Mixed fortunes for BI software vendors
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Business intelligence (BI) software vendors have produced some very mixed results in the last quarter.
Business intelligence (BI) software vendors have experienced mixed fortunes in their latest quarters. While most vendors, including MicroStrategy, Hummingbird and Actuate, reported year-on-year falls in revenues, the sector leader Business Objects managed growth of 10% to $116.8 million for the three months, while it boasted of adding 682 new customers. Business Objects' latest business push, into extranet BI, grew by 68% year-on-year in the fourth quarter to $24.8 million. The company now has 730 extranet customers, 83 of which signed up in the fourth quarter, and for the full year the extranet division generated revenues of $82.5 million, up 97% from 2000 figures.
Its rival in data analysis and reporting software, Crystal Decisions, also announced a revenue upswing. Marking its sixth consecutive quarter of growth, the company said fourth quarter revenues rose by 28%, largely due to an expansion of its direct sales force and a "refined sales execution" strategy that helped Crystal Decisions increase its enterprise level implementations, according to Dan Vesset, a research manager at analyst firm IDC.
In contrast, fellow Canadian BI company Hummingbird reported a fall in revenues of 27% to $44.1 million. The company's net loss at $5.7 million compared with a net profit of $2.1 million for the same quarter in 2000. MicroStrategy also reported a decline in revenues to $43.2 million, but it also managed to reign in costs, claiming it had reduced total annualised expenses by $160 million in 2001.
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