Software companies are eyeing massive revenues by selling business intelligence (BI) solutions to the mid-market (small and medium segment) in India. Companies like Microsoft, SAS, IBM and French major Business Objects see huge revenue opportunity arising from this segment.
BI is a $5-9 billion industry globally. In India, BI is a $80 million industry and is expected to grow at CAGR of over 35%. The software majors see huge opportunity in the mid-market segment and are approaching the market with tailor-made BI solutions claiming their product to be economical for the companies. Todd Rowe, VP and GM, mid-market world-wide, Business Objects, said, ?The mid-market segment in India is fairly under-served as most of the companies in India are mid-market companies and only 15% of them have some form of BI installed. India is among our top five markets in terms of revenue and we have plans to add more industry specific products in retail banking and insurance space among others.? ?We see immense opportunity and our approach to market is simplicity, flexibility and one stock solution product to the customers,? said Kaushik Bagchi, country manager, IBM Information Management Software.
According to the players, there was a perception earlier that BI solution is complicated and expensive, however with more awareness about the importance of using BI in decision making in the mid-market, this segment now contributes maximum revenue to the companies. Also, the need to deploy advanced tools to give corporates an edge over others in their field is likely to spruce up the BI market. Agreeing that mid-market is more profitable than enterprise, Pallavi Kathuria, director-server business group, Microsoft (India) said, ?The fast growth of the mid-market makes this segment more attractive. Moreover, the complexity of implementing BI in mid-market is less as compared to enterprise.?
?We are bullish on the potential growth opportunities presented by these markets. The reason why mid-market is more profitable is volumes. The value per deal is small but the volumes are large compared to enterprise,? reveals Sudipta Sen, CEO and MD, SAS Institute (I) Pvt Ltd.