Evaluation Overview

Note: You do not have to follow the suggested workflow. If you're focused on creating reports with your own data, feel free to skip directly to the sections that apply to your situation.

This guide walks you through installing the reporting and analysis elements of the Pentaho BI Suite version 3.6.0, which includes Report Designer, Metadata Editor, Design Studio, and the BI Platform. Only the user-facing components are covered in this evaluation, so there are no instructions for data preparation tools here. There is a separate guide for evaluating Pentaho Data Integration, however.

The bulk of this evaluation should take a little over an hour, during which time you will accomplish the following goals:


  1. Download and install the Pentaho BI Suite Enterprise Edition installer: 15 minutes.
  2. Read and follow a walkthrough for creating a basic, data-driven report with the included sample data: 10 minutes.
  3. Refine the report to include conditional text formatting, user-controllable parameters, and a chart: 10 minutes.
  4. Publish your report to the Pentaho BI Platform and share it with others: 10 minutes.
  5. Create an ad hoc report with the wizard built into the Pentaho User Console: 5 minutes.
  6. Create an Analyzer Report in the Pentaho User Console: 10 minutes.
  7. Create a dashboard using the new Dashboard Designer utility in the Pentaho User Console: 20 minutes.

Once you've seen the power of the BI Suite's content creation tools, if you are technically inclined and have more time to spend on your evaluation, you can move onto more advanced concepts and tasks:


  1. Explore the Pentaho Enterprise Console: 15 minutes.
  2. Connect to your own database: 20 minutes.
  3. Create ad hoc reports and Pentaho Analyzer reports using your own data: Variable.
  4. Learn about the underlying technologies that drive Pentaho Reporting and Analysis Enterprise edition: 10 minutes