The application suite giants took a substantial bite out of the business intelligence (BI) market in February, prompting speculation that the long-predicted absorption of BI software into ERP suites has begun in earnest.

The biggest BI land-grab came in the form of Oracle’s acquisition of performance management software vendor Hyperion Solutions. The $3.3 billion share purchase gives the database and applications giant control of 16.5% of the performance management software segment which integrates financial management tools with business intelligence (BI) capabilities for reporting and analysis (see story in Company analysis section).

But Oracle’s bitter rival SAP, the Germany-headquartered ERP vendor, also extended its performance management capabilities with its purchase of privately held Pilot Software, a 20-year veteran in reporting and analysis technology that was re-launched in 2002.

The company described this acquisition as a “tuck in”, a small but strategic technology buy that means its BI customers no longer need to look elsewhere for dashboard functionality. In contrast to Oracle’s tactic of buying the biggest names, SAP seems to be filling in functionality holes with an eye to evolving its BI coverage.

Analysts have pointed to another asset that SAP has picked up along with Pilot: the company’s CEO Jonathan Becher, who espouses an approach to performance management that might jar with SAP’s process-centric mindset.

“Becher is a social thinker, and doesn’t believe in process for its own sake,” explains software analyst James Governor of RedMonk. “His aim is to socialise business intelligence by ensuring that dashboards align with the needs of the people on the ground. This should help SAP customers.”

That less aggressive expansion strategy could also be seen at CDC Software, the Chinese enterprise applications vendor, which in February picked up UK-based ‘customer feedback management’ toolmaker Respond Group.

Respond’s product set helps companies, including AXA Insurance and Barclays Bank, manage and make sense of customer feedback and will, according to the acquiring company, make for a perfect adjunct to its own Pivotal CRM product.

“We are not taking the slash-and-burn approach of the typical consolidators,” said CDC Software president Eric Musser. “Rather, we are creating real value by expanding our industry applications through investments in organic innovation, as well as targeted acquisitions.”

Click here to read for February 2007 mergers and acquisitions table