BARC Survey Evaluates Global Business Intelligence Trends

The results of the BI Survey 13 were announced last month.  The BI Survey 13 is a comprehensive annual survey conducted by Business Application Research Center (BARC) – a leading independent software industry analyst.  The 13^th edition of the survey is the software industry’s largest independent and international survey of BI and Performance Management users.  The survey asked 3,149 respondents to analyze 30 different BI products or groups of products.  The survey focused on several topics including: agility, competitiveness, customer satisfaction, and innovation.  The survey results indicate a slow shift toward mobile BI adoption.

The respondents in the survey represented leading companies such as: arcplan, Information Builders, QlikTech, TARGIT, and SAS.  Leading Business Discovery enterprise QlikTech ranked first in collaboration and performance satisfaction among large international vendors.  “Putting knowledge in the hands of business users can help drive better business decisions and increase competitive agility.  By outperforming the competition in key areas such as performance and user satisfaction, QlikView proves why its Business Discovery platform has become a natural and vital part of customers’ business operations,” says Lars Björk, QlikTech’s CEO.

The survey reveals that 16 percent of enterprises are currently using mobile business intelligence.  In last year’s survey, 13 percent of respondents indicated they were using mobile BI.  Similarly to previous surveys, finance departments continue to remain the primary business function using BI.  85 percent of finance departments reported using BI, according to the 2013 survey.

BARC CEO, Dr. Carsten Bange, acknowledges that finance departments are still the core users of BI.  However, the survey shows that other departments such as IT, logistics, procurement, and sales are increasing their use of BI.  “BI was traditionally the preserve of finance departments but has now become a lot more pervasive.  The increase in usage by management, sales and procurement staff has been especially pronounced,” Bange says.

Evidence of BI usage more prevalent in Asia and South America

* According to the survey, mobile BI is more common in South America (30 percent) and Asia/Pacific (26 percent) than in North America (16 percent) and Europe (15 percent).

* Since 2008, executive managers have increased their use of BI.  From 2008 to 2013, senior management’s BI use has increased from 48 percent to 74 percent.

Bange has also noticed an increased demand for data analysis within organizations.  “The need for transparency is definitely increasing, as is the demand for more frequent delivery of information,” he says.

To read more about The BI Survey 13, click here: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240210162/Mobile-Business-Intelligence-adoption-slows-BARC-BI-survey-finds