Panorama

The business intelligence (BI) software marketplace has seen a wave of corporate acquisitions since the mid 1990s with the size and importance of the acquisitions coming to their apex during the years 2003 – 2008. This surge in corporate activity in the mid part of the decade has been characterized by a number of large software companies making major, strategic moves. Thus the industry is now in a state in which there are clear leaders or as Gartner, Inc puts it, “megavendors” that own a significant control over the over-all market share. In addition the rest of the BI vendors that not have been a part of acquisition activity are smaller organizations and are more commonly referred to as “niche” or “pure-play” vendors. These “niche” vendors each produce and sell viable business intelligence software products, but they do not encompass the breadth of complimentary technologies that the “megavendor” produces.

Business Intelligence Vendor Consolidation (2003-2008)

BI Vendor Consolidation (2003-2008)

As a result of the BI vendor consolidation of 2003-2008 the following megavendors have placed themselves in a position to control over 2/3 of the business intelligence software marketplace …: • IBM; • Microsoft; • Oracle; • SAP Business Objects

As of the end of 2010, the business intelligence (BI) software marketplace is in a state in which there are clear leaders or as Gartner, Inc puts it, “megavendors” that own roughly two-thirds of the $6 billion market. In addition the rest of the BI vendors are more commonly referred to as “niche” or “pure-play” vendors. These “niche” vendors each produce and sell viable business intelligence software products, but they do not encompass the breadth of complimentary technologies that the “megavendor” produces. Regardless of the size of the vendor, both the “megavendors” and “pure-play” vendors do provide very capable and feature-rich software solutions.

Even though many of vendors listed below produce a number of related products, this list is only focused on business intelligence software products.

BI Software Vendors and Products (2010)

The following companies are currently known as megavendors …: • IBM; • Microsoft; • Oracle; • SAP

And the following companies are now known as niche or pure-play vendors …: • MicroStrategy; • Information Builders; • Actuate; • LogiXML; • QlikTech; • Pentaho; • Jaspersoft; • Panorama Software; • Tibco Software (Spotfire); • Tableau Software; • Targit; • arcplan; • Board International

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Business Intelligence Vendor Consolidation (2003-2008)

Business Intelligence Vendors and Products (2010)