Dynamics of BI-PM market changing, major vendors under pressure

Peter Dinham
Thursday, 16 April 2009 08:52

Business IT - Technology

Major vendors who traditionally hold sway in the business intelligence and performance management software market are under increasing pressure to retain their marketshare from technologies like software-as-a-service (SaaP), pre-packaged appliances and open source.

In fact, while the big, traditional BI-PM vendors like Oracle, SAP, IBM and Microsoft are undoubtedly still in a strong position, the threat to their marketshare is sufficient for Ovum to warn them that they can “ill afford to stand still” and advises them to “keep abreast of the current trends in the IT and economic environment that are impacting their business.”

According to Ovum, in its latest report - “Supplier considerations for BI-PM market in 2009”, the worldwide business intelligence and performance management software market continues to undergo significant change and is already resulting in a shake-out of vendors with the emergence of new technologies and deployment models that are challenging the basic economics of implementing BI-PM systems.

Ovum’s Madan Sheina says that there’s rampant consolidation around a handful of large suppliers like Oracle, SAP, IBM and Microsoft, and this will expand the addressable market for BI-PM “leaving enough room for revenue expansion for both large and small vendors.”

“Large IT infrastructure vendors have been preoccupied with integrating and rationalising their BI-PM suites and also aligning them to their middleware offerings. That will mean more BI-PM technology sales included as part of larger infrastructure deals”.

However, Sheina warns that while this will be beneficial to both acquiring and acquired companies, it will also foster what she describes as “a wait-and-see attitude” among many customers, as they assess the technical and financial impact of upgrading and migrating to an enterprise-standard BI-PM platform.
 
“Traditional BI-PM vendors can ill afford to stand still. They must keep abreast of the current trends in the IT and economic environment that are impacting their business.”
CONTINUED page 2