Until now, business intelligence software has been too complex, costly and disconnected from the software tools people use to do their everyday jobs.

[Microsoft executive Jeff Raikes remembers what the industry was like when he joined the company in 1981.] The software business was dominated by hardware companies, and everybody thought they would just come in and wipe us out, ... People forget that Microsoft took a huge bet to think that an independent operating system and programming language would be successful.

The software business was dominated by hardware companies, and everybody thought they would just come in and wipe us out. People forget that Microsoft took a huge bet to think that an independent operating system and programming language would be successful.

Within a month, Ray was putting his thoughts on software-as-services on paper.

One way to increase the impact that people can have in an organization is to give them access to the information they need. Until now, BI software has been too complex, costly, and disconnected from the software tools people use every day to do their jobs.

When families save, they can get through emergencies like a bad harvest or a medical emergency. But it's more than that. They can also plan for the future, gradually saving up for a small business or for their children's school tuition.