The Society for Information Management’s (SIM) annual research report – 2010 IT Industry Trend Survey – has revealed that Business Intelligence (BI) applications continue to be regarded as the most important technology investment for 2010.
Emphasis on Agile BI growing
The survey of 172 US senior software and IT executives showed that business productivity and cost reduction were viewed as the most important issues surrounding the IT profession, with the implementation of agile BI projects seen as the best avenue to address those concerns, providing flexibility and lower total cost of ownership.
Agile BI helping businesses in times of boom and bust
“The insights from the study confirm that the economic downturn is continuing to cause a significant shift in IT priorities,” said Jerry Luftman, former SIM Executive VP and Executive Director of Graduate Information Systems Programs.
“It is essential to recognize how organizations are leveraging IT during this prolonged economic conundrum, as well as preparing for when the economy will improve.”
IT experts see the analysis and insights generated via BI technology as a way to reduce costs in tough economic circumstances, and increase revenues and drive growth in more prosperous times.
Respondents indicated that technology supporting agile BI implementation, such as Cloud Computing, were major new investments for 2010, while the most important application / technology continues to be BI.
Top three IT concerns
The top three concerns in SIM’s annual survey were:
- Business productivity and cost reduction
- Business agility and speed to market
- IT and business alignment
Yellowfin: An agile BI solution
Agile BI vendors such as Yellowfin are well positioned to help businesses address these major concerns, enabling organizations and IT departments across all industries to undertake crucial data analysis, to support efficient and strategic operational practices.
For more information on agile BI, see our blogs on defining Agile BI, part one and part two.