I have been tracking the progress of Gemini and SQL Server 2008 R2 for quite some time now. I've been able to recently experiment with the tool inbetween my mainstream work and community activities. Here are some of my thoughts about the new self-service BI technology and its potential impact on the industry...

Gemini is a powerful tool for empowing the Information Worker (IW) in their ad-hoc analytical needs. IWs no longer require someone like me for their ad-hoc analytics and they can build these ad-hoc models with relative ease. Gemini is also a very performant solution both in terms of developing the ad-hoc views as well as Excel 2010's performance working with large datasets.

Where I see Gemini making large inroads early in its release is in two primary corporate scenarios:

1. Mid Market & Enterprise Customers who may or may not have a corporate BI solution in place.
2. Small Customers wanting to perform some basic analytics that leveage Excel heavily allready

As a result, I believe that Gemini (and similiar technologies) will begin to open "BI Door" for customers, allowing them to essentially build their own BI demos right in front of their very eyes. For scenario #1, I can also foresee how self-service views may attract the attention of executives in their usefulness and as a result become the new requirements documents of an existing corporate BI solution. Thus, Gemini may very well become both the end and the beginning phases of corporate BI solutions.

What do you think about the new Gemini technology and it's potential impact on BI solutions?