Business Intelligence Companies & Consultants in Portland, OR

Lantern, the firm that now operates from the former Marquam Group web address, is a consultancy focused on data and artificial intelligence work built entirely on Microsoft technology. It works with organizations that want to bring AI into their day-to-day operations using the Microsoft stack, and it holds managed partner status with both Microsoft and GitHub. The company serves clients across North America and points to more than two decades of project delivery as the source of its hands-on expertise.

Services relevant to BI buyers

For buyers comparing business intelligence providers, the most relevant practice is Data & AI. This work restructures an organization's data estate so that it can support timely reporting and decisions informed by AI.

Much of the firm's published commentary is about Microsoft Fabric, including capacity planning, reading capacity metrics correctly, how usage spikes keep affecting costs after they end, and the choices that drive a Fabric bill. Other articles cover portfolio visibility for owners who wait days for performance figures, and why AI tools struggle to interpret deal pipeline data.

Together these suggest experience with analytics for investment and sales reporting. The full service lineup includes:

• Data & AI: modernizing data platforms for analytics and AI-supported decision-making
• AI Foundations: putting governed, secure and scalable groundwork in place before enterprise AI rollout
• AI Strategy: tying executive priorities and operating structures to technology choices with measurable targets
• Azure AI Apps: building intelligent Azure applications, modernizing existing ones and scaling them for reliable production use
• Copilot & Business Apps: weaving Copilot and low-code tools into everyday workflows to improve productivity
• GitHub: AI-native engineering practices, built-in security such as GitHub Advanced Security, and agentic development workflows

How they engage

Engagements can cover every stage, from assessing readiness through production deployment and broad adoption across the organization. The firm stresses that it aims for working systems that deliver measurable impact rather than proofs of concept. New clients are asked to explain where they are in their AI journey and how they define success, and Lantern then recommends the quickest and lowest-risk route to results.

Client work and specialties

Two case studies show the kind of analytics and AI work the firm takes on. For Unifi, Lantern helped build an AI-driven safety and analytics platform that helps the company spot, evaluate and reduce safety risks before incidents happen. In healthcare, it worked with an academic life sciences university to adopt generative AI, simplifying how the institution manages data and supporting better clinical outcomes. These projects point to experience with operational safety analytics and with data-heavy healthcare and research settings.

Background and differentiators

The company describes itself as a specialist rather than a generalist IT shop, building end-to-end solutions only on the Microsoft platform. It says it can scale delivery cost-effectively while keeping practitioner-level expertise on each engagement. Besides its consulting work, Lantern runs a blog, hosts events and publishes a newsletter on Microsoft data and AI topics.

It is also hiring through its careers program. Buyers whose analytics already run on Microsoft Fabric, Azure or Power Platform will probably find the strongest fit. Organizations on non-Microsoft BI tools should check how well those tools match the firm's Microsoft-only focus.

Northwest Analytics, often called NWA, is a software company based in Portland, Oregon. It builds manufacturing intelligence and statistical process control (SPC) tools for industrial producers. Its software is meant for plants that collect large amounts of process and quality data and need to turn those readings into timely decisions, both on the production floor and at the management level. The company now operates as part of Embrace Software, Inc.

Products

NWA sells four branded applications that can be used separately or combined:

• NWA Analytics Knowledge Suite: connects scattered data sources and sends configurable alerts when a process starts to drift. It also stores assignable causes and corrective actions (ACCA) in a searchable repository, so fixes from earlier incidents can be reused across the organization.
• NWA Quality Analyst: SPC charting and statistical analysis for spotting deviations before they turn into larger problems.
• NWA Focus EMI: an enterprise manufacturing intelligence layer with live dashboards, views built for specific job roles, and adjustable alarm notifications.
• NWA Quality Information System: a data-entry tool that helps operators record measurements accurately with little training.

Who It Serves

NWA designs its tools around three groups inside a plant. Executives get performance views across sites to support strategy. Process and quality engineers get trend analysis, root-cause tools and historical context for ongoing improvement work. Operators get real-time control charts and dashboards that help them keep a process stable during each shift. The company adapts its configurations to several process-heavy sectors:

• Chemicals and petrochemicals
• Life sciences and other regulated production
• Oil and gas
• Packaging
• Advanced materials
• Food and beverage

How It Works With Clients

A project usually starts with NWA studying a customer's specific process problems. It then works with in-house quality specialists to decide on the right mix of control charts, visualizations or a company-wide rollout. NWA says implementation typically takes one to three weeks. After deployment, a software assurance program delivers new versions automatically.

The program also includes e-manual supplements, advance notice of planned enhancements, and the option to split licenses between facilities. A helpdesk answers technical questions on weekdays during Pacific business hours. The support team also helps with documentation and planning for large installations across multiple sites.

Training is another core service. The Quality Analyst course covers:

• Statistical foundations
• Setting up data sets and control charts
• Building reports and automating workflows with .RUN files
• Configuring SPC alarms and using audit trails
• Working with each customer's own data

A separate application engineering and consulting module covers dashboard design, automated email alerts, and custom documentation such as installation playbooks. Courses are open to both new and experienced users. The instructors have worked with manufacturers in many countries.

Track Record and Differentiators

The company reports more than 3,000 manufacturing deployments and over 100 global manufacturers as users. It also cites results such as about a quarter less unplanned downtime and a quarter less product waste among customers. These figures come from the vendor and have not been independently checked. Unlike general-purpose BI platforms, NWA focuses narrowly on SPC and quality on the plant floor. Its ACCA approach also records troubleshooting knowledge so the wider organization can draw on it over time.