Many ERP vendors are embedding Business Intelligence into their ERP applications themselves.
Doug Henschen wrote about some fascinating things happening in the ERP space - You Need Smarter Apps, where he outlines the efforts of companies like SAP, Oracle, SAS and IBM in this regard.
For example, your Financial Accounting application does Financial Business Intelligence and does prediction of your Financial KPIs.
Your Sales and Marketing Modules do their own Business Intelligence and even predict your sales using the data being collected.
This is a most laudable goal- asking why BI should be a separate entity?
Traditionally in a time of slower computers and expensive computing, it made sense to separate BI into a parallel function done in batch mode.
But in a time of cheaper, faster processors and memory, it only makes sense to roll BI into the applications themselves.
The only place where I see this running into problems is where a company might be using Oracle Financials, SAP manufacturing and PeopleSoft for HR.
Taking data across these applications and creating consolidated BI across these different kinds of data may still be a bear. SOA Integration may ease some of this burden and make consolidated BI possible also in the future.
Interesting developments and questions, nonetheless!
It is wiser to find out than to suppose - Mark Twain
Good thoughts.
IMNSHO: Yes, BI should be centered on applications. And ERP apps are more important, in some ways, than BI, since they manage the processes that run your business. But the BI-as-an-ERP-function route isn't ideal.
A few things to consider:
This is a very common situation. And don't forget the specialized apps running parallel to the big guys.
Also, one size really doesn't fit all in BI. A decade ago, specialist vendors built analytic applications that were supposed to give a jump start on BI; unfortunately, the customization needed made them almost as much of a hindrance as a help.
Finally, if we're supposed to be "competing on analytics", then you don't want a cookie-cutter solution. Analytics should be tailored to your business strategy, to your differentiators, to your competitive angle. Historically, ERP vendors have shown that they're going to provide least-common-denominator solutions.
Full disclosure: I work for one of the last remaining independent BI vendors, Information Builders. Part of the reason I'm here is that I think people will continue to realize the value of independent BI.