Business Intelligence (BI) software aims to bring together different pieces of a business into views that can make comprehending mountains of data easier. BI is everywhere. Applications that include reports, analytics, statistics, and historical and predictive modeling are all examples of BI applications. Currently, we are in the second generation of BI software, called BI 2.0. This generation is focused on writing BI software that is predictive, adaptive, simple, and interactive. As computers and software have evolved, more data can be presented to end users with increasingly visually rich techniques. Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies such as Microsoft Silverlight can be used to transform traditional UIs filled with boring data into fully interactive analytical applications to deliver insight from large data sets quickly. Furthermore, RIA applications include 3D spatial design capabilities that allow for interesting layouts of aggregated data beyond a simple list or grid. BI 2.0 implemented via an RIA technology can truly bring out the power of BI and deliver it to an average user via the Web.
