One of the signs of a maturing market is vendor consolidation. Business intelligence (BI) may be maturing quickly if that yardstick is anything to go by. Some large-scale acquisitions have taken shape since Brainstorm  last covered the BI space, foremost among them Oracle`s buyout of Hyperion for $3.3 billion. Brainstorm`s  round table guests had plenty to say about the real reasons for the buyout (see the Q&A section on pg 66), but it`s clear to most observers that BI vendors are proving successful where some ERP vendors are struggling.

BI vendors tend to pride themselves on flexible and quick delivery of real value, with a special focus on doing the back-end integration properly; they`re doing well as a result. But then again, they`ve had over ten years to get it right.