The “Raw Data -> Aggregated Data -> Intelligence -> Insights -> Decisions” is a differentiating causal chain in business today.  To service this “data->decision” chain a very large industry is emerging.

The Business Intelligence, Performance Management and Data Analytics is a large confusing software category with multiple sub-categories — mega-vendors (full stack, niche vendors, data discovery, visualization, data appliances, Open Source, Cloud – SaaS, Data Integration, Data Quality, Mobile BI, Services and Custom Analytics).

But the interest in BI and analytics is surging. Arnab Gupta, CEO of Opera states why analytics are taking center stage, “We live in a world where computers, not people, are in the driver’s seat. In banking, virtually 100% of the credit decisions are made by machines. In marketing, advanced algorithms determine messages, sales channels, and products for each consumer. Online, more and more volume is spurred by sophisticated recommender engines. At Amazon.com, 40% of business comes from its “other people like you bought…” program.”  (Businessweek, September 29, 2009).

Here is a list of vendors who participate in this marketspace:

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Big Data Startup and Existing Companies to Watch

• Emerging Players — Cloudera, DataStax, Northscale, Splunk, Palantir, Factual, Kognitio, Datameer, TellApart, Paraccel,  Hortonworks
• Established Players — Jaspersoft, EMC Greenplum , HP Vertica,  IBM/Netezza, Microsoft, Oracle ExaData,  SAP HANA, Teradata (acquired Aster Data)
• Big Data as a Service – Opera Solutions

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The BI and Analytics Stack is getting incredibly complex.  

Given the complexity and the non-linear innovation taking place we expect the market fragmentation to continue for a while before we see a wave of consolidation.