News Archives - BARC – Data Decisions. Built on BARC.

Press release – Cloud-Based Planning on the Rise: Global Survey Reveals Usage Trends

June 7, 2023/in News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, June 7, 2023

The leading analyst firm BARC presents the results of The Planning Survey 23. The ninth edition of the annual study gathers the experiences and opinions of over 1,300 professionals regarding the selection and use of software for planning, budgeting and forecasting.

–– The Planning Survey 23 is based on feedback from over 1,300 professionals worldwide.
–– Key trends in enterprise planning: integration of planning with analytics and adoption of cloud-based planning
–– Many companies face challenges implementing predictive planning.

“The survey results underline the increasing importance of integrating planning with analytics and the growing adoption of cloud solutions. At the same time, the use of predictive planning still presents challenges. These findings provide valuable insights for companies looking to optimize their planning and forecasting processes,” commented Dr. Christian Fuchs, Senior Analyst at BARC and co-author of the study.

The Planning Survey 23 highlights three key trends that are significantly shaping the development of software for enterprise planning:

Trend 1: Integration of planning with analytics

The integration of planning with analytics is becoming increasingly important. The market for software solutions is evolving as pure planning tools are being supplanted by comprehensive CPM platforms that also support analytics and corporate consolidation. Many companies still use separate software tools for their various performance management processes, which can involve extra effort and risks. An integrated approach addresses these issues and enables the seamless connection of operational sub-plans with financial planning and corporate consolidation. Companies with merged controlling and accounting teams, as well as aligned structures and processes, benefit particularly from this integration.

Figure 1: Adoption of trend technologies 2016-2023
2016: n=573, 2017: n=1,169, 2018: n=812, 2019: n=932, 2020: n=908, 2021: n=884, 2022: n=832, and 2023: n=783,
Source: The Planning Survey 23, Copyright: BARC

Trend 2: Adoption of cloud-based planning solutions

The adoption of cloud-based planning solutions continues to progress. Today, new implementations are predominantly cloud-based. Reasons for this include increasing cost pressures, the efficient processing of large volumes of data, flexibility, scalability and a lack of IT resources within organizations. Cloud-based solutions can be quickly implemented, leading to positive time-to-value. Companies with globally distributed users are especially likely to benefit from cloud deployments as they enable web-based access from anywhere in the world and can better handle seasonal peaks in workload. The maintenance of SaaS-based solutions is handled by the provider, which is especially attractive for companies with limited IT resources.

Trend 3: Disillusionment with predictive planning

Although predictive planning software is progressing, potential buyers remain cautious. Often, the required historical data foundation is lacking in quality or completeness, which causes complications. Companies face the challenge of preparing and improving their data foundation to fully leverage the potential of this technology.

Figure 2: What challenges do you see in the use of predictive planning and forecasting in your company?
2018: n=1097, 2019: n=1055, 2020: n=1100, 2021: n=696, 2022: n=620, 2023: n=634
Source: The Planning Survey 23, Copyright: BARC

About the study

The Planning Survey 23 is the ninth edition of BARC’s annual study on the selection and use of planning software. The results are based on a global survey of 1,321 planning users, consultants, and vendors conducted from November 2022 to February 2023. The study includes a comparison of 19 leading planning solutions based on user feedback about their selection and use, as well as current data on market developments. As in previous years, BARC pledged €1 for each completed survey. This year, a donation of €1,350 is being made to WeForest, a climate change non-profit.

For more information, please visit:
About The Planning Survey 23

Aggregated product-specific results and an online product comparison tool can be found at:
Comparison of the Best Planning and Budgeting Tools of 2023

About BARC

BARC is a leading analyst firm for data & analytics and enterprise software with a reputation for unbiased and trusted advice. Our expert analysts deliver a wide range of research, events and advisory services for the data & analytics community.

Our innovative research evaluates software and vendors rigorously and highlights market trends, delivering insights that enable our customers to innovate with data, analytics and AI.

BARC’s 25 years of experience with data strategy & culture, data architecture, organization and software selection help clients transform into truly data-driven organizations.

www.barc.com

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.com

Press release – Data Mesh Principles Gaining Traction According to New BARC Study

May 22, 2023/in News /by Mark Handford

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, May 10, 2023

BARC, the leading enterprise software analyst, has published a new study exploring the viability of data mesh as a sustainable approach to data responsibility in the business. The study, entitled “Data Mesh: Game Changer or Just Hot Air?” delves into the role of decentralized data ownership, treating data as a product, self-service empowerment, federated data governance, and the understanding and appreciation of data mesh principles.

–– BARC’s study examines data mesh as a sustainable approach to data responsibility in business.
–– The study suggests a shift towards more decentralized data ownership in business domains for scalability, flexibility and agility.
–– Data mesh principles are currently being adopted by many organizations and should be evaluated for applicability in data and analytics landscapes.

How relevant is the data mesh concept for your company?
(Source: BARC Survey “Data Mesh: Game Changer or Just Hot Air?”, n=293)

Shift towards decentralized data ownership

According to the study, executives believe that centralized data teams will not meet future data and analytics requirements, and the shift towards more data ownership in business domains is already underway. The study recommends more decentralized data ownership in business domains to ensure scalability, flexibility and agility. Central data teams will take on a new, critical role as advisors, ensuring the availability and stability of the data and analytics platform.

The study emphasizes the importance of treating data as a product, especially when it is a revenue driver. Data products should be valuable, feasible and desirable, adhering to a set of usability characteristics determined by data product consumers. The study also highlights the need to empower business users to perform their data and analytics tasks through a self-serve data platform.

Federated data governance and data intelligence

The study finds that federated data governance is on the rise, and the purely centralized governance concept is reaching its limits. While the issue of data governance is being tackled in a range of different ways, central and federated approaches are currently much more popular and successful than local ones.

The study concludes that the data mesh concept addresses some highly relevant areas, and its principles are currently being adopted by many organizations, regardless of whether they call them ‘data mesh’ or not. Companies are encouraged to evaluate the applicability of data mesh principles to their current data and analytics landscape and organization.

Finally, the study highlights that data intelligence is the key to success, and 80 percent of study participants are planning a data intelligence initiative or are already implementing one. Data intelligence leverages metadata to ensure efficient and effective collaboration between data product owners and data consumers, and platforms that support data intelligence provide the source for the federated computational governance propagated in the data mesh concept.

Click here to learn more about the survey results and study recommendations. It is available as a free download thanks to sponsorship from Denodo and One Data.

About BARC

BARC is a leading analyst firm for data & analytics and enterprise software with a reputation for unbiased and trusted advice. Our expert analysts deliver a wide range of research, events and advisory services for the data & analytics community.

Our innovative research evaluates software and vendors rigorously and highlights market trends, delivering insights that enable our customers to innovate with data, analytics and AI.

BARC’s 25 years of experience with data strategy & culture, data architecture, organization and software selection help clients transform into truly data-driven organizations.

www.barc.com

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.com

Press release – Enterprise BI & Analytics Platforms: Mergers & Acquisitions Shake Up the Market

April 28, 2023/in BARC Score, News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, April 28, 2023

BARC Score Enterprise BI & Analytics Platforms 2023 published

Today, analyst firm BARC has released BARC Score Enterprise BI & Analytics Platforms for the year 2023. This BARC Score evaluates and compares the 21 most important global manufacturers of modern enterprise business intelligence (BI) & analytics platforms.

According to the new BARC Score, the market for enterprise BI & analytics platforms is highly dynamic. Many specialized tools are offering broader feature sets and are maturing into modern and comprehensive enterprise BI & analytics platforms to meet user demand for openness, versatility and usability.

At the same time, established providers are modernizing their platforms by adding features such as active user guidance through artificial intelligence and machine learning (“Augmented Analytics”) for greater efficiency and effectiveness in data usage. Manufacturers are finding and occupying niches by linking their BI & analytics solutions with pre-systems and creating predefined solutions for specific industries or topics.

More than in previous years, the market is showing a lot of dynamism due to mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs and similar market activities. These are significantly affecting the offerings and evaluation of some of the providers in this BARC Score.

21 leading manufacturers of BI & analytics platforms evaluated

This is the ninth edition of BARC’s evaluation of the leading manufacturers of modern BI & analytics platforms. A graphical overview of the market and reviews of the 21 software providers are now available here.

BARC Score Enterprise BI & Analytics Platforms 2023
(Journalists can request the unredacted graphic by emailing abange@barc.de)

“This year, we observed several strategic changes in direction among BI & analytics providers that affected our assessment. Many providers are revising their strategy and precisely defining which customers and use cases they want to serve and which they are no longer actively pursuing,” commented BARC Senior Analyst and Head of Scores Larissa Baier.

“For buyers of a BI & analytics platform, it is essential to carefully examine the impact of acquisitions and strategic changes on the further development of the tools they are evaluating. As always, in addition to provider-specific considerations, individual requirements for the planned use cases that a modern BI & analytics platform ought to serve should be considered first,” added Robert Tischler, Senior Analyst at BARC and co-author of the report.

BARC Score Enterprise BI & Analytics Platforms examines the solutions of the following 21 internationally relevant manufacturers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Dimensional Insight, Domo, Google, ibi, IBM, insightsoftware, Microsoft, MicroStrategy, Oracle, Pyramid Analytics, Qlik, SAP, SAS, Sisense, Tableau, TARGIT, ThoughtSpot, TIBCO, Yellowfin and Zoho.

Further information on the new BARC Score can be found at:
www.barc-research.com/barc-score/bi-score/

About BARC

BARC is a leading analyst firm for data & analytics and enterprise software with a reputation for unbiased and trusted advice. Our expert analysts deliver a wide range of research, events and advisory services for the data & analytics community.

Our innovative research evaluates software and vendors rigorously and highlights market trends, delivering insights that enable our customers to innovate with data, analytics and AI.

BARC’s 25 years of experience with data strategy & culture, data architecture, organization and software selection help clients transform into truly data-driven organizations.

www.barc.com

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.com

Data Warehouse and Data Vault Adoption Trends

Press release – Data Warehouse and Data Vault – New Study Reveals Trends in Usage

April 25, 2023/in News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, April 27, 2023

Modeling, modernization, and automation are central themes of a new BARC Topical Survey that examines current trends in the use of Data Warehouse and Data Vault. The study, “Data Warehouse and Data Vault Adoption Trends“, was authored by Eckerson Group in collaboration with BARC and is based on the results of a global survey of 238 data and analytics experts.

The study highlights the dominant position of the Data Warehouse in today’s analytics landscape, with most companies still using it for the analysis of business-relevant data. The study also reveals that Data Warehouse users have adopted additional platforms such as Data Lake and Lakehouse. However, data quality problems and cumbersome manual processes remain a challenge for many companies.

Herbert Stauffer, co-author of the study and Senior Analyst at BARC, commented: “Our survey shows that the Data Warehouse still plays a central role in the modern analytics environment. However, the Data Warehouse is not a single point of truth, and it is usually used in conjunction with one or more other environments. Companies should improve their data quality and automation practices to fully leverage the potential of their data.”

Kevin Petrie, co-author of the study and VP of Research at Eckerson Group, added: “Data practitioners should study our findings to learn from the practices of best-in-class companies. For example, best-in-class companies continue to expand the role of the data vault in their environments.”

What is the level of automation based on commercial tools vs. homegrown scripts? (n=76, Copyright: BARC)

The study recommends that companies focus on fundamentals such as data quality, user-friendliness, analytics performance, and data governance. Companies should use commercial automation tools instead of self-developed scripts to improve data quality and standardize and reuse tasks. In addition, the study encourages companies to learn more about Data Vault and its benefits.

According to the study, best-in-class companies are leading the way in using Data Vault. Although the use of Data Vault lags behind alternative approaches such as Third-Normal-Form and Star-Schema, many best-in-class companies are adopting Data Vault and planning to expand its use. The study provides insights into how these companies selected Data Vault, trained their teams on Version 2.0, and expanded its use.

The survey data was collected from December 2022 to January 2023. Survey participants came from companies of various sizes and industries. The study provides valuable insights for companies looking to improve their data modelling, modernization, and automation practices.

It is available as a free download thanks to sponsorship from 2150 Datavault Builders, Adnia, biGENIUS, Certus IRIS, Coalesce, ElleTech, Info-Via, Performance G2, SQL DBM, TimeXtender, Vaultspeed and Wherescape.

Click here to learn more about the survey results and study recommendations.

About BARC

BARC is a leading analyst firm for data & analytics and enterprise software with a reputation for unbiased and trusted advice. Our expert analysts deliver a wide range of research, events and advisory services for the data & analytics community.

Our innovative research evaluates software and vendors rigorously and highlights market trends, delivering insights that enable our customers to innovate with data, analytics and AI.

BARC’s 25 years of experience with data strategy & culture, data architecture, organization and software selection help clients transform into truly data-driven organizations.

www.barc.com

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.com

Press release – BARC Partners with Veteran Analyst to Expand North American Presence

April 19, 2023/in News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, April 19, 2023

BARC announces a new strategic partnership with long-time industry veteran and analyst Shawn Rogers as a BARC fellow. This collaboration will add a dedicated US-based analyst to BARC’s worldwide market coverage, further enabling the company to grow its business across North American markets while building closer ties with its customers and prospects. For many years, BARC and Rogers have partnered on research, events and other business intelligence, analytics and data-focused industry projects.

Shawn Rogers brings over 28 years of international experience as an industry analyst, thought leader, speaker, author and instructor on data, business intelligence (BI), analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and cloud technologies. His former analyst roles and executive strategy positions with enterprise software firms give him a unique industry perspective that will significantly benefit customers. Rogers is a published author and has co-written two industry-leading books, “Social Data Analytics” and the latest, “Analytics: How to Win with Intelligence.” He was recently named one of the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders on Analytics 2023 by Thinkers360.

“I am honored to be part of the BARC team and look forward to contributing to the company’s growth in the North American market. Together, we will continue to deliver valuable insights and innovative solutions to our clients,” stated Mr. Rogers.

The expanded investment by BARC in the North American market, which also includes a relaunch of its English language website www.barc.com (coming soon) will enable it to deepen ties with clients and prospects, increase its presence at events and programs, and deliver the BARC portfolio of research and events to the market.

Dr. Carsten Bange, CEO of BARC, shared, “We couldn’t be more delighted to welcome Shawn to the BARC team. His remarkable background as a thought leader and his vast industry knowledge will undoubtedly be a game-changer for our clients, enabling us to deliver even more valuable insights and innovative solutions to the North American market. We’re confident that Shawn’s contribution will help drive our continued growth and success in the region.”

About BARC

BARC is a leading analyst firm for data & analytics and enterprise software with a reputation for unbiased and trusted advice. Our expert analysts deliver a wide range of research, events and advisory services for the data & analytics community.

Our innovative research evaluates software and vendors rigorously and highlights market trends, delivering insights that enable our customers to innovate with data, analytics and AI.

BARC’s 25 years of experience with data strategy & culture, data architecture, organization and software selection help clients transform into truly data-driven organizations.

www.barc.com

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.de

The State of ESG & Sustainability Reporting featured image

Press release – ESG Reporting: Tools, Standards & Challenges – Insights From New BARC Study

April 18, 2023/in News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, April 18, 2023

– Highlight #1: Many companies refer to more than one ESG framework for their reporting.
– Highlight #2: The majority of companies have published their first ESG report.
– Highlight #3: ESG reporting is essential for maintaining a positive image and gaining stakeholder trust.

BARC has published a new study titled The State of ESG & Sustainability Reporting: Challenges, Tools and Outlook, offering insights into the challenges companies face in their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reporting processes and the tools available to overcome these challenges. This study found that ESG reporting is essential for companies to maintain a positive image with stakeholders and gain their trust.

ESG reporting has become increasingly important as it is seen as a vital instrument to maintain a positive image with customers, employees and business partners. The study found that many businesses refer to more than one ESG framework in their reporting and often exceed the required minimum scope, making it a data and workflow-intensive challenge, especially for manufacturing companies and those with complex supply chains.

ESG reporting “a disruptive process”

According to co-author FH-Prof. Dr. Susanne Leitner-Hanetseder, “ESG reporting is a disruptive process, but necessary to gain the trust of stakeholders. Companies need to ensure their reporting is in line with the most relevant frameworks and standards and invest in the necessary resources and IT tools to make the process efficient.”

Stefan Sexl, co-author of the study, added: “The technical implementation of ESG reporting is a significant challenge and there is no market standard yet. Companies need to invest in the right tools and solutions to integrate their data and add ESG data to their reporting. The data sources required for ESG go far beyond those used in reporting to date.”

Figure 1: What are the most important drivers of ESG reporting in your company? “Good ESG reporting drives/improves our reputation with our customers”, by region (n=268, Copyright BARC 2023)

The study identified the following key findings:

– The European Sustainability Reporting Standards, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards are the three frameworks and standards that are predominantly used to disclose ESG-related information.
– Many of the companies surveyed have already published their first ESG report, with those in North America or with more than 5,000 employees being the pioneers in this area.
– Sustainable customer branding is the main driver for ESG reporting. Compliance with legal standards and employer branding also play major roles.
– ESG reporting is usually anchored in the office of the CFO or a specialized ESG department, but it is also present in various departments, depending on the industry and size of the company.
– ESG reporting is a data-intensive task. The challenge of collecting data, especially for environmental KPIs, is often underestimated. Many companies recognize the need for improvement across all the process steps of ESG reporting.
– ERP and CPM systems, Word, Excel, and BI tools are used in combination with specialized solutions, often developed by start-ups, for the technical implementation of ESG reporting. There are significant differences in the priority of the tools used between Europe and North America.

The study concludes that ESG reporting is a complex and challenging process, but it is essential for companies to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. The right tools and resources can make the process more efficient and effective, enabling businesses to gain a competitive advantage in the long run.

It is available as a free download thanks to generous sponsorship from Board, Jedox, Solitwork and Wolters Kluwer.

About BARC

BARC is one of Europe’s leading analyst firms for business software, focusing on the areas of data, business intelligence (BI) and analytics. The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the chair of Business Administration and Information Systems at the University of Würzburg, Germany. Today, BARC combines empirical and theoretical research, technical expertise and practical experience, and a constant exchange with all market participants to provide market-leading research publications, events and advisory.

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.de

BARC Score Integrated Planning & Analytics

Press release – Integrated Planning & Analytics Software Market Shows High Level of Maturity

April 4, 2023/in BARC Score, News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, March 30th, 2023

– Highlight #1: BARC publishes “BARC Score Integrated Planning & Analytics”.
– Highlight #2: BARC presents seven market leaders and six challengers in the global market.
– Highlight #3: This BARC Score focuses on integrated solutions for planning, budgeting and forecasting as well as analytics and business intelligence.

BARC publishes BARC Score Integrated Planning & Analytics. This detailed market analysis provides in-depth descriptions of leading software vendors and their solution portfolios for integrated planning & analytics. It is designed to help companies with the software selection process and enables them to measure up solution offerings against their own requirements.

The software market for integrated planning & analytics

The software market for integrated planning & analytics covers a wide range of offerings. In addition to globally active vendors, many local providers offer strong products.

Vendors evaluated in this BARC Score must meet several requirements. Comprehensive functionality for planning, budgeting and forecasting is a must. Relevant core functions focusing on the entire planning process (creation of planning models and masks, handling of the planning process, supporting planning functions), as well as financial and operational (e.g., sales, production, resources, etc.) planning capabilities are equally important.

In addition, solutions must provide comprehensive functions for analytics and business intelligence (e.g., for reporting, analysis and dashboards). A high degree of user-friendliness and seamless integration between all solution components is a decisive characteristic of market-leading solutions.

High degree of market maturity

Many of the vendor portfolios evaluated have reached a high level of maturity. BARC classifies well-established providers that achieve a high degree of market penetration as “Market Leaders”, of which there are seven. Their product portfolio enjoys a high level of recognition on the market and covers a comprehensive range of integrated technologies and requirements. They have a solid product strategy and financial position, compelling sales and marketing programs, and a strong partner network and ecosystem. The “Challengers” segment features six smaller, innovative providers with a promising product portfolio but lower global penetration, as well as some larger providers that either pursue a specific product and application focus or face the challenge of seamless portfolio integration following acquisitions.

Several vendors have presented impressive growth figures for the past fiscal year. At the same time, despite economic concerns about the future, there is still a high demand for professional software solutions on the user side. Many providers therefore expect continued good growth in 2023 and are planning further expansion of their portfolios.

Figure 1: BARC Score Integrated Planning & Analytics Global 2023
(The unredacted graph is available to journalists on request by email to abange@barc.de)
© BARC 2023

Support for the software selection process

This BARC Score and the accompanying detailed analysis help companies in the software selection process. Well-founded descriptions of the providers and their solution portfolios, including a strengths/weaknesses analysis, enable a comparison with potential buyers’ own requirements.

About BARC Score Integrated Planning & Analytics

This BARC Score comes in two editions: The first examines the global market for integrated planning & analytics products and portfolios while the second focuses on the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Based on countless data points from various BARC surveys and many analyst interactions, vendors are evaluated on a variety of criteria, from portfolio capabilities and architecture to sales and marketing strategy, financial performance and customer feedback.

Only vendors with widely adopted product portfolios are considered. Vendors must meet a series of general criteria in addition to providing various functional capabilities. These include a minimum license and maintenance revenue as well as a vendor’s geographic distribution and reach.

Click here for more information.

About BARC

BARC is one of Europe’s leading analyst firms for business software, focusing on the areas of data, business intelligence (BI) and analytics. The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the chair of Business Administration and Information Systems at the University of Würzburg, Germany. Today, BARC combines empirical and theoretical research, technical expertise and practical experience, and a constant exchange with all market participants to provide market-leading research publications, events and advisory.

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.de

Press release – Financial Performance Management: BARC Score Reveals Market-Leading Solutions

March 30, 2023/in BARC Score, News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, March 30th, 2023

– Highlight #1: BARC publishes “BARC Score Financial Performance Management”.
– Highlight #2: An up-to-date, independent and reliable summary of the FPM software market.
– Highlight #3: Several challengers are closing in on the established market leaders.

BARC publishes BARC Score Financial Performance Management. This detailed market analysis provides in-depth descriptions of leading software vendors and their solution portfolios for financial performance management (FPM), including a strengths/weaknesses analysis. BARC Score can help companies to drive the software selection process and enables them to measure up solution offerings against their own requirements.

Vendors with significant market penetration

Vendors evaluated in BARC Score Financial Performance Management have a strong focus on corporate consolidation, financial planning, financial reporting and other related areas. They must cover a good range of financial performance management functions with the evaluated product portfolio as well as achieve a minimum level of license and maintenance revenue with the solutions under consideration.

In addition to the vendors featured in this report, there are many other interesting and emerging players in the market that were not included in the analysis because they do not currently meet the above inclusion criteria.

Several competitors are challenging the established market leaders

The global financial performance management software market offers many powerful and mature products. While the market-leading vendors have continued to expand their leading positions in 2023, several “Challengers” are closing in on these vendors. Products in the “Challengers” segment are often corporate performance management tools with a broad range of functions that also focus on topics such as group consolidation and preparation of financial statements, financial planning, and financial reporting. Other vendors have strengthened through acquisition and face the challenge of seamless portfolio integration.

Five market leaders

Five vendors have established themselves as “Market Leaders”. In addition to a comprehensive portfolio for financial performance management, they have a strong market presence. These companies enjoy a high level of awareness and convince with a solid product strategy and financial position, sales and marketing programs, and a distinctive partner network and ecosystem.

Figure 1: BARC Score Financial Performance Management Global 2023
(The unredacted graph is available to journalists on request by email to abange@barc.de)
© BARC 2023

Current market developments

Many of the vendors in this market are focused on broadening their portfolio capabilities (x-axis). Those that come from areas such as corporate consolidation and financial planning are looking to expand their support for reporting and operational planning while providers of corporate planning and analytics software are rounding out their offerings with solutions and functions for corporate consolidation.

The current high demand for professional software solutions on the user side is reflected in the area of market execution (y-axis). Numerous providers achieved strong gains in new customer numbers as well as significant revenue growth in 2022.

About BARC Score Financial Performance Management

This BARC Score examines the market for FPM products and portfolios. Based on countless data points from various BARC surveys and many analyst interactions, vendors are evaluated on a variety of criteria, from product functionality, architecture and ease of use to financial metrics, sales and marketing strategy and user feedback.

The study focuses on the market-leading vendors with broad product portfolios. Therefore, in addition to functional scope and software sales, criteria such as geographical distribution and reach must also be met. BARC Score Financial Performance Management is published in two editions: the global edition and an edition that specifically examines the market in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Click here for more information.

About BARC

BARC is one of Europe’s leading analyst firms for business software, focusing on the areas of data, business intelligence (BI) and analytics. The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the chair of Business Administration and Information Systems at the University of Würzburg, Germany. Today, BARC combines empirical and theoretical research, technical expertise and practical experience, and a constant exchange with all market participants to provide market-leading research publications, events and advisory.

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.de

Press release – Data Quality and Data Culture Are the Top Trends in Business Intelligence

December 7, 2022/in News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, December 6th, 2022

– Highlight #1: BARC surveyed 1,823 people worldwide for its Data, BI & Analytics Trend Monitor 2023 study.
– Highlight #2: The survey provides insights into the top trends in data, business intelligence and analytics.
– Highlight #3: Data quality, data culture and data governance are the top trends for 2023.

BARC publishes the Data, BI & Analytics Trend Monitor 2023 study. For the global survey, 1,823 users, consultants and vendors gave their opinion on the most important trends in data, business intelligence (BI) and analytics. The responses provide comprehensive insight into regional, company and industry-specific differences in the use of data and analytics and show which trends are moving the BI market.

“Creating value from data has become a must for many companies to remain competitive. This survey shows once again that practitioners place higher value on the most fundamental characteristic of data – its quality – as well as the fundamental framework conditions for the successful use of data – data culture and data governance – than on advanced methods and approaches for data and analytics,” commented Dr. Carsten Bange, Managing Director of BARC and co-author of the study.

Data quality remains top trend

Data quality and master data management are ranked as the most important trend for the 6th year in a row. This is in line with the results of other BARC studies, which repeatedly show that companies are struggling with insufficient data quality. Related to this is the stable importance of data governance, which ranks 3rd again this year (see Figure 1).

The establishment of a ‘data culture’ is ranked as the 2nd most important trend. Since it was first included in the Trend Monitor in 2019, this trend has consistently ranked in the top 5 and continues to grow in importance. Establishing and fostering a data culture is critical to unlocking an organization’s full data potential. Data discovery and self-service analytics rank 4th and 5th in the list of 19 top trends, underlining their importance. All of the top trends combine organizational and technological elements.

Figure 1: Importance of trends in data, BI and analytics from “not at all important” (0) to “very important” (10) [n=1,823]
© BARC 2022

Trends in Europe

The importance of trends is perceived very differently in European countries. Eastern Europe, France and the United Kingdom in particular attach greater importance to most BI trends than the other European regions. Conversely, the German-speaking region (“DACH”) attaches significantly less importance to most trends except agile BI development and master data/data quality management, both of which are rated more or less equally across Europe. Overall, European perceptions reflect the overall ranking of the top trends: data discovery, data culture, master data/data quality management and data governance are seen as the most important trends this year.

Rising trends: cloud for data & analytics and data catalogs

Cloud for data & analytics has risen from 18th to 9th place in the rankings over the last 5 years (see Figure 2). A similar development can be observed for data catalogs, which has leapt from 19th to 10th place in the last 4 years. Conversely, agile BI development has dropped 7 places to 14th in the last year. This approach to development is now so common that it is probably considered less important as a separate trend than other topics.

About the study

With 1,823 respondents, the BARC Data, BI & Analytics Trend Monitor 2023 is the largest global trend study on analytics, business intelligence and data management. It offers a detailed evaluation and weighting of 19 individual trends by region, industry and self-assessment of the participating companies (“best-in-class” vs. “laggards”).

The study is available for download free of charge thanks to sponsorship by Denodo, humanIT and TARGIT.

About BARC

BARC is one of Europe’s leading analyst firms for business software, focusing on the areas of data, business intelligence (BI) and analytics, enterprise content management (ECM) and customer relationship management (CRM). The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the Chair of Business Administration and Information Systems at the Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg. Today, BARC combines empirical and theoretical research, technical expertise and practical experience, including a constant exchange with all market participants.

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.de

Press release – BARC Survey: Easier Access to More Data Promotes a Better Data Culture

November 29, 2022/in News /by admin

PRESS RELEASE – WÜRZBURG, November 24th, 2022

– Highlight #1: BARC surveyed 384 people worldwide for its “Data Culture Survey 23”.
– Highlight #2: The survey presents current trends in the building of a company data culture. This year, the focus was on the topic of data access, which 96% of survey participants agreed is the most relevant factor in the establishment of a data culture.
– Highlight #3: The BARC Data Culture Framework provides concrete recommendations for data culture and data strategy.

BARC publishes the study Data Culture Survey 23, for which 384 people were surveyed on the current data culture in their companies. Respondents came from all over the world and represent a variety of different functions, industries and company sizes. Based on the results, the authors have derived trends in the establishment of a data culture and provide concrete recommendations for action.

The study shows companies understand that a data culture must be anchored in the data strategy if it is to have lasting success. The most frequently implemented data culture initiatives are “data strategy” (34%), “data governance” (33%) and “data access” (32%).

Data access is crucial

Respondents cited “data access” as the most important initiative to positively impact data culture. The biggest challenges to liberalizing data access are users’ lack of knowledge and enabling simple access methods. Many of the conditions for better data access must therefore be created first. More than half of all respondents would like to have greater transparency about company data and to be able to access it more easily (Figure 1).

Figure 1: What are the biggest challenges to data access? Top 3 (n=369, source: BARC Data Culture Survey 23)
© BARC 2022

Gut feeling is still important when making decisions

The majority of respondents rely on a mix of data and gut feeling to make decisions (51%). The percentage of companies that tune out gut feelings and make mainly data-driven decisions has remained stable this year at around one third (32%). However, nearly half of the companies surveyed say improved decision-making is among the goals they have achieved. More than a third have achieved process improvements and cost reductions through the use of data. However, there is also a high expectation of benefits from data. Respondents hope to achieve further improvements in their decision-making and processes, revenue growth and ultimately competitive advantage through a better data culture.

Dr. Carsten Bange, Managing Director of BARC and co-author of the study, commented, “Data culture still eats data strategy for breakfast. Anchoring a sustainable data culture is vital if companies want to enforce their data strategy. For this to happen, there needs to be company-wide awareness of the benefits and advantages of data and analytics.”

BARC Data Culture Framework

To help companies understand the key starting points for establishing and improving a data culture, BARC has developed the Data Culture Framework (Figure 2). The framework includes six action areas. There is no inherent hierarchy among them; different companies will have different starting points and priorities. However, data access and data governance are among the first topics most companies address.

About the survey

“BARC Data Culture Survey 23 – How to Liberalize Data Access to Empower Data Users” is a new BARC study on the topic of establishing and maintaining a data culture. 384 people from different functions, industries and company sizes from all over the world were interviewed for the study. The authors are Dr. Carsten Bange, BARC Founder and CEO, and Timm Grosser, Senior Analyst for Data & Analytics. The study is available for free download here thanks to sponsorship by Denodo, Snowflake, Tableau and Zeenea. The accompanying infographic can be found here.

About BARC

BARC is one of Europe’s leading analyst firms for business software, focusing on the areas of data, business intelligence (BI) and analytics, enterprise content management (ECM) and customer relationship management (CRM). The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the Chair of Business Administration and Information Systems at the Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg. Today, BARC combines empirical and theoretical research, technical expertise and practical experience, including a constant exchange with all market participants.

Contact

For all enquiries and further information, please contact:

Axel Bange
Tel: +49 (0) 2331 356 93 95
Email: abange@barc.de