UK-based ICS has become the latest business intelligence (BI) specialist to launch new reporting tools for use by large numbers of staff.

ICS's RSInteract is a desktop reporting tool built on Microsoft SQL Server. It offers staff an intuitive interface and can be used within organisations to provide "BI for the masses", according to Christian Smyth, managing director of ICS.

"There are lots of tools that provide reporting services, but what has been missing is an intuitive way of presenting that functionality to business users, " Smyth said. "SQL Server 2005 has got part of the way there with Report Builder, but that is still aimed at quite technical users. RSInteract delivers BI to those business users who have not been typically catered for."

The launch was welcomed by Philip Howard of analyst firm Bloor Research, who said in a statement that many of the established BI vendors are struggling to extend their reporting tools to suit users with less technical expertise.
Smyth said that the new product is offered under a per-processor pricing model, designed to appeal to organisations supporting large numbers of end-users.

"We price RSInteract at £4,500 for the first processor and £3,000 for each processor thereafter," he said. "One processor can support around 200 users if they are using it intensively, and we have one [beta] customer that has rolled out RSInteract to 2,000 users using a two-processor box."

In separate news, BI giant Business Objects has predicted it will face few integration problems as a result of its proposed acquisition of data quality software specialist Firstlogic. It said the two companies' previous status as partners meant their products have been integrated for two years.

Richard Neale of Business Objects said that the ability of Firstlogic tools to automatically cross- check the accuracy of corporate data and detect anomalies would give end-users more trust in Business Object's reporting systems.

"We've taken ownership of not just the presentation, but also the accuracy of data," Neale said. "If you don't just present data, but also show end-users where it came from, then users will have far greater trust in the data."