Business intelligence spending to grow 11 per cent in 2008

Business intelligence is rated as a top priority for CIOs

Global spending on business intelligence (BI) software will grow 11 per cent to $5.8bn (£2.9bn) in 2008 despite widespread fears over economic slowdown, according to Gartner research.

The analyst firm predicts that worldwide revenue from BI platforms will reach $7.7bn (£3.9bn) by 2012, despite the financial fall-out from the US credit crunch.

Intelligence technology was voted to be a number one priority by a Gartner survey of 1500 chief information officers (CIOs), and the firm believes this enthusiasm will protect the market from the effects of reduced spending.

“The fact that BI has held the top spot with CIOs in this survey for three years running makes us believe that BI will be more resilient against the effects of a possible downturn in IT spending than some other technologies,” said Dan Sommer, senior research analyst for Gartner.

But Sommer also warned that changes to the market may limit revenue in the years to come.

“Despite BI being a top priority for 2009 and beyond, we expect a downward-sloping growth projection because of product and vendor consolidation, which will be offset somewhat by larger salesforces behind some of the products,” he said.

The findings will be discussed at Gartner's Business Intelligence Summit, which will take place in Chicago at the start of April.