Shawn Rogers, Enterprise Management Associates
On September 27, 2011, Birst announced the release of Birst 5. Birst 5 introduces the concept of a completely encapsulated business intelligence solution as in a self-contained virtual package, or software appliance. The Birst software appliance offers to on-premise customers the same features and functionality of traditional cloud-based SaaS implementations. Birst provides a proven and tested platform from its public cloud-based offerings to Information Technology (IT) departments looking for the provisioning speed of cloud-based architectures and the security provided within their existing corporate firewall(s).