Welcome to the end user connection for mid-market BI. The goal of this community is to shift the way information is developed and delivered – from experts and vendors telling you what to look for - to having you and your peers who are either in the midst of using BI or who are looking to start using business intelligence – drive content and community activities. Therefore, this channel is a platform for mid-market companies to have their say, address BI challenges, network with peers, talk to experts, request information or research, etc. The sky is the limit! My hope is to help you get the information, interactions, and education you need to make better and quicker decisions, all the while creating a community of BI enthusiasts and making the daily use of BI fun.

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The Real Cost of "Free"

Overview

Many BI vendors offer free trials of their software and some even offer free versions of their offerings. Open source provides one such example, with general source code being available for download. But what does free really mean? Even though software might not cost anything, there are development, implementation, and maintenance costs that can lead something originally considered free to actually become quite an investment. Lyndsay discusses some of the cost factors that should be considered when looking at "free" offerings, such as implementation, customization, support costs, and limited licensing structures.