Business Intelligence Services Continue to Grow Despite Weak Economy - Sponsored Whitepaper

Throughout the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009, which dramatically impacted IT service spending, the Business Intelligence (BI) market remained a bright spot. In fact, many vendors experienced double-digit or even triple-digit growth of BI-related services in 2009, while experiencing revenue declines through the remainder of their portfolios.

Challenging economic times have created the need for improved transparency across business functions, allowing vendors and end-users to identify areas of potential cost-cutting and redundancy. Undoubtedly, improved information management systems and visibility allow companies to better predict and meet market demand, which becomes even more critical in tough economic times. Investments in BI systems can also provide significant support for companies’ efforts to meet ongoing regulatory and financial reporting requirements. Finally, TBR believes that customers are increasingly looking for ways to align IT investments with overall business strategy and execution, which is particularly important as economic conditions improve and companies position themselves for growth.

As a result of these trends, IT service vendors view BI services as an area of strategic investment. Vendors such as Accenture and IBM Global Services are backing their efforts with significant corporate support and visibility, establishing standalone BI and information management practices. In addition, acquisitions have been an important strategy for vendors to build a presence in this market segment (e.g., IBM’s series of acquisitions including Cognos, and HP’s acquisition of Knightsbridge). Therefore, BI services will likely continue to see consolidation as vendors complement organic growth strategies with acquisitions that expand their portfolios, vertical market expertise and geographic footprints in an effort to meet growing customer demand.