Introduction
Express is the latest BI solution from MicroStrategy, and it is based on the cloud. It differs from the solution we covered in preceding chapters mainly because there is nothing to download or install, there is no desktop interface, and everything is done via a web browser.
From the UI and usability point of view, it is very similar to Visual Insight and offers access to both on-premise and cloud-based data sources.
One of the benefits of a cloud-based solution is that it doesn't need any infrastructure or hardware, and obviously cuts down the implementation time considerably.
Experienced desktop BI developers may feel that they lose the control and the fine-tuning possibilities of the in-house design; nevertheless the cloud Gold Rush has begun and this will undoubtedly modify the way we do our job; sooner or later, a customer will ask for a cloud-based solution and we'd better be prepared.
The capabilities of Express go beyond the data discovery tool; it is also a mobile design...
