Business intelligence (BI) software is the top technology priority for the third year running, according to analyst Gartner – but growth is slowing.
The 2008 Gartner Executive Programs survey of 1,500 CIOs reveals IT leaders now well aware that it’s the foundation for accomplishing many other priorities, such as customer service improvement and modernising legacy applications.
“The days of strong double-digit growth in the global BI market are over, as the industry enters a state of flux following vendor consolidation, increasing maturity and price erosion,” says Bhavish Sood, Gartner senior research analyst.
“However, BI remains critical for businesses as it turns information into an asset for insight and decision making, especially in high-growth markets in Asia.”
Sood says that the acquisitions by Oracle (Hyperion), SAP (Business Objects) and IBM (Cognos) eliminate all the larger publicly traded BI companies, with more than two-thirds of the market now attributed to these mega-vendors.
The remaining BI powerhouse vendors, such as SAS, Microstrategy, Information Builders – and, even more so, smaller BI vendors, such as Arcplan, Panorama, or Qliktech – will need to increase market push to stay visible above the increased noise from the big four, he says.
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