Business Intelligence: Getting Smarter, But Still Learning - ' Business Intelligence' (
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: Maturing Steadily">
Business Intelligence: Maturing Steadily
WHAT IT IS:
Software and tools designed to transform a company's myriad forms of
information into a controllable, consumable format that can be used to manage business
performance.
KEY PLAYERS:
Business Objects (just acquired by SAP), Cognos, Microsoft, MicroStrategy,
Oracle (which bought Hyperion this year), SAP, SAS Institute
WHAT'S HAPPENING: The new millennium has provided good traction for the BI market
as tools have matured significantly and options for integration with other IT tools have
expanded. As the technology has matured, consolidation has been the natural progression.
Two significant acquisitions have been announced this year and additional merger talks are
ongoing. Many large enterprises remain in a transitory stage in their BI deployments, however,
as they attempt to expand the scope of BI in their organizations and expand its use to
larger groups.
MARKET SIZE:
$4.7 billion in 2006; projected to grow to $6.4 billion by 2010 (IDC)
Next Page: Ouch! BI's Varied Pain Points
Projects: Business Intelligence 
