Infor10 ION Business Intelligence Review

Product:
Vendor:
Founded:
Headquarters:

Infor10 ION
Infor
2002
New York, NY

Ownership
Customers:
Deployment Model:
Free Trial:

Private
3,000
Cloud, On-Premise
Yes

Infor10 ION At A Glance

Good: Fast OLAP server, Import Master tool with ETL functions, planning and modeling capabilities offered.

Bad: Users accustomed to Geac performance management tools will struggle adapting to ION, as the software displays a clear orientation towards MIS products.

Bottom Line: Infor10 ION is a comprehensive BI analytics tool that focuses on turning siloed data sources into synchronized ones, while also offering industry-specific analytics.

Product Overview

Infor10 ION business intelligence works across industries, offering state of the art solutions for financial, operational, and sales intelligence needs. Generally utilized for very niche, specific business requirements, ION is implemented with a multidimensional, online, analytical processing tool (OLAP). ION stands for Intelligent Open Network.

This OLAP Server is one of ION’s more notable features. The database is real time and in-memory, meaning that it functions at a very high rate of speed. In addition to analysis, the software provides planning and modeling capabilities as well.

ION also offers a web-based Application Studio, which provides a front end for data visualization, including analysis, dashboards, data entry, and reports.

On the Office front, ION’s Office Plus includes a fully integrated Excel interface, cell-based reporting, and ad-hoc analysis. The office tool is vital to improving organization-wide communication, and provides a simple, efficient way to collaborate on projects.

An Import Master tool includes intuitive extract, transform, and load (ETL) tools that inform decision-makers with all of the data vital to making the best choices. The Import Master consolidates the vast troves of information that a company has at its fingers into a multidimensional database that can be easily accessed and employed for reporting, planning, and analysis.

Features

In addition to the tools detailed above, ION’s other features include a BI Planning tool, a Consolidation feature, and an analysis program called DeltaMiner. Further features are listed here below:

Ad Hoc Analysis?
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)?
Predictive Analysis?
Profit Analysis?
Trend Indicators?
Ad Hoc Reporting?
Automatic Scheduled Reporting?
Customizable Dashboard?

Target Market

Infor services a diversity of markets, but is especially prominent in the healthcare space. Below we have listed several of Infor’s clients.

GlaxoSmithKline
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Bank of America
jcp
Radio Shack

Providence Health & Services
L.L. Bean
GAP
Lockheed Martin
Habitat for Humanity

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Implementation/Integration

The Infor Implementation Accelerator Solutions is designed for companies that want to get their solutions implemented quickly. Unlike standard implementations, Infor’s implementation process help companies reduce the stress and risk of implementation, lower total cost of ownership, and plan for future growth. Customers can utilize up to 90% of Infor’s pre-configured content (i.e. menus and processes).

Customer Service & Support

In addition to consulting services and numerous educational opportunites, Infor has a broad array of customer support available for users of its product.

Infor’s “Xtreme Support” portal features industry and use-specific support, both through live contacts over the phone, and a log-in feature that allows for user searches and live chats.

Pricing

Infor does not publicly release their pricing information. Please contact them directly for a price quote.

Shortcomings

It has been noted that Infor has not capitalized on the Asian market to the extent that it could. With a more focused micro-vertical strategy, this could be easily achieved.

ION is known as a “middleware” in the BI industry, and links together old Infor processes with newer ones. Users accustomed to Geac performance management tools will struggle adapting to ION, as the software displays a clear orientation towards MIS products. Some users, consequently, may not see ION as the go-to technology for integrating apps within the Infor base.

Screenshots

About

Infor is an enterprise software company based in Malvern, Pennsylvania. It’s primary shareholder is the private equity firm, Golden Gate Capital Partners. Their offerings are highlighted by enterprise resource management (ERM) software and business intelligence. In 2014 they debuted Infor10, an update of many of their products. Infor10 ION is their most popular business intelligence tool. As a whole, Infor boasts over 70,000 customers and 12,400 employees. Founded in 2002 as Agilisys, they operate in 194 countries.

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