Briefs

Jeff Kelly, 12 Feb 2008 | SearchDataManagement.com

A wave of consolidation and a major newcomer to the list of business intelligence (BI) leaders mean good news for software buyers, according to Gartner's latest business intelligence Magic Quadrant.

Consolidation was the watchword of the last 12 months, according to the report, with enterprise software vendors SAP, Oracle and IBM acquiring top BI pure-players Business Objects, Hyperion and Cognos, respectively. Meanwhile, Microsoft made its first appearance in the report's leaders' quadrant, helping fuel BI's continuing transition from an expensive, strategic tool to a commoditized, mature technology.

The four so-called mega-vendors -- SAP, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft -- now offer similar, comprehensive BI tools and technologies, the report stated, and together control more than two-thirds of the market. As a result, Gartner expects BI prices to fall.

"Where you've got a large number of vendors offering roughly equivalent capabilities, then it leads to some level of commoditization," said Neil McMurchy, a Gartner analyst and co-author of the report. "And in that sort of environment, inevitably, there's more price competition." Gartner placed no fewer than seven vendors in this year's leaders' quadrant.

Microsoft makes its BI move as SAP falters

Perhaps the most interesting development was Microsoft's ascension to the top of the leaders' quadrant, outpacing longtime BI mainstays IBM-Cognos and SAP-Business Objects in its ability to execute. Microsoft's BI platform and tools – including PerformancePoint Server and SQL Server – gained significant market traction last year thanks in part to improved customer service, McMurchy said.

...

Also appearing in this year's BI Magic Quadrant were Cognos, Oracle, SAS, Information Builders and MicroStrategy in the leaders' quadrant; Actuate, Arcplan and Board International in the niche players' quadrant; and Tibco Spotfire in the visionaries' quadrant.

... Report predicts that the BI market will grow at a five-year compound annual rate of 8.6% from 2006 through 2011.

Read more.