Addressing the Needs of the Middle Market
The middle market continues to present strong growth potential for business intelligence (BI) suppliers. IT budgets continue to increase modestly and business intelligence has a compelling value propositions for companies looking for ways to expand market penetration, expand into new markets, and increase customer profitability.
These buyers are looking for quick hits that will make a real impact on business performance. They demand:
- Short implementation times
- Minimal risk
- Minimal dependence on IT services
- High return on investments
THE HURWITZ TAKE: Hurwitz Group believes that the middle market presents one of the strongest near-term growth opportunities for the business intelligence market. However, business intelligence vendors must develop cohesive strategies that address these buyer requirements, including:
- A strong implementation group or channel is very important to meeting customer demands.
- Fast Start programs are very effective for addressing the need for quick implementation and ROI.
- Business intelligence component and templates enable companies to get up to speed quickly and add features and functionality incrementally.
- ASP offerings are very viable in the middle market. Digimine and SAS Institute’s Intellivisor are two examples of successful BI ASP offerings.
Although large enterprise deals continue to be the sweet spot of the market that most BI vendors seek, Hurwitz Group believes that a strong middle market strategy is essential to growth and success in the business intelligence market today.
By: Jacqueline Sweeney
Source: Hurwitz