | Yes | Limited | No |
| Validated Data Sources | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Primary data types | Finance and Student | Student and User Uploaded | Human Resources and Finance | Student |
| Searchable Catalog | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Drill Through Summarized Data | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Display as List | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Display as Pivot Table | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Display as Visualizations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Bar/Column Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Line Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Area Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Scatter Plot | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Bubble Chart | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| (V) Pie Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Sankey Diagram | No | Yes | No | No |
| (V) Tree Map | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Geo Map | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| (V) Word Cloud | No | Yes | No | No |
| (V) Timelines | No | Yes | No | No |
| (V) Heat Matrix | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| (V) Correlation Matrix | No | Yes | No | No |
| (V) Performance Tile | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| (V) Gauge | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| (V) Funnel | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| (V) Pareto Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Custom Calculations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Upload your data to the secure BI server | No | Yes | No | No |
| PDF Output | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Excel output for data download | Yes - not recommended | No | Yes | Yes |
| Email distribution set up | Manually | No | Manually | Manually |
| Hyperlink/drill through to another website | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Machine Learning | Yes* | Yes* | No | Yes* |
| Embedding Content in Web Page (including public access) | No | Yes | No | No |
| BI Tool Origin | Financial and Student Analytics | Visualizations | Human Resources/Finance Transactional | Student Analytics |
(V) = Visualizations
*The functionality is available, but may be limited due to Boise State’s current technology platform.
Determine which self-service BI tool is right for you
Select which statement you most agree with to determine which business intelligence tool is right for you.
I explore data and want to slice and dice
- Start in OAC or Data Visualizer.
I create custom calculations
- Start in OAC or Data Visualizer.
I create list reports and pivot tables
- Start in OAC or OTBI.
I mainly create charts
- Start in Data Visualizer.
I create a mix of lists and charts
- All self-service tools will work for you.
I have existing skills
- Start in the tool you know.
Additional Information
Learn about the business intelligence tools supported by BIRS.