On Monday,
This will give IBM the ability to leverage additional services income from the technology, the ability to deliver one-stop solutions for clients when linked with their 
The IBM move into Business Intelligence means that companies offering comprehensive Enterprise Management technology solutions have purchased all three of the sector leaders. Oracle purchased Hyperion Solutions for $3.3 and SAP AG (SAP) recently dropped $7 billion on the table for Business Objects. (BOBJ)
The Business Intelligence industry is booming, Sarbanes-Oxley, Asset Performance Management, Business Analytics and the continuing success of Balanced Scorecard Initiatives have breathed a lot of life into this sector recently. Put bluntly The Dashboard is shaping up to be the killer enterprise app of the early 21st century.
What will this mean for consultants around the world? It may be too early to tell, but there are some easy predictions to make.
On one hand, VAR’s around the world will suddenly have access to a larger portfolio of products that they could represent if they desired, increasing the potential for IBM, say, to find additional distribution channels for their Tivoli technologies (MRO Software) increasing overall revenues.
However, service only consultancies, offering Cognos consulting and training only, will suddenly find themselves faced with competition from gigantic and immensely successful service consultancy like IBM; squeezing their markets and potentially forcing out some of the smaller players.
One of the problems immediately facing IBM is that Cognos is not unique to MRO Software, but with many different
On balance, the entry en masse into this area by three giants in service delivery and
It will also be good for client organizations; they can now get everything from one source, maybe in one project, enabling them to leverage cost savings out of their
The ones caught in the middle will be those delivering services, within these areas there are three options open to them.
1) Expand their service offerings by taking themselves into some of the business process work and data analysis work that underlies successful Business Intelligence, thus pushing themselves further into the client company and creating a barrier to entry of the giants such as IBM, SAP and Oracle.
2) Look to develop relationships, and grow their services portfolio, with smaller competing Business Intelligence providers; giving them additional revenue sources alongside the services they already deliver on the big three Business Intelligence products.
3) Alternatively, they can look for other means to deliver additional value through developing add-in software, technologies or templates; or through new pricing or service delivery models.
