The document provides an excerpt from an IDC report on the worldwide business intelligence tools market in 2008. It discusses key trends in the market including continued spending by organizations of all sizes, stronger growth in advanced analytics vs query/reporting, and the evolving definition of BI software. It provides revenue and market share data for 2008 and growth rates for 2006-2008 for major vendors like SAP, SAS, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft. Specialty vendors still occupy 30% of the market.

1. EXCERPT
Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools 2008 Vendor
Shares
Dan Vesset Brian McDonough
IN THIS EXCERPT
The content for this Excerpt was taken directly from the IDC Competitive Analysis
Report, Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools 2008 Vendor Shares, by Dan Vesset
www.idc.com
and Brian McDonough. All or part of the following sections are included: IDC Opinion,
In This Study, Situation Overview, Vendor Profiles, Future Outlook, and Essential
Guidance. Also included are Figures 1 – 4, and Tables 1 – 4.
F.508.935.4015
IDC Opinion
In 2008, the business intelligence (BI) tools market reached $7.8 billion in software
license and maintenance revenue. The market growth of 10.6% in 2008 surpassed
previous IDC projections. The BI tools market was characterized by the following
P.508.872.8200
trends:
ִ The spending by organizations of all sizes continued. However, the strength of
the first three quarters of 2008 was followed by weakness in the fourth quarter,
which is likely to carry into the first half of 2009. Furthermore, weak new license
Global Headquarters: 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA
sales for several leading vendors are likely to lead in the near term to a slower
maintenance revenue growth rate.
ִ Nevertheless, when compared with the broader IT market, the BI tools market
remains an attractive opportunity for both large IT vendors and specialty ISVs.
Thirty percent of the market continues to be occupied by specialty vendors with
one or two focused software products.
ִ For the third year in a row, the advanced analytics segment of the BI tools market
grew faster than the query, reporting, and analysis (QRA) segment, and we
expect this trend to continue.
ִ The definition of what constitutes BI software has begun to evolve. Although, in
the short term, IDC is not expecting to change the taxonomy of the specific
software tools included in the BI tools market, certain content access and
analysis tools are beginning to be viewed as part of the overall BI architecture.
In This Study
This IDC study examines the business intelligence tools market for the period 2006–
2008. Worldwide market size is provided for 2008, with trends from 2006 and 2007.
Revenue and market share of the leading vendors are provided for 2008, with trends
from 2006 and 2007. This study also provides profiles of leading vendors.
Filing Information: June 2009, IDC #218598E, Volume: 1
Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing Strategies: Excerpt

2. The vendor shares and competitive analysis contained herein update those found in
Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools 2007 Vendor Shares: Query, Reporting, and
Analysis, and Advanced Analytics Markets Stable in the Face of Economic Turmoil
(IDC # 212921 , June 2008). The most recent BI tools market forecast can be found
in Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools Software 2009–2013 Forecast: Preliminary
Trends Suggest Strong Fundamental Demand Characteristics Tempered by
Economic Downturn (IDC # 217443 , March 2009).
Methodology
Please note the following:
The information contained in this study was derived from the IDC Software Market
Forecaster database as of May 13, 2009.
All numbers in this document may not be exact due to rounding.
For more information on IDC's software definitions and methodology, see IDC's
Software Taxonomy, 2009 (IDC # 216557 , February 2009).
Business Intelligence Tools Market Definition
IDC defines the BI tools market as being made up of two market segments: end-user
query, reporting, and analysis (QRA) and advanced analytics:
End-user query, reporting, and analysis . End-user query, reporting, and analysis
software includes ad hoc query and multidimensional analysis tools as well as
dashboards and production reporting tools. Query and reporting tools are designed
specifically to support ad hoc data access and report building by either IT or business
users. This category does not include other application development tools that may
be used for building reports but are not specifically designed for that purpose.
Multidimensional analysis tools include both online analytical processing (OLAP)
servers and client-side analysis tools that provide a data management environment
used for modeling business problems and analyzing business data. Packaged data
marts, which are preconfigured software combining data transformation,
management, and access in a single package, usually with business models, are also
included in this functional market.
Advanced analytics software . Advanced analytics software includes data mining and
statistical software (previously called technical data analysis). It uses technologies
such as neural networks, rule induction, and clustering, among others, to discover
relationships in data and make predictions that are hidden, not apparent, or too
complex to be extracted using query, reporting, and multidimensional analysis
software. This market also includes technical, econometric, and other mathematics-
specific software that provide libraries of statistical algorithms and tests for analyzing
data. Although statistics products vary in sophistication, most provide base-level
functions such as frequencies, cross-tabulation, and chi-square. This market also
includes a specialized form of statistical software focused on functional areas such as
the industrial design of experiments, clinical trial testing, exploratory data analysis,
and high-volume and real-time statistical analysis.
2 #218598E ©2009 IDC

3. The BI tools market includes both standalone packaged software and embedded BI
tools provided by some database management software vendors. An example of the
latter is Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services that comes embedded in the SQL
Server database.
In IDC's software taxonomy, these BI tools are part of the broader market called
business analytics, which is depicted in Figure 1.
FIGURE 1
IDC's Business Analytics Software Taxonomy, 2009
Source: IDC, 2009
SITUATION OVERVIEW
The Business Intelligence Tools Market in
2008
As shown in Table 1, in 2008, the BI tools market grew 10.6% to reach $7.8 billion in
worldwide license and maintenance revenue. This growth was slightly higher than
expected in previously published IDC's forecast of the BI tools market.
Table 1 also shows the different sizes and growth rates of the two primary segments
of the BI tools market: QRA and advanced analytics.
©2009 IDC #218598E 3

4. TABLE 1
W orldwide Business Intelligence Tools Revenue by Segment, 2006–2008
Revenue ($M) Share (%)
2006–2007 2007–2008
2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 Growth (%) Growth (%)
Query, reporting, and analysis 5,045 5,678 6,263 81.1 80.7 80.5 12.6 10.3
Advanced analytics 1,179 1,358 1,522 18.9 19.3 19.5 15.2 12.1
Total 6,224 7,036 7,784 100.0 100.0 100.0 13.0 10.6
Source: IDC, June 2009
Performance by Geographic Region in 2008
Figure 2 shows the geographic breakdown of the BI tools market. Further details and
analysis of specific regional and country-level trends and market shares are available
from IDC.
FIGURE 2
Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools Revenue Share by
Region, 2008
Source: IDC, 2009
Performance of Leading Vendors in 2008
Table 2 displays 2006–2008 worldwide revenue, growth, and market share of vendors
with greater than $10 million in worldwide BI tools revenue. For short profiles of the
leading BI vendors, see the Vendor Profiles section.
4 #218598E ©2009 IDC

5. Figure 3 depicts the share of the top 10 largest vendors (by software revenue) in the
BI tools market. Due to market consolidation, this share has grown from 58% in 2003
to 71% in 2008. However, 30% of the market continues to be occupied by a multitude
of specialty vendors worldwide.
Figure 4 depicts the BI tools market size and annual growth rates since 1993. Over
this time period, the compound annual growth rate of the market has been 15%.
Table 3 displays 2006–2008 worldwide revenue, growth, and market share of the
leading vendors competing in the QRA segment of the BI tools market. The QRA
market represented 80.5% of the total BI tools market and grew at 10.3%.
Table 4 displays 2006–2008 worldwide revenue, growth, and market share of the
leading vendors competing in the advanced analytics segment of the BI tools market.
Advanced analytics represented 19.5% of the overall BI tools market and grew
12.1%.
TABLE 2
Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools Revenue by Vendor, 2006–2008
Revenue ($M) Share (%)
2006–2007 2007–2008
Company 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 Growth (%) Growth (%)
SAP 1,214 1,350 1,589 19.5 19.2 20.4 11.2 17.8
SAS 679 791 879 10.9 11.2 11.3 16.6 11.0
IBM 692 762 800 11.1 10.8 10.3 10.1 5.1
Oracle 510 597 701 8.2 8.5 9.0 17.0 17.5
Microsoft 480 555 649 7.7 7.9 8.3 15.6 16.9
MicroStrategy 249 266 282 4.0 3.8 3.6 6.6 6.0
SPSS 198 226 237 3.2 3.2 3.0 14.4 4.5
Information Builders 182 180 178 2.9 2.6 2.3 -1.1 -1.1
Inc.
Actuate Corp. 99 111 106 1.6 1.6 1.4 12.5 -4.6
QlikTech 39 70 104 0.6 1.0 1.3 80.0 48.5
TIBCO 52 53 73 0.8 0.8 0.9 2.1 36.9
Panorama Software 38 57 62 0.6 0.8 0.8 52.0 8.1
Fujitsu 33 34 40 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.9 17.4
Arcplan 26 29 31 0.4 0.4 0.4 11.0 8.4
©2009 IDC #218598E 5

6. TABLE 2
Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools Revenue by Vendor, 2006–2008
Revenue ($M) Share (%)
2006–2007 2007–2008
Company 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 Growth (%) Growth (%)
Open Text 28 26 25 0.4 0.4 0.3 -4.3 -4.5
Teradata 20 23 24 0.3 0.3 0.3 11.0 4.4
Lawson Software 28 19 23 0.4 0.3 0.3 -32.1 23.2
CA 29 34 20 0.5 0.5 0.3 18.3 -42.6
Fair Isaac 7 13 18 0.1 0.2 0.2 79.8 36.8
Kalido 15 16 17 0.2 0.2 0.2 11.4 7.7
KXEN 8 12 16 0.1 0.2 0.2 41.0 39.3
Hitachi 15 13 15 0.2 0.2 0.2 -12.9 16.1
Targit 9 11 14 0.1 0.2 0.2 33.9 25.9
Infor 12 13 14 0.2 0.2 0.2 11.7 8.3
Datawatch Corp. 13 14 13 0.2 0.2 0.2 5.9 -6.5
Advizor Solutions 9 10 11 0.2 0.1 0.1 12.1 7.2
Unica Corp. 7 9 10 0.1 0.1 0.1 23.1 15.4
Other 1,533 1,741 1,832 24.6 24.7 23.5 13.5 5.2
Total 6,224 7,036 7,784 100.0 100.0 100.0 13.0 10.6
Notes:
The difference in Oracle revenue in this study and last year's study is due to additional information that resulted in a
correction to the 2007 value.
In cases where acquisitions were completed in 2008, revenue from acquired companies has been appended to the
current and past years for the given vendor.
Source: IDC, June 2009
6 #218598E ©2009 IDC

7. FIGURE 3
W orldwide Business Intelligence Tools Combined Revenue
Share of the Top 10 Largest Vendors, 2003–2008
80
70
60
50
(%)
40
30
20
10
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Note: The calculation of the share of the top 10 vendors by software revenue in any given year is
not backstreamed to reflect acquisitions.
Source: IDC, June 2009
FIGURE 4
W orldwide Business Intelligence Tools Revenue, 1993–2008
9,000 35
8,000 30
7,000
25
Revenue ($M)
6,000
Growth (%)
5,000 20
4,000 15
3,000
10
2,000
1,000 5
0 0
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
BI tools
Grow th
Note: Any differences to historical figures are due to corrections made after receipt of additional
market intelligence.
Source: IDC, June 2009
©2009 IDC #218598E 7

8. TABLE 3
Worldwide Query, Reporting, and Analysis Tools Revenue by Vendor,
2006–2008
Revenue ($M) Share (%)
2006–2007 2007–2008
Company 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 Growth (%) Growth (%)
SAP 1,214 1,350 1,589 24.1 23.8 25.4 11.2 17.8
IBM 685 755 794 13.6 13.3 12.7 10.3 5.1
Oracle 502 588 692 9.9 10.3 11.0 17.2 17.7
Microsoft 462 533 623 9.2 9.4 10.0 15.4 17.0
SAS 297 352 373 5.9 6.2 6.0 18.3 6.0
MicroStrategy 249 266 282 4.9 4.7 4.5 6.6 6.0
Information Builders Inc. 182 180 178 3.6 3.2 2.8 -1.1 -1.1
Actuate Corp. 99 111 106 2.0 2.0 1.7 12.5 -4.6
QlikTech 39 70 104 0.8 1.2 1.7 80.0 48.5
Panorama Software 38 57 62 0.7 1.0 1.0 52.0 8.1
TIBCO 35 38 51 0.7 0.7 0.8 8.4 36.2
Fujitsu 27 28 33 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.1 17.5
Arcplan 26 29 31 0.5 0.5 0.5 11.0 8.4
Open Text 28 26 25 0.5 0.5 0.4 -4.3 -4.5
Lawson Software 28 19 23 0.6 0.3 0.4 -32.1 23.2
CA 29 34 20 0.6 0.6 0.3 18.3 -42.6
SPSS 24 21 19 0.5 0.4 0.3 -10.0 -9.3
Kalido 15 16 17 0.3 0.3 0.3 11.4 7.7
Targit 9 11 14 0.2 0.2 0.2 33.9 25.9
Infor 12 13 14 0.2 0.2 0.2 11.7 8.3
Datawatch Corp. 13 14 13 0.3 0.3 0.2 5.9 -6.5
Advizor Solutions 9 10 11 0.2 0.2 0.2 12.1 7.2
Other 1,025 1,155 1,186 20.3 20.3 18.9 12.7 2.6
8 #218598E ©2009 IDC

9. TABLE 3
Worldwide Query, Reporting, and Analysis Tools Revenue by Vendor,
2006–2008
Revenue ($M) Share (%)
2006–2007 2007–2008
Company 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 Growth (%) Growth (%)
Total 5,045 5,678 6,263 100.0 100.0 100.0 12.6 10.3
Notes:
The difference in Oracle revenue in this study and last year's study is due to additional information that resulted in a
correction to the 2007 value.
In cases where acquisitions were completed in 2008, revenue from acquired companies has been appended to the
current and past years for the given vendor.
Source: IDC, June 2009
TABLE 4
Worldwide Advanced Analytics Tools Revenue by Vendor, 2006–2008
Revenue ($M) Share (%)
2006–2007 2007–2008
Company 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 Growth (%) Growth (%)
SAS 382 440 506 32.4 32.4 33.2 15.2 15.0
SPSS 174 205 217 14.8 15.1 14.3 17.8 6.0
Microsoft 18 22 25 1.6 1.6 1.7 20.0 15.0
Teradata 20 23 24 1.7 1.7 1.5 11.0 4.4
TIBCO 17 15 21 1.5 1.1 1.4 -10.4 38.7
Fair Isaac 7 13 18 0.6 1.0 1.2 79.8 36.8
KXEN 8 12 16 0.7 0.9 1.1 41.0 39.3
Unica Corp. 7 9 10 0.6 0.6 0.7 23.1 15.4
Oracle 9 9 9 0.7 0.7 0.6 4.9 3.5
Fujitsu 6 6 7 0.5 0.4 0.5 1.3 16.5
Portrait Software 4 6 7 0.4 0.5 0.4 52.1 7.1
Hitachi 8 6 7 0.7 0.4 0.4 -26.8 15.4
©2009 IDC #218598E 9

10. TABLE 4
Worldwide Advanced Analytics Tools Revenue by Vendor, 2006–2008
Revenue ($M) Share (%)
IBM 7 6 7 0.6 0.5 0.4 -5.9 3.1
Visual Numerics 6 7 6 0.5 0.5 0.4 15.0 -7.2
Inc.
ANGOSS Software 5 6 6 0.4 0.4 0.4 14.4 2.2
Silicon Graphics 5 4 4 0.5 0.3 0.2 -19.6 -14.6
NEC 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.7 13.3
Other 495 569 632 42.0 41.9 41.5 15.0 11.0
Total 1,179 1,358 1,522 100.0 100.0 100.0 15.2 12.1
Notes:
The difference in Visual Numerics' revenue in this study and last year's study is due to additional information that
resulted in a correction to IDC revenue model.
In cases where acquisitions were completed in 2008, revenue from acquired companies has been appended to the
current and past years for the given vendor.
Source: IDC, June 2009
Vendor Profiles
The sections that follow highlight the performance of leading BI tools vendors in 2008.
SAP
2008 marked the first year of combined BI tools revenue for SAP and Business
Objects. The growth rates shown for SAP in this study represent organic growth
because IDC methodology backstreams revenue of acquired companies. SAP
derives all of its BI tools revenue from the QRA market segment. In 2008, the
company's SAP BusinessObjects portfolio benefited from the vastly enlarged sales
force and was able to sell BI tools to SAP's applications customers. The company ran
into some resistance from customers to its pricing structure but was able to overcome
this challenge partly through improved communication about its BI tools portfolio road
map. Although SAP's rationalization of acquired BI tools has not been completed, the
company is well positioned to fulfill the future needs of BI technology purchasers.
SAP is also on the forefront of redefining the functionality of a BI solution by
integrating traditional QRA tools with those for content access and analysis,
collaboration, and event monitoring. The one omission from SAP's BI portfolio is a
product for advanced analytics. In 2008, SAP partnered for this functionality with
SPSS. It will remain to be seen if a partnership strategy is enough to address the
needs of its customers for more advanced analytics.
10 #218598E ©2009 IDC

11. SAS
SAS was the second-largest BI tools vendor in 2008 and the only one that derives at
least 40% of its BI tools revenue from both the QRA and advanced analytics markets.
SAS remains the overwhelming leader in the advanced analytics market. However, its
momentum in QRA tools stalled in 2008. During tough economic times, most
companies revert to their core competency, which for SAS includes advanced
analytics and data integration software. As the economy is expected to start
improving in the second half of 2009, the challenge for SAS will be to broaden its
footprint within its existing client base. SAS' strength in advanced analytics also
contributes to its strong position in various analytic applications market segments of
the broader business analytics market. These analytic applications are all built using
advanced analytics functionality, which few of its competitors are able to match.
IBM
IBM was the third-largest BI tools vendor in 2008, which marked the first year of
combined BI tools revenue for IBM and Cognos. The growth rates shown for IBM in
this study represent organic growth because IDC methodology backstreams revenue
of acquired companies.
It seems that IBM was not as successful as its closest competitors in being able to
execute on Cognos BI tools sales by the expanded IBM sales force. IDC speculates
that unlike SAP and Oracle, which have substantial applications software businesses,
IBM's focus on infrastructure and middleware software and professional services
means that selling to large number of business end users is not a core competency of
IBM's non-Cognos sales force. It remains to be seen if IBM regains a higher growth
pattern with an additional year of integration of the Cognos organization.
In the meantime, IBM continues to bring to market various business analytics
products that in aggregate represent one of the broadest portfolios of tools and
analytic applications not only for traditional BI but also for content access and
analysis, event monitoring, data integration, and data warehousing.
Oracle
In 2008, Oracle reaped the benefits of its investment in Oracle Business Intelligence
Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) — the company's BI platform and its different modules for
query, reporting, and analysis. OBIEE was built on the technology acquired from
Siebel and has emerged as a growth driver in the overall Oracle portfolio. At the same
time, we estimate that Oracle's 2007 acquisition of Hyperion has only marginally
contributed to the company's BI tools revenue. The maintenance from Hyperion's
legacy BI tools products does continue to contribute to Oracle's BI tools revenue, but
the primary focus of the Hyperion product line remains on financial performance and
strategy management applications, where Oracle holds the market leading position.
Oracle is well positioned to continue to benefit from OBIEE by selling it to its existing
vast applications and database customer base.
©2009 IDC #218598E 11

12. Microsoft
Microsoft continued its strong growth in the BI tools market in 2008. The company's
primary products in this market include SQL Server Analysis Services and SQL
Server Reporting Services. Microsoft's packaging of BI tools within SQL Server
continues to be an attractive option for its customers. Note that IDC does not allocate
any revenue derived by Microsoft from Excel or SharePoint Server to the BI tools
market. Yet most of Microsoft's customers that purchase SQL Server for their BI
needs also frequently purchase or use these related products. As of January 2009,
Microsoft's PerformancePoint Server ceased to be a separate product. Instead the
scorecards and dashboards that were referred to as PerformancePoint Monitoring
and the query and analysis functionality (technology acquired by Microsoft from
ProClarity) became a component of the SharePoint Server. Going forward, IDC may
be reevaluating its methodology for allocating BI software revenue to Microsoft. For
more information on Microsoft's realignment of the PerformancePoint Server product,
see Another Step Toward Pervasive Business Intelligence: Microsoft Realigns BI
Product Portfolio and Its Internal BI Organization (IDC #lcUS21646809, January
2009).
Future Outlook
Several interlinked trends in the BI market are likely to evolve over the coming years:
ִ Standardization and the expected eventual commoditization of core reporting,
dashboard, and OLAP functionality. This core QRA technology, which still forms
the bulk of the revenue for BI technology vendors, has been available for
decades. Although substantial feature and functionality improvements have been
made to this software over the years, the lack of differentiating features will
continue to drive down the cost of this software. The logical conclusion will be the
broad availability of open source or very low-cost commercial reporting,
dashboard, and OLAP technology with a shift in spending from licenses to
support services.
ִ Despite the previously described long-term trend toward commoditization of core
QRA tools, there will be an intermediate-term opportunity for some vendors to
differentiate their ad hoc query and multidimensional analysis tools based on
features and functionality that put a premium on simplicity and performance. This
may include use of in-memory deployment techniques, interactive visualization,
or associative data management structures. It is interesting to note that the two
fastest-growing QRA vendors (QlikTech and TIBCO Spotfire) both provide in-
memory QRA tools. However, even these tools will find growing competition from
the adjacent market of content access and analysis, which continues to encroach
on multidimensional analysis requirements of end users with a different set of
technologies.
ִ Regardless of the specific BI technology, in the short term, the executive
mandate for most organizations will be to do "more with less." Although we
continue to see healthy demand for BI functionality from business end users, IT
departments and business end users alike are being asked to curtail costs. As a
result, incremental, small purchases, and deployment of BI technology will
12 #218598E ©2009 IDC

13. dominate the market in the short term. This trend is also likely to push more
organizations toward SaaS and outsourced BI and analytics solutions that have a
pricing model, which enables better allocation of direct costs to current
profitability. Additionally, IDC is beginning to see evidence of greater interest in
outsourcing of advanced analytics processes.
ִ Adoption of advanced analytics to improve decision-making processes related to
a variety of business processes will increase, thus driving the continued, faster
growth rate of this segment of the BI tools market. The need to create and easily
modify predictive models will increase as organizations deal with a heightened
level of uncertainty.
ִ The next wave of innovation in the BI market will come from the expansion of the
overall business analytics solution to include functionality for supporting:
ִ Unified access to and analysis of structured data and unstructured content
ִ Collaboration during the process of decision making
ִ Capture of knowledge learned in the context of decision making
ִ Intelligent process automation, which combines BI functionality with that of
business process management
For additional trends related to these four points of convergence of BI with related
technology, see Decision Management: A Strategy for Organizationwide Decision
Support and Automation (IDC #218353, May 2009).
For additional information on the future outlook of the market as well as the 2009–
2013 forecast, see Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools Software 2009–2013
Forecast: Preliminary Trends Suggest Strong Fundamental Demand Characteristics
Tempered by Economic Downturn (IDC #217443, March 2009).
Essential Guidance
In November 2008, IDC completed a study titled Improving Organizational Decision-
Making Through Pervasive Business Intelligence: The Five Key Factors That Lead to
Business Intelligence Diffusion (IDC white paper #215157, November 2008). The
research focused on defining pervasive BI based on six indicators, the evaluation of
the level of pervasiveness of BI within organizations, and the identification of five
factors that managers can influence to improve diffusion of BI.
In April 2008, IDC conducted a research study with KMWorld magazine titled
Decision Management Survey Shows Need for Better Collaborative Decision-Making
and Knowledge Capture Support (IDC #218277, May 2009). Along with other ongoing
market research efforts, these latest studies suggest the following guidance for
technology users and vendors.
Organizations should continue with BI and analytics projects that can help reduce
costs or retain customers. There is growing evidence that more pervasive BI and
analytics have a direct impact on competitiveness. Better decision making is more
©2009 IDC #218598E 13

14. important when resources become restricted during a recession, so BI and analytics
projects will still appeal to management.
However, justifying large capital outlays for software will be challenging unless short-
term benefits can be directly correlated with the investment. As more incremental
projects are undertaken, it will be important to execute these projects within the long-
term strategic plan of organizationwide decision management.
BI technology vendors should begin to actively address customer needs for
convergence of BI functionality with that of content access and analysis,
collaboration, and knowledge capture and learning. See Decision Management: A
Strategy for Organizationwide Decision Support and Automation (IDC #218353, May
2009) for additional guidance regarding this market trend.
As organizations increasingly deploy advanced analytics and QRA tools, they will
discover there are benefits from integrating the two. The results of models built with
advanced analytics tools need to be disseminated using QRA tools. Conversely,
content from models that is evaluated using QRA tools can uncover new
requirements for model builders. BI technology users and vendors should ensure that
there is greater integration and availability of both of these tool sets within their BI
portfolios.
One of the ways some vendors will capitalize on the trend for core QRA technology
commoditization will include increased offerings of SaaS BI tools, with their
associated subscription pricing model. In addition to simply porting QRA tools to the
SaaS model, greater value-add will be available from analytics as service solutions,
whereby all or some of the analysis of the data will be outsourced to third parties. In
the long term, BI tools software vendors should consider offering a portion of their
solutions through a SaaS delivery model, some of which will likely be delivered
through a private or public cloud. However, we do not expect en masse migration to
SaaS or cloud-based BI tools software deployments over the next five years.
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14 #218598E ©2009 IDC