The nature of business intelligence is changing from being a tool for finding and reporting information to one that helps customers take decisions that improve their business performance, says Maurizio Carli, group vice-president for Business Objects` enterprise operations.
Addressing a large group of journalists at the launch of Business Objects Enterprise 6.0 at the company`s Paris offices, he says that the acquisition of ACTA, which added a recognised name in data integration to its offering, enables the company to offer the single vendor, end-to-end business intelligence (BI) solution that customers demand.
He points to research findings that vindicate a number of aspects of the company`s market positioning.
The BI market still shows growth in the order of 15% to 20% because, an IDC study of the return on 43 BI investments suggests, it offers exceptional returns in a short time. The research found that the median ROI of BI implementations is 112%, at a median payback period of just over a year.
Though big competitors like Oracle, Microsoft and SAP have designs on the market, a Gartner study of customers reveals that most would prefer a pure-play BI vendor that is agnostic as far as interoperability with existing database, ERP and other software is concerned. However, they also want to deal with fewer vendors, motivating Business Objects` positioning as an end-to-end supplier.
Although the company has ambitious growth objectives, Carli says any acquisitions will not divert it from its core BI competence, and will more likely be aimed at acquiring customers and complementary technology, rather than new lines of business.
Early users seem confident. Antoine Larmanjat, representing Business Objects customer HP, says that one of the objectives of the Enterprise 6.0 rollout was to reverse the "retrieve/analysis" ratio so users can spend 30% of the time retrieving data and 70% at analysis, instead of wasting time on data retrieval as they do today.
He also reports that the software was "instrumental" in the company`s merger with Compaq, as the integration of the two Business Objects infrastructures took a mere three months to complete, and consolidated reporting was available very early on in this process.
The reception of the new, expanded product line will be a key decider in Business Objects` role in a consolidating BI market space. The company`s strong cash position and focus on end-to-end BI solutions that recognise their customers` performance management ambitions will be key to its own ability to compete both with traditional competitors such as Cognos and industry giants such as Microsoft, SAP and Oracle.
It will also affect its ability to convince customers that in the expected BI shakeout, their vendor choice won`t come back to haunt them. Enterprise 6.0 is intended to go a long way towards Business Objects` stated goal of becoming a top 10 software provider in the world within three or four years - a feat that will require it to double its revenue to over $1 billion.
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