Firms increase business intelligence spending, study shows

Posted by Steven Gaskill

IT outsourcing customers increased their use of business intelligence, analytics and performance management software last year, a new report has claimed.

A study by published IT industry analyst Gartner revealed that the worldwide market for business intelligence, analytic applications and performance management software saw revenues exceed $9.3 billion (£6 billion) in 2009.

This is a 4.2 per cent rise on the $8.9 billion revenue the market recorded in 2008.

Dan Sommer, senior research analyst at Gartner, pointed out that the market was not immune to the recession and 2009's growth rate was lower than those recorded in previous years.

However, he claimed that the sector performed relatively well throughout the downturn and was not as badly affected as other classes of software.

"Organisations largely continued their [business intelligence] projects, hoping that resulting transparency and insight would enable cost-cuts and improved productivity and agility," Mr Sommer explained.

Last month, Gartner revealed that firms are intending to continue using IT services, as 85 per cent of organisations think their spending on external service providers will increase or remain constant throughout 2010.