FRAMINGHAM, Mass., January 17, 2012 – International Data Corporation (IDC) today announced the launch of the industry's first global tracker covering the business analytics software market on a semiannual basis. The Worldwide Semiannual Business Analytics Tracker covers 12 segments within the BA (Business Analytics) market, providing semiannual vendor share information and a five-year annual forecast across a total of 49 countries.

Out of the 12 BA markets, five contributed revenues of more than $1 billion globally on a semiannual basis: End-User Query, Reporting, and Analysis (Standalone and Embedded); Data Warehouse Management; Financial Performance and Strategy Management Applications; CRM Analytics Applications; and Data Warehouse Generation. During the first half of 2011, they represented 73% of total BA market with impressive year-over-year growth of 13.8%. Individually, the top performing markets were Data Warehouse Management, CRM Analytics, and Data Warehouse Generation.

"This cycle, we expanded our global software tracker portfolio with the introduction of Business Analytics market coverage," said Wilvin Chee, associate vice president, Worldwide Software Trackers. "These markets are considered to be among the fastest growing opportunities within the software industry. IDC believes its in-depth coverage will deliver great value to companies planning their investment opportunities or exploring acquisition growth strategies."

The United States, unsurprisingly, was the dominant country market with a 44% share during 2011 and it is expected to perform well with 8.6% growth expected in 2012. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMA), and Latin America are forecast to drive the highest growth opportunities in 2012. In these three regions a total of 15 countries will register solid double-digit growth. From a market perspective, IDC expects five markets to perform above the market average in 2012. They are Advanced Analytics (Standalone and Embedded), Data Warehouse Management, Data Warehouse Generation, End-User Query, Reporting, and Analysis (Standalone and Embedded), and Workforce Analytics Applications.

"After three decades, the business analytics market is finally reaching the mainstream market and a status as a formal management discipline," said Dan Vesset, program vice president, Business Analytics Solutions. "The demand for business analytics solutions is expected to increase as the awareness of the benefits of the technology and related business practices to improve decision making and analytics processes spreads. Although the market forecast is first and foremost dependent on the overall world economy, there are few growth inhibitors in the foreseeable future."

More than 300 vendors are being tracked across all 12 BA markets. Oracle held the top spot during first half of 2011 with 20% global market share and 17.9% semiannual year-over-year growth. Its closest competitors (SAP, IBM, SAS Institute, and Microsoft) also impressed with double-digit growth during the same period. In total, there were 14 vendors that managed to surpass $100 million in global BA revenues during the first half of 2011. Among them, Informatica, MicroStrategy, Infor, and QlikTech had the strongest growth.

IDC's Worldwide Semiannual Business Analytics Tracker provides market size and vendor share for a total of 12 markets within Business Analytics. Measurement for this tracker is total software revenue, which includes license plus maintenance plus SaaS and other subscription revenue. The Tracker covers up to 49 nations in total. Annual five-year market forecasts for this Tracker are updated semiannually and available at worldwide, regional, and country levels.

For more information about IDC's Worldwide Semiannual Software Trackers, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 or knagamine@idc.com.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 47 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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