National hardware equipment chain Mitre 10 has implemented a business intelligence system in eight weeks to centralise its reporting while maintaining compatibility with spreadsheets.

Business intelligence (BI) is frequently among the top prioroties for CIOs and finding the right software to do the job is always a challenge. Cloud-based software may be all the rage, but CIOs must still manage in-house information and make better use of it through analytics and reporting tools. The big four software companies have all made strategic investments in the BI space over recent years and the options have dimnished, but there are alternative tools popping up and snatching a lot of customers in the process. This installment of '5 open source things to watch' is all about BI that doesn't scar the annual report.