Demand for business intelligence (BI) software is climbing, but firms deploying the technology need to invest in BI competency centres if they are to tackle potential skills shortages.

That is according to new research from Gartner which also estimates that the global BI market will grow over seven percent a year for the next four years, creating a market worth $3bn in 2009.

Speaking to almost 700 delegates at the research firm's annual BI Summit in London last week, research vice president Bill Hostmann said the " consumerisation" of information was encouraging firms to deploy BI functionality more pervasively within their organisation.

"Everyone now knows how to get information at any time and any where with Google and mobile devices, and that is what they now want within their business, " he said. "Over the next five years 85 percent of business applications will incorporate BI."

He added that this demand for greater visibility over corporate performance was also reflected in Gartner's recent 2006 survey of 1,400 CIO's which found BI was the most highly ranked technology concern.