Business intelligence software is currently the front-runner in the IT market and is being snapped up by businesses wanting to take full advantage of the electronic information era. Industry analyst IDC has predicted a boom in the BI market that will see it grow to $7.5 billion in 2006, from $3.8 billion in 2001. Marc Scheepbouwer, CEO of GBI (Global Technology Business Intelligence) looks at some of the drivers of growth in the BI market.
The IT industry in general may be bemoaning the slump in the market, but BI vendors are reaping the benefits of e-business; not only has it caused data to explode, but it has made the gathering, analysis, interpretation and sharing of that data across the company - with employees, customers, suppliers and partners - an essential component of business.
BI started out as a department-specific application aimed primarily at the Back-office. Today it is an enterprise-wide technology that encompasses end-user query and reporting, multidimensional analysis, data warehousing and data mining. Because the BI market includes software, consulting, customisation, data preparation and end-user training, estimates of the market`s size vary, but analysts generally agree that it is expected to double within the next three years.
BI enables companies to leverage their technology investment because it transforms meaningless data into integrated information that enables people to make better business decisions. Furthermore, it`s a comparatively small investment for companies to make given the returns it offers and its low cost compared to other technologies - such as ERP systems.
If we look at data warehousing projects implemented some years back, many failed to deliver. However, the evolution of data warehousing and the lessons the industry has learned along the way have resulted in a technology that delivers.
The 1990s were dominated by the ERP boom, with most companies seeing it as a must-have. But now, everyone has an ERP system, so the competitive advantage offered by ERP has been equalised, and companies are looking for technology that actually makes use of all the corporate data generated by automated business processes. They are wanting to make things easier, quicker and more efficient for themselves and, at the same time, become more responsive to customer needs than the competition.
The global BI boom is being reflected in SA as end-users become more educated about what is available to them, and as local businesses seek out new and better ways to view, display and analyse information.
It is for these reasons that companies are investing in tactical and operational, enterprise-wide, strategy-linked BI solutions to give them the information the need to stay ahead of the competition, and ultimately to achieve better financial results.
This has led to the rise of such a technology-business wave as business performance management (BPM), which has fired the imagination of the corporate world. Embracing the systems, metrics, tools and methodologies required to deliver every aspect of business management, BPM is set to grow 400% over the next three years, according to Gartner.
BPM is far more than BI (this is an important distinction, given the proliferation of technologies in this domain). It embraces business planning, budgeting, forecasting, business modelling, reporting, financial management, analysis, the balanced scorecard, and internal and external reporting. Most importantly, BPM provides management with the ability to operate off a single version of the truth.
A number of vendors have laid the foundation for the delivery of BPM; many customers around the world have put in place the building blocks for its incorporation into their daily, weekly, monthly and annual activities. This will mean sustained demand for the foreseeable future; best of all, though, is we will see businesses run themselves better, more in line with shareholder expectations, and linking strategy to execution.
That`s the future of BI: ready for the ride?
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