BI spending surge: Gartner

Month Date, 2008: Despite major consolidation among business?intelligence (BI) vendors in 2007 and growing fears of an upcoming economic slowdown, BI platforms are expected to continue to grow at a strong rate, according to Gartner.

The worldwide market for BI platforms is forecast to reach $US5.8 billion in 2008, an 11.2 percent increase from 2007.

“The fact that BI has held the top spot with CIOs in this survey for three years running makes us believe that BI will be more resilient against the effects of a possible downturn in IT spending than some other technologies,” said Dan Sommer, senior research analyst for Gartner. “Furthermore, the survey indicates that CIOs are looking to increase their budgets for BI by about 11 percent this year.”

2007 saw a turbulent shakeout of BI vendors, with Microsoft growing its capabilities, and Business Objects (SAP), Cognos (IBM) and Hyperion (Oracle) being the most notable acquisitions of the year, resulting in a new playing field, dominated by these megavendors.

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