Gartner predicts open source BI growth

IT research firm Gartner predicts a five-fold growth of the open source business intelligence market by 2012, reports Information Management.

Gartner's report points out that open source BI is not just for cash-strapped organisations anymore. The average deal for an open source BI contract is approximately $30 000 for a yearly subscription, but some contracts are more than $500 000 for multiyear support subscriptions, the same as many commercial vendors.

Different vertical industries are pushing open source BI adoption, and it is being seen more often in midsized companies, as well as government, the public sector, healthcare and manufacturing.

Top-performing companies are 15 times more likely to apply analytics to strategic decisions than their underperforming peers, writes Internet Evolution.

This is from a new IBM study on the role information-based decision making is playing in successful business strategies during these tough economic times.

Top performers were also 22 times more prepared to challenge the status quo in their organisations, rethink their current strategies and business processes, and aggressively apply and act on new insights derived from analytics.

UK government-backed body the Technology Strategy Board has unveiled the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) to improve links between IT businesses and overcome hurdles to technological advances, says Computing.co.uk.

The association intends to bring together business, academia and government to drive IT innovation for the benefit of the wider UK economy.

The experts leading the KTN will look to create links between businesses to solve IT issues such as intelligent transport, cloud computing, smart metering and mobile data access while encouraging knowledge sharing and eliminating corporate red tape.