A few weeks ago, we gave TEC Newsletter subscribers a sneak preview of a report analyzing trends in demand for business intelligence (BI) software. The report was based on peer data collected from over 17,000 BI software comparisons performed using the TEC Advisor online software selection application.We asked everyone who downloaded the report to answer a few quick questions about the things that were most important to them when considering a BI system purchase. And now that the preliminary survey results are in, it’s obvious that BI is still very much a hot topic, and there are some clear trends among buyers. Here are a few of the highlights. 

Integration is the most important consideration

Asked how important it would be to know what BI systems offer the best integration with their existing systems and data, an overwhelming number of survey respondents said it would be important or very important. This was consistent across companies of all sizes…

… and also among respondents at all levels of those companies.

Peer data is more important for larger organizations

We also asked respondents how important it would be to know what BI systems companies like theirs were purchasing, what budgets those companies had allocated for a BI system purchase, and what features those companies were requesting most frequently.Again, a clear majority of respondents indicated that knowing those things would be important. Interestingly, respondents from midsize to large companies were somewhat more likely than their small business counterparts to consider this kind of peer data important.

Nearly half of respondents are preparing for a BI purchase

When asked whether they would be looking for a BI system in the next 12 months, nearly half of all respondents indicated that there was a good or very good chance. Overall, respondents from larger companies were somewhat more likely than those from small to midsize companies to think that a BI purchase was likely.

On the business side, executives and non-management employees were considerably more optimistic about the prospects for a BI purchase in the next year than non-executive management. On the IT side, executives and IT management were more optimistic than IT technicians.

Finally, this question produced interesting results when broken down regionally. Respondents from Australasia, Europe, and North America were least likely to have BI purchase plans, while respondents from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East were most likely to. Middle East respondents had far and away the highest buyer intentions, with 69% saying it they were likely to make a BI purchase.

Download the report and tell us what you think

Given the perceived importance of peer data in the software selection process, it seems like we hit a sweet spot with our new report. If you haven’t had a chance to look at it yet, you can still download it here after filling out our short survey.We’d also like to hear more about what you’d like to see in future Market Survey reports. What kind of peer data is important to you? What software types would you like to see peer data for? Let us know in the comments.