SoftwareAdvice, a data visualization software review company that recently got acquired by Gartner, has published a report on Business Intelligence software buyer trends that caught our attention. The report is based on a survey of 385 companies via phone interactions, and presents a realistic overview of BI buying trends today.
Here are the 3 key findings from the report:
1. More than 60 percent of prospective BI software buyers are not IT professionals
Instead most buyers have job titles that correspond with business functions like financial officer, operations manager or marketing executive, to name a few. This is in line with our observations, where we’ve noticed that non-technical influencers are increasingly getting involved in the buying process. What previously used to be the domain of a few tech-savvy IT professionals, is now becoming democratized to include a variety of business functions like Product Managers, Project Managers, UX designers, and Business Analysts. Consequently, we’ve taken steps to meet these buyers’ information needs in the form of comparison tables, accessible white papers, blog posts, and more.
2. Buyers Overwhelmingly Want Better Data Visualization
Business professionals understand that data is useful only when it’s actionable and insightful, and visualization is what transforms raw data into actionable insights. One prospective buyer in the survey says “We want to pull data from our SQL server, Microsoft Dynamics, SharePoint and Excel, and we want a strong visualization tool.”
Not surprisingly, the most-requested BI tools among buyers are dashboards and scorecards.
3. Most Buyers Want Integrated Suites
All but a small fraction of prospective BI software buyers want integrated suites, rather than multiple best-of-breed applications.
If the findings in this report interest you, do browse through the additional charts in the SlideShare deck below, or visit the SoftwareAdvice website for the report in article format.
[slideshare id=33656014&doc=bi-buyerview-slideshare4-140417131624-phpapp01]
About Software Advice
Software Advice™ is a trusted resource for software buyers. The company’s website, www.softwareadvice.com, provides detailed reviews, comparisons and research to help organizations choose the right software.
