Jedox

Jedox
Developer(s) Jedox AG
Stable release 5.1 SR3 / 7 November 2014
Operating system Cross-platform, Linux, Windows
Type Business intelligence
License Multi-licensing, GPLv2, LGPL, Proprietary
Website www.jedox.com

Jedox client–server software is used to create business intelligence and performance management solutions for systematic data analysis. Its core is a cell-oriented, multi-dimensional in-memory OLAP server that has been especially designed for planning, analysis, reporting, and data consolidation. The software has a modular structure and uses Microsoft Excel as its user interface on the one hand and a Jedox-specific spreadsheet on the other, both of which can be used in all common browsers. Jedox is developed by the software provider of the same name (Jedox AG) in Freiburg im Breisgau/Germany.

Field of use and circulation

Jedox has been developed for planning, analysis, reporting and data consolidation tasks and may be used in all industries and departments. Jedox extracts the required operational data from the downstream systems, converts it into an analyzable form and makes it available to various user groups through need-based evaluations or access options in multiple user-friendly front-ends.[1]

It is the most salient feature of the software that apart from covering Business Intelligence applications, e.g. OLAP analyses and retrospective reports, it also includes the option to create Performance Management solutions, such as what–if analyses, demand planning, simulation, budgeting, financial planning, and balanced scorecards.

Jedox is used in approximately 120 countries and is shipped in 24 languages. Organizations that have used Jedox to build Business Intelligence and Performance Management solutions are, among others, Metro Group,[2] the German Federation of Chambers of Commerce (DIHK)[3] and Swissport.[4]

Components

OLAP Server

The Jedox OLAP database is a memory-based, multi-dimensional real-time OLAP server (MOLAP) that administers economic or statistical data stocks (multi-dimensional database). Apart from multi-dimensional queries, data can be written back and consolidated in real-time. The server keeps all data in the cache for fast data access. APIs in Java, PHP, C/C++, or .NET can be used to integrate the Jedox OLAP database in other software environments.[5]

Excel Add-In

A Microsoft Excel add-in is used for communication between the Jedox OLAP database and the Excel front-end. Users can link any number of Excel workspaces on-line, all of which access one central data stock (single point of truth). The data entered in Microsoft Excel is written back and aggregated to the OLAP cube structure through the add-in. Due to the well-known Excel interface, specialists may use Jedox to create budgets, analyses, and reports without any specialist IT knowledge.

Web Client

The Jedox Web client accesses central data in the OLAP database from a web browser. Local reports are converted into server-based web applications and can be opened and adjusted in the web browser. Analysis results and changes of the reports in the web mode are written back to the database consistently. Excel analysis and calculation models are made available to multiple users through the web browser without any previous Microsoft Excel installation. This also enables users to access the OLAP database from the web browsers of their mobile devices.

GPU Module

The optional Jedox GPU module uses the computing power and memory of the Nvidia Tesla graphical processors to analyze company data.[6] Complex OLAP calculations are accelerated multiple times by the additional GPU component compared to an Intel multi-core architecture, the actual acceleration factor depending on the data model. The GPU module that has been co-developed with the University of Freiburg and the University of Western Australia in Perth is mainly used in multi-dimensional data analyses.[7] The GPU component is activated by the server. Apart from the graphic card, no additional hardware needs to be installed.

Extraction Tool

Jedox ETL is a client–server based application for automatic data import that extracts data from heterogeneous sources and uploads it to the Jedox OLAP server. The ETL component uses the current relational database systems, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL and links them through a JDBC interface. Users may also extract further data from flat files or XML files, web services, and LDAP systems. Jedox ETL may be integrated with other software applications using a SOAP-based web service interface. Apart from the data import in Jedox, the ETL module also supports drill-through from the OLAP database to data records in the source systems.

SAP Interface

An additional interface is provided with Jedox SAP Connector, an ETL module that has especially been designed for SAP environments. The component supports all SAP NetWeaver-based SAP systems, such as SAP-R/3, SAP-ERP, and SAP Business Warehouse (BW), thus enabling integration of Business Intelligence and Performance Management solutions with existing SAP systems.

ODBO XMLA Interface

Jedox ODBO XMLA is a complementary Jedox component. This standard interface can be used by all ODBO-enabled Windows clients, e.g. Microsoft Excel Pivot tables or XMLA based web-service consumers to access and visualize Jedox data. Communication between Jedox and Excel Pivot tables is handled through the MDX query language for OLAP databases.

Mobile Use

There are two options in Jedox to access the central OLAP database and software functionality on mobile devices: Users can access reports through the touch-optimized Jedox Web Server and adjust them by means of gestures and finger-tip control on their smart phones and tablets. Furthermore, the provider offers a native mobile App for iOS and Android. All data may be written back to the Jedox OLAP databases from mobile devices.

Versions (licensing)

The company uses a dual license system and distributes its core product as both Open Source and proprietary software. Operation through the Amazon AWS[8] cloud service is also possible.

Base versus Premium

As of release 5.0,[9] the software can be used as a free-of-cost base version that includes the Jedox OLAP Server and a functionally restricted version of the Excel add-in. The premium version must be licensed. It contains all software components and additional provider services, e.g. technical support.

Open Source (PALO)

The premium edition of the software has been renamed from Palo to Jedox with release 3.3. Jedox OLAP Server continues to be offered free-of-charge as commercial open-source software under the name of PALO. There is also an open-source integration with OpenOffice named PalOOCa (Palo for OpenOffice.org Calc).

Awards

Jedox has been frequently honored by IT analysts as one of the leading Business Intelligence providers.[10][11] For its use of parallel graphic processors (GPU) for OLAP Server, Jedox has been awarded the "Cool Vendor"[12] award in 2013 by Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, in the field of In-Memory Computing.

Company

The company was founded in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, in 2002 by Kristian Raue and has approximately 100 employees.[3] Since 2008, Jedox has been a stock corporation which is supported, among others, by KfW-Bank and the venture capital corporations Wecken & Cie and eCapital. The managing board consists of the Chief Technical Officer Matthias Krämer and the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Bernd Eisenblätter. The headquarter of Jedox has been in Freiburg im Breisgau/Germany since the foundation of the company. Other branch offices are located in Frankfurt/Main, Düsseldorf, and Paris. Kristian Raue's departure from Jedox was announced in June 2014.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jedox Provides an Open-Source, In-Memory BI Solution. SQLMag.com, Megan Keller, 6 November 2008.
  2. ↑ Klimabilanz bei der Metro Group. CFO World, 17. April 2013. (in German)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jedox Company Profile. eCAPITAL.
  4. ↑ Excel-Chaos im Finanzbereich beherrschen.. Computerworld.ch, 22 Februar 2013. (in German)
  5. ↑ Flexible Query Answering Systems: 10th International Conference. Henrik L. Larsen, 2013. Internet source.
  6. ↑ Big Data Analytics, Data Science and Machine Learning. nvidia.com.
  7. ↑ Open Source Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. Bulusu Lakshman, CRC Press, Boca Raton 2013, p. 54. Internet source.
  8. ↑ Jedox for AWS. Amazon.com.
  9. ↑ Jedox Now Available in Two Versions: Base and Premium. SAP.Sys-con.com, 20 February 2013.
  10. ↑ Open-source BI going mainstream, Gartner says. Computerworld.com, 4 January 2010.
  11. ↑ BARC BI Survey 12: Jedox Ranks First in Customer Satisfaction. PRWeb.com, 19 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Gartner Cool Vendors 2013. Gartner, Inc.
  13. ↑ Jedox announces founder's departure

Additional sources

External links