Following the release of a global survey of 1400 CIOs, Gartner Inc. said BI platform revenue in Australia will grow at an annual compound growth rate of 10 percent to reach more than A$143 million by 2010.

This will create a tough market for software vendors with Gartner predicting that BI revenue from the "mega vendors" such as Oracle Corp., SAP AG and Microsoft Corp., to grow three times faster than revenues from the BI pure-play vendors in 2007.

Worldwide BI revenue from the "mega vendors" will grow 20 percent in 2007 compared to six percent for the pure-play vendors. In 2006 the "mega vendors" had just over 20 percent of the global BI market and Gartner predicts this will increase to more than 30 percent by 2010.

At the company's inaugural Business Intelligence and Information Management Summit in Australia, which kicks off in Sydney Tuesday, Gartner Research Managing Vice President Ian Bertram will outline the future of BI and how it will impact the business environment over the next 10 years assessing the opportunities and challenges it presents to Australian organizations. "BI has become a strategic initiative and is now recognized by CIOs and business leaders as instrumental in driving business effectiveness and innovation," he said.

However, Bertram also cautioned that while BI is recognized as a strategic priority at management level, BI is not well understood among company employees.