IT Week: As Business Objects' mid-market director, how do you see demand for business intelligence [BI] systems in this sector?
John Wilkinson: There is no doubt BI is far more established in larger enterprises, but we are now seeing higher growth rates in the mid-market. A recent IDC report put BI growth in the enterprise space at 8.3 percent, while growth stands at 12.5 percent in the mid-market.

How are requirements for BI in the mid-market different to those in larger enterprises?
Each of the mid-market segments is different. Genuinely small companies are unlikely to have a significant IT department, and if they are going to use BI they are going to want a simple or hosted solution. At the top end of the mid-market [customers with sales of under a $1bn] there is little difference from an enterprise customer, and depending on their requirements they could want a full BI toolset. Meanwhile, firms in the middle want the full BI functionality but are strapped for resources.

How do vendors meet those differing requirements?
You need to ensure your BI software is pre-bundled and is easy to install and manage. That is the only way you can deliver the sophistication that the mid-market needs at a price it can afford. We've done that by pre-installing vertical industry templates on our BI tools and bundling them into packages that are easy to deploy.

What practical benefits do mid-market firms get from BI?
One of our customers is Yorkshire Building Society. Before implementing Business Objects they were keying data into Excel for all their reporting and planning activities, which was extremely time-consuming and led to different departments acting off different spreadsheets. They bought a bundled BI package and our RapidMart solution. As a result they enjoyed faster reporting, and more accurate planning and budgeting. It also meant they could comply with regulations quicker and generally improve corporate efficiency.

Why has it taken so long for BI to reach the mid-market?
The biggest obstacle has been lack of awareness. Firms have not enjoyed using Excel to handle data but they haven't been aware of an alternative. Microsoft has actually helped a lot in this area by raising the profile of reporting tools and helping its customer base realise that BI is an alternative to Excel.

Do you see hosted BI software appealing to the mid-market?
We're starting to see interest. We have a strong relationship with Salesforce.com and as a result we've had Salesforce customers come to us and implement our BI around their hosted CRM. We also launched a hosted service called CrystalReports.com in the US and we envisage that being rolled out globally in the next year. We see real value in hosted BI for firms with small IT departments – it allows them to punch above their weight.

About John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson joined BI specialist Business Objects in April 2005 as mid-markets director for Northern Europe.
Wilkinson's previous jobs include positions at contact
centre optimisation software specialist Witness Systems, IBM, SeeBeyond and Manugistics.