Exago BI Review

Product:
Vendor:
Founded:
Headquarters:

Exago BI
Exago Inc.
2006
Shelton, CT

Ownership:
Customers:
Deployment Model:
Free Trial:

Private
100+
Cloud, On-Premise
Yes

Exago BI At A Glance

Good: 100% web-based with no Plug-ins or downloads required for users or administrators, a balanced combination of tabular reports and interactive dashboards, rich, open APIs provide tight integration with host application.

Bad: Chart/visualization library could be expanded, global search isn't yet available.

Bottom Line: Flexible, white-labelled, easy-to-use embedded BI solution that allows software companies to give their clients control over their own data and reporting.

Product Overview

Exago BI is an embedded BI solution for software companies and their clients/end users to incorporate analytics and reports into their business applications. It’s browser-based and doesn’t require downloads for full functionality. Exago BI is embedded within a company’s application framework and can be accessed through REST, SOAP or .NET APIs.

High-performance ADO.NET drives provide access to SQL Server, MySQL,PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, OLAP, SAP, DB2 Informix, ODBC, web services, .NET assemblies, XML and Excel. In addition, ODBC drivers allow access to non-SQL data sources like Hadoop.

Exago BI has two main benefits: ease of use and flexibility.

Business users who are not technical data experts can create and interact with tabular reports and dashboards without needing to understand the data structure. Host application administrators can readily tailor Exago BI for each user by exposing only the features that best suit their individual needs and capabilities. Extensibility features like dynamic client-side and server-side event handlers permit very fine-grained control over both the data and environment.

Exago BI is completely white-labelled and can be customized to match the host application UI. All application CSS, images and text strings can be modified.

Exago is designed as a single-sign-on through the host application. Security can be set up by group or user at the database, data object, row or column level. User Roles can be configured and then selected and/or modified at run time.

Features

Exago BI has four report designers:

Advanced Reports, which has an Excel-like design grid and includes features such as maps, charts, drilldowns, Formula Editor and Conditional Formatting
ExpressView, a simple, drag-and-drop interface for creating tabular reports and basic charts
Crosstab Reports, a simplified wizard that walks users through laying out complex pivot tables
Dashboard Designers, a drag-and-drop interface for creating and formatting dashboards that can include tabular reports, visualizations, interactive filters, URLs, images and text.

The reports can be run on either an ad-hoc basis or set as recurring. Reports can be created in various formats, such as Excel, PDF, HTML and CSV.

Reports can be output to Excel, PDF, HTML and CSV and run on either an ad-hoc basis or on a scheduled recurrence pattern.

A Formula Editor provides users with a set of standard functions to use as building blocks for creating formulas and custom functions can be added to the stock set. The Exago BI Template feature can automatically merge filtered data onto predefined PDF, RTF or Excel forms for pixel-perfect output like invoices and employment forms.

Exago recently released its first upgrade of 2017. Highlights of the new release include:

Report execution caching on a per-report basis
Upgrades to the ExpressView report builder that allow one-click charts and more visual formatting capabilities

Target Market

While Exago BI is targeted to software companies that operate in multi-client environments, non-software companies who use the application internally are also served so long as they have an application that Exago BI can be embedded into.

Here’s a list of 10 of its clients:

Autotask
Bond International Software
Computershare Governance Services
DLGL
ESM Solutions

HRWARE
Management Controls
Sageworks
SofterWare
Workwave

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Implementation/Integration

Exago BI can be deployed in the cloud, on-premise, or a combination of both. Exago BI does not host. The application and client data reside behind client firewalls. A Remote Execution reporting engine which is decoupled from the UI maintains front-end performance and allows horizontal scaling as additional reporting servers can be added as loads increase.

The implementation time frame depends largely on the complexity of the host environment and goals. For example, if a company will only use the Exago BI reporting engine on the back end and no UI integration is required, implementation can take as little as two weeks. However, if a company opts to fully customize and extend the application with custom code, it can take longer. Average implementation timelines range from two to four months.

Exago offers a variety of training opportunities. Monthly web-based group training sessions are open to both Exago BI clients and their end users as are the Exago BI Support Labs which rely on real-world use cases to cover questions submitted by clients.

Customer Service & Support

The Exago BI Support Center includes a searchable knowledge base with how-to guides, articles and videos which is open to all, with no login required for access. A gated area of the Support Site provides ticket submission and detailed tracking as well as new release information and downloads.

Pricing

Exago has an annual subscription fee that covers unlimited servers, unlimited clients, unlimited number of users, and support and maintenance. Please contact the vendor directly for a price quote.

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Shortcomings

Exago BI clients have mentioned that, although new chart types are added with each release, the visualization library could still be more comprehensive.

Also, a central or global search feature is not yet available. However, if a client requires a specific feature, Exago will work with them to provide it on mutually beneficial terms.

Screenshots

About

Privately owned and profitable, Exago Inc. has offered its flagship Exago BI solution to application software and service providers and their clients since 2006. It now has a staff of just over 40 employees and serves more than 100 clients across an vast array of industries.

Exago was named the Connecticut Tech Council Innovations 2015 Tech Company to Watch.

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