According to the research firm, Gartner, the sales of business intelligence software grew 22% in 2008 globally.

Many companies found BI, a good investment in tough times. Total revenue for the market is estimated at $8.8 billion, with six vendors, SAP/Business Objects, SAS Institute, Oracle, IBM/Cognos, Microsoft, and MicroStrategy  constituting 75% of the market.

Among the six vendors, major player is SAP/Business Objects having 24% of the market, or $2.1 billion in sales last year. SAS Institute and Oracle tied for second place, each with 14.6% of the market, followed by IBM/Cognos, with 11.3%. Microsoft came in with 7.7%, and MicroStrategy, 3.2%.

Among the research study, the survey firm Gartner included sales of BI platforms (or suites), analytic applications, and performance management software in its analysis.

By comparison, the market for worldwide BI software grew only 13% between 2007 and 2008. In wake of inverting tactfully, managing crunch and to "increase transparency", companies have invested hefty in BI and hence the market growth is phenomenal in this year.

Despite of good revenues for the market, many smaller BI companies saw low or no growth last year.

Anuj Kumar/ITVoir Network