Assessment of strengths and weaknesses of leading Business Intelligence vendors suggests two names should be on IT decision makers' shortlists
Once exclusively a specialist tool, Business Intelligence (BI) now forms an integral part of many core business processes. This trend lends a distinct advantage to BI vendors providing high-quality end-to-end solutions, particularly as enterprises are looking to consolidate their Business Intelligence needs around one single-vendor solution. However according to independent market analyst Datamonitor's (DTM.L) new report "Decision Matrix: Selecting a Business Intelligence Vendor," although the market leaders are well placed to maintain their position, the business intelligence space is replete with others vendors that could challenge the current leaders. In what Datamonitor expects to be a market worth $7.9 billion* globally by year-end 2012, the stakes are clearly high.
BI solutions - application suites that enable organizations to store, query, analyze and present information captured or generated through operational process, are being deployed increasingly widely throughout the organization.
Datamonitor has developed the Decision Matrix to help businesses select vendors based on their technology strength, reputation among customers, and impact in the market. Conclusions are based on a quantitative assessment of end-user sentiment, the capabilities of the business intelligence solutions on offer and technology features. Datamonitor's research has revealed some interesting findings.
SAS and Oracle emerge as clear Business Intelligence market leaders
Based on their technology assessment, end user sentiment and market impact, SAS is the clear BI market leader. SAS offers a great portfolio of both basic and advanced functionality, backed up by a dependable support capability. Its stable financial footing, superb vision and lead in advanced analytics all imply SAS is well placed to continue as the BI market leader.
Oracle has successfully integrated its recently acquired BI expertise and, as a result, it has managed to exert itself within the BI market. However if one considers its user-base, commanding presence in the global applications market, and a comprehensive yet flexible BI solution, Oracle's lead position comes as no surprise. Oracle's dynamic outlook, exemplified by recent M&A activity, suggests it won't be complacent and will continue to enhance its standing in the BI market.
With strong challengers behind them, the market leaders should not become complacent.
The report reveals several players that are all capable of challenging the SAS and Oracle duopoly, should market conditions change. According to Datamonitor, Business Objects and Cognos are in the best position to improve, although Datamonitor notes both need to recover some of the momentum lost during platform reengineering. SAP provides a compelling and comprehensive solution, but it needs to capture a larger share of the non-SAP market if its position is to change, while IBM requires further addition of certain functional areas if it is to compete with the most successful BI vendors. Although Microsoft falls much further behind, Datamonitor believes that its BI strategy is still evolving and it may be a much more important player in the medium to long term.
"BI has been transformed from a specialist technology to a ubiquitous tool deployed at the operational frontline." says Vuk Trifkoviæ, Datamonitor technology analyst and author of the study. "This puts a premium on vendors' ability to provide a comprehensive solution that is able to serve a single version of a BI solution through a myriad of channels and to all levels of an organization."
