There's no shortage of corporate dollars flowing to BI projects and technology, a new survey of 500 IT executives by InformationWeek confirms.
Half of the respondents intend to increase their BI budgets from 2006, and 40% say spending will remain the same.
Not only that, but IW also finds that BI -- notorious for being a fragmented field of endeavor with no clear vendors out in front -- is taking on more of an enterprise cast. About 25% reported that BI tools were scattered around their companies, down from 35% a year ago. Thirty-three percent say they have standardized their BI efforts to one or a few solutions.
What are the most challenging issues around BI? A majority of IT executives, 53%, say their BI implementations are hampered by integration and compatibility issues. Along the same lines, 78% would like to see BI vendors better address integration and compatibility issues.
Another challenges include tools complexity and business value. Forty-eight percent say the tools are difficult to use, and 45% wonder where the ROI is with business intelligence.
Given the opportunity, most would prefer not to have to wrestle with software and implementation issues at their sites anyway. Close to two out of three, 63%, say they are considering acquiring BI capabilities through as Software as a Service vendor. Twenty-seven percent, in fact, say it's "extremely likely" they will go the SaaS route.
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