"HP may need to bring Knightbridge staff over from the U.S. to kick-start the unit, while they would need to export its intellectual property if they want to be a true BI unit," he said, pointing out that the company relies on partnerships with competitors Cognos, Business Objects and Hyperion for BI visualization and reporting.

While HP builds it BI reputation, it may find redemption in its information management department, Bertram says, predicting that the company may expand the BI unit around data integration and management, extracting, transforming and loading (ETL), and data quality solutions.

Oracle is taking a similar approach to HP and is looking to tap into its existing customer base.

The company's ANZ technology VP Rob Gosling said Oracle is an information company.

"If you look at a five year plan we can offer a greater footprint so customers can deal with fewer vendors; today it is a stack war," Gosling said adding that BI, identity management and middleware are currently the hot technologies in the local market.