Time to predict the future a bit. The trends we see in the evolution of Business Intelligence are going to be amplified by the current economic climate.
1. Growth of Complementary BI Solutions
Companies have long attempted to standardize using a single application or approach to address all of their technology needs in a specific area. However, BI in particular, cannot be effectively implemented using a single standardized approach. There are too many different capabilities, vertical-specific requirements and deployment models to be restricted to one standard BI tool from a single vendor. Driven by diverse organizational needs, a growing number of companies will recognize that one size does not fit all, and turn to a set of distinctive BI solutions with varying capabilities from different vendors to address a range of BI requirements.
2. SaaS Goes Upmarket
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has provided an attractive proposition to small and mid-sized companies, yet large, multinational enterprises are also realizing the benefits of rapidly deployed solutions that require minimal ongoing IT support. These large firms are turning to SaaS BI solutions to complement their existing BI infrastructure. The SaaS-based BI approach will significantly proliferate among large, multi-billion-dollar companies in 2009 and beyond.
3. Information Silos Will Tumble
As the different functions within an organization become more interrelated, the insight needed to make effective business decisions doesn’t come from one single area. Analytical decision-making requires that information be gathered from many different functions across an enterprise, which is a difficult task when data ownership resides in individual systems. As decision-making continues to become more cross-functional, data silos will break down. For example, to gain an understanding of at-risk customer revenue, companies may need to pull actual customer revenue from finance, forecast revenue from sales, customer satisfaction metrics from marketing, and on-time shipment information from supply chain management.
4. Collaborative BI Throughout the Extended Enterprise
As analytic solutions become richer and more powerful, they will reach outside the firewall to a company’s customers, suppliers and service providers. This extended enterprise will both contribute data to the solution, and also use the analytics that it offers. Reaching into the extended enterprise has been a priority for years—now measuring and making business decisions based on the same set of analytics will become pervasive. These solutions will be significantly enriched in 2009, driving value throughout the ecosystem.
5. Corporate Hot Spots Will Drive BI
In the recession, companies will choose IT initiatives that address specific business “hot spots” and offer a quick payback. Initiatives focusing on increasing revenue, reducing costs or improving customer satisfaction will reign. BI will provide organizations with visibility into opportunities to cross-sell into existing customers, ensure at-risk revenue is secured, identify new opportunities, rationalize costs and inventory, and meet goals set out by leadership. Companies are targeting a 3x ROI and payback in 90 days or less.
