Despite all the strengths of Business Objects' products, they have lacked a unified feel, giving the user a ­somewhat disjointed experience, Evelson says.

However, the recent release of Business Objects 4.0 solves that problem, with a unified interface, a common data-access layer and other improvements, Lucas says.

While acknowledging that 4.0 is "a step in the right direction," Evelson maintains that SAP has more integration work to do "under the covers."

The other problem with 4.0 is its late arrival. Originally, SAP talked about a general availability date in 2010. Then it held a launch event in February of this year, where it said the release would be in May. In the end, the date slipped to mid-September.

"When a vendor's late by a few weeks or months, it's one thing," Evelson says. But with yearlong delays, "how can you as a buyer make plans and depend on them?"